From: A_Tina_Hall@kruemel.org   
      
    wrote:   
   > On Tuesday, August 26, 2014 2:33:00 PM UTC+1, A. Tina Hall wrote:   
      
   >> As mentioned often enough, I'm stuck at around 40k words in the   
   >> third book of the Seasons&Elements trilogy. The first two books have   
   >> around 200k words, so that sets an amount of words to fill to match   
   >> the other two books.   
   >>   
   > Well yes and no - conventionally there is no real requirement that   
   > all books in a series are the same length. Harry Potter varies   
   > enormously, so does something like Stephen Donaldson's 'Gap' though   
   > series books tend to get longer.   
      
   Ok, but... I have this not quite OCD about things being balanced, equal,   
   opposites, trianglish, 6 types of 3x 2 opposites, 10 different things   
   with 5x 2 same but different, that kind of thing.   
      
   So it would feel really odd about the last book being noticably shorter.   
   I guess 10% less wouldn't be that much of a 'drop', but I don't know   
   about bigger difference.   
      
   Maybe it would work out if I knew how to fill less, maybe I'd just write   
   more once past the stuck bit.   
      
   >> The 1st book, _Controlled by Magic_, is about just that.   
   [...]   
      
   >> The 2nd book, _Controlling the Magic_ is about just that.   
   [...]   
      
   >> The 3rd book, (something about moving with) Magic (I still don't   
   >> know a title starting with C that is a middle thing between   
   >> Controlling and Controlled by), starts 5 years later, in a rush of a   
   >> number of scenes showing where everyone from the first two books is   
   >> now, and the children that are the hope for the solution (now ~5   
   >> years old).   
   >>   
   >> Another problem caused by magic turns up and is solved. Another   
   >> minor problem might be heading for a solution. They are all gathering   
   >> for a festival in a new area where people from different tribes live   
   >> mixed (which isn't a good idea, but necessary right then).   
   >>   
   >> Now what?   
      
   > Well can the children experience in microcosm a variant on the   
   > problem experienced by the adults.   
      
   They don't really have problems with each other.   
      
   (The magic driving them, and the instincts and stuff gets stronger with   
   more age. Winter children can actually catch a cold if left in wet cold   
   environment, Winter adult could sit in a glacier forever, provided   
   there's food. ;P At least some could even start one.)   
      
   Plus of course it's children, nice ones with decent parents, so you   
   don't get the unpleasant stuff you might expect with some humans. They   
   fight, but that's more like kittens or cubs wrestling, nothing seriuos.   
      
   > I would create conflict in this case but I know you don't like it.   
   > Maybe the normally thoughtful adults react badly when a disagreement   
   > involves their offspring and for once don't work towards the common   
   > good?   
      
   Thing is, it's part of the setting that they don't do that sort of   
   stuff. The one thing they all have in common (including the drakes) is   
   that females and children, and non-fighting neutrals, are to be   
   protected, no matter what tribe they are from. Others might not   
   understand why the Fire people are arguing all the time, but they know   
   it's what they do and that they will stop if there's a real threat that   
   needs action.   
      
   There are 5 genders, plus a rare odd one that comes from a sorta   
   accident way back. They're born like that, with the instincts and skills   
   of their 'caste' (not a social hierarchy caste thing). They may be able   
   to fill a different role, but wouldn't be comfortable in it. (In the   
   story a female is taught to think and act more like a Lord out of   
   necessity, in the end she's fed up with it all and just wants a home   
   with family and children.)   
      
   Males: Lords rule (their family, or the tribe, or areas in between   
   depending on how much they can manage, they'd be uncomfortable with more   
   than they can handle), protect, hunt, and fight if needed, Priests heal,   
   teach, with some tribes they'd fight too, with others they're more   
   needed to ward the effect the tribe has on the environment.   
      
   Neutrals: Warriors fight, or in the more common peace time, help the   
   Lords around the farms they tend, and hunt. Drones cook, clean, repair,   
   farm with much better skill than Warriors (but would be useless in a   
   fight).   
      
   Females: Breeders, they bear children (of course) and raise them each   
   according to their nature. The other castes are basically just around to   
   make sure they can do that safe and comfortable. The others think   
   Breeders have the real magic, that can bring forth life, and put them   
   and the children above all else. (Breeders themselves don't have much   
   magic beyond the one needed to grow the children.)   
      
   The odd one: Shamans, females that have Breeder as well as Priest magic.   
   while especially the males think that great, there's a problem with   
   that. Shamans are not driven to family or caring for children, they're   
   restless, want to travel and see things, and are a bit unmindful of   
   whether they pounce into an order and throw it into chaos. But that's   
   already in the story.   
      
   > Maybe some of the children who have behaved badly are ostracised   
   > for their own good? ( placed outside the protective areas or maybe   
   > angry with the punishments/humiliations placed on them they run away   
   > themselves.)   
      
   They would never do something like any of that.   
      
   They're not humans, and defined by me to exclude such possibilities.   
   Magic drives them, not human motivations. No bad behaviour, only   
   undesirable consequences caused by the magic in them. They're all what I   
   call 'decent people', with magic replacing evolution completely.   
      
   An example: No male could force himself on a female, because to be able   
   to mate they need the female to be in heat, producing something that   
   enables the males to respond. Heat's regulated by magic. To quote the   
   thoughts of one character: "A real threat to the Breeders' health or   
   that of their children would have even a Summer Breeder cool down faster   
   than sudden frost would kill the first sprouts in spring. Their magic   
   saw to that, unwilling to waste itself on less than ideal chances for   
   survival of the young. Only in the light blue Spring people it had to   
   find a way around that, for it to continue at all in them. And there it   
   was still the environment, not the males, that was the threat."   
      
   Now consider what kind of people would get to reproduce to 'evolve' the   
   species across a few hundredthousand years... (Ok, maybe your idea still   
   wouldn't match mine. :) )   
      
   The ghastly thing at the start of the story is a raid that has people of   
   all genders, including children, killed and some abducted. It's   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)