My Novel's Journey: Old Man in the Void - On a New Track and Full Speed Ahead!

To think just a few weeks ago, I was wondering if I'd make it to 50,000 words on this novel.  As of this writing, I'm at 70,000 and charging ahead with 3,000 words a day average.  The funny thing is, the writing took off again when I came to the end of the outline.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway ends when the fisherman, Santiago, arrives back at his fishing village with nothing but his life, his boat and the carcass of the marlin he'd fought so hard for.  Nonetheless, he is revered for his efforts, wins back his apprentice, and goes on with life as before.  That's really how I intended The Old Man in the Void to end, too, except for one thing:  It's not as easy to escape a black hole with your life and your ship intact.

Dex, my "fisherman" woke up in the hospital after major genetic surgery to combat the spaghettification effect, and his ship--or, more precisely, his AI, Santiago--nowhere to be found.  Thanks to time dilation, he's also 500 years into the future.  Not exactly a good recipe for picking up where life left off.  But I planned it, I really did.  A young man fascinated by the past and the Disk was going to help him acclimate, find Santiago and marry him to a new ship, and they'd be on their way.

I couldn't do it.  It was too easy, too dull and didn't let Dex be the hero of his own story.  No, Dex had new challenges to face, and the first was finding Santiago.

Now Dex has found his beloved AI, but only by putting himself and his friends in grave danger.  Now Dex and Santiago are teaming up again to beat the odds and save the day (and this time, with greater success.)

I'm off the track and writing blind, but the funny--and thrilling--thing is, everything I wrote using my careful outline is naturally playing into the rest.  A couple of times, I've even been able to better understand (and revise) what I'd done based on new events I'm writing now.

I am so excited to finish this book. It's been a great challenge.

Note:  I actually wrote this blog on Friday, Feb 17.  On Feb 19, I finished the book.  77,000 words or so and a very different book than the one I intended to write.  Like I've joked with friends: I never really planned to rewrite Hemingway; I'd be horrible.  I wanted to write Hemingway-inspired Fabian, and that I can do.  I'll blog next week on things I learned with this experiment.  Until then, SQUEEEE!  I FINISHED!

My Novel's Journey: Old Man in the Void - Surprise!

One day last week, I wrote 6300 words in a day. goes to show what happens when characters take over.

I had a terrific writing week, one the shows that no matter how deeply I outline, my characters just have to hit me with something new.

For those who have not read previous blogs about The Old Man in the Void, I am writing this on the challenge of my husband, Rob.  Rob suggested I pattern a sci-fi novel on the classic, The Old Man and the Sea.  To prepare, I read the book and a literary analysis of the themes and critical points, and carefully outlined my adaptation to the book.  The primary change, of course, was to put it in a deep space/far future setting, so Dex Hollister and his ship the Santiago hunt the relics of ancient starships from two civilizations that destroyed themselves in a war that created a black hole.  When one of the ships they capture becomes operational, it drags them across the event horizon, where the war is still being fought, and Dex and his ship have to find a way back out, preferably with the captured ship, before they are killed themselves.

It's a pretty straightforward book, actually, and I didn't know where it would take me.  As you've seen if you've been reading along, Dex is not like Hemingway's fisherman.  Dex has more moods, more frailties, and more relationships that affect him, even though the people he loves are not with him.  And he and his ship are a team.  Santiago (the ship's AI) has a definite personality and does his best to protect Dex as well.  Even more fun, I introduced myths about the species who fought this war (only automated warships are left, continuing the battle) and in the process, Dex has some very vivid visions during the conflict.

Well, this week, in the big climactic scene reminiscent of Hemingway's Santiago fighting off he pod of sharks, my Santiago and Dex fight off drones and escape the black hole--at the destruction of both the captured alien ship and the Santiago itself.  That, of course, was in my outline, and from here, it was supposed to be a simple wrap-up of Dex awakening in a hospital, finding he'd lost everything yet returning to his life as a relic hunter wiser for the experience.

Weeeellllll...

• Dex woke up in a hospital, all right--as an Elomij/Human hybrid.  They could only save him by introducing alien DNA to repair his.
• The historian brought in to re-introduce him to modern times hired a kind of private investigator to find out what happened to the wreckage of the ships.  Dolon is smart, savvy, and attractive, and Dex starts flirting with her.  
• All those visions?  Not just his imagination!  There's a whole book of myths about Huntradex, the mortal spirit who dared defy Hudon and turned down Elomij's affections.  
• He meets a navigator who might have a lead to finding the hardware that houses Santiago's AI program.

I'm telling you--these are NOT in my outline, were not in my plans, and just sort of came out as I typed.  And I love them all.

So, now I'm in a quandry.  I could attempt to according to my outline--or I could let Dex explore his new world, get into a little trouble trying to track down Santiago on his own, and have some romance with an alien.  It will change the book, and I may need to go back and revise some of the original if I do so.

I think you know what I plan on doing.  I've never been good following outlines, and I never intended to rewrite Hemingway, but to write Hemingway-inspired Fabian.  I'd be lousy as writing Hemingway, anyhow.  But when I let my characters live their stories, I write really good Fabian