Walker Novel 2 & Characters & Donald Maass

As I worked on the KPP2 of Novel 2, I realized I never posted the revised KPP1. I'll have to rectify that this week.  The major changes in both key points dealt with changing characters.  The Wonder Twins, though I love them, are removed from Novel 2.  Why?  Because as I worked on the outline, I realized they didn't have a recurring role in that novel.  It hurts, but they didn't . . . fit.  Sad, but true.  Just like in real life, huh?  Sometimes you spend less time with certain friends because they just don't fit into your life anymore.  By removing them, I strengthened the relationship between Walker and Maha, his desired lover.

Same in KPP2.  Instead of Smiley, Walker's out-of-place, off-reality friend, it is Maha's voice he hears.  That make his understandable hatred of her after his rescue that much stronger.  Doesn't make it any more reasonable.  But it's there.  He's not very reasonable in that world.  Hard to be reasonable when you are a walking wound, hurting.  But, also, removing Smiley here meant removing him from KPP1--so that happened too.  I think it helped strengthen Coustin Bustis's role in Walker's life because she is a minor character that is seen across several novels--a little bit in Novel 1, more in Novel 2, somewhat in Novel 3.  I like her, too, because like her cousin, Walker's wife, she is provides levity through her sexual attraction, joking with, and baiting of Walker.  Also, she is a kinder version of Walker's wife, although that makes her a tad less fun.

I made all these changes on characters before I started really re-reading Donald Maass's books.  He believes in complex relationships in novels.  That is, characters who have more than one role in the main character's life.  He says these are the "most absorbing" ones in novels.  To that end, he suggests combining characters.  When I first read that long ago and took his advice, it really changed how created characters.  It made them so much richer. Unconsciously, I still try to do that today.

Speaking of Donald Maass. Did you know he has a new book coming out? I bought it and another book I had been eyeballing (a sequel to Martin Lindstrom's Buology, which I adore).  I used my membership, a gift card I had earned from B&N ¹, and online coupon.  Except for a few cents, the gift card covered the entire cost.  Don't you love it when you and a book are meant to be?  It's is supposed to ship in a few days--that is another reason why, if I can, I order books from B&N.  Their freebie shipping?  They don't punish you by adding an extra two weeks to the delivery time; rather they try to get to you fast!  Unlike some other online *cough* Amazon *cough* venues I could name.


1 Note: I have B&N's credit card, and love it.  It means free gift cards after 2500 points from non-B&N purchases.  But using it to make B&N purchases has benefits too--a discount of . . . I can't remember.  It's not much, but it usually comes close to matching the s&h fee or the sales tax, so I'm happy.

The Difference Frequent Editing Makes

Well, the first KPP1/Beginning of Walker Novel 2 is clean-edited ¹. I can definitely feel the difference in it and in the newly written KPP1s of Novels 3, 4, and Harem. Namely because this isn't the first edit for either of Novel 1 or 2.

That is why I think my current method works. After I write all the new blocks, that same week I go back over them and flesh them out. Then once they are all done, the following week (like this week) is dedicated to line edits or polishing.

After this week, and it should only be this week because I am on track, I will start on the KPP2s/Launch Points, going through the same process again. Not so bad, methinks. Not so bad at all.

==================

1 Notes:  I don't have time to post the new version today, but I will this week.  However, I really hate cutting it up into so many blocks to make blogable.  I may end up hosting it on my webpage and posting a link to it here.  Not sure yet.

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One, Two, Three: Index.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Points One, Two, and Three: Edit One

Important Caveat:  This novel is being written experimentally--that is, out of order.  Below is the correct reading order.  You can also find the same on the Works in Progress Page.  

• Key Plot Point One's Parts:  One, Two, Three, and Four
• Place Holder Summary #1 (Between KPP1 and KPP2):   Entire Post.
• Key Plot Point Two Parts:  Entire Post
• Place Holder Summary #2 (Between KPP2 and KPP3):  Entire Post
• Key Plot Point Three Parts:  Entire Post

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point Three: Edit One.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point Three: Edit One

Important Caveat:  This novel is being written experimentally--that is, out of order.  I will post the correct reading order as I go on the Works in Progress Page.  

