Day 5: 2,900 words

Extract:

Icel was looking around, a scowl on his face. “Your rider said that you could defend yourselves. I brought forty warriors. You have six.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Broder replied.

“I myself will be going, as will my two sons. Our bondsmen, Halvard and Harri, who have yet to arrive, will make an extra fourteen, themselves included. My brother has four others who are keeping peace in the village, which makes twenty-six altogether.”

Icel cracked his knuckles. “Twenty-six altogether.”

“And I will lead a band of archers made up of local hunters. Fifteen in all.”

“So, forty-one men in total. Hmm.” A smile cracked his frigid face. “It seems you cannot fight this battle alone.”

Broder smiled, though it looked more like a grimace. “Which is why we sent a rider to you.”

Today has been a day of good writing.

I was alone in the house for two hours, which means time free from distractions and free to play whatever music I like!

I finished a good scene today and I like the quality of it; I re-read after writing it and it won't need much editing on the second draft, which is nice. It also works well and the tension is well-established.

Today's session also puts me back on schedule: to reach 12,000 words by the end of the week I needed to be on 8,400 today, and I'm now just under 9,000.

The card for today was called 'Borrow Mercilessly', and it advised that you should copy and take from writers whose styles you like. I've been reading Assassin's Apprentice recently, and while the voice is different (1st person as opposed to 3rd person) I really like the way Robin Hobb ties in multiple senses to bring settings to life and have been doing my best to do this in the settings I've created so far.

I definitely feel as though my story is back on track, which is a relief, and now I can get on with planning what happens next.