Less than a week until the start of Camp NaNoWriMo. I am super excited everyone. Time keeps on ticking by and I'm trying to keep myself occupied by reading books so I don't try to start writing early. Though Camp is a bit more flexible and it actually allowed to continue working on an earlier project, I'm really trying to follow basic NaNo rules this time, which means no work on Project Death: Redemption until April 1st.
I guess speaking of time, it is important to discuss continuity, especially when dealing with a series with a rotating cast of characters.
It was interesting enough for me to work on the second book in my series, because it is both prequel and sequel at the same time. The story continues right where it left off from book one, just from a different POV. But Thanos is also recounting the story of how he became Death. That was made much easier by having flashbacks, rather than just having him do extremely lengthy monologues.
What gets really fun is that when I reached the epilogue for book two, the timeline jumped forward by about two months. Thanos does a quick recap of what has happened with him and Tamesis, but there are so many other characters who have done other stuff he doesn't know about.
Remember in my prep post a few weeks ago when I talked about thinking on the beginning of Redemption and how I had tried a few different options but wasn't really liking any of them? Well, I think I figured it out. At work I mused on the idea and a possible first line came to me, which then led to me thinking about exactly how the first chapter would pan out.
The problem with my first chapter idea is that most of it takes place in Julianne's head. There is no real character interaction...unless I slightly bumped up my timeline to bring in some people. And when I thought of that, I could picture a conversation between Damir and Sitara, which led me to a continuity issue with certain events in the second book.
I guess that means that the beginning of this third book starts in the middle of the second book. In edits, I'm sure that will be a bit more interesting. I'll have to make sure that events happen in the right order and that it all sounds plausible in the timeline I have to work with.
Certainly it is doable, but boy does it make thinking about the story line a bit more convoluted.
This is what I'm thinking about now, but really, I just want to focus on getting as much of the first draft written in April as I can. Fine tuning it all can wait until afterwards. That's when I check to make sure that the character growth is gradual and as organic as possible, and that my mythology and timeline are all consistent with what has been presented before.
Project Death: Redemption is shaping out to be a fun story, and I can't wait to introduce you all to Jules and to reintroduce you to Damir.
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