Been writing again.

Well, I neglected this blog for three weeks, which is patently ridiculous. I wasn't writing as much as I should have been during that time. However, last week I started again, and I'm going to try to keep up with it, which means I'll keep up with this blog. At least, that's the theory.

I've reached a point in The Princess Dilemma where a lot of the characters and plot lines are converging in one point, which has made writing a little slow, as I constantly think "Ok, so while this scene is going on, what's going on elsewhere? What are those characters up to? When are they going to encounter this problem?" I think I might need to write an actual timeline, which is not something I'm particularly adept at. I'm forging ahead as far as I can without one, because I'd always rather write fiction than write notes.

That said, I do keep some notes. It's very embarrassing to learn that you've changed a character's name mid-book, because you mis-remembered it. And it's a huge time-sink to scroll through 100 pages looking for a minor player's name. So I made myself write down all of the characters that I've introduced so far, and I'm trying to write down new names as I add them to the book.

Then there was the moment this weekend when I realized that I had not named the monarchs of three of the major countries involved in the story. Bad enough that the Elven Nation currently has no name, but neither did their Queen. So I gave the Elven queen one of my own pseudonyms. I'm so conceited that way! I might change it later, but it works as a placeholder for now.

I'll be spending Christmas Eve, Christmas, and part of Boxing Day dog-sitting for a friend of mine, and I plan to do a bit of writing while I'm there. I may or may not have an internet connection. She said that I can plug into her network, but whether my laptop will play nice remains to be seen. I think I might take advantage of Blogger's scheduled posting feature and slot a piece of fiction to run here on Christmas. I'd call it a present to my readers, but it will be one of my old roleplaying character background stories, so the quality and interest to non-gamers is dubious at best.

My next non-fiction post will probably cover flashbacks, and my current debate with myself as to whether or not I want to use them in The Princess Dilemma.