![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexandraerinI'm really glad I decided not to push myself for three chapters this week. As things stand chapter 10 is not jelling as easily as some of the past chapters (for instance, the ones with Callahan) have. One of the reasons I liked having a cushion of written-ahead material is the ability to step back and look at it and see what's working great and what's not working so well. The problem with doing that on a three-times-a-week schedule is that it quickly erodes the cushion.
Anyway, as I consider the problems of this chapter I'm considering experimenting with viewpoint a little bit more; giving some chapters a short introduction that is either third person omniscient or a fragment of an in-universe source. The latter would probably be more interesting but the former is more flexible. For instance, the information I want to convey about "the Arch" at the start of the chapter could be rewritten to be more of a guidebook style instead of trying to convey it exclusively through Mackenzie's impressions. Ah, well, on the subject of flexibility there's no reason I'd have to limit myself exclusively to guidebook or narrator.
I don't think I'm going to jump into that with this chapter, though... conversation is probably a better solution there. Mackenzie herself can stand as the guide as she's already been there and her friends haven't. That way, not all the insights on elven and dwarven and other culture that I want to work in have to come from her. If I put Hazel in the scene I can have a secondhand source for dwarven stuff, and actually get her "on camera" since she's been talked about so much. That will also give me a way to anchor Two into the conversation... mentally, she's "there" in the scene but as she hasn't contributed to the conversation at all she might as well not be.
Anyway, as I consider the problems of this chapter I'm considering experimenting with viewpoint a little bit more; giving some chapters a short introduction that is either third person omniscient or a fragment of an in-universe source. The latter would probably be more interesting but the former is more flexible. For instance, the information I want to convey about "the Arch" at the start of the chapter could be rewritten to be more of a guidebook style instead of trying to convey it exclusively through Mackenzie's impressions. Ah, well, on the subject of flexibility there's no reason I'd have to limit myself exclusively to guidebook or narrator.
I don't think I'm going to jump into that with this chapter, though... conversation is probably a better solution there. Mackenzie herself can stand as the guide as she's already been there and her friends haven't. That way, not all the insights on elven and dwarven and other culture that I want to work in have to come from her. If I put Hazel in the scene I can have a secondhand source for dwarven stuff, and actually get her "on camera" since she's been talked about so much. That will also give me a way to anchor Two into the conversation... mentally, she's "there" in the scene but as she hasn't contributed to the conversation at all she might as well not be.