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edenfallingI wrote another hundred words of the Star Trek fic. Then I got distracted and went to work on "Harvest," a very unfinished original story of which I have maybe 4,500 words of a rough draft posted somewhere on here, along with various snippits of later scenes. You can read them under the "Harvest" tag if you're interested.
Anyway, I have now worked both snippets about Ekanu accompanying Denifar on an obligatory vision quest thing -- a fasting prayer, as Lya-Lya calls it -- into the story proper. And I think I have worked out how to weave in the Ekanu-and-Laefa-talk-about-Vinaeo snippet as well. Both vision quest fragments were altered as I wove them into the main narrative, and the second is now prefaced with some stuff about local fishing conditions, catamarans vs. Domaris skin boats, and the unexpected development of Gwitha (one of the Hlaenor mechanists) into a proper, albeit minor, speaking role, but whatever. (My water knowledge is based mostly on small motorboats and lakes -- not sailing ships and the ocean -- but I have sailed a little and I can fake my way through if my POV character does not require me to get detailed or to use correct nautical terminology.)
"Harvest" is now at 12,000 words, give or take. I need to write the stuff on the island, which will mostly be arguments and then tentative reconciliation; Ekanu finishing her job and having some final lessons with her three speaking-role students (Lya-Lya, Soshimu, and Laefa); the farewell dinner; the harbor scene where she and Denifar say goodbye; and maybe a mini-epilogue thing on the ship sailing to Vinaeo. I dunno, I'll know what threads I need to wrap up when I get there. I also need to do some backfill in the scene between Ekanu-and-Denifar-at-dinner and their arrival on the vision quest island, because that includes Lya-Lya explaining the fasting prayer to Ekanu, and Laefa asking to go with her to Vinaeo when she leaves Ileara... but, you know, at this point I do basically have an outline.
I like outlines. Groping in the dark is interesting at times, and can lead to some wonderful and unexpected ideas, but it is very stress-relieving to have a plan. That way I always know what to try writing for the next scene, and even if it fails, the way it fails generally provides useful information about what might not fail.
Anyway, I expect the story to be, oh, 16,000-20,000 words by the time it's done, depending on how various scenes shape up. Either way, that's much too long (and simultaneously much too short) to be commercially viable. Argh.
Anyway, I have now worked both snippets about Ekanu accompanying Denifar on an obligatory vision quest thing -- a fasting prayer, as Lya-Lya calls it -- into the story proper. And I think I have worked out how to weave in the Ekanu-and-Laefa-talk-about-Vinaeo snippet as well. Both vision quest fragments were altered as I wove them into the main narrative, and the second is now prefaced with some stuff about local fishing conditions, catamarans vs. Domaris skin boats, and the unexpected development of Gwitha (one of the Hlaenor mechanists) into a proper, albeit minor, speaking role, but whatever. (My water knowledge is based mostly on small motorboats and lakes -- not sailing ships and the ocean -- but I have sailed a little and I can fake my way through if my POV character does not require me to get detailed or to use correct nautical terminology.)
"Harvest" is now at 12,000 words, give or take. I need to write the stuff on the island, which will mostly be arguments and then tentative reconciliation; Ekanu finishing her job and having some final lessons with her three speaking-role students (Lya-Lya, Soshimu, and Laefa); the farewell dinner; the harbor scene where she and Denifar say goodbye; and maybe a mini-epilogue thing on the ship sailing to Vinaeo. I dunno, I'll know what threads I need to wrap up when I get there. I also need to do some backfill in the scene between Ekanu-and-Denifar-at-dinner and their arrival on the vision quest island, because that includes Lya-Lya explaining the fasting prayer to Ekanu, and Laefa asking to go with her to Vinaeo when she leaves Ileara... but, you know, at this point I do basically have an outline.
I like outlines. Groping in the dark is interesting at times, and can lead to some wonderful and unexpected ideas, but it is very stress-relieving to have a plan. That way I always know what to try writing for the next scene, and even if it fails, the way it fails generally provides useful information about what might not fail.
Anyway, I expect the story to be, oh, 16,000-20,000 words by the time it's done, depending on how various scenes shape up. Either way, that's much too long (and simultaneously much too short) to be commercially viable. Argh.
