Tuesday 14th July 2020

My friend was still ill so it was another long evening of writing again tonight.  This proved to be quite handy as tonight I got to work on one of the longest chapters in the book.

In terms of changes, not a whole lot needed to altered.  There were some subtle shifts in continuity due to the ripple effect of earlier changes but mostly this chapter needed a light hand… with one major exception.

I’ve chosen this chapter to introduce a secondary character.  She’s been seen in previous chapters but this is where we finally get to meet her.  I’ll confess I have a little anxiety surrounding whether it is too late.

She does have a quite clear character arc, and a lot of the work tonight was in establishing that, but does that mean with only half a novel, her arc is rushed?

I honestly don’t know the answer.  She’s a great character and I don’t want to see her role diminished, but at the same time, I do think it gives her a clearer (but shorter) arc.

Ultimately, and this is something relatively new for me, I decided that instead of fretting about it, I’d just write it and make adjustments if needed when I do a final read through.

I think, given how long rewrites used to take me, the thought of having to further revise always filled me with dread.  I’ve now done this enough times that I seem (although it’s still early days) to be able to revise a lot quicker.  That means it’s easier to fix if I have made a wrong choice.

So I’ve gone for it.  She gets introduced in this chapter and a lot of the fun character chit chat has been altered to help establish her.

I’d like to think it a sign of confidence to introduce a character so late so the front doesn’t feel rushed.  But will this mean that the latter half of the draft will have to do a lot of work in a short space of time and move that problem to the second half of the story?

I guess we’ll see.

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