Rewriting the Remembrance, from 21 September.

Why is it just the trees that explode with growth around the Green when she shifts for the first time? Why not the bushes and the grasses and every other green thing?

The vines sort of grow, but the focus is definitely on the trees. I know that I did that on purpose, but I don’t for the life of me remember why. So, I need to either come up with a new reason, or rewrite the intro.

I think it was because trees were the final stage in the forest growth cycle. Grasses, shrubs, sparse trees, thick forest. I just kipped all the intermediary steps. I did that a lot in this novel. So, I was having the natural process fast-forward through decades of growth, but I did it wrong. There should be tall grasses, shrubs, and all sizes of trees. All the stages of growth in quick succession, without the die-off when the taller plants block out sunlight to those below.

And then there’s the bit Nikki wants me to add on the way out of Lansing, going through the forest…

• Answer the question about what happened to Lansing’s Locusts.
• Foreshadow the Squirrel King.
• Should they run into the Green? It would be an opportunity to introduce her earlier, and give her character a touch more depth. Seeing her in a state that isn’t a victim might be a Good Thing.
• Yet another way that will can be focused to defeat the Locusts.

I’d be hard pressed to argue against this improving the overall story. AND THEN there’s the re-working of the Homeland’s progression to include in this chapter. And the way that Schuler reacts to the caravan’s arrival. And the conversation between Diane and Schuler where she realizes that he’s changed reality by not letting it change.

I’ve got my work cut out for me.