A Mea Culpa on Midnight Rising... · 4:28pm Oct 10th, 2023
Hello, folks. To borrow the iconic phrase from The Hangover:
Except there is no ‘we’ fucked up here, unfortunately. It's just me. 
I regret to report that, upon reflection after reading the latest comment of Implausible Deniability, I finally realize that I've screwed up pretty severely with the new version of Midnight Rising. How? By getting lost in the weeds and forgetting what the story was supposed to be about.
The problem is the six just concluded Enter the Griffons chapters. It's not that I don't think those chapters aren't high quality—I’ll unreservedly say that they are. It's definitely not that I didn't enjoy the hell out of writing them, given the huge griffon kick I've been on in conjunction with Feathered Hearts. It's also not that they don't have (what I feel is) a lot of good worldbuilding and dialog, especially when I started using the new narrative device of having the rest of the humane 6 comment on Sunset's story like my prereaders do on the parent google docs. And it's not that there isn't critical information there at the end regarding what's coming in Nightmare Night.
It's that they don't fit the existing story. The problem is that I got completely away from the original topic of Middie punishing her classmates for six full chapters, thus inserting what amounted to a second story in the middle of the first. As Implausible Deniability reminded me, that's not what readers like him were there for. So now I'm left with a bit of a mess to clean up, and trying to figure out the best way forward.
What I should have done was make this a side story similiar to Temptations and Transformations. Or, I could have made it a separate arc under that story, and pointed readers at it when Midnight Rising reached it while the main story then skipped over it. I probably still could (after asking permission of the mods, since reposting published content to a separate story is generally against site rules), but that raises additional issues, given a) it would cost me comments, b) I'd have to reexplain everything, like why Sunset's friends are now commenting on her story, and c) there's some critical information in there regarding what's coming in Nightmare Night that readers would miss.
To borrow another iconic phrase, it's another fine mess I've gotten myself into. As near as I can tell, I have three options for dealing with this:
- Get the mods permission to move the chapters as a new story arc in Unleash the Magic - Temptations and Transformations
- Get the mods permission to move the chapters to a side story entirely, though it's probably less likely they'd grant it.
- Keep the chapters as is, but direct readers to skip over the six Midnight Rising chapters if they're not interested, then try to recap what readers need to know at the start of the first Lemon Zest chapter.
I'm open to additional suggestions as well. I’ll decide what to do within the next week. In the meantime, I can only offer my sincerest apologies for letting my lower head run away with my upper head here, which probably cost me more than a few readers on this. I thank profusely those who remain and stayed with me during this entire sideshow. I promise we will return to it to finish it off properly, but a new chapter of Nightmare Night awaits first, now that I've put down on paper Midnight's preparations and reasons for what’s to come.
I’m sorry, folks. Truly. 
It’s not the first time I’ve messed up in my writing, and also not the first time I’ve messed up in such a way. Unfortunately, it’s one of my biggest faults as an author that I don’t always restrain myself from going off on tangents I shouldn’t, often dramatically underestimating how long they’re actually going to take.
The muse of the text based arts can be a harsh mistress, good luck with the changes.
I personally enjoyed the chapters so I think that option 3 would be best. The option that is the simplest is frequently the best as well.
Well. Didn't mean to provoke a full-on apology blog.
Goodness knows I've had minor details run away from me before.
As for how to handle this, it depends on the mod response, but the notices before and after the side story should work if all else fails.
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Thanks. Feel free to check out the story sometime while you’re waiting for more Feathered Hearts. It might interest you to know that a slightly younger Fortrakt is featured heavily in the griffon chapters, and he very much harkens back to his Feathered Hearts character.
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I’m very glad to hear it.
I’m finding that the more I think about it, the more I really don’t want to remove the chapters either, but I still need to find a better accommodation for them in the story. I’m going to give it a few days before deciding.
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No need to apologize. Hey, at least you know that I really do listen to reader feedback.
Before starting, I figured this side arc would be about three chapters long, but I was enjoying it so much I kept adding more and more to it. I certainly don’t regret it on that basis, but yeah, you’re right that this wasn’t the place for it. I’m sorry again.
At this point, I’m leaning more towards keeping it in the story as redmar suggested but giving readers the option to skip over it with an explanation and subsequent recap in the first Lemon Zest chapter (which will be the next chapter). There’s just too much in there I like and that I’d like readers to know. But I’m going to give it a few days before I decide.
As an apology and thank-you for pointing out this issue, as well as being such a regular and appreciated commenter, I’d like to offer you the chance to preread the Lemon Zest chapters when I return to them. Interested?
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I appreciate the offer, but I have a lot on my plate with life in general and must sadly decline.
Option 3 if option 1 fails seems the most reasonable.
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No problem. I certainly know what having a lot of your plate is like. But as a thank-you and apology, the offer remains open going forward.
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I’m currently waffling between options 1 and 3. I’ll need to sleep on it a bit more.