This is one of those days where any writing time is chopped up into small pieces.

I'm thinking about the frame, because I woke up this morning with an idea of how it could go. I'm starting with a heading that sets the scene, then I have about half a page (standard margins) in Troy during the siege. Then the story proper starts with a heading that re-sets the scene (ten years earlier, different place) and goes into the centered formating.

The very end of the story proper (haven't written it yet; just have the GN form of it) leaves on an open note of freedom and ocean horizons. That kind of feels like where the book ought to end. But to me, this story isn't about one girl, it's about a whole bunch of other stuff, so the story needs to go on a little bit. It needs to end in midair, because the rest of the story really lies elsewhere. It seems pretty obnoxious to act like I told the whole thing in 30,000 measly words then tied a bow on it. And it feels dishonest to imply a happy ending when really the story goes on to become a tragedy.

So after the end of the story proper comes the closing frame, picking up where the beginning frame left off. The frame ends where my favorite part of the Iliad starts, so I'm going to stop somewhere in there. Not sure where yet--not sure how abruptly I want to leave it hanging. Maybe the reader needs to turn the page, fully expecting more story--only there's not. That's going to p*ss them off, which is okay with me if it keeps them thinking. Or, maybe I need to end on a note where the reader thinks, "this feels like the end, but I sure hope it's not because I want to know what happened,"--and then it really is the end, too bad.