Timing is so important in a novel. I forgot that when I wrote about Ship 18. Now I have done the math and must change most of the plot.
Originally
The premise was of a space ship dropping out of a worm tunnel somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. The ship must cross much of the solar system to get to Earth which they call Cardua.
Of course crossing over the Sun would be the most exciting time of the novel and I gave it big play. But it had no basis other than my imagination.
Doing the Math
I had looked up the planetary distances, orbits, sizes etc. before beginning. Looking them up doesn’t mean I paid much attention to them, although I should have.
Finally, I sat down and did the math. I knew the size of the ship (30 inches long) and figured a speed (5 million miles a day). Starting at Earth, I calculated where the ship would be each 6 day week (The Carduans have three fingers and count by sixes.).
My guess work was so far off, it was ludicrous. Since timing is everything in this novel, I had to redo everything according to the calculated journey.
Big Solar System
When I taught science, I took a class outside to a long sidewalk. We marked out distances to the planets on it. I guess I forgot just how big the solar system is.
My Ship 18, on its fictional journey, would spend most of the 15 weeks getting from its original position to Earth’s orbit, although Earth would still be on the other side of the Sun. Anyone who has ever been on a long journey riding along knows how boring this can be.
And now all the exciting events in the first draft are relegated to the last few weeks. Instead, I have eleven weeks of boredom to fill up. But, timing is everything in this novel.
