I hate editing. It is hard, and it feels like I am cutting large chunks out of my novel, but if it makes it a best seller, who am I to disagree with anyone, but it is hard earned words that were put onto the paper, it hurts to see it all disappearing into the delete box!
Still I am working on character development, and making my main characters have flaws, internal conflicts, in order to make them interesting. Tycelon is going to run on gut instinct, only to have his gut be wrong, well not totally, but enough to make him doubt himself. Delonia, she has depression which Sephron will try and exploit. Sephron has the revenge aspect, he just wants to get back at Obes. Ubek – I am not sure at this stage, he is such a conflicting character, contradicting himself, I think that might be his flaw, only because he has to lie for most of the story before he can fully reveal himself, and it goes against everything he stands for.
Zorek, well he is a little different. I am not sure what his character flaw is, except that he doesn’t have any faith in himself, low self esteem perhaps? Gallandra, well we won’t meet her until the next story, but she is too self assured, and this perhaps could get her into trouble. Opia also has low self esteem, but more towards men, otherwise she is quite self assured too. She just seems to always get it wrong with men and she does it big time in this story! Goloda, he has misplaced loyalty, Qork, well, I might just eliminate him and Yoni from the story, because I am not entirely sure how they are going to fit in, and to lessen the number of characters, and to tighten up the story, they are unnecessary characters in the later books. Fojema, the bodyguard, well, he is tricky, he is the strong silent type, but I really need to give him a hook. He is in love with Opia, but doesn’t reveal it until late in the third story, perhaps I need the subtle looks and dark brooding eyes a bit earlier, just so it doesn’t seem like an afterthought.
Wow, just nutting that out has given me a basis to continue on with, although I still need to develop some of the characteristics a bit further. I have Tycelon declare his love for Delonia early on in the piece, but I don’t want this to be a love story, or a quest for love. I want it to be a quest, which turns out to be something they had not originally planned on. I want Tycelon at the end of it, to be in a different mindset from when he started, and some of this could be not to accept his gut instinct on things.
Now that is a good question. Where do I want Tycelon to be, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally at the end of the story? He has to have changed in order to become a better person. Perhaps I need to go back and do his star sign again, find out his strengths and weaknesses and work from there!
Oh, have I mentioned lately that I hate editing?