Current mood:	excited
Entry tags:	olimpia valley

Experimentation
I sat down Thursday afternoon and worked my way through the chapter ideas I had written down, and I also went through the original novel to see what could be salvaged. I got it down to about twenty-plus chapters, which was too much. I had some vague ideas for some chapters, whereas others had a good plot, so with some I combined two ideas to make one better chapter, with others I edited the chapter out of the book, with others I left it as it was. In the end I ended up with nineteen chapters. That may still be a little bit too much but for a starting point that's good enough for me. I can always edit it down in the re-write process.

So today I started work on the book again. I wrote Chapter Three, which was a diary chapter, and then went onto start on Chapter Four. I had a small blurb written down for the opening scene but that turned out to be more than enough because it took itself off on its own, taking me to a much more sexual place than I'd expected. Turns out the girls needed some sex ;) I actually think it works really well because it's not just a sex scene it's also a way of seeing into one of the girl's brains, how she works, what she's thinking, and how she feels about the people in her life. It helped me to understand her a bit more, which is very helpful. Because, as much as I know these characters quite well because I've written three books based around them, having to go back and set them out on their journey again has made me realise that the reason it didn't work for me the first time was because I didn't know them well enough. This time round I feel much closer to them.

I'm very excited to get on with the rest of the chapter because it's going to introduce a new character (not new to me or to those who read the original version but new to the book), and it gives the youngest member of the group her own chapter to show herself, which I hope, in turn, will reveal more about her to me.

Re-writing this book is just throwing up so many new ideas with my writing. I'm using style I've never used before and am experimenting not only with my writing-style but with the story itself, taking it to dark places to test out if it works. It's nice to be able to experiment so much without the risk of ruining the work.