The Mourning Tree - Contemplation

The Mourning Tree

8,319 / 50,000 (16.6%)

It's still going well, which of course is good ^-^ I want to talk a little bit about what I've been thinking about this project, anyway, not about the plot and stuff but about what I like about it, just because I wanna ^-^

I like the structure of this thing. It's really a tale of two love stories, that of the two main characters and that of their siblings, even though Greg and Susie are dead before the novel even starts. You get to know them through Toby, and through Toby's conversations with John. Susie is more fully realised, at least as of yet, than Greg, simply because Susie was Toby's sister.

It's also working well because of course I'm writing from my own experience, really. It's about grief as much as it's about love. Toby is grieving for his sister, and John is of course grieving for his brother, but also for himself and the life he led before he was injured and had to leave the Marines. Neither of them talks much to one another, but when they do they end up talking about the things that have happened to them and being supported almost subconsciously by the other. Toby is smart mentally and John is smart emotionally, a protective sort of person. I like making this story rotate around these four characters, with other people only really orbiting the story. I like the fact that this story has a structure, rather than being 'anything goes' which was how I used to write. Now, everything matters, every detail, and it makes me feel good about my writing. Which is how it should be, really.

(About three hours or so later, with only about 1 hour spent on writing max, the others in biology, eating and showering):

9,043 / 50,000 (18.1%)