“As you know…” I’ve been working on, and re-working on, and re-RE-working on Horngard I.\u00a0 Recovering the ability to write fiction has not meant (alas!!) recovering the ability to do two or three layers of revision at once.\u00a0 Revision has been a fairly arduous process of fixing this bit, then that bit, than then this other bit, one at a time, even when the things to be fixed were in the same sentence or paragraph.\u00a0\u00a0 It is getting better, but not as fast as I want.<\/p>\n
But–on the bright side–Horngard I has a new first chapter that is MUCH better than the previous one in multiple ways (characterization, plot, etc.)\u00a0 AND a new ending section that solves a problem several people who’d seen it had noted.<\/p>\n
Even so both of these fragments had to be rewritten several times in several days.\u00a0 But to celebrate the completion (I hope) of the first chapter and the last, here are a few snippets<\/p>\n
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..<\/p>\n
From Chapter One:<\/p>\n
Where: near or in Valdaire, in Aarenis, morning.\u00a0 Who: Camwyn, 21 yo, formerly Camwyn Mahieran, crown prince of Tsaia<\/em><\/p>\n Camwyn resented Dragon ignoring his own wishes, and \u201cnot wise yet\u201d didn\u2019t help. Someday, he would find out where he had come from.\u00a0 Someday he would find out if his family still wanted him.\u00a0 Grateful as he was, he would not give up that hope for Dragon\u2019s dream.<\/p>\n Where: coming down from the mountain pass from Tsaia to Aarenis, midday.\u00a0 Who: Aris Marrakai, 18 yo, one of four squires to Duke Arcolin<\/em><\/p>\n He let himself drift into the hope he\u2019d clung to for years, and hidden from his disapproving father: finding his best friend, Prince Camwyn, missing for more than five years.\u00a0 Have time and freedom for his search.\u00a0 Thus: be a courier, carrying messages for the Duke \u00a0\u00a0from city to city on a fast, tireless horse, ridden by a young man of good breeding and impeccable reputation, the squire who never got into trouble.<\/p>\n Where: lunchtime at The Golden Fish, Valdaire.\u00a0 Who: Aesil M’dierra, Golden Company owner\/commander<\/em><\/p>\n She noticed a handsome dark-eyed stranger, a young man she\u2019d never seen before, at the front window table, richly dressed in bold yellow and black over mail. A visiting princeling from the north?\u00a0 Or perhaps from Fallo or one of the Immerhoft ports?\u00a0 A padded coif on his head hid his hair.<\/p>\n Where: later lunchtime at The Golden Fish\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Who: Aesil M’dierra, \u00a0 Gurtnor Sartanits, Blue Company owner\/commander<\/em><\/p>\n She recognized Gurtnor Sartanits, owner and commander of Blue Company, mail under his blue surcoat, tall boots folded to knee height, a dagger hilt showing in each, sword\u00a0 on one side and a wide-bladed short sword on the other.\u00a0 He strode in as if he owned the inn. Behind him were two of his captains, also wearing mail, spurred boots, and ample weaponry.<\/p>\n Sartanits’ smile, when he spotted her, had no friendliness in it, and his voice oozed condescension.\u00a0 “Commander M’dierra!\u00a0 Fancy meeting you here without your faithful Arcolin.\u00a0 Found someone less ancient, have you?…”<\/p>\n One of these four will be dead by the end of the book, one accused of murder and under presumed sentence of death, one very badly wounded, one about to announce retirement.<\/p>\n To avoid spoilers, you’ll have to wait to see a snippet from the end, if I can find one that doesn’t reveal too much.\u00a0 Chapter One, after a last change this morning, should be stable from here on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" “As you know…” I’ve been working on, and re-working on, and re-RE-working on Horngard I.\u00a0 Recovering the ability to write fiction has not meant (alas!!) recovering the ability to do two or three layers of revision at once.\u00a0 Revision has been a fairly arduous process of fixing this bit, then that bit, than then this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,52,128,127,115,5],"tags":[22,15,20,51,28,107],"class_list":["post-3107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-craft","category-editing","category-horngard","category-progress","category-snippet","category-the-writing-life","tag-characters","tag-process","tag-progress-report","tag-revision","tag-snippet","tag-the-writing-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3107"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3107"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3110,"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3107\/revisions\/3110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.paksworld.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}