For those interested in reading what came before this point, I will post an Index shortly.


By suppertime, I was finishing up work on what I termed the Final Project. Horse hated the entire idea. Over the last while of our time together, he did everything he could to jar the thought from my mind. He almost succeeded. A small band of survivors almost succeeded. Hope of escape almost succeeded. Any desire to fail at the Final Project died with them. Everything came to an end. Not everyone was so fortunate as to choose that end.

Besides, the horse would survive. He survived before my coming, survived the mist, and would survive me taking leave. He was a survivor. I was not. I didn't have the heart for it. I didn't particularly want to die, but I was resolved to escape Paradise. Permanently. Leaving nothing behind for it take. Over the year, I had come to see that this was the only way left me.

Walker Novel 2: Place Holder Two, Version One

The following summary covers the more important bits that lie between the posted KPP2 and soon-to-be posted KPP3. For those interested in this novel for the story's sake instead of the writing method, I hope this summary will help catch you up and not spoil your reading pleasure.

Summary of Main Events between KPP2 and KPP3.

Belated Snippet of Walker Novel Two

Normally I wouldn't post a snippet on Saturday, but yesterday got away from me.  So here it is.   A little setup and a little spoiler.  Walker has been rescued (that is KPP3, under revision now thanks to a nifty new idea that is gonna effect the rest of the novel from this point onward).  He is currently back in the border-guard/mehnsettir barracks.

========================

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Snippet #1

Maha gestured me to a chair and bid me to sit.

I declined.  And pulled out another special blend cigarette to replace the dying one.  Lit it from it.  After a deep puff, I asked, "How long have the Regulators been deceased?"

That put her out of sorts.  After a moment of a recalculation on her part, she answered, "Six months after you were exiled."  She eyed the cig.  "Put that out.  You know regulations."

I ignored her and stubbed the dead on out on my hip and flicked it into her gold-plated trash basket.  Even it bore her name.  "Six months.  Exactly how long ago was that?"

She gave me a look.  Then gave my cig a new one.  Considering the damage smokes have done to my mind, eh?  I tapped it on a paper-free edge of her almost entirely-paper-free desk.  Her face alternately colored than paled.  Then firming her look, she ponied up, "Six months ago."

A year.  A year.  A year.  One godsdammned year.  That was how they counted the time they robbed me of.  One year.  [1] My fingers crushed the cig better than my heel ever could.  I pocketed it.  Waste not, want not.

"You seem surprised, Walker."

And she had gone blind in the interim.  Surprise was the least my emotions.  Then again, she always found it easy to read what she wanted to in me. 

After a moment, I managed plainly enough, "Time flows differently when you are the other side of the equation, Colonel."

Her title was like a slap.  And she returned to the true business at hand, moving to slide behind her desk.  Keeping her desk and duty between us.  She was always good at that.  "You are the current sole heir as Regulator to both Lands, Walker." [2]

=======================

Footnotes, spoiler-heavy.  Some sections have been whited out, so that if you want know, highlight the area with your mouse.

[1]  It will be explained later on that due to a device on Paradise, his place of exile, he has been gone far longer than one year.  It was in fact, 50 years by his reckoning.  How did he survive that, without aging?  Well, I have a few excuses in place, but he won't learn the real reason until probably Novel No. 3. Back to story.

[2]  In novel number one, in Romeo and Juliet fashion, the heiress of the Regulator's from the Land he calls home married the heir of the other Land.  In the first novel, couriers are introduced.  They can carry objects, magically miniaturized inside themselves.  They can even carry souls, memory, personality.  Walker is a former courier (no one know this, it is illegal for mehnsettirs to be one), and due to circumstances, he ended up carrying the heiress inside himself and having to marry the heir in her name.  His too--for, in this world, there are such things as name-marriages, or in name only marriages.  This is the type of marriage he has to both heirs.  The main purpose of this kind of marriage is usually to marry an heir to his or her sibling.  This makes it so that all children of either person can be potentially heirs, along with the sibling, without the siblings having to actually have children together.  Sorry, I found the whole sibling-marriage thing of pharaohs in Ancient Egypt icky.  This is how I used that penchant but got around it too for my higher-ups.

