M. B. Weston’s Writing Diary: 02/05/15

Last night I finished the rough draft to my superhero steampunk short story!

When I say rough, I mean rough. Some sentences are meant to describe two to three paragraphs of action. (“Both of them fought” is an example.) I still don’t know any characters’ names. I also really need to develop a better understanding of my superhero’s power. Oh yeah, and I have a super villain who kind of showed up and now needs development.

Fortunately, I’m writing the story from a seven-year-old boy’s point of view, so I don’t have to know everything about these characters. I also don’t have to know anything about the science behind the steampunk weapons I’m creating. (Well, I do, but I don’t have to write it.) I have to stick to the knowledge and understanding of the boy.

Now on to filling in all the details and making this thing feel like a story rather than an outline! My biggest problem is going to be describing the fight between a masked super-villain and an unknown super

hero when my character doesn’t know their names… Urgh… Too many sentences with “The guy in black hit the other guy” aren’t going to work. (Truthfully, that sent next should never hit publication, either.) I might have to create “rumors about an evil guy whom sailors called _____.”

Any of you ever run into problems with tripping over your words because your POV character doesn’t know the others’ names?

Toodles!