A pierce, out of the blue

[desperance]

matociquala and others have, in their daily running-total reports, a category called 'Mean Things' - which I think is completely cool and long to emulate. When and if I ever get sufficiently organised to do the daily-report thing at all.

[pauses, to waft cat away from mortadella: he has had his tea, and I have written my two thousand words and not stopped yet, and I am entitled to a nibble with my glass of wine]

Obviously, I am not there yet - tho' I am now sufficiently confident to murmur that I should be within, oh, about fifty pages of the end, unless the damn' thing grows on me. But perhaps it will, because lo, here is a Mean Thing: there we were within about fifty pages of the end, and suddenly my hero (I name no names, for fear of spoilage: anonymity is a safe disguise, because there is no guarantee that any lead character is qualified to be a hero, in my book) has a blade in his belly.

This is, I swear to you, entirely unexpected. I could show you the synopsis to prove it, but that has spoilers of its own; none the less, take my word for it, nowhere does it say the-disciple-whom-Chazzy-loves gets gut-stabbed, right at the end.

I have no idea why this has happened, or what will result. This is why I don't work to synopses, even when I've had to write 'em for the publishers; every book is a journey, and the writer undertakes it day by day no less than the reader (rather more, indeed, because it takes more days to write than read), and there are surprises all the way, or ought to be. We'll see. But it is definitely a Mean Thing, and deserves to be recorded.

Mmm, mortadella. It has pistachios, you know.

The cat has just killed and eaten a fly in lieu, but I don't think that's any substitute. Nor does he.

Comments

[samarcand.livejournal.com]

Of course, by seeing the knife went in 'his belly' you've significantly cut down the number of characters who could have just been gutted...

And, are people actually meant to write to synopses? I mean, does anyone really expect that what they see when they get a few thousand word outline to actually resemble the finished product? If so, then that is very, very silly. This is, I think, the single advantage of writing without a contract. You can do the synopsis afterwards.

(Although, as I did with Outremer, I'd like to read the initial synopsis after I've finished the books to see what changed.)

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Of course, by seeing the knife went in 'his belly' you've significantly cut down the number of characters who could have just been gutted...

Durn. So I have. Tho' there are more boys than girls, if we discount the harem en masse (or actually if not: reckon in the harem and you have to reckon in the regiments, so the boys still win on a simple body-count. Hurrah!).

(Actually, first time I read yr comment, I thought 'belly? Have I written any characters who don't actually have bellies?' I'm not always terribly bright, y'know...)

And, are people actually meant to write to synopses? I mean, does anyone really expect that what they see when they get a few thousand word outline to actually resemble the finished product? If so, then that is very, very silly. This is, I think, the single advantage of writing without a contract. You can do the synopsis afterwards.

Nah, nobody expects a book to follow its synopsis; I only wave this piece of paper as inadequate evidence to underline my assertion that I wasn't expecting this. I wasn't expecting it three years ago (yikes!) when I wrote the synopsis; I wasn't expecting it last week, when I wrote the last chapter. It came like a bolt from the blue, to me and the poor boy too. This is good, I guess; your story should at least surprise your characters. And, sometimes, you.

But actually I'd rather write a synopsis first than last. Do it first, at least you're making stuff up; do it last and it's just a precis, which is dull dull dull.

(Although, as I did with Outremer, I'd like to read the initial synopsis after I've finished the books to see what changed.)

Okay. Weird, but okay.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

I did of course mean previous chapter, not last. Alas.

[samarcand.livejournal.com]

"Okay. Weird, but okay."

Hell, you know me. I just want to read anything you write. Although I may draw the line at shopping lists. (Although, considering some of the food you cook, I could even be tempted there...)