Snippet or Post

I only have a few more edits left on my Key Plot Point Three.  It is a huge, troublesome part.  8,500 words.  Would have probably been 9,500 if I hadn't removed a section from it for use later.  Even then I am not comfortable with it.  Maybe because I'm not sure if all of it is really Key Plot Point Three material or not.  Also, there is a section of it that is slow.  I envisioned that scene, but what you see in your head doesn't always translate to the page so well.  Maybe that is also part of the problem.  It is not quite what I saw in my head.  Another problem is that it is harder to cut a scene when you know there is some good bits in it.
 
Alright, I talked myself out of it.  I will post a snippet today and work this weekend on that plot point.  Monday will be good for posting the actual bit.

KPP3 and a Snippet Challenge

I am making good progress on KPP3, about halfway through it.  However, it is far easier to write when you have been making progress several days in a row than it is to write coming from a standstill.  For that reason, I need to make sure I keep writing five days a week.

I am starting a writer's challenge in which I post small sections of my work to my blog on a frequent basis.  The rules would be that I must snippet something every other weekday.  It must be of snippetable quality.  And it must come from recent content, dating no earlier than a week ago.  My only excuse would be when I post the next section of the novel.  In that case, the section posting would replace the snippet posting entirely for that day.

Well, them's the rules.  Let's see if I can keep to 'em.

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One and Two: Index.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point One and Two: Edit One

Important Caveat:  This novel is being written experimentally--that is, out of order.  I will post the correct reading order as I go on the Works in Progress Page.


Key Plot Point One, Edit One:

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

Place Holder Number One, Version One.  (For an essential summary of what happened between Key Plot Point One and Two.)  

•  Entire Post

Key Plot Point Two, Edit One:

• Entire Post

Thanks for reading!

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point Two: Edit One.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point Two: Edit One

Important Caveat:  This novel is being written experimentally--that is, out of order.  I will post the correct reading order as I go on the Works in Progress Page.  

If you are interested in reading what came before this point, here are the links for Key Plot Point One's Parts. 

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

To know what events occurred between Key Plot Point One and Two, read this Place Holder Summary.  Thanks, and enjoy!

==============

Sleep was a bygone luxury my nerves couldn't afford. The stones protected us, in theory, but deep down in my soul seeded doubt bloomed anew each time mist--and night--fell, and the eating began. Something I couldn't see and couldn't really feel kept the mist and the death at bay. How long could that last? Magic never lasted forever. Would I even know it when it fell? Would I be sitting here one night, and the predators swarm right in?

With thoughts like this huddling in my mind as I kept my solitary watch, I was lucky to snatch a few minutes here and there. Horse did better. He did not share in my uneasy vigils, instead sleeping for great spans of time, far more than any horse. Before, I would have taken courage by his seeming lack of concern. What was good for the horse was good for the man. Usually. Except that more than once, when the mist was weak at the beginning and end, he'd forayed amongst the monsters and carnage for dinner. In those brief moments, more one of them than one of us. Even so, he was still part horse, he never went far, would become skittish at sudden movement, and took great care to shake and rub of the ash-like mist once he sought sanctuary with me again. But in those moments, when his demon side would emerge and cavort with his kindred, I never felt more alone.

Walker Novel 2: Place Holder One, Version One

The following summary covers the more important bits that lie between the posted KPP1 and soon-to-be posted KPP2. For those interested in this novel for the story's sake, I hope this summary will help catch you up and not spoil your reading pleasure. For those interested in the writing method, the following hints at the nature of Events Level One method. Either way, this is a learning process. My own plans change from the experience gained by the actual writing process. I expect them to change even further, and many times over, by the time the novel is done. But instead of dreading it, I'm coming to rely on it in order to lift practical ideas from purely theoretical.

