This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #533, on the subject of Characters Traveling.
With permission of Valdron Inc I have previously completed publishing my first eleven Multiverser novels,
- Verse Three, Chapter One: The First Multiverser Novel,
- Old Verses New,
- For Better or Verse,
- Spy Verses,
- Garden of Versers,
- Versers Versus Versers,
- Re Verse All,
- In Verse Proportion,
- Con Verse Lea,
- In Version, in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley, and
- Con Version, in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley,
in serialized form on the web (those links will take you to the table of contents for each book). Along with each book there was also a series of web log posts looking at the writing process, the decisions and choices that delivered the final product; those posts are indexed with the chapters in the tables of contents pages. Now as I am posting the twelfth, A Dozen Verses, again written in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley, I am again offering a set of “behind the writings” insights. This “behind the writings” look may contain spoilers because it sometimes talks about my expectations for the futures of the characters and stories–although it sometimes raises ideas that were never pursued, as being written partially concurrently with the story it sometimes discusses where I thought it was headed. You might want to read the referenced chapters before reading this look at them. Links below (the section headings) will take you to the specific individual chapters being discussed, and there are (or will soon be) links on those pages to bring you back hopefully to the same point here.
This is the tenth post for this novel, covering chapters 109 through 120. Previous posts are:
- #524: Twisting Worlds, covering the first twelve chapters;
- #525: Character Battles, covering chapters 13 through 24;
- #526: Versers Adjust, chapters 25 through 36;
- #527: Characters Reorient, chapters 37 through 48;
- #528: Versers Investigate, chapters 49 through 60;
- #529: Characters in Action, chapters 61 through 72;
- #530: Versers Move, chapters 73 through 84;
- #531: Versers Roam, chapters 85 through 96; and
- #532: Versers Chilled, chapters 97 through 108.
There is also a section of the site, Multiverser Novel Support Pages, in which I have begun to place materials related to the novels beginning with character papers for the major characters, giving them at different stages as they move through the books.
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History of the series, including the reason it started, the origins of character names and details, and many of the ideas, are in earlier posts, and won’t be repeated here.
Quick links to discussions in this page:
Chapter 109, Slade 287
Chapter 110, Kondor 292
Chapter 111, Cooper 109
Chapter 112, Slade 288
Chapter 113, Kondor 293
Chapter 114, Cooper 110
Chapter 115, Slade 289
Chapter 116, Kondor 294
Chapter 117, Cooper 111
Chapter 118, Slade 290
Chapter 119, Kondor 295
Chapter 120, Cooper 112
I suggested the polar bears, and Eric said he liked the idea, so I drafted this. I had still not decided whether the bears would attack the Slades or not, and whether they would settle inside the comfort bubble for a while, and whether arctic wolves would come after them, but those were all possibilities.
I left this for Eric to write, partly because when I mentioned what I expected would happen next he observed that the generator had not yet been deactivated, and I hadn t realized that. Thus he finished the mission, with only a few tweaks and comments from me.
I drafted this. We knew where this was going, but not how it was going to get there.
I got the idea of wolves attacking the bears, and worried that this might be fatal for the Slades–but I realized that the insignificancy spell should work, and so I created this scene in which Slade helps fight the wolves.
I had written the bulk of the chapter and was just getting to the survivors retreating when I decided that I d better make sure arctic wolves actually did hunt in packs, so I checked. Wolf packs are relatively small, mostly, but can reach thirty, and for the reasons Slade gives I decided that they would need to hunt in larger numbers to bring down their best choices in prey.
The story Slade remembers is by O Henry, and I did read it in high school, probably as a freshman. I remember much more about the story, but not the title. On a quick search I came up with The Cop and the Anthem, which appears to be it.
When I started writing this chapter I realized we had a problem. Eric had written in Kondor 291 that he had injured an ear. I had added to Kondor 292 that his divergent self, Skink, had treated it, but at this point as I was starting to write about a trip to the hospital thinking that plastic surgery would be required, I realized that in Kondor 290 he donned his spy gear, which meant he was wearing headphones. I stopped writing and posted questions for Eric. He answered the questions and wrote the rest of the chapter, and I responded with a few more questions.
I resolved one of those questions myself, adding the paragraphs in which repairs to the headgear are discussed.
Eric addressed my concerns that the shattered headphones would have resulted in bits of shrapnel having to be removed, and Kondor s negative reaction to the suggestion that he was lucky.
Eric wrote this, moving quickly toward the climax of the world situation.
I drafted a very short chapter focusing on Slade s thoughts and concerns relative to the litter of lupine carcasses around their water hole. Eric added the mice.
Eric drafted this to tie up some loose ends and move the physics forward.
I had some thoughts on this, and Eric wanted me to write it anyway, so I put together this somewhat gruesome capture and execution.
I had suggested versing out Shella on a botch on the shelter spell, and so I drafted this chapter to make that happen. I m not sure how long Slade will last here without her.
Eric drafted this to bring Amanda back to into play.
I suggested letting Cooper see Lauren leaving the tropical island, and Eric agreed and said I should write it, while he skipped to the next Slade chapter.
This has been the tenth behind-the-writings look at A Dozen Verses. If there is interest and continued support from readers we will endeavor to continue with more behind-the-writings posts and another novel.