This is my recap day.
So I wrote an outline and not a novel. I did so, because I didn’t have a novel in place which I could work up in 30 days. I suppose I will shelf this until next November and write it out page by page during that Nano session. So, at least I will have the shell done. Now that we are close to the end of the process I decided it is best to spend the last few days getting a deeper understanding of the characters and setting and conflicts. Yes, it is going to stay a fantasy zombie novel. I feel the birth of a lich king is kind of a cool idea. Still, it feels like the prequel to some other story.
I do feel like I have workable characters in the four main characters (plus a guide who I want to add color and flavor to before he is killed off).The one character I mishandled the most is Esme. Heck, I couldn’t even remember her name or anything about her at first. I just knew she operated either a crossbow or a long bow and she was entangled with Marek. Part of me wanted her to end up with Ikrivain at the end, given her transformation.
In terms transformation I didn’t do much for her as a person, because I did not know her as a person. So, lets start getting to know Esme.
She is a twin. While not an identical twin the sisters are very similar in stature and demeanor. Esme is dedicated to the pursuit of a life better than she and her sister fled at home. She was meant to be married off. At one point an arrangement was made for her and her twin to be offered to the same eccentric and wealthy suitor. Rather than wait to see if their parents would do such a deal she and Thea fled.
She is a woodswoman. Her dad taught her hunting and fishing and all of the skills necessary for survival. He did not believe in this idea of women not understanding “men’s work’ instead feeling a woman has a greater burden to understand the roles of both genders and to be able to do as they must when needed. As he had no sons he used his daughters in the fields as much as their mother used them to prepare meals. Their academic education was a casualty of this level of work. Only recently has she shown any faint interest in learning to read or write.
Esme wants to settle down somewhere and have a family. She wants to not have to work so hard in life but realizes that hard work now ought to mean less work later, so she takes on these responsibilities of war as an opportunity to earn enough to settle down while exploring a vast world with her future mate.