Splurging!

Over 4000 words today!

I skipped the duel and wrote the end of Mafileo's part. I'm going to go back tomorrow and finish with Mafileo, I think. Strangely I'm not looking forward to the duel as much as I'd expected. It's probably because I did write a version of that scene before in "Riding the Sea Dragon", so it's not going to be new to me.

My total word count just broke 90,000...

Today for the first time, I felt like, if I had plenty of time and I didn't get tired, I could actually just keep writing and finish the novel. Of course it's not true. There's still plenty of stuff I have to figure out with Akshedhen's story. But still, it was a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel.

Part of the reason I'm having trouble with the duel scene, and what's held me back with a lot of SofS part 5, is that I don't have a handle on Waïlaraitēo yet. I don't want her to be a cardboard villainess. She's a real person with legitimate concerns and a strong faith, even if it's narrowly defined. Has suffered emotional disappointments: her relationship with Astirama'a is something I'm going to have to leave unspoken, since none of the now living characters know much about it. At the same time, I need to clarify it for myself. Something to sleep on. If I don't feel able to write the confrontation with her, I can always go on with Akshedhen's story and come back to the duel later.