So how did this happen, take 2

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

this is mostly just to say stuff.

I've realized that instead of epic fantasy like EUOL writes, I've realized my last two novels have been Young Adult low fantasy. The current one even focuses on a romance. Where the heck did that come from? When have I read this stuff? Maybe I should, so I'm more familiar with it.

Anyway, the king and the queen are finally hooking up. IN that, the queen actually thinks the king is a good guy, but still won't sleep with him, even though they're married (hey, it's a big transition). It's only a step away from that, though. Then everything's happy, right?

If I was writing a full romance, this would be a good time for the queen to say some things that hurt the king's feelings, so that she has to do her share of courting to get him back. Nice balance, I think. However, I think I want to get into the magic bit.

So the thing is, she *has* been keeping things from the King. And well, she thought he was a little bit insane and cruel, which she's gotten over but hasn't admitted the true extent of her feelings. So I'm working on a way to have all that come out without driving my shy male hero away. I must be delicate. Feel free to post opinions on it. I don't want to spend a lot of time (ie, word count) on this, cuz I want to get into the whole breaking the curse bit where they sacrifice for each other.

On the other hand, perhaps I need to do that for word count. I'm only halfway through the 50k, and I can think of something like 4 or 5 scenes. I'm thinking that at most will cover 10k words.

but I'll hold it in reserve. That and a detailed prologue/prequel about the origin of hte curse. It'd sort of turn the manuscript into two novellas, but the first one (chronologically) wouldn't end with much resolution so they'd kind of need to be smacked together.

It's kind of funny that the prequel is the shorter/more lightly treated of the two. Because the legends about the man who was cursed first are fairly exhaustive and would provide for a lot of action and more epic fantasy. Which brings me back to my first thought. How they heck did I choose this little romance as the bit I wrote about?

[stacer]

A good backstory allows mystery. You've got a good backstory, which leaves it open for the prequel later.

You should read Robin McKinley's Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword. She actually wrote The Blue Sword first, which is set several hundred (thousand?) years after Hero and the Crown. Hero is the prequel, explaining the legend of the witch queen that everyone talks about in The Blue Sword.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, but even if the prequel has no real ending?

another observation: my culture resembles less Rennaissance/Medieval europe than it does the colonial-era chesapeake region. Only with castles and not so many slaves.

[stacer]

Then you're creating an interesting, original world. Keep at it.

[Mistress of Darkness]

It sounds like you need a new obstacle. A sort of subplot, if you will, during which the king and queen can get to know each other a little better and perhaps even confess some feelings of tenderness.

I have no idea why you chose to write the romantic bit of the story. But all the books I've read that I really like contained well-written romance. (It's because I'm a girl, I'm sure). So look at it as good practice/experience.

There's nothing wrong with being a romantic (in the wide sense of the word) at heart.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

yeah, it's just weird, y'know. I'm at 32k, and I'm mostly through the complications. I still expect to run out of plot when I hit 40k or so. I'm not sure my prologue will be a full 10k unless I start covering more of his history than is really important. I could turn that into a full novel. Maybe that's my next project. Might be time to think of an epilogue as well.

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

y'know, I say all that, but last night I came up with two scenes in order to transition to the scene that came next in my outline. They do a nice job developing the feeling of the story, imo, and I've only written one, and it took up 2700 words. Perhaps I won't have problem reaching 50k after all.

[Skar]

yeah, it's just weird, y'know. I'm at 32k, and I'm mostly through the complications. I still expect to run out of plot when I hit 40k or so. I'm not sure my prologue will be a full 10k unless I start covering more of his history than is really important. I could turn that into a full novel. Maybe that's my next project. Might be time to think of an epilogue as well.

Incidentally, if you want to make it full novel length, all you have to do is judiciously edit the beginning to include forewhadowing of the massive changes and problems that will fill the final 50K

Easy edit.