Enjoy!

Walker 2 Novel: Update on Progress

Healthy progress so far. 

• Events-Level One outlined--all 10 of them.
• 1500 words on ELO1--but not done yet.

After I get a few more words on ELO1, I'll take a break and start on KPP2 edits.  Originally, I intended to edit and post the Events right after I write them.  The OCDish part of my brain prefers balance and wants to do edits on ELOs like I ended up doing on KPPs--that is, after all of them are written.  The part of my brain that dislikes so much editing agrees.  So that may work out better this time around.  Consistency.

So that is my new plan--ever-changing, ever-keeping me on my toes.

The Next Step

The whole point KPP system is that you write the most important parts first of your novel.  And then you fill in around it.  I had seven key plot points.  They are, in order: the beginning, launch, turning point one, mid point or turning point two, turning point three, climax, and ending.  As I am still new to writing out of order, I wanted to maintain some sense of linear progress.  That is why I wrote these in the above order.  I am saving writing completely out of order for a later stage, when my small attention span is under its greatest strain to stay focused to get finished with this novel.

So what comes after the KPP?  Well, it is time to return to the beginning and start writing the Events - Level One (ELO) sections of the novel.  In this sense, events are the next most important sections of the novel to write.  They are sense are as self-contained sections as KPPs are.  They can be a scene or a chapter or multiple scenes or chapters.  They are written in order like KPPs are.  But more importantly, ELOs support the KPPs.  Generally you have one before and one after each KPP.  Of course, the beginning and ending will only have one associated ELO, but generally so will the climax which abuts the ending.  Sometimes there is only a minor event between two KPPs.  If that is the case, that event is not written at this time.

However, I know of the following ELOs for sure:

• One after the beginning.
• One after the launch. 
• One after turning point one.
• One before midpoint.
• One before climax.

My outline is not set in stone.  It becomes more focused with these KPP and ELOs.  However, I do feel there must be some more ELOs.  After I finish the first one, hopefully I'll have a better idea.

On Key Plot Point One: Plans Often Go Awry.

If Key Plot Point One (KPP1) were placed in a novel proper, it would encompass several chapters and scenes*. It was all that I felt the Beginning of the novel should contain. Even so, KPP1 did not go according to plan. Originally, meeting the horse was part of KPP2, but it fit better here.

Also, I originally planned on editing each KPP on the day after I wrote it, so I could maintain running edits throughout writing the novel. I had to adjust my plans for nano. For that reason, I am considering posting multiple versions of this novel as it goes through different editing phases for those those interested in the adjusted method for writing out of order.

I also planned on writing the one of the first Event PPs yesterday and editing KPP2, but fixing the formatting errors took longer than I thought on my posts. If you notice any lingering errors, please let me know. I just fixed a stray bold tag. I hope there are no others. But to return to my point, the writing and editing goal will begin today**.

That is all I have time for now. Next posts should include more information on KPP and Level One Event writing.  Perhaps even a posting schedule.

=========================

Notes:

* Key Plot Points were originally called Key Scenes.  While I am not happy with either name, Scene is confusing since I use the term "scene" to denote a smaller, self-contained section of a chapter.  Sometimes a chapter is made up of just one scene.  To avoid confusion, I'm getting away from calling them Key Scenes.

**  As KPP2 is under a thousand words currently, it shouldn't take long to edit and post.  However, before I post, I have to figure how to properly summarize the content that lies in between it and that PP.  It will be spoiler-filled, for those more interested in the reading than the writing, I'm afraid.  That is another problem of writing out of order--it is hard to share your work. 

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One: Edit One. Index to Parts.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point One: Edit One

Important Caveat:  This novel is being written experimentally--that is, out of order.  I will post the correct reading order as I go on the Works in Progress Page.


