I wonder if I felt this out of sorts with the beginning of SoW.
I started official work on it this past week, beyond research and a few scant paragraphs here and there. And the more I write, the more I realize how far this needs to drift from it’s original concept (which is almost as old as the original SoW concept) for it to be a good story. Much less the intrigue and mystery I wanted (and usually ends up in every story I want to write) and more of a coming-into-one’s-own story. Possibly with political intrigue. Which I’ve never really tried. Or ever wanted to. I still don’t really want to. Rarely is it something I want to read about either. i really don’t know yet how I will approach that into something I want to write and read about will be a true challenge.
There is also the style of writing that must change. I’ve mentioned many times before that this new one will be written as the main character’s diary. It starts out purposefully slow and a little stiff, from the hands of someone who has never written a journal and feels awkward to start one. As she relaxes into the role of storyteller, and we are beyond more than introductions, I’ll get back into the normal flow. But right now I’m feeling as awkward and stiff as Isabella Telford.
And then there is also the change of scenery which I’ve also mentioned before. From something more countryside British Isles to warm water Mediterranean Isles (that’s just an example. these will be fictional places). And that has forced me to change how I view everything in my head. I’m trading long rains for long droughts, horses for boats, hedge mazes for caves. I have to rethink the idea of houses and mansions, the fashion of “homelanders” versus “islanders” (I’m also starting to lean towards more of a Regency aesthetic instead of Victorian for the “homelanders”). There are the language barriers, the differing histories of conquered versus conquerors, and how that must play into Isabella’s role.
The there’s the magic. In Sow there were two kinds of fantasy elements: wizards and Fei. Originally, there would be jut wizards in this project. Suddenly, I want so much more. I want mythology. I want mermaids.
With SoW, I guess I had an advantage. i plunged into it without many expectations. It was when a great deal of the story was formed and written that I started to see what needed to be changed and my expectations of myself grew. For this project, it was written out to some extent in one form and planned out in great detail well over two years ago, and then shelved for various reasons, including to give SoW my full focus. Now that I’m starting it, the more I write the more I realize needs to change, and the more I hesitate to write. It doesn’t help (or helps a lot, I’m not actually sure yet) that the book I’m currently reading for the bookshelf challenge also happens to be about island nobility (though the actual stories are very very very different) and as I’m reading it I’m comparing its approach and my approach. It has shown me so far why this new project (a title! my kingdom for a title!) can’t be a mystery, because I was seeing it played out in this for the same reasons I wanted to play it out in mine. And quite frankly, it wasn’t working and I wasn’t reading mystery at all. And I’m seeing that it wouldn’t work in mine either. So I guess in that regard it has helped e a lot. Even if it means the whole tone of the novel gets overhauled.
And now that you’ve come this far in reading my gripes, I think you deserve a reward. Here’s an intro so far (it might change just as much as everything else)
Meet Isabella Telford.
For as long as she can remember, it’s been just her and her father, and she wouldn’t have had it any other way. Marrying or leaving the Telford estate forever were two things that never crossed her mind. Until her father dies. Learning that the house is entailed down the male line and without any relatives, Isabella loses her family and her home in the same day. As she’s staying the local village trying to keep the last of her money from drying up, a Duke of the far off islands (a name! my kingdom for a name!) appears with some startling news: they’re betrothed. Though given the option to back out, Isabella accepts the very cold proposal, seeing an arranged marriage as no better or worse than any other option before her. Armed with precious few possessions and a handmade journal by her father, she arrives on the islands fiercely determined to make her new life work. Then someone tries to kill her,
Now I would like to take just a few moments for another SoW update. I have solidified my publishing plan. Which involves an indie company. But my computer is now completely broken. This is a borrowed computer. Before I can publish, I need a new computer, because I refuse to handle everything that needs to be done on someone else’s computer. It’s simply not fair to them, and limits what and when I can work. And then there are the publishing costs that always come with indie publishing. It will take some months more for me to get up these two expenses. In this time, I’ll be working on my new book. After a few weeks I’ll do my final read through of SoW. I wanted to put it off so I can read through it with fresh eyes.
