So I was merrily typing away at my WiP (work in progress) this morning, filling in an important scene that previously existed only as a single sentence reminding me of what should go there: “Kieran takes Danielle and her evidence to visit the High Court, but still can’t convince them of the danger.” All well and good. It’s a scene necessary to explain why a teenage girl is needed to save the world, should have included some interesting description of the corner of Faerie that they’re visiting, and maybe some hints about the parts of Kieran’s past he hasn’t told Danielle (namely, all of it). Pretty mundane.

This scene hit me upside the head with a club and took off running. The characters developed in ways I never planned, a character who wasn’t supposed to be there suddenly stole the scene, a character I hadn’t even conceived of yet just popped into existence. Kieran’s history gained several layers of new detail. The elves became much more fey and wild than I’d anticipated and less comprehensible to mere humans like poor Danielle.

Best of all, the new version of the scene forced my two protagonists into a very difficult situation regarding their personal relationship. Are they strangers forced to work together for the common good? Friends? More than friends? How can they tell when there’s an enchantment clouding Dani’s judgment?

Now I need to go back through the manuscript and change several scenes to reflect this new development (and Kieran’s newly detailed personal history) and make notes on how this affects the as yet unwritten final scene of the book. How exciting!

It doesn’t hurt that this sudden explosion of new details netted me nearly 3000 words before lunchtime.

ETA: And finished out the day with 4068 words. Good thing, too, since a sick toddler kept me busy the rest of the week!

One Response to “Surprise Plot Twist!”