Lessons in Chaos Update · 3:46am Feb 19th, 2019
Hey, y'all. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here and provide a quick update on the status of this story.
Lessons in Chaos has been a bit of a learning experience for me. Up to this point, I've been writing my stories chapter by chapter and for the earlier works, this worked out well enough. But with LiC, I've been honing my craft a bit. I started putting more care into my writing, putting in more effort, but I've been hitting my head against one stumbling block. Ultimately, I'm not very satisfied with some elements of how this story has panned out.
The reason I'm not satisfied is because when I started it, I had a clear idea of the beginning, middle, and end, plus a smattering of plot details here and there. But the story's evolved as I've been writing it and, as a result, some changes to the structure have occurred. Nothing about the lore or characters, mind you; there are points in the story and even whole chapters that I feel have been rendered redundant by later chapters. I'm still planning to go the same place I was always planning to go, but I'm not happy with how I've gotten there.
The reason this has happened, looking back, is absolutely a product of the chapter-by-chapter method of storytelling. I introduced plot points too early because I wasn't sure if I would get to them down the road. I spent time dwelling on things that would be dwelt on in much greater detail later, and Telling the audience about things that didn't need to be Told because they would be Shown later. Too much emphasis was placed on finishing a chapter and getting it out the door, and not enough on making sure it fit the rest of the narrative.
I've been lying to myself for the past few months and telling myself that I was fine with it, that I could just keep right on trucking, but the result is that every time I sit down to write, all I can think about is how dissatisfied I am with the narrative I've produced. As a result, my schedule has slipped as it's gotten harder and harder to even bring myself to come back to this story and write The Next Chapter.
Because that, in itself, is the problem: The Next Chapter. Always working on The Next Chapter, never on the book.
So I've made a decision. I'm going to finish writing Lessons in Chaos in one go. Not one sitting, obviously, but I want to get the rest of the story written out and drafted so I can have a clear picture in no uncertain terms of what should happen and when. Once the complete story has been drafted out, then I'll go back, break it out into chapters, revise, edit, and start delivering those chapters.
It is my intent to follow this same model for the stories that are meant to come after Lessons in Chaos. Write the whole book, then rewrite in pieces and deliver. I believe that the quality of storytelling will only benefit from this practice.
Keep up the good work
It's all good. Do what *you* need to do. I'm sure the readers appreciate the the blog.
Hey! Just wanted to say - thank you for the heads-up! I appreciate it.
That said - I understand you want to take it from the top again to regain some control over the whole thing - but I think I'd also much appreciate to have some form of updates on how that's going.
Mind, it is not my intention to pressure you into anything (and I don't expect you'd allow me, either) or appear so - and most importantly, I would not want my expectation to somehow contribute to your enjoyment from writing turning a bit sour. I just wanted to put it "out there", as it were, that I'm eagerly awaiting the continuation, and would love to hear from you every so often about it.
You have skill, and you have a very, very interesting story to tell. It's interesting to see how your storytelling is evolving as you hop around and add more genres to the thing, and borrow literary devices from here and there. It has all the markings of a grand saga evolving from a straightforward story - you know, it started out as a "romance experiment" thing, and we're hopping realities at this point. To say I'm thoroughly enjoying where this story is going would be the understatement of the quarter.
Incidentally, is there something we can do to make these more visible? They sure deserve the attention, I think. I'm still puzzled why they don't have many more upvotes on 'em as I'd expect...