Shanung has a meeting with some of his most trusted members. There’s Mourn, a woman of the ‘third-culture’ (a group of rebellious young Shiirati that dislike the old traditions they were raised on). There’s Cyronil, her boyfriend that she indoctrinated into the third-culture. There’s Eth, an analytical, highly intelligent man who’s only ambition is to study literature abroad. And, of course, there’s Marrow.
Writing dialogue between five people was quite a challenge. In fact, I used to rewrite this particular scene for practice over and over again. So really, this is a very familiar scene to me, and this version is a re-re-re-re-rewrite. It feels almost as polished as my short story.
The situation is dire. We learn that Cirellio is just one of three men Lord Gazic has been looking for. Gazic asks Shanung to find out what they are planning, suspecting whatever it is will be during the feast.
But what Gazic doesn’t realize is the city is crawling with guards. And they’ve been hostile lately, looking for any excuse to arrest Shanung’s men, hoping to ultimately run him out of Shiira.
They weigh out the pros and cons, debating whether or not to follow their orders, and decide to leave the chapterhouse to hunt down the three men.
They leave a protesting Marrow behind since he’s not as experienced.
WC: 2,237
Total: 8,369
What’s fun is these last four or five scenes can easily be rearranged into whatever order I want.
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When you’re faced with something that you know will be potentially difficult, is re-re-re-re-rewriting your normal routine?
[Reply]
Comment by christopher. — October 31, 2008 @ 9:50 am
“When you’re faced with something that you know will be potentially difficult, is re-re-re-re-rewriting your normal routine?”
Umm nope I just wanted to practice dialogue because it was something I was struggling with—and what better way to do it with than with a scene featuring five conversationalists? Remember back when I said I was participating in a dialogue workshop at fmwriters.com (I think it was the post right after my one-year-as-a-writer post)? This was the scene I chose to work with, so it was required I re-re-(etc)write it each week. It’s definitely not the norm! Rewriting is a bad thing when I’m trying to complete a first draft. That’s why I started using the anti-perfectionist rule. If I hadn’t made that decision, I know I wouldn’t be nearing the 10k mark today.
I’m also writing a short story on the side to practice dialogue and practice writing from a woman’s perspective. It’s just the way I work, I guess. I figure one of the best ways to strengthen your weak points is writing through them.
Like when I want to get to know one of my characters better, I don’t conduct interviews, or do ‘Litmus tests’, or fill out ‘character creation sheets’ as some do; I write a scene where the character gets to interact (verbally) with another character I’m already familiar with, because that’s what works best for me.
[Reply]
Comment by cirellio — October 31, 2008 @ 10:56 am
[Reply]
Comment by cirellio — October 31, 2008 @ 7:41 pm
I admire your writing techniques & so glad they are working for you. It’s nice to see a writer that is so dedicated to their work & truly does all he/she can to make it seem real. Chris and I were just talking the other night about how we’re both looking forward to your novel. :)
And yes! I hope you had a happy Halloween as well! I spent mine with two one year-olds, so you can just imagine all the fun I had. :P
[Reply]
Comment by Latrina — October 31, 2008 @ 10:47 pm
GRRR.
Well, phew. Glad to see you’re all right, then, and still writing! :)
[Reply]
Comment by Steph — November 4, 2008 @ 1:23 pm
I’m excited about reading it too.
And I enjoy doing extra work to try and perfect this hobby, because I really do desire to transform these stories into something … you know … magical; something greater than the sum of their parts.
@OS: hehe, don’t worry — I won’t leave my Stephs!
[Reply]
Comment by cirellio — November 5, 2008 @ 11:09 am