Time for a Do-Over! · 11:36pm May 3rd, 2012
Bleah. I'm awake!
I've realized, finally, that I need to fully revise The Principles of Magic. I know a lot of you favorited it, and there are some scenes I absolutely love, but the story is so loose that I can't get a grip on it. My notes just don't work anymore, I've realized.
Here's most of the outline I have, the actual principles of magic that I was going to have Twilight teach:
* Observation and information
* Pattern and intent
* Faith and will
* Gather resources
* Focus your energy
* Close the pattern
I'm not nearly so obsessively organized as Twilight, but these principles of magic are the actual principles I use in real life. Yes, I believe. I'm pagan, what did you expect? If you notice, this is the actual pattern of the story. The problem? That's six chapters, plus the introduction and possible epilogue. I was writing one scene per chapter, but I've been having trouble linking the scenes and the outline closely. I am not happy with the material I've tried to write since the middle of February.
What that means is that, unlike Crying in a Bottle (which I still have to import to Fimfiction), I can't write one scene per chapter. I have to write at least two, and possibly three. That will mean longer chapters, but I'm a pretty steady writer once I'm rolling. I can reasonably crank out a scene a day when I'm doing well, between 750 and 1000 words. More, if I'm inspired and able to focus.
So you know what? I'm going to rewrite the whole story, and post it as The Principles of Magic (Redux). That means I'll be tightening things quite a bit, and building the structure taller between floors (so to speak). But I'm keeping the intro (with a little revision), as that scene is too awesome and fun to discard. :)
I intend to start rewriting tonight, along with a couple of other projects. We'll see how far I get.
