I’ve been busy and busy writing. My current WIP (Work in Progress) is progressing well. The story is interesting, the characters are real, and growing. However, it has a subplot which I didn’t plan on: romance. In fact, this book is turning into a romance novel. I’ve never read one, as I’ve said a few times, much less written one. I know some of the tropes and required scenes; I’m hoping that’s enough.

I was a chapter into the book when it hit me. I had two characters that were in the perfect situation for a romance novel. I had to rethink my approach to the book since I hadn’t planned on giving one of my characters as much page-space. I also needed to rethink the point of view (POV) from which I was writing. Instead of writing from the perspective of one character, I now had to write from two. I’ve done stories from alternating POVs, but I didn’t want to break the writing flow I was in. So I have decided to try a novel approach (HA!). I decided I’d continue writing my book in the first POV, but I would also write a second book from the POV of the other character. I’m now writing two parallel books. What happens when I finish both? I’m not sure. My current plan is to edit the final book and interleave the two books into one, creating the alternating POVs I want. Alternatively, I could keep the two books as separate and parallel and only include the other character where required. This latter approach may be interesting, but neither of the books would truly be a romance novel. That’s ok, the romance element, although a major subgenre, is still a subgenre to the book(s). I’ll decide on which approach I’ll take once I finish both books.
The fun thing which occurred, in both books, is I have a minor character who appears and interacts independently with both lead characters. This character wants to have more “screen time”. It’s a fun character to write, and I’m happy to oblige. However, this character stands out and also wants to be the main character. I’m going to have to amp up my other two characters; it’s their story. Also, this book started out somewhat dark, and this third-tier character is silly. I need to tone down the silliness, and keep enough of it and the humor to keep the character likable and interesting.
I want to finish the first draft(s) and then decide what to do during rewrite and edits.
On another note, it’s October. That means, NaNoWriMo 2021 is drawing near. As always, I’ll take part. This will be the 13th consecutive year for me. Wow! I’ll take a break from my WIP and start something new, as I always do. The problem is, I don’t have a clue what I want to write this year. That’s not unusual, and I’m sure I’ll come up with something. Feel free to add me (Archimage), on https://nanowrimo.org if you are participating.
Finally, this week, on October 6 the printed version of my current book “Last Call” will be released. It’s been out in eBook form, and it’s gotten some excellent reviews. Thanks to everyone who has read and posted a review. If you haven’t read it, please do, and review. It’s available from BookBaby, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers. The eBook version is available from Amazon, Apple, etc. Thank you.
That’s it for now.
Word up!

Tags: Writing, NaNoWriMo, Last Call