Weekly report

Last Week's Goals:

1. Continue revising/editing through Chapter 20. Wow, I don't think I even came close. In my defense, I did not take into account that my chapters are considerably longer in the middle of the book than they were at the beginning. I have 31 chapters total and am half way through chapter 15. I'm on page 87 out of 172 and up to 87,172 words. 
2. Complete my summary. Oh my goodness! I forgot all about my summary.

Goals for next Week:

1. Continue revising/editing through Chapter 20.
2. Complete my summary.

What I learned last Week:
Last week was spent fretting over Commander Landry Sutton. I've always been in love with Landry, but I started to fear he was a stock hero character.  He's a good looking, built the way I like, intense, observant, strong, honest, all around good guy. Did I mention he is hot? Anyway, focus...he is the guy that breaks down Talia's walls, making her see that she does need other people in her life, him especially. He makes her feel safe, risks his life to save hers, and most importantly, makes her feel alive for the first time since the death of her family years earlier.

I learned last week that all of those things are not bad. It would have been fine if he was a stock character simply because Talia is the driving force for the story. Landry focuses the attention on her, completes her, but I didn't want him to just be a tool for making Talia look good. I want him to be as strong on his own (for reasons not to be revealed until I start writing book 2 in the series), but how to do that? Sometimes asking questions can be the only thing you need to find a better story line. A twitter friend 10minutewriter/K Grubb asked, "Who does he hate more than anyone?"

My first thought was, "No one. He's the good guy, the hero, the love interest." *GASP!* Wait, is that all he is? Where is the depth of character? Even the best people have hated at least one person in their lives. So, I started thinking about it. Who would Landry hate? How would that affect his actions in my story? And do you know what? Landry surprised me with some very intense feelings toward one of the minor characters already in the story! I never knew. I've known these guys for eight years (well Selvan only two, but still) and I never knew. The coolest thing is that when I started writing in their relationship, several things that I wrote a long time ago finally made sense. *light bulb comes on* So that is why Landry did that, said that, felt so strongly about that.

So, if you feel a character is lacking something, don't give up. Keep asking questions, or ask your peers to ask questions. You might be surprised what you will learn.