Robots Have Big Ears

Over the weekend I completed pages 1 and 2 of chapter 11. These are largely introductory pages to setup the action later in the chapter. It involves the Magna Ambassador talking to the robot from chapter 8 (when Alexander was on Prill). What’s interesting is that I didn’t originally plan to have the robot in this chapter. It occurred to me that if the robot had been a spy all along, and was now reporting to the Ambassador, it added a whole new dimension to the previous chapter. It also allowed me to introduce some information in a more logical fashion. Originally, the Ambassador knows information, but I didn’t specify how. Now, however, I can say were it comes from (ie: the robot who has been acting as a spy). This points to an interesting part of this whole creative process: although I have an idea of how a chapter or plot will unfold, I have left enough wiggle room to incorporate additional details or plot twists that I originally didn’t think of.