Plot holes
11 December 2017 02:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeWell, I've written chapter three (another 3000 words), which came out considerably more violent than I'd originally intended/remembered (and only actually covers about half of the plot summary for point three; the second half will probably fit into the succeeding chapter, though). I spent some time wondering how (a) I was actually going to get Raoul out of this safely and (b) how I was going to avoid Philippe finding out about what was going on. Then it dawned on me that maybe Philippe finding out might be the solution... although I couldn't really see an Erik who is actually in the bedroom allowing Raoul to get his hands on a pistol to raise the alarm, as he does in canon (where Erik is outside the window), so he ends up smashing a lamp instead, which led to even more unplanned extra plot...
Of course this rather changes the dynamic of the following few days, but that section should still be usable as intended. The bit I'm not particularly happy about is the whole convoluted extra element about Raoul writing to Christine to *ask* her to write to him on board ship, which was basically introduced to patch the hole caused by the new ending of the first chapter, but which then raises a whole set of new problems for patching. Timescale: would Raoul's letter even reach inland Sweden before a ship sailing around the coast? And any such letter would totally betray Christine's location to Erik, so for Raoul to be foolish enough to write to her it has to be *before* he encounters Erik's threats, which means almost immediately on the afternoon of his return. And surely Erik would instantly suspect any letter sent by Raoul on principle, so there then has to be some reason for it to coincidentally evade his surveillance (since Raoul has no idea he's being watched, or he wouldn't risk sending it!)
I *think* I've patched all the holes -- and since we already had Raoul being terrified that Christine was going to try to contact him, at least he now has a plausible reason to worry about that later on (which would otherwise seem very unlikely, given the plot so far). And I quite liked the wording/thought process I came up with for the actual letter. The whole thing just feels like a very obviously contrived insertion, though, and when this occurred to me I got the familiar 'oh, so that's what's wrong' sensation that usually accompanies the revelation of an element that needs to be excised to save a chapter (as witness the three sections of page stubs in "In Regret, Always"...)
Only on this one occasion I'm consciously ignoring it, despite the vast tangle of additional complications dragging in its wake. I hope to goodness this isn't a mistake, but I've written the whole thing now with Raoul being told to go away and forget Christine instead of being given hope for the future -- and I really don't think I can unwind that chapter ending at this point.
The other issue is that I'm not sure Erik is credibly likely to limit himself to minor pranks where Raoul is concerned on board ship any more, given that he has already gone far beyond the level of threats originally envisioned :-(
Of course this rather changes the dynamic of the following few days, but that section should still be usable as intended. The bit I'm not particularly happy about is the whole convoluted extra element about Raoul writing to Christine to *ask* her to write to him on board ship, which was basically introduced to patch the hole caused by the new ending of the first chapter, but which then raises a whole set of new problems for patching. Timescale: would Raoul's letter even reach inland Sweden before a ship sailing around the coast? And any such letter would totally betray Christine's location to Erik, so for Raoul to be foolish enough to write to her it has to be *before* he encounters Erik's threats, which means almost immediately on the afternoon of his return. And surely Erik would instantly suspect any letter sent by Raoul on principle, so there then has to be some reason for it to coincidentally evade his surveillance (since Raoul has no idea he's being watched, or he wouldn't risk sending it!)
I *think* I've patched all the holes -- and since we already had Raoul being terrified that Christine was going to try to contact him, at least he now has a plausible reason to worry about that later on (which would otherwise seem very unlikely, given the plot so far). And I quite liked the wording/thought process I came up with for the actual letter. The whole thing just feels like a very obviously contrived insertion, though, and when this occurred to me I got the familiar 'oh, so that's what's wrong' sensation that usually accompanies the revelation of an element that needs to be excised to save a chapter (as witness the three sections of page stubs in "In Regret, Always"...)
Only on this one occasion I'm consciously ignoring it, despite the vast tangle of additional complications dragging in its wake. I hope to goodness this isn't a mistake, but I've written the whole thing now with Raoul being told to go away and forget Christine instead of being given hope for the future -- and I really don't think I can unwind that chapter ending at this point.
The other issue is that I'm not sure Erik is credibly likely to limit himself to minor pranks where Raoul is concerned on board ship any more, given that he has already gone far beyond the level of threats originally envisioned :-(
