Change of C&C plans...

On the advice of prereader AJ_Aficionado, the-now 37,000 words I’ve written for the end of the Changeling arc is going into Eros instead of the main story. I realized he was right when he said that it was simply too big a scene for C&C and interrupted the flow too much. A single 4-5k word M-rated scene in the flow of the main story is fine, but I can’t afford to spend three whole chapters on it. I was already thinking about that, but he gave me the nudge I needed.

So once again...

A prereader acts to save me from myself. That’s why I have them; they’re not just there to stroke my ego and rubber stamp what I write. Now that I think about it, to include it in C&C would have been a similar mistake to what I did at Midnight Rising, letting the story get too far off on a tangent that robs it of narrative momentum. So the question now becomes, what do I do in its place for the main story?

What I’m leaning towards right now is to simply skip ahead to the morning after with Gilda waking up after finally getting a good night’s sleep. It would be a brand-new (and at least mostly) T-rated chapter that summarizes the events and agreements reached up front, and points readers at Eros if they want to know what exactly happened in all its M-rated glory. The argument I was making to myself in including it in the main story was that the Changeling worldbuilding was important for readers to know, but I’ll find other ways to make them known over time.

As for Eros...

This will simply be a new 3-4 chapter story arc separate from the still-unfinished “Night to Remember” one that describes the events of the cider poisoning. Titled “Queen’s Gambit,” that’s where you’ll go if you want both the full story and the full dose of Changeling worldbuilding. That also removes the need for T-rated variants of the chapters since that story is unabashedly clop; a compilation of scenes and sequences that don’t fit in the main story.

So, I’m sorry for the delays and change of plans. At least the first chapter and possibly two will go live in Eros by Christmas as a present for readers, and I’ll be starting work on a new C&C chapter today. I won’t explain everything that happened in the Eros chapters, but you’ll get a sense for some of it just by seeing the surprisingly peaceable aftermath and who’s sparring with whom as a result of the Queen’s *ahem* diplomacy.

As the main story restarts...

We’ll be heading forward towards new clop and combat. It’ll finally be time to start incorporating some scenes from the old story again as we also learn what’s happening in the greater war, and what other nations on both Tellus and Earth are doing in response. I’ll also be picking up some old plot threads, including that text from Starlight Glimmer.

Glim-Glam

Actually, I should give a mea culpa on that, too. When I originally included her text to Chris, my intention had been to have her be the key to their rescue. She would somehow pinpoint Chris’s cellphone when it received the text and then get word to the Kingdom of where, exactly, they were. But then I realized it made far more sense for the Changelings to be involved if they were actually there underneath the apparently abandoned hive, since they would have seen Gilda’s force arrive and could contact the Tribune to have them evacuated. So I went with that instead. And honestly, I think it worked out perfectly.

I’ll make it up to her in coming chapters. In the meantime, thanks for your patience and patronage, folks, as I get this all worked out and written. Be looking for a new chapter for Eros soon, and for those of you who don’t read it, my hope is that I’ll be able to come up with a new main story chapter quickly since it won’t be wall-to-wall clop, which tends to pretty dramatically slow me down. Honestly? I think I need to do some non-clop writing right now anyway.

Comments

[AJ Aficionado]

It was the right decision and of course, I'm always glad to help! Longform clopfiction is difficult to pace, to put it lightly. For one thing, clopfiction is its own genre and has its own set of demands and accepted tropes like long, elaborately constructed sex scenes that exist for their own sake whilst dramatic writing has its own demands. Add in action and you get too many elements at once. C&C in its original form, while it lacked detail in places, benefitted in many ways from DEL's "hit it and quit it" model of checking story beats off the list and moving on because it already had a mammoth cast to follow.

But this isn't DEL's story anymore and it has a much larger cast and more detailed mission. This is a Firesight story and longform is the name of the game. But its original configuration must be respected as that of an action-drama fic otherwise the pacing is going to grind to a halt. But I am just restating my thinking for the benefit of those reading this.

This sort of story is extremely difficult to write. It requires others to help guide the process because while the potential for many different plot threads exist, the space for those threads to breathe does not. We have to decide what goes in and what stays out. And the staying out part is often the most difficult part of writing. This is why I mostly write shortform.

Speaking of action, once I'm done with this chapter of Fecundity, I'm going to start back in on my Pokémon story. That story, I think, it's the best way to approach pacing in this one, I think as far as a mix of sex and story. Let people simmer more between love scenes and enjoy the action in the meantime so they never get bored.

[Black--Soul]

I am quite hyped for the next release, no matter the content, since yours is always a delight so far to read.
Have a good weekend and soon start into the next week.

[Firesight]

5759339

It was the right decision and of course, I'm always glad to help! Longform clopfiction is difficult to pace, to put it lightly.

You’re telling me. And what I have to remember here is that this is isn’t supposed to be a clopfic first, but a war epic. Neither its pacing or story is served by three chapters of wall-to-wall clop.

For one thing, clopfiction is its own genre and has its own set of demands and accepted tropes like long, elaborately constructed sex scenes that exist for their own sake whilst dramatic writing has its own demands. Add in action and you get too many elements at once.

True. It’s a difficult balancing act in a story like this. I’m amazed that one of the story’s inspirations, Starship Troopers, balanced the boobs and bullets as well as it did.

C&C in its original form, while it lacked detail in places, benefitted in many ways from DEL's "hit it and quit it" model of checking story beats off the list and moving on because it already had a mammoth cast to follow.

True again, though DEL got a bit too brief or quick at times. He either didn’t explain things enough or simply completely forgot about early plot threads or characters, like Lieutenant Nantz or Dana.

But this isn't DEL's story anymore and it has a much larger cast and more detailed mission. This is a Firesight story and longform is the name of the game. But its original configuration must be respected as that of an action-drama fic otherwise the pacing is going to grind to a halt. But I am just restating my thinking for the benefit of those reading this.

And it is appreciated, since I need to be reminded of this as well. Thanks again for saving me from myself.

This sort of story is extremely difficult to write. It requires others to help guide the process because while the potential for many different plot threads exist, the space for those threads to breathe does not. We have to decide what goes in and what stays out. And the staying out part is often the most difficult part of writing. This is why I mostly write shortform.

And why, for the most part, I can’t. I want to include everything, and even if I set out to keep things brief, it seems like I never do.

Speaking of action, once I'm done with this chapter of Fecundity, I'm going to start back in on my Pokémon story. That story, I think, it's the best way to approach pacing in this one, I think as far as a mix of sex and story. Let people simmer more between love scenes and enjoy the action in the meantime so they never get bored.

Yay! You know that’s the one I’ve been waiting on. Can’t wait to see it resume in the new year.

[Firesight]

5759346

I am quite hyped for the next release, no matter the content, since yours is always a delight so far to read.
Have a good weekend and soon start into the next week.

I appreciate that greatly, sir. To you as well, and I hope you enjoy the holiday season.