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Random thoughts

Ban

Ban

Troglodytic Trouvère
Article Team
Merry Marzipan-and-Glühwein-Time!


...Oh and I guess this time also has something to do with a baby born in a shed somewhere. But mostly Marzipan.
 
Ireth

Ireth

Myth Weaver
Just heard about Carrie Fisher having a heart attack today. Sending her lots of hope and prayers for a quick recovery.
 
T

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Ok, been plugging away 'Empire: Judgment' on and off the past couple of weeks, slowly making progress towards the grand climax despite a marked lack of enthusiasm. Almost there.

But -

I KNEW right from the start this tale was going to have a substantial epilogue of sorts, as in 10,000 words minimum. And as I have been inching closer to the climax, tweaking this or that plot element along the way, I realized...

10,000 words isn't going to cut it. 20,000 is probably inadequate. In short, I'm looking at a sort of wrap-up novella, despite the principle antagonist being out of the picture altogether and the characters being on a completely different planet. Hmm...maybe 'Empire: Exiles.' This one differs from the previous six in other ways - like duration. The other novellas mostly took place in compressed time periods ranging from a couple of days ('Country,' 'Capital') to intense periods spread out over a few months ('Metropolis,' 'Spiral.') This one will have to be spread out over a period of years, with multiple very short, somewhat intense episodes.

Drat. Just when I thought the end was in sight with this series. On the brighter side, I'm that much closer to the end of 'Judgment.'
 
DragonOfTheAerie

DragonOfTheAerie

Vala
So guys, I'm faced with a decision I have no idea how to make and any advice would be appreciated. I'm a little desperate for the smallest bit of direction.

Basically, at 80K of my novel, at the eve of the third act, I'm stuck. My shoddy character motivations and crappy plot have given out on me, is all I can say. So far I've done a lot of making-things-up-as-I-go and in hindsight I should have planned. More, at least. But here I am.

I was rereading my manuscript earlier and...ok. It is SO BAD. So. Bad. I was dry heaving. Not literally but I felt nauseated.

I have three options:

-cobble together a character motivation as best I can and shove through the remainder of the book. Pros of this: It's what everyone seems to recommend, it gives me the satisfaction of finishing a thing however horrendous, and I can put off cleaning up the huge mess that is the entire second act of the story. Cons of this: I'll have a huge mess to clean up, I might ruin the story beyond repair, I have no idea how to move forward, and I'll likely hate it.

-start over, going straight into my (extensive) revisions list, revising from the first chapter and on upward. Basically, starting the second draft even though the first never was finished. Pros of this: I'll feel better about the story being crappy because at least I'll be doing something about it, I'll have the least mess to clean up, and I'll actually know what to do with the third act by the time I get there. Cons of this: there are still countless problems I have no idea how to fix and that I will doubtless get hung up on for days and weeks, I'll have to start my extensive research now, and it just feels dirty to start a second draft without making it to the end of the first. Really unsatisfying. I really want to finish a novel. It would reassure me so much...

-somewhat of a combination of the two: go back and address only the issues that I need to continue this and then finish. Pros of this: I'll be able to get finished kind of soon but it might not be a complete disaster. Cons of this: It'll be really hard to tease out the most pertinent issues from all the other ones. Meaning, I might have to rewrite everything anyway for it all to make any sense.

I have no option that I favor. At all. They're all equally attractive and daunting. I'm torn between finishing soon and having the satisfaction of "the end" and writing something that doesn't resemble a puddle of cringey word vomit. I was favoring just biting the bullet and finishing it earlier, but...upon rereading...this will need SO MUCH gutting that I don't know if trying to slog my way to an ending is the wisest or most productive choice. Like, I would rather go back and fix the foundation for the ending and write a good ending then write a badly foundationed ending that I have to change completely later.
 
Saigonnus

Saigonnus

Auror
Perhaps Dragon, you could rewrite it from the beginning, only in regards to things you deem to be problem areas, character motivation and anything else. Once those areas are addressed, bang out a first draft, get it finished so you can move on to the second draft without feeling like you cheated.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
C

Chessie

Guest
:noway:

I'm actually really glad that Christmas is over. You can call me the Scrooge of the bunch. I have my reasons...
 
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