Believe That When I See It

I find I work badly under deadlines and pressure.  I do wonder if I was named "Jenny" for a reason: I get down and lean on my heels and refuse to move when people try to enforce deadlines on me.  I prefer freedom of movement.  My sister-in-law calls me (complimentary, I think) a "free spirit."  Which means I don't function very well in the normal world.  But sometimes even I get fed up with my procrastination and have to ply the whip.  So, thanks to Katiebug, I'm going to make an attempt to join "Actually Finishing Something July."  Like Howl I'll probably tell myself I'm not doing it so that I won't scare myself, and I actually will do it.  It's uncanny how alike Howl and I are...  But here we go.  I'm biting the proverbial bullet. Or arrow, as the case may be.

week one questions
What is your writing goal?

The scene I have ahead of me chronologically in the story is one of a boar-hunt, which is going to take a lot of maneuvering characters and some skill to keep the initial moments from being dull.  (Once you've got a boar, of course, things are never dull.)  But I'm balking on getting through those first social scenes in getting the party together and out into the blasted cold of the early November morning.  Social scenes are always daunting.  This is what I want to push through and finish by the end of July.  Which will come faster than I know.

Tell us about this project.  Give us a small synopsis.

"When a young Victorian lady is shipped off to Naples to catch a suitor, she wasn't expecting a suitor to catch her. Kidnapped and a world away from home, Margaret Coventry finds herself fighting for her life and the life of the strange world she is beginning to call home."  And there is the groundwork for my third novel and work-in-progress Plenilune.  This novel is a lot "heavier" than its companion Adamantine, in large part because the world of Adamantine was not the main point, though it was undeniably an important one.  Adamantine dealt with more intangible, metaphysical aspects whereas in Plenilune the physical place Plenilune is almost as important and grand a character as the people who populate her.  Plenilune is consequently very "heavy" in feel and I often have the impression of biting off more than I can chew.  But then that's really nothing new.

How long have you been working on this project?

I started Plenilune last September (2011) but I didn't announce it on The Penslayer until October when I was sure the story was serious and was actually going to go somewhere.

Introduce us to three of your favourite characters in this project.

Only two of the three show up in my scene here, but I think so far my favourite characters are the fox, Skander Rime, and a grim tie between Aikin Ironside and FitzDraco.  I really love them all and they are a lot of fun to work with (as I'm doing this post I'm actually beginning to look forward more to attending a boar-hunt with them, but those three-to-four characters form a kind of core among the characters and Margaret (and incidentally myself) interact more with them and come to like and know them better than anyone else.  In this scene I will be dealing with Skander and Aikin (and FitzDraco), but not the fox.  So sorry.  Skander and Aikin are both young bucks, in their late twenties, but level-headed and good at both administration and warfare.  While Skander is unsociable by nature you are like to feel more comfortable around him than around Aikin, who, while more engaging, shares through his mother the uncanny elemental aura of the nomadic people.  They are both splendid young men, but Skander simply feels more familiar, and consequently more comfortable, than Aikin.  As for FitzDraco (who, for the purpose of this scene, might as well be my third favourite character), I know I've done a Beautiful People post for him.  I don't know as I would call him fun to write; he is a tough nut, reserved, with an atmosphere of Puritan grey, but the contrast of his Puritan grey demeanour and flaming soul on the inside is always good to write.  He is definitely a great character.

How often do you intend to write in order to reach your goal by August first?

As often as it takes.  I have no clear idea how large this scene might need to be and, once I get started, my thoughts tend to flow contiguously from beginning to end (which makes going back and inserting pieces very difficult).  I will write whenever I have time and until I finish.  The real incentive is the promise that I will finish it by August first.

How will you make your characters behave long enough to finish this goal?

This is not a funny question.  I am locked tine in tine with Rupert at the moment and that is probably my biggest hurtle and why I've been balking on this piece.  On occasion I will gloss over difficulties like this and move on, to come back and fill out later, but my typical approach is to hurl myself headlong into writing, attaining that perfect level of momentum that keeps me moving forward without falling on my face.  I may very well end up taking that approach again.

Go to page 16 (or 6 or 26 or 66!) of your writing project.  Pick your favourite line or snippet on the page.

After that the silence that settled was aching. Margaret stared unseeing into the new fire, trapped in an odd stillness that was not calming. Why did all the silences of this place sound like the silence before a scream? Why did the stillness of this house feel like the stillness before a storm?Plenilune
Tea or coffee?

Tea, always, but probably not absurd amounts of it.  I love tea, but I don't think I'm tea-dependent.  I'm not sure it has enough caffeine to addict me.

Actually Finishing Something July Week One Questions