As the month slowly winds towards an end, the rough draft of Tears of the Mountain is starting to take shape at last, with the last week being especially productive. The word count has now passed 30,000. Of that, apart from three hundred odd words, it is all of the main plot. The secondary plot hasn’t been started yet, nor a couple of other scenes that need writing up.
The aim is to finish up the main plot line and then go back and write the secondary plot. Once that is done, it will be time to work out how best to weave them together and then write up the ending which ties it all together. While the main plot is drawing to an end, I’m not sure how much more the secondary plot will add to the rough draft – my guess is it will come out to between 40 and 50 K in length.
And then the real work commences.
This first draft is very minimalist – almost more a synopsis. For the most part descriptions are very limited, conversations basic and some characters not fully fleshed out. In fact two characters have had their relationship completely changed halfway through. The two, as I previously mentioned in How To Stop Them killing Each Other, where threatening to derail the whole plot and so changes had to be made.
There are eight characters in the main group – unfortunately some are little more than names at the moment. I need to work out some more details and work that into the story. The main concern is the only woman in the group, Abhiala. I don’t want to cut her out – that would leave no women in the story. The original part of the plot she was going to be involved in seems to have been axed, leaving her with little to do. I’m not turning her into a amazon action-girl – it doesn’t fit – but I need to figure out something for her to do.
So much work to be done still – almost makes you want to start another story instead.
Mist and Shadows 