Just in Case You Needed Some Reassurance... · 2:32am Jun 20th, 2020
Heya, Folks!
I believe it's been just short of a month since I last gave a DaD update. Well, as I've said previously, I am working on it. I mentioned that I had that bout of writer's block before, and it's kind of still hanging around, but I've been managing to get some words in every day, no matter how few it may be (either that or refining stuff that's already written). I know I've said in the past that I've had tons of tabs up, but I figure it's time I prove it so y'all know I'm not just saying it to keep you off my back:
The lower row of tabs is my window for DaD. Aside from the outer two—which are an outline and timeline—each Google Doc tab is a separate chapter. I have them all up so I can go back to make sure I don't screw up continuities.
The upper row is all for DaD's prequel. You'll notice there's only one actual Google Doc on it at the far left. That's because so far the whole story (which will likely eventually be separated into different chapters) is in the one document so I have everything in plain view without needing to jump between docs to find something. Everything else is for research purposes.
I don't really know how long the prequel is going to be, but I'm going to avoid having it turn into thousands and thousands of words. It was originally just supposed to be a sort of intro chapter to what's going to be my "Early Years" side story anthology (more on that below), but it got long enough that I thought it deserved some detail. That said, since I don't want to take too much time away from working on DaD, I'll likely do some time skipping.
I feel like I can give a few more minor details without revealing spoilers, since it's the main story that I'm really worried about getting spoiled, and anything happening in the prequel won't affect the main story. The prequel is going to focus on Cotton's time in the hospital right after the Great Fire, before she goes to Luna's Orphanage, and will be told by the perspective of Cotton's nurse (and thus will be aptly titled A Patient and her Nurse—PaN). It's kind of her pre-origin story, if that makes any sense. It should only last over the course of about a month (one of the things I needed to research was how long it takes for 2nd-degree burns to heal and what the healing process entails for someone Cotton's age).
So I've got both windows for DaD and PaN up on my desktop so I can easily switch between them if I feel the need, but I'm probably going to try and work on PaN a little more right now. DaD isn't being put on hold, but it might be getting a little less attention in favor of PaN.
While I've got you guys' attention, I also wanna say that I'm still open for suggestions for the Early Years anthology, which is going to take place in two different 'time periods'— Cotton's life in the orphanage, and the years between Acts I and II of DaD's main story. If you don't remember, this is what I said when I first pitched the idea:
This would be something kind of like those ‘What If?’ stories I’ve seen around, with you all giving the prompts. Except in this case, said prompts would have to be realistic to the time period and situation. Like, ‘What if Cotton had to deal with another bully?’ or ‘What was Spike’s worst ‘helicopter parent’ moment?’ or ‘Has [x] ever happened?’ Not things that are or would cause contradictions to the canon, like, ‘What if Cotton actually got [x] for a cutie mark?’ We’re talking things that would be common for a normal teenager to deal with. Just, well, taking into account the massive, fire-breathing father. And being the niece of four (mostly three) princesses. And, uh, everything else that comes with being raised by royalty.
In the same vein, you could also offer prompts for before Cotton’s adoption, and her experiences in the orphanage while she was being raised by Mother Matron, which would likely be even more slice-of-life-y. You could even suggest something that you think might be realistically specific to Cotton or Spike (or both) and see if I expand upon it. Bear in mind, since these would be taking place before what is currently the main time period of the story, the prompts can’t result in something that would alter how Act Two started or how the rest of the story has progressed. I would determine whether or not that would be the case. Heck, you could even ask about the other characters in the story— like scenes with other characters that don’t involve either Cotton or Spike, and just take place in the ‘verse.
So yeah, if you have any ideas you'd like to see, throw them at me, and if I like them then I'll add them to my prompts list (I have a few already).
Until next time!
—LD
Okay, the first thing that jumped to my attention was the tabs.
How much RAM do you have?
Jesus. I thought having ten tabs open was too many.