Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related To "tante" or not to "tante"

First I want to say that I'm grateful to those who have read and so far commented on "The Masked Avenger" (MA). It's great to have a place share work in progress and get ideas for improvement. So, thank you!

I'd like your opinion on something. I'm re-thinking the whole "Lavinia should have a chaperone" thing. VirginiaR made a valid point about this in one of her posts. I had considered a chaperone way back when I began this fic and I remembered that she was going to be Lavinia's aunt, Tante Mathilde. :-) This lady is Lavinia's father's eldest, only surviving sister. However, the poor soul did not survive my early drafts. I won't drag you through all that went into that decision (I can hear the sighs of relief from here!) but let's just say she was decidedly de trop! Which, I suppose, shows that she was good at her job. <g>

But now, 15 years later, I'm actually thinking of ways to make Tante Mathilde work for me. It will mean some major re-writing of certain parts of the story, and she may even cause my plot to veer off into as yet unseen little side trails. I'm sure you've known characters who do that to your writing as well. She doesn't need to be in each and every scene, but her presence will be felt and will affect my other main characters even when we don't see her.

So, my fellow writers, do I:
1. stop posting MA while I do my re-writes, edit the parts I've already posted, and then pick up posting again once I've got Tante in where she needs to go, OR-
2. go ahead and continue posting the story as I have it now to see if other recommendations pop up, while I do my re-writes, and then see if I can get a beta reader who's willing to re-read the whole thing to help me catch any final boo-boos, OR-
3. some other option I haven't thought of?
What have you done? What's best for our readers? Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Gratefully ...

At that "stop posting MA" my heart dropped a little...
All kidding aside, a chaperone indeed makes sense in that setting. Yet, you have to consider if you feel confident enough to handle a major rewriting (and from the very beginning - I think that would make more sense) without over-bloating the plot. It's a risk, just like the occurring of a writer's block. Ultimately, it would be a lot of work, but only you can decide if you're willing to put yourself at it.
*Goes in search of Virginia for a belated Halloween trick...*

Thanks for the feedback. I'm sure I can handle the re-write. Writing is mostly about re-writing, isn't it? At least in my experience! As the saying goes, "if I had a dollar for every time I've had to re-write something ...!" :-)

My main concern was for the people who have already started reading MA and have sent such nice comments and encouragement. I've posted 12 parts of what is a 46 part story. Should I just continue posting the story as it is, without the Tante Mathilde character? Or, should I stop for a while, do the re-writes and then begin posting again?

I can see advantages to both ways. If I continue posting the story as it is now, other changes may be suggested and I could do them at the same time that I'm incorporating Tante into it. OTOH, people may prefer to read the next draft, with the Tante character in it. I've got three sheets of notes made already, and I'm actually liking her more than I did when I first met her 15 years ago. It will get done; it's just a matter of when.

Maybe I should ask for a show of hands.

Maybe you can make a post in the "Fun with polls" section of the boards? Seems like the next best thing to a show of hands

http://www.lcficmbs.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/forums/12/1/Fun_with_Polls

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm still getting re-acquainted with things around here. :-)

A poll is a great idea ...

I'm only a few parts in--but had planned to enjoy playing catch up in the coming days.

Whatever way you choose to go, I'm sure it'll be great (and I'm sure I'll very much enjoy reading it ). I can see advantages in continuing to post--in case something more would come up in discussions that you might choose to change--or, (even though I hate to stop reading), stopping the posting schedule, making your revisions, and starting to post from the beginning down the road a bit. Hmmm...

Good luck with whatever you choose to do--I'm really enjoying the story so far,
Laura

Being that I'm the one who started you on this journey of self-doubt, it's about time I put in my 2 cents worth. Firstly, her father technically should be enough of a chaperon for Lavinia heading to a house party. However, my problem was that Lavinia was visiting the house of a single gentleman (2 single gentlemen, if one were to count Cedric). Much like visiting the rooms of a man, this is a major no-no in Regency novels (and I'm guessing the time period).

In Pride & Prejudice, Jane doesn't go visit Mr. Bingley; she goes to visit his *sisters* for lunch. Jane doesn't pay on Mr. Bingley while she's in London, but on his sister Miss Bingley (in hopes that Mr. Bingley is also there).

