The truth behind Trust pt 3

The all-powerful Delyn had to go. She needed to knocked down, kicked a few times and maybe smacked upside the head once or twice for good measure.

However, doing so, made the story, as it was, fall in on itself. And honestly, I was rather sick of writing her in all her various incarnations. She just wasn't doing it for me anymore. I needed a fresh voice to breathe a more constructive direction into the story that I wanted to mold this chaos into. And thus, Vayen spoke unto the masses.

We took some time to get to know one another--both turning around to smack Delyn away from the front seat, because she still wanted to drive. It took several drafts to find a workable balance between them.

It wasn't her story that I wanted to tell. I'd done that. Several times. I wanted to tell his. His story clicked, angels sang, all that good stuff that happens when you know you've made the right move. In the process, Delyn lost a lot of her over the top backstory--which made her a much more sympathetic character.

For me, it was exciting to flesh out another side of events I'd only made scant mention of previously--such as how Vayen came to be working for Delyn and their earlier connection. He got jealous when she looked elsewhere, which tamed her sleazy side. He gave her a reason to tone down the cold, hard face she was so fond of. He made her work within the realm of the story I wanted to tell. (And that, Scott, is why I switched from one MC to the other.)

Not that the switch solved everything.

I realized that the story would be much stronger if it were in first person. So I rewrote it. Then I realized that hard sci-fi wasn't what the best angle for the story. It was too dry. I wanted the characters to really shine instead of the tech. So I rewrote it. Then I realized that flawed characters using sci-fi tech, killing people for whatever really important reason wasn't as engaging as it could be. The story needed other layers. So I rewrote it.

Within that flurry of rewriting, Trust was born. Hallelujah.

Thanks to Scott Free for being my post muse.