hey so i can't set a good pace · 11:12am Sep 21st, 2021
Alright, no preamble, let's jump into addressing my issues. And by that, of course, I mean just rambling about them for a while until I manage to bring up the 'solution' I thought of while I was away.
Problem #1! Pacing!
Yeah, shouldn't be a surprising place to start if you've been paying attention.
So, what's the deal, Jinx? Why can you not manage to set a decent pace to save your life? If you're not jumping three years between chapters, you're spreading a day out between 60k words. When are you just going to stop faffing around and get to the point?
Very valid barrage, me! Thanks for saying all of those semi-hurtful things! Now, please, let me take this moment to explain.
My difficulties with consistency have plagued me my entire life, actually; they didn't just start when I started writing for an audience. In pretty much every piece of media I've ever consumed, I've usually found some issue with the speed of the story. Things just go by so quickly. So often, there's just not enough detail and proper consideration given to the finer minutia of events.
It wasn't a huge issue until I really got into fanfiction sometime two-ish years ago. I had read fanfiction for most of my life, but this website really provided me a convenient excuse to consume large amounts of content of varying quality based around a topic that I had become obsessed with beyond anything I had ever experienced before.
During my tenure as a fanfiction aficionado that barely slept, I made my way through literal millions of words worth of fanfiction; and throughout that time, I frequently became frustrated with some people's lack of emphasis. For reference: my favorite stories to read were usually the longest I could find. I did read the entirety of Project Horizons, so that should tell you something.
I enjoy drawn out events. I enjoy details. It makes me happy when every possible angle for a scene is considered, so that proper depth of field for conceivable questions can be provided. I want to address anything and everything. Now, that's very hard to actually put into practice, so even my own attempts are clumsy and unfulfilling. Nonetheless, I do my best, which results in 8k word slogs that wind up being too boring to focus on. It's also gotten somewhat difficult to write, but that's an issue I'll address in another post.
I still don't think my recent writing is bad, per se. I may have cluttered a bunch of meaningless details into every nook and cranny I could, but I also stuffed in a ludicrous amount of tiny details and subtext. Subtext also happens to be one of my great obsessions. I've always thought that mysteries were a sure key to intrigue, which only served to dampen the fires of progression.
I shackled the legs of my story with heavy chains, bound to small hints at a greater story, all the while constantly hiding the finish line. I found it a point of pride to leave my readers as confused as possible, though I really did it to encourage theorycrafting. Either way, that kind of thing is fun in small doses, not over the course of months. That's why, going forward, I'm going to peel back some of the curtains I've hung all over the place. I'm gonna stop being coy, and start being more active in my storytelling.
So rejoice! The next chapter is going to be filled with all sorts of huge reveals that I've been putting off for 30k words now. I'm also going to try to restrain myself from too many extraneous details. When I feel the need to read back over the chapter and add fifteen new paragraphs, I'm just going to take a step back so that I can look at things a bit more rationally. Going forward, Light will still be mostly as obsessive as ever, but hopefully not to the point of mind numbing repetition.
Writing's pretty hard, you know. Maintaining consistency can be really difficult for everybody, but I've always had major personal issues with it. I'm not going to go into my psychological history here, but let's just say I'm a bit of a roamer when it comes to my own personality traits, so keeping track of characters' can be a bit of a monumental task. That's besides the point, though, and I don't think it would be very prudent to fish for pity at the moment.
And... I think that's it for today's problem. I like extreme details, most people don't, and I'm gonna try to lay off. Simple as that. Next post will be about something, probably. I haven't decided yet.
Also, I probably won't tag the next blog for The Stereotypical Necromancer, since they really only have a tangential relationship anyway. I doubt more than a few people will care enough to actually read these, so I don't want to clutter up inboxes.
Sounds like good news, I'm excited to be able to delve into the story itself and not just hours of ramblings of a mentally ill pony
It's like complaining about chili being spicy. Well, I don't care. I liked the story so far, even though i got a little bit... exasperated? Aggravated?
-occasionally. Do what ye will.
Also: HOW DARE YOU WRITE SUCH LONG BLOGS INSTEAD OF CHAPTERS!?
/jk
Sorry, I was about to read stuff because I keep procrastinating for some reason, but got distracted by the feed, which is bad for one's mental health.