Saffron: You won't tell anyone about me breaking down? Mal: I won't. Saffron: Then I won't tell anyone how easily I got your gun out of your holster. Mal: I'll take that as a kindness.

'Trash'


The Great Write Way  

A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.


P.M. Marc - Nov 03, 2003 6:55:24 am PST #2586 of 10001
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

Susan, Mary Balogh did almost the exact same sort of plot in Web of Love, though with the twist that the widow had truly loved her husband, the person reached for for post-battle comfort was his attractive good friend.

You might want to check it out to see how she balanced it all and made the characters ones you could feel for throughout.


Betsy HP - Nov 03, 2003 7:11:46 am PST #2587 of 10001
If I only had a brain...

the thing that gets me stuck most often is the feeling that I have to get things perfect out of the box.

Yes, THIS. Just write down the bad phrase and move on.

Susan, a mantra I cling to is "Start where the trouble starts." Does the trouble actually start while she's still married, or does it start after she's already a widow? If so, you can present the character as a widow who knows she ought to grieve more than she does, so the reader never really commits to the old marriage.


Susan W. - Nov 03, 2003 7:54:29 am PST #2588 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights

Susan, a mantra I cling to is "Start where the trouble starts." Does the trouble actually start while she's still married, or does it start after she's already a widow? If so, you can present the character as a widow who knows she ought to grieve more than she does, so the reader never really commits to the old marriage.

I can always go back and rewrite if I change my mind, but I really think it starts while she's still married. At least, I've got an opening scene stuck in my brain that I'm going to run with for now.


amych - Nov 03, 2003 8:43:42 am PST #2589 of 10001
Now let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?

Pastoral English County to Be Named Later

Ooh, lovely! I vacationed there once....

And if it turns out that starting while she's married doesn't work, could your opening scene work recast as a flashback?


Susan W. - Nov 03, 2003 8:48:04 am PST #2590 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights

Quite possibly, though it's looking like several scenes, maybe as much as two or three chapters worth at this point. I want to have Anna and Jack meet and develop a rapport, then have a few scenes with Anna and her husband that illustrate the tensions in their marriage, maybe another nice friendly scene or two with Jack, and then she gets the word that her husband is dead.


deborah grabien - Nov 03, 2003 10:31:12 am PST #2591 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

Pastoral English County to Be Named Later

It's actually called "Washbasin-on-the-Drainboard" on the OS maps....


deborah grabien - Nov 03, 2003 1:39:38 pm PST #2592 of 10001
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.

Anyone around?

I've just written my bio for the launch party announcement, as requested by Ed Kaufman, and it needs some serious beta reading, for tone and clarity.

It's supposed to be longish (he said so - that way, he can chop), and I'm trying for a particular feel.


Susan W. - Nov 03, 2003 1:40:24 pm PST #2593 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights

I'm here, taking posting breaks between mindnumbingly boring work tasks....


Astarte - Nov 03, 2003 1:40:26 pm PST #2594 of 10001
Not having has never been the thing I've regretted most in my life. Not trying is.

I'm here. If you want to send it on profile addy's good.


Betsy HP - Nov 03, 2003 1:41:29 pm PST #2595 of 10001
If I only had a brain...

Send it here, Deb.