I’ve spent much of the last few days shaking off the 2016-2017 school year. It wasn’t a bad year, as teaching years go, but it still takes a lot out of you.
But, it’s over, and now is the Writing Time. And the house-cleaning time, and the child-raising time. But without work-time, those other things go smoother.
I’ve been looking over my plot outline for _Year of Rage_, and … wow, it was bad. Whole chapters had to go. Luckily, I’ve been on a roll writing new chapter outlines, so I think the book will be okay. It just needed some adjustments. A character was cut, but I think she was superfluous, and a new character was created that will fit into the plotline even better than her predecessor.
The hard part right now is answering questions about the stellar nations in the book. Why is the T’lari Alliance so interested in the Boundless Empire? Why did the Matuush Ascendancy stop innovating so long ago? Why did nobody explore Khuta in the 1400 years it’s been a dead world? What happens if the Emperor of the Boundless Empire dies without heirs (hint: They’re tanists).
It’s exhausting, and often the questions are answered, then a note saying “Gods below, don’t ever put this in the book!” is appended.
Right. Back to work.