Sara King

Book 2 is proving to be more difficult with every passing day.  Just when I think I’ve discovered the answer to my problem, I realize it has only prolonged the inevitable.  I think what’s happening is the same as what happened with The Congie.  Two thirds of the way through Congie, my writing ability shut off.  Physically, I could still write, but mentally, it was not happening.  I could write anything else, but whenever I sat down to try and finally put the end on Congie, it would not come out.  It turned out this was my subconscious telling me that my current ending sucked, and with a little bit of brainstorming with Don, I came up with a new one that not only got me back in gear, but got the ending finished in two weeks once I got back to Alaska and started writing again.

The difficulties I’m having with Book 2 (Tentatively called The Team) mimic what happened with Congie.  It’s getting harder and harder to get anything out, and the more I try, the harder it gets to write.  I’m averaging 1k words a day when usually I do somewhere between 5-7k.  My subconscious is telling me something is wrong, but since I’m too dense to figure it out, I’m sinking into a downward depressive spiral. Several times already, I’ve come up with new ideas that I think will make Book 2 work for me.  I added more POVs, I fiddled with the time element, and Chancey and I brainstormed a complex, kickass plot.  My gut instinct is telling me there’s nothing wrong with Forgotten–it’s Joe and his team that is holding the story back. 

Thus, I had a chat with Steven tonight and I think–FINALLY–I may have come up with the solution. As I had it, Maggie and Joe would meet halfway through the book briefly, then again at the end.  I had Forgotten as the main antagonist, the one that was making Joe jump through the hoops.  I’m beginning to think that I need Maggie involved in Joe’s downfall from Day One, screwing with him, giving orders he does not agree with (naturally she is a higher rank than him) and just generally making his life hell.  This ties in to what the Trith told Maggie back on Kophat, and also ties in with how Joe will finally defeat Forgotten in the end.  How do you defeat a creature that can plan out everyone’s actions a year in advance?  You do something that is unthinkable.  So, the thing that Joe can do–and the thing that Maggie was warned about on Kophat–AND the thing Forgotten does not forsee–is choose to let Maggie die.

Here’s my reasoning:  Maggie has been horrible to Joe ever since their training together.  She’s thwarted his every attempt to climb the ladder.  He was a rising star that she smothered by reporting his visit with the Trith to Congress.  She’s been hounding him at every opportunity, picking at him, destroying his confidence.  What Forgotten knows is that Joe deep down wants Maggie to like him.  They grew up together, and he still seeks her approval.  He will still seek her approval to the last minute, despite all the horrible things she does to him.  Then, when she finally apologizes and says she was wrong, it’s too late.  Joe chooses to leave Maggie behind to save his own team from death.  Forgotten envisions Joe staying back in a heroic, yet suicidal attempt to save his old friend, getting his entire team killed in the process and therefore leaving no survivors to come after him.  Instead, Joe saves his team and hunts down Forgotten to make him pay.

I think this is the key I’ve been lacking from the beginning.  Maggie’s antagonism is going to be much stronger than Forgotten’s throughout the book, and in the end, Forgotten must live.  After all, Forgotten’s goal is a noble one, and even though he fails this time, he will succeed eventually.  He’s the only one who can save his people.  Maggie’s simply been spooked by the prophecy the Trith gave her and is holding it against Joe for the rest of his life.  She will never see reason, not when Joe is involved.

Well, it’s been about six weeks of painfully slow progress, but I think I finally might have figured out what my subconscious has been trying to tell me.

-Sara