Suspense plotting

I'm working hard on Sebastian's voice. Trying to get into his head. Not finding it easy.

There's a looooong scene that inhabits Chapters Three to Five. It may be static and unexciting.
(As one kind soul said of me ... 'her writing is so good you almost don't notice that nothing is happening ...')

I keep doing this. I round up my hero and heroine together and let them talk. I think of it as 'building the relationship'.

The problem is, 'relationship building' don't butter no dramatic tension turnips.

I swear I'm going to stop plotting these boring interludes.
Next manuscript.


I've added five or six references to the darker events that lie outside the ship's cabin. I emphasize Sebastian's plans for Jess -- to acquire her as his mistress. The reader will know that's not going to fly. And I'm introducing earlier the fact that Sebastian is the one responsible for Josiah's imprisonment.

No bubble of peace.
No slackening of the development of the suspense plot.