I wrote about ten pages last night. That felt good. It was good to get inside the heads of my characters again. But that's the problem with what I wrote. I was too far inside their head and not far enough inside the plot. It wasn't bad. The first chapter was all one scene inside the barn. It tied together nicely with the ending of the previous chapter but not enough happens. Part of the purpose for the scene was to show Jacob's growing attraction to Jael and to show Jael more or less recovered. The scene also showed Jacob's frustration with his life and both character's frustration with being tied together and cooped up at the farm for weeks. In the end, they decide to go on 'an adventure' (ie go to the Grange). The problem is, I spend 1300~1700 words doing that. I need to accomplish all that with less.
The next chapter is my attempt to combine the 'walk' from chapter 3 with the walk to town from chapter 5. Again, there's some good character stuff but we (and they) are headed in the wrong direction. Jacob and Jael are headed to Isaac's house to pick him up and then go into town. Now this makes logical sense, Jacob misses his friend and wants to play after all this bedrest. However, it doesn't make story sense.
Story-wise, it is the 'right' thing to do to avoid Isaac's farm (and the insight into Isaac's home life, etc) and head straight towards the plot: the Grange, the sword and the Storyteller.
So I won't say that last night was wasted, if nothing else it's good to be writing again, but I don't know how much of what I wrote I will keep. I suspect not much. That's ok. This fourth draft is almost a first draft again.
I just wrote that last line and scared myself.
We'll try again tonight and see if we can't aim ourselves at the village and the plot this time. Who knows, maybe they'll pick up Isaac on the way. Or I can move Isaac's farm to being on the way to the village.
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