State of the Author, Ides of March '22 · 9:38am Mar 15th, 2022
Happy Ides! Sic semper tyrannis!
Look, some people really like Christmas or Easter. I like my joke online holidays. We gotta have some fun in these interesting times.
(Yesterday, of course, was Pi Day, and while everyone else was getting excited about that I was just waiting for the Ides of March, and it felt like a very wobbly manifestation of the clash between STEM and the Humanities.)
As for me, I'm... Well, I'm very ready for winter to be over here honestly. You know that thing where you're always busy and always tired, but at the same time everything is just routine and none of it sticks in your memories so it feels like you've both burned out from hard work and also you can't remember doing anything at all? Yeah. And well, the last months of winter are always the worst for me. My brain foolishly thinks that the midwinter solstice is the middle of winter rather than just the beginning, and by february I am all out of energy to deal with it even as the weather is at its worst 
But I'm still working. After I finished the first draft of The Seven Trials just before new year I've been working on the second draft. Having pushed through to the end of the story it was time to figure out exactly what changes I wanted to make along the way to make the plan come together. So I spent most of January just trying to figure out the big picture, looking at my big planning document, hacking away at multiple years' worth of notes and trying to cut them down to something orderly and useful.
Once that was done it was time to start actually editing the whole story from the start. Thankfully the first two chapters actually held up pretty well, I added a few pages here and there but overall they were good. Then there was chapter 3, which I had unfortunately left in a very rough state the first time around because I was in a hurry to get to the more important, more interesting parts. But last night I finished it, after a month of work that saw it grow to nearly double the length.
Next up is chapter 4, which I'm cautiously hopeful for. It has a few bits I want to change but on the whole I think it works. Chapter 5 is another one of the rougher ones however, and this time it's not because it was unimportant so I skipped it, but because it's very important and I had to reach the end of the story to know what it had to do.
Also chapter 3 involved a lot of public mass destruction, because epic fantasy. And while I was pondering how to thread that needle, to balance the need to raise the stakes with my desire to hold on to some measure of pony comedic tone, Russia invaded Ukraine and questions of violent mass destruction suddenly reached a lot closer to home. So... if nothing else, the modern world keeps reassuring me that I'm not running out of time, these topics will always be relevant My support for the people defending their homes and protesting for an end to war. Much love to you all.
A podcast recommendation: Ex Urbe Ad Astra. This thing seems to have flown completely under the radar, or maybe it's just the creators seem entirely uninterested in plugging it? I hadn't heard of it until the second to last episode even though I follow both of them. Anyway this is a series by two very clever and popular SFF writers, Ada Palmer and Jo Walton, where they talk about the craft of writing. It's short, with only nine episodes out so far, but it's brilliant and I highly recommend it.
(I've pushed Ada Palmer's nonfiction work on multiple occasions before and I will continue to do so for as long as she puts out brilliant stuff.)
The sun is out and the snow is melting. Here's hoping it speeds up. How are you all doing? I hope everyone's okay out there.
I'm doing well. Working on fulfilling the letter and violating the spirit of a month-of-prompts writing challenge. As long as I get the 31 stories written before the end of March, it definitely counts.
Here's hoping for spring arriving soon!
5643929
Thanks, and best of luck. If any rules are made to be
brokeninverted and contorted to the most entertaining outcome then surely creative writing prompts are it.I would enjoy winter more if not for all the snow.
One big snowfall a year is fine. But once it's melted, that's it, no more. >.> Just keep it cold for a while, please.
I'm doing okay, I suppose! Nothing really new on my end, save for me balancing life, work and Elden Ring lol.
I'm slightly ill at the moment, but not very, and seem to be getting over it, and something else has gone in a way that seems both good but also likely to make my life more complicated. On the whole, I'd say I'm doing pretty well.
5643941
I hate the snow and the snow hates me. So we're in agreement about some things, the snow and I.
5643947
Yeah smash that ring.
5643968
Get well soon!
I'm recovering from Covid. Well, just about recovered now, but still self-isolating for at least another two days. At least I can see the spring flowers from my window. Good to know that you're being productive.
5644030
We seem to have all decided that the pandemic is over even as the most contagious variant yet sweeps across the world. My sister's entire family came down with it last week. Nothing could possibly go wrong
I am alive and that will have to do. Glad you're doing well!
5644036
That's the best possible place to start. Best of luck taking it from there.
Tonight I started looking at chapter 4. There is one scene I hated and want to completely rewrite from scratch. Other than that I think it's actually very good. Very encouraging.
Blasphemy! Tau Day is obviously superior!
I'm enjoying Ex Urbe Ad Astra very much. I'm not sure why it isn't more popular, but other writing podcasts I've listen to tend not to discuss the craft on such a high and detailed level, so perhaps it's a bit advanced for most listeners?
Hang in there, Spring is coming!
5644067
Wild drama in the circle fandom.
5644113
It's so good!
5644002
Thanks!
Ah, I know that exact same though process. I've just never had anyone put it into words for me before.