Radiant Followup #2 · 10:32pm Oct 8th, 2018
I almost forgot to make this blog post. But, nevertheless, I remembered!
Future plans for my series following Radiant below the break.
Radiant... It took a very long time to get this story completed and out. It was very behind schedule. Originally, I had intended to start on it around January 20th. I don't remember when I actually did manage to start on it, but I think it was around April-June. That really isn't good. Maybe things are getting better for me so far as my writing and my ability to consistently write more, but I'm not certain. I still don't write like I really want to, so far as being able to write quality content quickly. I miss when I could pump out a lot every week, but that was a long, long time ago- and my quality has probably improved since then (at least I hope it has) so perhaps I shouldn't complain about this.
Regardless, that's in the past.
Radiant is finally finished. I'm content with this. I'm happy with how it ended, but maybe not quite happy with Radiant's quality throughout it. Looking back, I'm not sure I'm really content or happy with the quality of Reaction or Critical Mass, either. In theory, I am; In practice, I'm not sure. I know that there are a lot of little things that bother me. For example, I feel like my writing is very rigid. It doesn't flow as well as I want it to. But maybe I'm being too hard on myself. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, at times, anyway. And of course, as I've said before, as the author, I don't get to experience things the way you- the readers- do. I know what happens, I know how it unfolds. I'm the author, so it's different...
As I've said many times before, I have a lot of plans regarding this series. I have an ideal big picture plan, too. But in all honesty? It's daunting. It's demotivating, too. And while I have plans, I'm not sure I want to really continue with them. As noted, it took a lot longer to get Radiant finished than I anticipated. I'm working on, what I would consider, a lot of stories right now. I've not really worked on some of them, too. And that bothers me. And so it leaves me with a sort of dread, having not worked on stories like I feel I should, which then compounds on itself, and leaves me in a state of inability to work on the stories. And I doubt my own capabilities as an author, too.
I suppose I'm getting off topic, there. Essentially, I don't want to start on the next story in this series for a while. I want to get other stories written and completed first. Will I be able to hold myself to that? Honestly, I don't know. I have plans regarding this series, but I also don't know, as I said, if I want to continue it. I'm probably looking at it the wrong way, but I feel like it's not quite worth it to continue this series, as much as I want to and as much as I have plans. I don't get to enjoy it the same way you guys do. And I'm not sure I really enjoy it much anymore.
It probably doesn't help that I'm not quite as enthusiastic for Twidash as I used to be. I'm also not sure that I like the interpretation of it in this series. But, once again, maybe that's just because I'm the author.
And again, I have plans. Three ideas which I would somehow turn into stories in the future of this series, possibly with a short one-shot somewhere along the way. I'd love to talk about them in depth, but I don't want to spoil anything, and then there's always the possibility of changing plans. But I already have Chekov's guns in this series. A few of them that, I'm sure if you looked hard enough, you could find. There are also mentions of them in my Author's commentary. I try to write it so that in hindsight, it's obvious. I want to set these Chekov's guns off. I want to talk about them, too. It eats at me, I suppose.
I started planning the next story after Radiant a few months ago. I felt incredibly enthusiastic about it; now, not so much. Planning also hasn't gone much of anywhere. There's a huge problem that I need to figure out how to address properly for the next story- assuming I decide to address it. It relates to at least one instance of foreshadowing. And now I can smile about how intricately woven in this would be. A minor detail here, something easily overlooked there, an off-hand comment there, and then it all comes together...
Foreshadowing is fun. Cliffhangers are fun.
And of course, my predicament is that if I go through with my original plan, then that creates certain issues. If I don't go through with the full extent of my original plan, it creates other issues. If I use my original plan, there needs to be a bit of a time gap between Radiant and the next story (which is completely doable) otherwise it just feels plain wrong. Forced, even. If I use a modified version of it and don't address one thing, then it can be sooner, in addition to adding build up for the other major plot point I want to address. However, that plot point I want to address is problematic. One thing which needs to happen that will be hard to pull off without weaving both problems together. I suppose, alternatively, the story could cover a longer time period- which is kind of necessary, anyway...
And that second, dependent plot point? The future of this series hinges almost entirely upon it. If I do it, then I can proceed as planned. If I don't, everything else gets thrown out, or pushed aside, until a later date. Most likely, it would just be delayed, but it would still have some ramifications.
It's probably hard to follow this, isn't it? So allow me to try to simplify it: There is one plot point, we'll call it the Trigger, then there's the plot point which sort of requires it- We'll call it the Dependent event. And then there's the Ramification event.
The Dependent event does not absolutely need the Trigger, but without the Trigger, the Ramification event can't happen. The Ramification isn't absolutely vital to the series of the future of the series, but it serves as a building block of the future of the series in addition to, in a way, worldbuilding, or at the very least, context building. The Dependent event is absolutely necessary for the future of the series, as per my current plans.
I think that conveys the problem at its simplest. Maybe I'm thinking- and worrying- about it too much. But, I'm the author, I worry about this so you don't have to.
In short, I still have plans, but they're not set in stone. I need to figure them out more precisely. I don't plan to start on the next story for a while, and I'm not certain that I will continue. I will post a blog about it in the future whenever I make a decision.
I suppose I'll stop here. I feel like I'm just rambling. Go ahead and comment. I want to know what you guys think. I want to know if you've picked up any of my foreshadowings- or even if you just have guesses about what my future plans for this series are. Or ask questions on anything you'd like clarification on.
honestly i have no idea what your planing but knowing you its going to be intense or painful or both.
Yes, it is.
No, they’re not. You don’t know what it’s like waiting in anticipation of what comes next. (Actually, you probably do, just not from your own stories)
Well, what ever you do I’m sure it’ll be great (though I’d really prefer this series didn’t die)
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Yes, they are. You don't know what it's like writing a cliffhanger and then getting all of the comments about what comes next.
But yeah. As an author, Cliffhangers are immensely fun- or at least they are for me. I was so tempted to make a cliffhanger back in Critical Mass...
But as a reader? Yeah, no. Cliffhangers aren't so fun for readers. Especially if it's the dreaded I'm-going-on-hiatus-cliffhanger-chapter.