Triptych First Draft: Tomlin's Story Complete

And that's Tomlin Gaudy's story complete, just like Katsu Kuzara's. I found Tomlin much easier to write than Katsu, partly as he's a less introspective, more outgoing character, and partly that I'm more familiar with the world now. There was less heavy lifting to get started.

It also helped that Tomlin was usually accompanied by his investigator partner, Sorrel Dunne, and their dynamic helped to propel the story along. I think the different atmospheres between Katsu's and Tomlin's threads complement each other well, which was the point, after all.

It wasn't all smooth water. I reached the final chapter of his thread, and just couldn't get it to work. There was a critical point in the middle narrative where Tomlin wouldn't be present, so I couldn't tell it from his perspective. Steffan would be there though. That was the beginning of the journey to a solution.

Luckily, it was going to be a long chapter, so it benefitted by being split into two anyway. That allowed a linking chapter from Steffan's perspective to be inserted that could tell the missing narrative as a flashback. It also allowed me to split Katsu's final long chapter too (The Island becoming The Island, and The Well), which interleaved the story so much better.

The remaining question was: what's Tomlin doing when Steffan's working his magic? The only place he could stay would be in Ona Kentova's office (AKA Magritte). But what would they talk about?

That was a perfect lightbulb moment. There would be only one topic of conversation, and it would fundamentally change their relationship going forward, to huge benefit to the story. It will also affect all her appearances in Steffan's link chapters that I'm about to write.

It was perfect. Ona's gone from being a minor character when first planned, to having her own arc that intersected the others nicely, to now being the beating heart of the story. It took a bit of replanning but I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out.

In summary, these are Tomlin's chapters (names all prefixed by "Tomlin and"):

• The Presenter

• The Boxer

• The Actor

• The Therapist

• The Artist

• The Heir

• The Secretary

The total word count for Tomlin's story (to this point) is 28,050. That's remarkably similar to Katsu's which currently sits at 28,200. In total, including the two Steffan chapters I've already written (but which need a minor rework for Ona's changes), I've completed 62,800 words.

As I've mentioned before, Katsu's and Tomlin's chapters will be interleaved, with a (usually) short chapter in between from Steffan's first-person perspective. Now that's going to be a challenge. They're set at a time after Tomlin's and Katsu's stories, but tell Steffan's history in non-linear flashbacks. It's a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. Writing that will be... fun.

These are the planned chapters for Steffan's random musings:

• The Bonds of Fealty

• The Bounds of Friendship

• The Root of Relationships

• The Oath of Duty

• The Value of Breeding

• The Growth of Respect

• The Bonds of Sharing

• The Compassion of Subversion

• The Growth of Trust

• The Beginning of Friendships

• The Danger of Sanctuary

• The Avoidance of Conflict

• The Plan to Divide

• The Condition for Succession

I need to keep my instincts to waffle under control as these need to be sharp and focused. Steffan has a very formal manner too, so a little goes a long way.

That's not the end of the story though. Tomlin's last chapter comes immediately after The Condition for Succession, which will get all our heroes together, knowing the challenge that faces them. It will take a few more chapters to wrap up the story, probably four. These will be told from a combined first-person perspective.

I'll report back on how Steffan's story went before I attack the finale.