First Draft Underway

September 11, 2009 at 20:01 (writing) (child of war, fantasy, fiction, novel, writing)

Writing of the actual novel is officially underway.  The first draft of the first chapter started today.  I did make some minor adjustments to the sequencing of this first chapter since I wanted to introduce two of the principal characters almost immediately before providing either some backstory or some of the intrigue developing elsewhere.  What comes as a pleasant surprise is the flowing dialogue between Alaric and Alexandra.  I was somewhat concerned that these two characters would not establish the necessary early rapport, and that would have a significant impact on the remainder of the novel.  Instead, they do seem to genuinely like each other and the banter between them is flowing quite nicely.

I realize how odd it may sound to readers when they hear an author talk about characters in this fashion.  After all, the characters are our own creation, so they should do and say precisely what the author wants them to do or say.  Unfortunately, it just doesn’t work that way.  It’s necessary for the author to step into the role of the character from who’s point of view the scene is being sold.  The author in some sense becomes an actor bringing this character to life.  If the character does not feel real and alive to the author, then neither will the character feel alive to the reader.  As the author assumes the role of the character in question, it’s not at all uncommon for the character to take off in a completely different direction than originally intended.  It’s not a conscious decision on the part of the author.  Rather, it’s the way in which the imagination works when we allow it to run free.

Have you ever imagined an entire conversation in your own mind?  Perhaps you were driving to meet someone for the first time and you were imagining the meeting and the conversation.  Did it go precisely the way you wanted it to go?  Probably not.  More than likely, your mind took it in a rather astonishing – and possibly quite disturbing – direction.  That’s the way it is with writing.  When we give our imaginations free to wander, we develop truly three-dimensional characters that have unique personalities, quirks, likes and dislikes.  If we try to hold a tight rein on that process, we ultimately inhibit that character development to the detriment of the work in progress.  It’s necessary for the reader to develop strong feelings about the characters in our stories.  For that to happen, though, the characters must have unique characteristics.  They must have personality.  They must feel quite real to the reader.  That, I hope, is what is happening in this first chapter as I introduce Alaric and Alexandra.

The actual writing of this first chapter is somewhat of a challenge.  This is the reader’s first introduction to the world of Westerloch.  It needs to feel familiar, yet it can’t feel like it’s the world in which we live.  Westerloch has its own names for the seasons and the months of the year.  It has its own special holidays.  One of them – Interlude – is mentioned in the first chapter, but I’m thinking of changing that name.  I don’t like it.  I’m thinking of “Ludus”, which is Latin for “play” and the root upon which “Interlude” is formed.  This particular festival is a 5-day religious celebration that marks mid-solarstide (what we would call mid-summer.)  In any case, I’m not happy with the name, so expect it to change.

A fair amount of research has gone into the first few pages.  I needed the name for a ceremonial sword that a boy receives when he is 14-years old.  I needed an ancient sounding derogatory name for the mindless court maidens that sit around waiting for some unattached squire to notice them.  There were a few other common names or events that I needed to sound foreign yet comfortably familiar.  The challenge with that type of search is that it breaks the train of thought.  As a result, the amount of time it takes to write an entire section becomes somewhat elongated.  I may change my approach to that process.  The software I use provides the capability to add search-able notes in the manuscript.  What I may do is just insert the common English word followed by a search-able note indicating that I have to go back and research a better term.  That will allow the train of thought to continue to flow through the keyboard, and I can improve upon the concept once the section is complete.  Every writer has their own method for handling these types of issues, and I still need to perfect mine.

Now that I’m on vacation for a week, I hope to make significant progress on the first chapter.  For now, I’m pleased with the way the first chapter is starting, and I look forward to seeing tomorrow where Alaric and Alexandra will take me.  Stay tuned…

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