The Peaceful and Just revison page #148

I seem to be getting further and further away from The Silent and Brave. That is, as I continue to work on the first book it becomes more and more complicated, and more and more apparent that it needs more work than I thought. I was sure that chapter eleven, Kapala, was the one that needed the most work, and that I could fix it and be done with it, but now that I have fixed it and moved on to chapter twelve, Empty House, I find that 1-it is even more confusing and 2-I don’t even want to look at it. I know what that means. I read on some agent’s page of wisdom that the parts you struggle with as a writer or the parts where you lose interest and can’t seem to find a way forward are the parts that they will find need more work, and that is what is happening here. This is where my story drifted off into craziness, the empties (matter transporters), Los Lewr (the third ward of the pallbearers), and Niisteen (the last scientist, the only resident of the third ward, and the one who has learned to make empties again).

What I have to do is stick to my few simple sentances philosophy, and explain this stuff. It’s all important. The story is the story. Even if its fantastic. And I have to write it. I’ve been working on it in my mind since I was a teenager, so there’s really nothing else for me. I even had a great idea for book three, where Mesopotamia Wrath’s daughter will come into the story to tempt Kavela and try to steal him from Ullane. But before I can do any of that, I have to make book one better.

I realize now that the prologue I wrote about Niisteen is very important, and lets me reveal a lot of details that I need later. I have to make a better picture of the empties. I have to make a better picture of the “Empty House,” which is Los Lewr, and of Niisteen himself and his motivations. These things must be clear and concise before I can move on. It all starts with a few simple sentances. So that, even as I feel like I am moving backwards, I can realize that I’m really going in the right direction.