So far I have three main characters in this manuscript. I had to change the names of the protagonist and her kid brother to better represent their backgrounds. It's important to never be "married" to anything while writing a novel. Not even character names that you love. So, I kept her name by giving it to an eleven year old secondary character. Simple.

There are four more characters who are in the story with minor roles. One needs a full name which I will have shortly. Two others only need last names. It's funny when I write and don't have their names yet. For example, I type "BROTHERSNAME" when I name the brother in the story. Then, I go back and make a list of all the names that I need to create. I've done this for towns and cities as well. I didn't know how else to do it because I wanted to keep the writing flow going.

My manuscript is going very well this month so I am pretty happy about that.  So far, I have written just under one thousand words. I put over two thousand words in an out file. Clearly, I write much better when I know the direction I'm going.  Being prepared has always helped give me confidence.

I have made the decision to scrap the first two thousand words of my manuscript. After a week with the flu, and reading a book written by Beth Revis called Paper Hearts, it just seems like the direction to go.  The story is still the same but the way it will be written is going to be different. There were many mistakes that would have to be edited anyway so it's better to take care of them now.