Continuity

This is the first time I've written a story so huge and, with such an epic, comes a lot of detail: places, distances, times, seasons, days, weeks, characters etc.

It's quite hard keeping track of everything. Characters, who so vividly exist in one or two chapters, are not heard from again. One man, I think I've named him four different names: Old Preston, Pearson, Pearce. Poor guy - by the end of it, I won't be surprised if he has an identity crises.

The other thing is that, because I feel I've spent a whole summer with these characters, some of my initial thoughts on them have changed. Their personalities have developed and I've learned their quirks and back stories. Now, starting the editing process for the third draft, I can see that some of my first impressions (and initial descriptions) will need modifying.

After the meeting with the girls, I realised also that, just like in life where we may disagree about whether a person is good, nice, spoilt etc, their response to some of the characters is quite different. There has been disagreement about what should happen to some of the characters or, at least, what they believe a character is capable of.

And, imput from my publisher and mentor is, on the whole, spot on but, occasionally, the way the story should go ends up with a possible three tracked storyline.

I need to keep remembering the heart of the story and the vividness of it when it came to me in a dream - I'm exceedingly grateful I wrote a detailed synopsis the next day because I often go back to that and, though some details have changed, the essence of it is still there.