Y'know, I get the feeling that an author's supposed to know what'd motivating all the characters somewhere before the last dozen pages of the book. Ah, well, I have a handle on it now. Definitely have a bunch of things to fix for the rewrite, and I may have to schedule a day or two at a good research library while I'm at it. (Assuming I don't do the lazy author thing -- skim a few books and fake it)

Y'know, I get the feeling that an author's supposed to know what'd motivating all the characters somewhere before the last dozen pages of the book. Ah, well, I have a handle on it now. Definitely have a bunch of things to fix for the rewrite, and I may have to schedule a day or two at a good research library while I'm at it. (Assuming I don't do the lazy author thing -- skim a few books and fake it)

Not always, and certainly not always in the first draft.

Research is good, but fiction is fiction, and in the end you have to make everything up anyway.

I have a feeling I'm going to be sad about the conenction between grandfather and Alex. Unless Alex is an opposing spirit. But that wouldn't be right, either.

Y'know, I get the feeling that an author's supposed to know what'd motivating all the characters somewhere before the last dozen pages of the book. Ah, well, I have a handle on it now. Definitely have a bunch of things to fix for the rewrite, and I may have to schedule a day or two at a good research library while I'm at it. (Assuming I don't do the lazy author thing -- skim a few books and fake it)

Not always, and certainly not always in the first draft.

This is true, and it's definitely a first draft. Not too bad as fiction on "teh Intarweb" goes, but I figure it's possible to set my expectations a little too low.

Research is good, but fiction is fiction, and in the end you have to make everything up anyway.

Yep, this is true, but if I'm going to be playing around with things from myths and legends, it does kinda behoove me to get it generally right, or it'll annoy folks who're actually familiar with them. I know that happens to me -- I've got one (otherwise reasonably nice) book where in the opening few pages the vet gets hauled out to someone's horse farm and... he grabs his bag 'o stuff to go. That put me right off, since no large animal vet does that. They've all got pickups with custom cabinetry in the truck bed filled with all sorts of stuff. (You try hauling around enough mineral oil and rubber hosing to flush out a colicking horse in a satchel...) It's one of the major startup costs for a vet practice. It was still a good book, but I almost didn't get past that point, and I don't want to do it to anyone else, at least not more than I have to.

I have a feeling I'm going to be sad about the conenction between grandfather and Alex. Unless Alex is an opposing spirit. But that wouldn't be right, either.

QUOTE

Research is good, but fiction is fiction, and in the end you have to make everything up anyway. --me

Yep, this is true, but if I'm going to be playing around with things from myths and legends, it does kinda behoove me to get it generally right, or it'll annoy folks who're actually familiar with them. I know that happens to me -- I've got one (otherwise reasonably nice) book where in the opening few pages the vet gets hauled out to someone's horse farm and... he grabs his bag 'o stuff to go. That put me right off, since no large animal vet does that. They've all got pickups with custom cabinetry in the truck bed filled with all sorts of stuff. (You try hauling around enough mineral oil and rubber hosing to flush out a colicking horse in a satchel...) It's one of the major startup costs for a vet practice. It was still a good book, but I almost didn't get past that point, and I don't want to do it to anyone else, at least not more than I have to.

Yeah, that's the thing. I say I need to know enough that I don't write anything stupid. Since most of what I write is not what's here but science fiction (not lazer pistols and personal rocket ships and galactic empires, but terraformed worlds and machines that are plants and medicines that are animals), I can get away with a lot if I work it right, but I insist on knowing enough to work it right.

As to the spoiler: the first idea is intriguing. The second idea is also. I'm not sure they're mutually inconsistent.

I think I'm just going to punt on the details. It's not like they have to be brought out in the story and arguably they shouldn't be -- just because I know what's going on doesn't mean it has to go on the page. That way lies world building, or evil villain monologuing, and that's usually kinda dull. So we'll just leave it as is and make sure the characters behave in ways that fit their backgrounds (even if they have two or more potential ones) and leave it at that.