A friend of mine reminded me yesterday that I hadn’t updated my blog in a while, and that a short posting telling him to look at someone else’s blog does not count. He’s right and I apologize, once again, for my lack.
I’m still waiting for word back on my short story and novella submissions. So there is no news on that front.
It’s actually been a very productive couple of weeks. Retirement is starting to settle into a routine. I get to work on my writing around 8:30-9:00 each morning and generally get in 1,000-2,000 words before noon. The plot is expanding as I go and the characters are coming much more clearly into focus. I’m at about 30,000 words so far, and aiming for around 110,000.
The most fun days for me are when the characters take the story in a direction I did not even see coming. I’ll be writing along, thinking I know where I’m headed and one of them will kind of kick me.
Character: “I would never do that, you know.”
Me: “But I planned on you doing that,”
Character: “I really want to do this instead.”
Me: “Oh, yeah, that’s a great idea.”
Character: “…and I want credit for the idea in the acknowledgment’s section when the book is published.”
Me: “Good luck with that…”
Dragon: “Can I eat him?”
Me: “Hmmmm…”
Till next time,
Steve
A Writer's Haven 
😉
I always love it when characters just take off like that and surprise me. I had two characters I envisioned as close friends…then they met and it was a nasty, spiteful, ugly argument. I tried to change it, but no way…this was it. Eventually, about two books later, they grew to respect each other and some many volumes later, they consider each other family.
You just never know when you begin writing how they will see fit to deliver the story.