One of the things I’ve always heard about writing is that you should stick to writing about what you know. I’m sure that’s good advice, but that leaves me with a problem; I feel strongly that the best stories have some romance in them–and I don’t have a romantic bone in my body! So, I’m left with a couple of options; hire a ghost writer or fake it. Chapter twenty is my attempt–probably a feeble one, infuse some romance into Ehlsewhere, while also progressing the castle intrigue subplot. I will tell you up front that besides the inherent stress of trying to write out of my comfort zone, I also struggled with putting one of my favorite characters, Chahrity, into a situation that I’m still not entirely sure how it will work out. Still, because I’d already set this up when Sir Behkworth convinced Queen Vhanity to marry off her daughter, I had to deal with the consequences, and I decided to focus more on Chahrity’s heart than the politics. But, did it work…?
Let’s talk about the writing because I’m more confident I know how I did in that respect than the rest of it. My verdict? Sentence by sentence and paragraph by paragraph, I think it reads almost like a second draft. It flowed nicely and I have very few areas where I had to ask myself what I was really saying. All good. Next, character wise, I like the new royals. In fact, I like them a lot and I look forward to reading more about them. Which leaves the elephant in the kingdom…was this a romantic chapter? Would someone who enjoys stories romantic movies and novels think, Okay, that’s a good start, or would they shake their head and say, “How sad.” I don’t have the answers to that at this point, which brings up another point…authors NEED Beta Readers to tell them where their story’s weaknesses are. So, as far as chapter twenty goes, I will have to wait for someone else to tell me if it needs polishing, rewritten or if it’s just a total loss. Unromantic me liked the chapter, so I’m hoping it’s salvageable.
I hope you and yours are having a blessed day,
Mike
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