Phew!  Finally all posted.  For reading ease, here are the links to all parts of Key Plot Point One.  Later on, I will add links to discussions on the technique I am using and how it is working out so far.

• Part One
• Part Two
• Part Three
• Part Four

Enjoy!

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One: Edit One. Part Four/Last

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point One: Edit One


This key point has been divided into several parts for easier loading.

You can find Part One, Part Two, and Part Three here.

==========================

Part Four (Last Part)

I didn't intend from the get-go to use the demon horse's stonehenge. It had a distinct lack of appeal, as the creature obviously wanted something from there and would go there when he woke up. He had sent me an image of it, placing me there too. If I could allow it a human level of reasoning, that all spelled one thing: a trap. All good reasons to stay clear and steer toward the woods.

But the nearer I got to the skeletal woods, the less I liked it. At certain angles, the woods looked more skeletal than I liked. Sickly. Diseased. And creepy. I couldn't quite convince myself things were not moving within, including the trees themselves.

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One: Edit One. Part Three

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point One: Edit One

This key point has been divided into several parts for easier loading.

You can find Part One, Part Two, and Part Four here.

============================

Part Three

I learned to adapt a soft focus. Soft on target, just to the point where if you looked, you saw something odd, a shimmer like crosshatching of one reality over another but not quite. Ghost like. What it took was time, lots of bumps and bruises and sore egos and sorer patience, to train my eyes to see differently enough. To focus on these different wavelengths of hatching. The clearest, crispiest ones were the ones that I did my best, fastest travelling by, no matter how indirect that route was.

Eventually, I put my hand on the door of the main house and let go of my focus. The illusion slammed back, and no amount of rubbing took away a bit of my headache. I squinted at my watch to figure how long the direct indirect route took me.

What it told me made me seek stronger confirmation elsewhere.

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One: Edit One. Part Two.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point One: Edit One


This key point has been divided into several parts for easier loading.

You can find Part One, Part Three, and Part Four here.

====================================

Part Two

The schism spat me out, face first, onto a road. As I pushed myself quickly to my feet, I expected an audience and the need to explain matters when I really rather not at best. Or a group of people who cut and took first and asked questions later at worse.

Walker Novel 2: Key Plot Point One: Edit One. Part One.

Walker Universe Novel 2: Working Title: Paradise

(c) Jodi Ralston

Key Plot Point One: Edit One


This key point has been edited into several parts for easier loading.

You can find Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four here.

==========================

Part One

It was a beautiful day to be exiled. Our party of eight stood in a schism's clearing, illumed by that giant, restless, iridescent spark. The air didn't suffocate. The sun didn't blind nor boil you. The mid-morning sky was a cheery clear blue between fluffy confections of . . . . Who was I kidding? Pretty or not, they were going to throw me through that schism never to return this reality again, for doing the right thing.

"Does the accused have any last words?"

Behind, behind, behind

I haven't worked on my nano for days.  Why?  You can read why on my Happy Freelancer blog post.  Winning nano this month isn't too likely, even if I get 50,000 words.  Why?  Because these words are out of order.  Even so, I am going to write everyday, but to boot, I am editing my Key Scene/Plot Points.  I only have the Ending left to write.  It will be interesting to edit the Beginning at the same time as I write the Ending, because the two will play off each other.

Anyway, I will not make nano this year, but I will write, at my own pace, and I will edit, at my own pace, too.  And as Sam Wyly wrote in 1,000 Dollars and Idea*, defeat simply means you have a new goal to set.  So, I will set a goal for this month.  To have the edited Key Scene/Points posted on this blog by November 30th.  And that goal and others will help me toward achieving my ultimate:  to have the entire novel posted on this blog** by December 31st.  

===================

Notes:

* Amazon Affiliate link. 

** That does not mean a complete novel, ready to be sold.  This is merely the first round of editing.  The novel will still have another editing session left.  Even then, I wait until the entire series is finished before I self-publish, and the series is somewhere in the range of 8 to 10 books, not including side projects.