So, whether Lavinia has or doesn't have her tante isn't really at issue. What's at issue is that there needs to be some woman at the Earl's house for whom society can assume Lavinia and her father as visiting. If the Earl had a daughter for Lavinia to visit, and then he woo'd her (Lavinia, not his own daughter) during her visit with the daughter. However, if Lucius was a widower and had a daughter, Cedric might have someone at the household he could talk to other than the servants. Another option would be if Lucius had a spinster sister (and aunt to Cedric) who clearly couldn't inherit (being that lands cannot be entailed to a woman back then and for VERY much time afterward...). If you added in Cedric's spinster aunt or even the old Earl's dotty widow, the character need not change the plot of the story much. She's only interested in her garden or playing cards with the vicar or something ridiculous as that. She can get up late and go to bed early and take many naps in the afternoon, and basically be almost as absent in Cedric's life as if she weren't really there.

If she were the old Earl's widow, perhaps Cedric's father (or was it his mother?) and Lucius had different mothers, which could account for Lucius disliking his nephew so much, because he had disliked this usurper coming in and taking the place of his mother and bearing a child, so that Lucius was no longer the only child.

I guess you could add in an aunt for Lavinia to act as chaperon since there isn't another gentlewoman at the manor. It would be that Lavinia's father was the one who was invited, and Lavinia would be the afterthought... tagging along. In that case, then YES Lavinia would need a chaperon (more so than just a maid) with whom she could converse and spend the day with while the men were off enjoying their time together discussing things that would bore women (or as so society thought at the time). That chaperon could be her aunt. Men and women in Regency times usually did not spend much of the day together. During the day, women took walks, did needlepoint, read, played the piano, sang, took dance lessons, visited the sick, made calls (visits), wrote letters, and possibly painted, while men had discussions, did sport, went riding (more often than women), thought in their library, toured the estate, made visits (woo'd young ladies), held meetings with their steward (which is what Cedric basically is) making sure that they weren't spending too much money while making as much as possible. Women and met saw each other at breakfast and dinner and possibly (rarely) at lunch or tea. Hence the need for the chaperon, so Lavinia wasn't left to her own devices for too long and get bored and start to flirt with a footman or something otherwise scandalous.

As you said, adding in Lavinia's aunt adds more problems (plot wise), which is why I suggested that Cedric have the spacey aunt instead.

For which I hope you will believe me when I say that I am very grateful. :-) I love to discuss plots and writing, and L&C! So, please don't hesitate to make suggestions, observations, etc. as the occasion arises.

I knew Lavinia should probably have a chaperone--sounds like we've read many of the same novels. I've mentioned my reasons for ditching the chaperone, weak ones that they were, in an earlier post so I won't go over all that again. :-) It's been interesting to try and balance the qualities that we know Lois possesses with the restrictions of this earlier era. The temptation to take a few liberties was irresistible!

You've suggested some very good alternatives. There is one particular reason, which the readers don't know about yet, why I felt I couldn't include a female relative of Cedric's or Lucius' in the mix. Let's just say it would make the Masked Avenger's alter ego's life more difficult. You'll see what I mean when I start posting again. She'd have to be very dotty indeed not to notice the sudden change in a certain someone. At the same time, though, using someone already in England would make some things easier--I wouldn't have to re-write the opening highway robbery scene for one thing! There would still be just Lavinia and her father in the carriage.

I'll give it some more thought, which I'll enjoy immensely! Pam (ChiefPam) and I used to beta read for each other. We'd talk about plots over the phone and over lunch--so much fun! For me this is how the work is made better--bouncing ideas around with other writers. We never got upset when suggestions were made for changes. It's part of the process. :-) I'm just sorry that I had started posting a story with such a big hole in it.

Since people seem to want to see what's going to happen, I'd like to start posting again while I work out what to do about this additional character. There are whole parts where she (whoever she turns out to be) most likely wouldn't play any role at all. At least this way, you all can get the whole story as I'd envisioned it, and I hope you'll be willing to correct, discuss, suggest or even praise, when warranted. The whole point is to tell a good story. We can help one another do that.