Confession Time · 4:32am Oct 8th, 2019
I hate cancelling stories. I'm not doing it today, but I fear two stories are on the chopping block in the near future for reasons explained after the break.
Okay, I think you can guess which ones they are if you've followed me for any given amount of time. The fact that I've turned out four straight Apprentice chapters in a year with nary an update besides the occasional "I'm working on it, please be patient with me!" about the other two stories I've had going on should really speak for itself. Both Starbound and Even In Other Worlds haven't been updated since early last year.
For starters, Starbound. This one sucks, because I'm right there. I know how I want it to end. Problem is, I've just lost interest. I don't want to write it right now, and I haven't for a while. I keep holding out in case my muse decides it's time to finish it up, but she doesn't seem to want to offer me any inspiration. Someone had pitched me the idea of writing a sequel about the current game's release, ad I've been including a ton of little nods and references to the main game just in case, but it's probably a no, and even finishing up this story looks like it could not happen.
I'm very unsure about canceling this one, but as time goes on, and I have nothing to write about it, it just seems more and more likely that it's going to happen.
The other story, however, is even worse. I've outlined where I want it to go from where it is at. I have the ensuing three sequels that I originally had planned way back when still fresh on my mind. But unfortunately, a year without writing it, how long it's taken me to get this far, and the finale airing in a few short days has always caused me to feel dismayed by how long it took me compared to the original run of Apprentice, with the prospect of three stories to finish out Nova's tale still to come, and the thing is, with the benefit of a ton of time to think, I'm not sure any of these stories are good ideas.
Worlds was already a drastic departure from what Apprentice was, and the thing is, the third story was supposed to feature a plot reference to For the Man Who Has Everything, the absolutely brilliant Superman story that got adapted into a brilliant Justice League Unlimited episode, in which Supes is trapped in a dream with his heart's desire and has to leave it behind. That was gonna happen to Nova, but to suddenly go from "Nova's a human now" to "Whoopsie, now he's an alicorn" would have been jarring again. And then the fourth story was going to be super-serious, not at all fun like the others, and a hard look at depression and shit.
The thing is, I've been seriously considering ending Nova's tale at two stories for a couple of years now because of the time it's taken me to get this far. I've set things up for a final conclusion at the end of Worlds that would still allow me to continue if I wanted to. So this is something that's been on my mind for some time.
Basically I'm about 90% sure Worlds is going to be chopped. But that doesn't mean Nova;s story will end. Quite the contrary. A large part of the reason I am leaning toward cancelling the story is because another idea occurred to me. One that would allow me to incorporate themes and plot points from Worlds and its as-yet unwritten sequels, but would still wrap everything up, and allow me to tie it into the show's finale. A large part of determining whether or not that will be done hinges on this Saturday. Once I see the finale and see how everything ends, I'll have everything I need to see if it can end how I would like it to. And if it can, and I can outline an engaging adventure with a satisfying conclusion, then it's on.
So in short, that's where things stand. I'm still very much enjoying the rewrite of Apprentice, but I've done a lot of thinking and it's very likely at least one of those is getting canned, and in the not-too-distant future at that. I'm sorry, for those of you who enjoy these stories, but well... in a perfect world, I'd be able to get a ton of writing done across every story and enjoy it from start to finish, but that just isn't the case.
This what happens when your not concentrating on just one story at a time. You'll burn out, than lose interest in it to the point of not caring.
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If Brandon Sanderson (and personal experience, I've been doing this for over 13 years now after all) has taught me anything, it's that the amount of stories one is working on at once has little to no effect on the motivation to write them. Sure, you're always going to have preferences and ones where your muse has struck causing you to churn out a ton in the short term, but that doesn't mean you lose interest in the other ones. This whole idea of "You must only focus on one thing at a time" holds no water, because there are plenty of experienced authors (Sanderson, Stephen King, Chengar Qordath and Ponibius on this site, etc.) who work on multiple things at once, and I personally get burned out if I can ONLY focus on one at a time.
While I would be sad to see Worlds get chopped, I completely understand your reasons. I still happily look forward to seeing what you come out with next. Do as your heart and gut say you should, my friend.
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See, the thing about Worlds was that as time went on, I kinda started to see just how pointless it was overall. Like, its only purpose at the start was to have Nova end up where he would end up in time for the third story. Literally no other reason. All just one giant set-up to another better story, except it was "omg wat if nova was a hoomon?". That's bad storytelling; something has to happen, something that changes things, in order for it to mean something. The story can't just meander and accomplish nothing. So I started throwing in more permanent things like the little reveal of what's going on with Nova's magic in the most recent chapter, or Nova maybe ending Sombra a couple of chapters before.
Which is why I've been considering a redo. This other story would essentially undo Worlds and restart as a proper sequel. I have a premise, I have my main characters and antagonist, I have a ton of things lined up, but I want it to plausibly be in line with the show, so I'm waiting it out. And this allows me to carry over certain developments I wanted, like Nova's deceased sister Glimmer (no, it's not Starlight). A lot of stuff introduced in Worlds is lined up to reappear here, but at the same time, a lot of the filler that Worlds really was, is geting cutout.
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Makes perfect sense to me, Ry.