Saturday, October 6, 2012

In Which The Theme Is At Last Introduced


Just wrote a scene in which my theme is fleshed out. While I put seeds of the theme in the previous five chapters, Chapter Six finally confronts it head-on. I figured you'd enjoy a sneak-peek, so here's a snippet from Chapter Six.


Ne'ram paused. “Now listen to me. I said I didn't have much time. I can feel a coldness climbing over my bones...but ah, I think I'm ready for it. It twists in my stomach, but I shall embrace it. To speak with my God at last!” For a moment, he lapsed into silence. Then he blinked. “Death puts me off track, lad. As I was saying, I don't have much time. In order for this quest to work, you need to remember two things.”

“Which are?”

“First, let me ask you a question. How much are you willing to give up to see the curse destroyed?”

Elijah's stomach lurched. How much would he give up? To find forgiveness...everything, maybe. If God were truly real, then he would give up anything. But instead, he found himself saying, “Why do I have to give up anything at all?”

“I tell you the truth, lad...this quest, if you accept it, will cost you dear. Good things always do. But I didn't ask what you would give up, but what you were willing to give up. There's a difference, lad.”

“I—” Elijah halted. Then he forced it out: “I'd give up anything.”

“Even your life?”

“To destroy the curse?” Elijah swallowed. “Yes.”

“That's what I needed to know, lad.” Ne'ram smiled, as if he had just confirmed something he had suspected. “The willingness is there; faith is what you must discover now. But what you have just said is the key to getting Daren's participation.”

“But how—”

“Tut, lad! I don't give out free advice. Figure it out for yourself. Wisdom isn't given, but earned. Now, for the second thing...what was it?” Ne'ram screwed up his face for a moment, and then he lit up. “Aha! When the time comes, remember this: that even though you think it may cost you your life, take the risk and do what no Elaraster has ever done before. Give up everything that makes you an Elath in order to gain what you can never lose. Don't bother trying to find out what it means, lad; you'll understand it when you need to.”

The words burrowed in Elijah's chest, like a bittersweet ache. “I—I don't understand, Ne'ram.”

“Goodness, lad! Daren isn't the only one who doesn't have ears to hear. I just told you that you wouldn't understand.” Ne'ram blew a half-raspberry. “Now, lad, go convince Daren to go on this fool quest of yours.”


I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. And again, like my other excerpts, this is freshly written and very, very rough. (I also edited for spoilers. Heh heh.) Still, I hope you get the main gist of things.

On other news, I've finally finished Chapter Six after a flurry of writing activity. Tornado C's word count is 31,058 – Chapter Six is nearly ten thousand words long. (There's no doubt about it now: it'll be broken up into at least two chapters during revisions.) Insane, but it's one of the finest things I've ever written. Worldbuilding, character, and theme all reach a peak here as the drive of the plot is at last revealed.

And I'm beginning to hope that the long chapter trend won't continue. My projected word count is climbing past 115,000 words. *headdesk* This book will be impossible to write if it keeps getting longer.

Since I've reached one of the two main turning points (chapter six and chapter eighteen) I'm putting aside Tornado C until December. The rest of October will be devoted to three things: finishing The Prophecy of Einarr (last year's NaNoNovel), continuing my Will Vullerman revisions, and storyboarding for The Voice of God, this year's NaNoNovel.

Then, on to NaNoWriMo! [insert battle cry here.]


4 comments:

Jess said...

Hey, good news. The longer it is, the more you get to cut out when you revise. That sounds brutal, I know, but I really do mean that it's good news. You'll have all of the ideas and depth fleshed out and all you'll have to do is compact them. Cutting is much better than adding on. (My books are too short. I can't seem to get them to grow no matter what I feed them.) Keep it up. You're a fantastic writer.

Hannah Joy said...

*jawdrop* THAT WAS AWESOME!!!! *pantpant*

This is a book I cannot wait until it's published. It's going to be absolutely awesome. :-D

Anonymous said...

YAY, YAY, YAY!!!! Wow. Your novel is going to be AMAZING!! Can't wait to read more!!

daughteroflight

Ninja Tim said...

Gosh, it's been too long since I last visited your superb blog. Glad to see you're doing/writing well.

Your dialogue is awesome! Quick question/thought: What kind of time period is this dialogue coming out of? Ne'ram's frequent use of "lad" (not to mention the semi-Scripture phrasings) makes him sound a touch old-fashioned (which is absolutely brilliant on your part), but some of his wording does sound somewhat modern too.

Best of luck on NaNoWriMo!!!