Chapter Seven: Complete

I should probably get back to updating this more regularly, as the idea is to offer myself a fairly vivid chronology of the writing process... but oh well. I completed Chapter Seven, Who's Afraid Of..., last night at around eight o'clock. I will have another look at it (a few events aren't really tied up, which I feel should be done in that chapter), but at the moment it's sitting at 6713 words. It reveals what occurs after Jai and Seth's exposure to hitruix, and introduces two brand new locations: Photo, a riverside community tucked in a forest where it always rains; and Voteporix, which is essentially the Antarctica of this world.

Chapter Seven is the chapter I have been most pleased with since the first one. I think this is because now that I have a solid idea what's going on, the chapter feels like it has proper momentum behind it. It also begins to introduce the Sentique, which is a huge deal in terms of plot points.

I'm hoping I will get a decent chunk of Chapter Eight done this weekend. I might be working on Saturday, but still, I have no plans that night or all day Sunday at this point.

Some things I'm definitely going to need to touch up on the second draft is, predictably, alluding more to what is going on instead of hiding it behind a curtain, pointing at it, and saying 'what's behind that is a big deal, k?' Because of the mysterious, unique nature of the story's true antagonist, I'm thankful I have Chapter Four which, at this stage, is acting much like a blank slate (because of the removal of Ian Treale, I can radically change it without affecting surrounding chapters too much).

Anyway, it's a Thursday, which means it's production day at the newspaper. Hurk. Better stop stealing McDonald's Wi-Fi and get going.