Invisible People

Keck is puzzled…

Characters are appearing in scenes like Cheshire cats! (Dave’s Third book is possessed).

Let me set the scene. You will often have heard writers talk about characters having a life of their own. Sometimes, as a writer gets to know a character, the original outline just doesn’t work anymore. Sometimes, writers have a little method actor in them. Sometimes, these things happen. A good character runs off on you.

That sort of thing.

Well, in my book, I’ve got characters riding right beside the viewpoint character that no one ever sees! (It’s like Dan Brown — when people refuse to look at or think about various things in order to create a nice cliff hanger: We see what you do, Mr. Brown!)

Three guys are alone in a vast and haunted forest. After an hour of picking at things I’ve got the scene polished with new, snappier dialogue and everything… when, just as the scene ends, A WHOLE EXTRA CHARACTER CHIMES IN.

I was tempted to have the original characters fall off their horses. “OMG, have you been there the whole time? Have we been talking about you, or anything? Etc..)

Clearly, I need to focus.

(More Coffee needed).

Forest Tournament, Check

Progress Report: Clear to Page 268

All right, just a quick note to say that progress proceeds apace. I’ve got characters over mountains, into an eerie forest tournament, out of jail, through an execution, a tournament and a quick escape.

Oh, and love is back on our hero’s agenda.

Onward and upward!

De-Tangled to 170

Keck manages to reach 170 pages of clean text. (He thinks).

Using a shiny new (borrowed) Surface, I have fought my way through to page 170 of A King in Cobwebs despite.

Although 170 is a nice large-sounding number, there are well over 600 pages in the manuscript and there aren’t actually that many working days left in summer (!).

Worse, there are dark sections of the manuscript still to come. I am bracing myself for an entire multi-chapter sequence where the plot hits peaks of bewildering tedium rarely achieved by a writer of fiction in this (or any other) century.

I made notes.

Wish me luck!

~Dave

PS: I wonder if I should post a few sample chapters at this stage.

100 Pages Edited…

Keck reaches page 100 in revision of King of Cobwebs

After rereading my two books and making copious notes (which was an unusual experience, ask me about it someday), I’m 100 pages into my revision of Dave’s amazing third book: A King in Cobwebs.

Already, the reader gets blood, horses, armor, gods, sorcerers, star-crossed lovers and the living dead. Not bad, eh?

So far, I’m happy with the text, though I wish I’d done twice as much already. There are only so many days of summer left to me….