I changed my mind, how did that happen?

Either I've changed my mind, or become indecisive. Let's put it up for a vote!

You may or may not have noticed, but I've posted another letter nine. Within this alternate Universe you will find Ange receiving some advise from a caterpillar and then growing and shrinking by eating his mushrooms and she learns the secret to how the little crocodile improves his shining tail. . . . just joking.

This alternate letter nine is actually Ange's next letter, the one I told you before I wasn't going to post yet, (the one I tried to postpone because I didn't think it fit in the manuscript right at this point in time.) Perhaps it does. I'd like your opinion about it. Terrwyn which one should we choose?

This Nine or the other one.

AH. What do we do? Which one do we pick? Hmmm. You're going to have to delete one when you want to post Letter Ten.

If you don't mind, can you also review the Alternate Number Nine letter, make your usual or unusual comments and any suggestions to improve it. If it isn't letter nine, then it will be pushed back to letter eleven.

I edited the letter somewhat. No big changes mind you, just grammar stuff, and cutting out unnecessary words like 'over', 'up', 'it matted little', 'out', 'so' 'at first', etc. Please feel free to cut out any redundant words you find. Chop chop them all away. I'll pay 25cents for each word you take out.

This letter is ridiculously long, my longest yet. It's less like a letter and more like a narrative in 1st person. Can you think of ways to shrink it down? Also I wonder what time of year it is in this letter. I may have to investigate, write down the timeline or something silly like that.

The Romantic side of the story

"She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people." --from "Down the Rabbit Hole" Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

"Remind me in the future never to get in another relationship. If this is what relationships are like, I will happily drift into old age as a spinster. It's just not worth it." -- Lulu Dark by Bennett Madison  

I discovered a wonderful column online written by the author of The Princess and the Hound, a fairy tale book which I rather enjoyed. I wasn't a retelling of any particular fairy tale, but it had the setting of one.

 How to write Romance (In Fantasy) by Mette Ivie Harrison.

You should read it first, and then come back and read the rest of this post. Because then I wanted to discuss the elements of romance mentioned in her column and look at to Goosey.

Let's Play Perception!

" 'Be what you would seem to be' - or, if you'd like it put more simply -'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise."  the Duchess, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

While trying to figure out how to improve letter three, and my writing in general, I read through a Writer's Digest article on POV. (Alicia's Rasley's The Power of Point of View, 2008. Here's her blog: edittorrent.) After all we each have our own personal way of viewing the world, and it makes sense, especially in a first person story, to individualize the POV.

I like to think I do this already, but I could do it better, or at least be aware of it. Sometimes even when talking about Goosey I'll use first person. I become the character. I am Ange. (See my user name is Angelbird, but right now I'm writing as the author.)