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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group |
The first Wednesday of the month is the time for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. This is the once-a-month blog hop started by Alex J. Cavanaugh .
IWSG = Insecure Writers’ Support Group (click for the link). We share our insecurities and support each other with empathy, sympathy and practical suggestions.
Visit the site – and visit the co-hosts:
Heather Gardner, T. Drecker from Kidbits, Eva E. Solar at Lilicasplace, and Patsy Collins!
Dodging a Curve-ball
I am working on a story set in Paris of 1834. I mentioned it before, recently. One of the characters is a seven year old boy named Larouche. At the start of the story, he has found a home and some employment as a stable boy in an Inn in the Montparnasse area of the city. He has become friendly with a medical student named LeMat, who encourages Larouche to come to lectures with him. While Larouche is waiting outside the Hotel-Dieu, the big hospital in Paris, he witnesses a knifing, and, being street-smart and good-hearted, tries to help the victim.
It is not going well…
It worked fairly well. …and then my problem stepped in as the street-smart little boy, over his head, gets the help he asked for:
“May I assist?” The quiet voice made Larouche look up in time to see a man nod to one of the bystanders and then drop to his knees beside him. Intent, dark eyes above a strong nose. Arched eyebrows and a humorous mouth now pursed thoughtfully as he eyed the unconscious man and then turned to Larouche. “What is your name, young man?”
That isn’t a bad scene, if I say so myself, though it is very new and needs to be tweaked and repetitious words removed. It follows nicely with what I knew about the boy, Larouche, after writing about him for several years.
The issue that arose, that I am writing about, has to do with the new character’s name and history and its effect on the story.
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Dominique-Jean, Baron Larrey |
Larouche was near a hospital when an emergency came up. He needed help, and so I sent a doctor his way. I knew a little about Dr. Larrey, so I put him in. And then I learned a whole lot more.
Dominique-Jean Larrey was Napoleon’s Surgeon-General. He revolutionized battlefield medicine. His humanitarian work with all wounded earned him unanimous respect. He is credited with being responsible in part for what ultimately became the Red Cross. He was fearless, humorous, a father of several children, a devoted husband who died at nearly eighty within two days of his sweetheart, whom he married before he became famous. He stood off a mob of rioters during the 1830 riots when he was the Surgeon-General of Les Invalides, the big French Veteran’s hospital. Indefatigable, kind, approachable… And he was in my story.
Uh…
Dr. Larrey stepped into my story and became a sort of catalyst. He approved of Larouche, who in his turn admired the students of Medicine. And who, incidentally, idolized Dr. Larrey.

All well and good, except…
The story was set in my mind, and had been for some time. And I had thrown myself a curve ball. The possibility for change and deepening of the story were there and very obvious. It would involve disturbing those securely written parts. I am facing what-ifs and let’s-try-this.
Would things change very much? it could be a lot of work!
Well, yes. And it could deepen the story. Frankly, from what I read about Dominique Larrey, the presence of a true hero like him could only make the story better, if I did my work right.
…and I did say, most recently, that I wanted to be the best writer I could, didn’t I? Isn’t that what we all want to be. The best, not necessarily the most rested or leisurely?
Then I guess I’d better get cracking.
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