Title!

Thanks to some of the Evil Minions, my little novel has a title!

Now I can write the query letter too. Although I haven't finished the rewrite, I want to write the query so I can get a proper focus on the plot.

The mice are playing

With two overnight trips to Hobart in one week, I took a few days off writing.

I was mildly curious to see how the characters would react to being "ignored". I expected Gwyn would be the ring-leader. He's the one who has been bugging me to write the book so far. He's a nice, easy-going sort of characters, who has a POV and a small subplot that seem to satisfy him, but he does have a stubborn streak.

The first few days he just grumbled about a lack of progress, like usual, but then he the vague ideas I'd been toying with for a sequel and turned them into the start of a proper plot, with himself as a bad guy. The most unlikely bad guy I've ever written, I'm sure, but the story he is offering hits many of my "that'd be fun to write" buttons. Sneaky little bastard.

I need to get back to writing the WIP as soon as possible before he comes up with something worse.

Sense words

A technique for adding a touch of individualness to a character's dialogue is to pay attention to what sense-related cues a character uses. I'm sure there's a technical term for them. People tend to stick to one type of sense & visual words are the most common:

I see what you mean.
That doesn't look good.
Do you want to look into it?

Instead, someone could say:

I hear you.
Do you want talk about that?

That doesn't feel right.
How do you feel about that?

Of course, this should go beyond just word choice. A character who is aurally inclined is going to behave in a slightly different ways to a predominently visual person. Do they give verbal directions or draw a map? Do you talk a lot when nervous? Make frequent eye contact? Or touch people for reassurance? Look? Listen? Do?

Name Game

I am so tired of coming up with names for things and people.

Now I'm stuck on a surname, of all the stupid things. These are usually easy because they don't get used much, but Morgan is digging in his heels. I think he realised he was too co-operative over his first name. ("That's mine!")

So it has to start with a B, have ls and in it and end with a, or maybe e; and have d' or De at the front. Why???

(He's considering Sarles at the moment, so maybe he's just unsure.)

One Third

I'm one third of the way through the first draft.

This is the point, where you look back at all the work you've done and realise there's twice that more to go!

Therefore, I am Officially Discouraged.