Day Seventy - 129,525 words and counting

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.

The Bryony sections always seem to be the easiest for me to write. I've spent longer in her voice than any other character's, and I believe it is one of the more distinct voices. That being said, I've often discovered that there are unexpected challenges that come from writing about events that Bryony doesn't have direct knowledge about.

As an author, I want to be able to hint to the reader what is going on, as well as to Bryony. The reader has information she doesn't have, and can draw conclusions she cannot. Sometimes those conclusions are correct, and sometimes they are not. As a reader myself, one of my favorite surprises is the feeling I get when I'm sure I'm smarter than the author, or at least the author's characters, and discover that I'm not.

But back to today's section. I've already established that the ducal city of Eldercroft is several days away from the capital, so this is not a trip that they're going to finish in one night. Let's see how I can pull this off.

*****

Oh, the old "attack the stagecoach" ploy. You have to love it. In case you're wondering, here's what the dialogue said: "Is that the girl?" followed by "Quiet! They might speak (name of language)."

(A note on grammar for linguistic types. "Menodg" is the command form of the verb "menod" meaning "to look (at)." In this form, it has the basic meaning of "behold," but when made a question becomes something more like "is that ____ that I see?" "Gar" means girl, but not in a nice way, and "hekl" is a reflexive, something like himself/herself. In this context, it means something like, "the actual one."

"Heine" is not a command form; it is a noun, meaning "silence." "An" is a clause initial particle that indicates the information following it is not factual, something along the lines of "what if". "Turtenag" is the name of the language. "Dramachelin" is composed of the elements "dramach," meaning speak, and "-elin," a suffix that agrees with "an.")

I hadn't intended to end the chapter at this point, and in fact, I believe that there is one more short scene to finish up Chapter Eleven. Even so, I believe Chapter Twelve will begin tomorrow as well!

Today's Total: 1,738 / 1,689 words (102.9%)
Dec. Progress to Date: 16,220 / 15,201 words (106.7%, 0.6 days ahead)
Dec. Total Progress: 16,220 / 33,780 (48.0%)