Day Twelve - 23,418 words and counting

This month, I'm writing a novel. All my progress can be found on my private blog. The commentary for each day's work can be found below.

My original plan for this chapter was a shopping trip for Bryony with Elma. But Elma is now out of the picture for the present, and anyway, they've bonded enough. I decided that my best course of action would be to get Bryony paired up with Yancy right away, and maybe add Sili, and Zeoly into the mix.

But how to get her there? Well, I did establish the character of Tonio at the beginning of chapter five, right? And Bryony's going to be coming right back through that door. I wish I could claim that I planned it all in advance, but I'm not nearly that swift. The thing with Tonio was a throwaway scene when I wrote it, but now it sets up the reason why Tonio would help her.

I wanted her to have a bit of a tour guide, and Tonio fit the bill. It makes him feel good to know things, since I don't think that knowing things is what he's known for.

The scene where Bryony made her decision to be a part of this world happened accidentally. I had not planned for it, but as she walked outside, I realized the significance of what was happening. All along up until now, she has been shuffled off from one minder to another. Merona, to Elma, to Fiya and Gessica, to Tonio. Even though she's about to go into the Hall of Students, where her freedom of movement will be somewhat curtailed, she'll also have greater freedom than she has up until now.

I wanted her to see what her future looked like and come to terms with it, at least a little. I had to justify her motivation to actually try in her classes. If she felt like she wasn't even supposed to be there, any effort on her part would seem unjustified. Now, I can have Bryony throw herself wholeheartedly at becoming a part of this world in which she finds herself.

I barely made the word count with this section, but it's not because I ran out of stuff to write, I wanted to end at a natural stopping place, and up next she goes into the Hall and stuff starts to happen. That, I'm going to save for tomorrow.

As chapter 7 continues!

Today's Total: 1,697 / 1,689 words (100.5%)
Progress to Date: 23,418 / 20,263 words (115.6%, 1.9 days ahead)
Total Progress: 23,418 / 52,347 words (44.7%)