Chapter Eight Progress

I have been very lazy.

Chapter Eight, Fly Like An Eagle, is currently sitting at around 6000 words... So, it isn't far from being finished. But at the same time, it carries a kind of burden: because I decidedly changed my mind about what's going to happen, I had to lay out a description of the 'problem' in the book with a wall of dialogue. It does work well enough in context (Eric finally demands Victor tell the others and himself what's going on and why they're doing what they're doing), but a lot of it should be eased in during the earlier chapters. This'll be fixed during the second draft, though.

Fly Like An Eagle focuses mostly on Victor, somebody who has been around since the second chapter but has never really stepped into the spotlight... the only other character who hasn't done this yet is Angelica. It is the most dialogue-intensive chapter of the book so far, I dare say, thanks to Victor's explanation on Ruben Storm.

What I've decided on isn't something completely surprising to myself - the first time I attempted a super-power based project, which was called Black Calibre, it had a similar threat. I've always favoured the idea of having a non-human antagonist, which is going to be the case in Calibre. It is also not unconditionally biased towards the protagonist's intentions, which is something I feel helps make the world seem more vivid: there is always to sides to a story, and that is going to be the case with Calibre.

Anyway, I hope to finish C8 by tonight. I'll update this if I manage to do so.

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.

Decisions

Last night, I spent a couple of hours sitting on my thinking hammock, rocking back and forth, listening to music, and was thinking about the story. And I'm pleased to say... after six chapters, I know what's going to happen.

But this outcome comes at a price, which means extra work for the second draft: I will be removing Ian Treale as a character. He was developed as a kind of 'saviour', but was completely absent in the first three chapters. What was evident in those chapters, however, was things like a 'greater fate' than things like Pen Expers, which has also been looked into in 5/6. Despite the removal of Ian Treale, however, Treefingers will still be in Chapter 4, and will be a big deal later on...

I'll admit, I haven't done much for Chapter Seven yet. But because it is essentially the first chapter of part two of the book, I don't think this is a huge deal - I think it'll benefit if I write it on the weekend when I have a clear head and an empty schedule. :)