Day 14 (Team July)

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Good Day!

Here's today's prompt for your writing updates and for any extracts, thoughts, or comments you might have.

Comments

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Heirs and Graces

Phase 3 -- July's writing:



First to post today? I managed to write a little over 500 words while waiting in for my builder to inspect the garage roof. More on That Letter:

Edward took the letter over to a convenient desk in order to draft a reply. Then he read the final paragraph. In it, his father explained that he had already been in touch with the family solicitors to prepare the documentation required to formalise the – he had crossed out 'adoption' here – childcare arrangements. However, if Edward wished greater security for the child, perhaps Hugh and Julia could be consulted about their official role in the boy's upbringing.

Edward dropped the letter onto the desk, not trusting himself not to shred it before he'd finished reading. His father wanted to take Rupert away from him completely, and the remainder of the paragraph, as Edward read on, included not-so-veiled threats as to how this could be accomplished through the courts were the child not to be delivered within a reasonable period. Neither he nor his wife were fit parents: look at how the child had been conceived, and at their lives prior to marriage. No reasonable man would consider allowing Edward to continue to have influence over any boy, much less one who stood to come into considerable wealth and property, not to mention political influence, later.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

You are first! the yellow jersey for you today. You'd think since I put up the posts this week I could have arranged to be first at least once ;)

The old man is tightening the screws I see. There's an awful lot of pressure bearing down on Edward and I'm really curious how he's going to handle it.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Loads of words! :)

Poor Edward! (although I am sure that once it has sunk in he will start to things of plans for this as well!)

[saki101.livejournal.com]

You are doing a brilliant job of placing me firmly on Edward's side. This is how I feel at the moment (I know I might change my mind if you reveal something really heinous he has done - more heinous than murder, you enquire? Yes, more heinous than that latest one anyway.) So, at the moment, I want Edward to use every skill he has to combat this plan. This might seem odd because Edward surely hasn't been presented as excellent parental material, but his father seems even worse, although I'm not sure I really have abundant evidence of that other than that he doesn't seem to have any positive emotions and no empathy.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

And yet another honourable member of the Toadlike Father tradition. What a bully and a creep.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I hope Edward works something out to get the boy a better childhood. Can his father really get the law on his side?

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Well, I stitched things together and managed some of the necessary conversation and posted that part. I called it Haploid. An excerpt -

***
John had been expecting a fever, had administered an antipyretic. He walked around the bed; in the low light, no feverish flush was discernable. He raised a hand and paused.

“You aren’t going to hurt me, John,” Sherlock said, his head turning. “Not unless you have a flask of Moran’s blood you’re planning to pour on me.”

John exhaled. His hand pushed up Sherlock’s strange, fair hair and settled on his brow. Slightly warm, even with the medicine. “I’ll take your temperature,” John said, beginning to lift his hand.

“Don’t. It isn’t high.” John stopped. “Sit by me,” Sherlock said. “I missed your touch.”

“But you…” John began. His hand trailed down the side of Sherlock’s face before he took it away and perched on the edge of the bed.

Sherlock opened his eyes, held John with them. John’s weight settled more firmly into the mattress. “I touched you,” Sherlock said. “It’s more of a difference than one might expect.”

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

An interesting revelation from Sherlock there.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on finishing and posting a part!

Interesting conversation.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Sherlock can't help but analyze can he... but he's beginning to really understand.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

For Sherlock to confess the simple need for touch is disarming and sweet. Indeed, it is not the same.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Strange fair hair? Has it changed colour do to what Sherlock's gone through?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Ummm... am I getting stupid from watching too much Sherlock or is it the same exceprt as above?

[el-staplador.livejournal.com]

Feeling knackered after a 20-mile round trip on the trike, including some bits that were pretty much impassable even on a mountain bike! Plan: finish bottle of red wine, maybe write something frivolous...

[saki101.livejournal.com]

That's an incredible amount of exercise. Brava! And yay for frivolity!

[stevie-carroll.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a good plan :)

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Excercise is always good. So's some wine ;) Frivolity ahoy!

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Hurrah for a good bike ride!

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

~80 words on the npt pinch hit today and got it to what is hopefully a complete (but very rough) first draft.
However, I have also found beta readers for my stories for npt so I feel like I have accomplished things today. (of course, this means that the next stage of getting the stories beta read in on my which is when I usually end up feeling like my writing is dreadful and I should give up)

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Hooray for first draft and finding betae! (And ignore the negative feelings!)

[elmey.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you found betas; you have no reason to feel negative about your writing and I'm sure that's not they're saying to you!
Good luck finishing those stories up.

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

Keep powering on through the doubts!

[elmey.livejournal.com]

Do contracts count? Because that's what I was working on today. I feel like they're negative writing somehow--your ability to write readable English deteriorates the father along you go.

Though I did manage some notes about emotional development--the plot is pretty complicated and I want to make sure it's all leading somewhere interesting. I kind of hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew on this story.

[saki101.livejournal.com]

Re contract writing, I couldn't agree more. Three verbs and three nouns for every sentence at least and six or seven clauses. Yup, dangerous stuff.

So, very good that you were also thinking about things like emotional development!

Synopsis

[ideealisme.livejournal.com]

I'd like to say I did something not White Feathers related but in reality it was, I was working on the synopsis. I've got as far as the Terrible Horrible Awful Thing* and that's already nearly 1,700 words. Gulp! When it's down like that in bullet prose, bang bang bang bang bang, the whole novel seems extremely busy. I worry excessively so. Still, at least I am able to remember the plot in the first place...

*Well, there's loads of them. But you know what I mean.

[elmey.livejournal.com]

How do you use the synopsis--is it just to keep track of scenes and plot?