A Note On World Building

More accurately, a note on world crumbling.

Today, I altered a few portions of To Bellenast's Chapter 3 and 5; this is not unusual for me, as I occasionally must refer to certain events when writing new chapters.

The changes to Chapter 3 were just minor alterations to parts of the big, drawn-out monster of a fight scene in the latter third of the chapter, during which Blitz tangles with Argent Nimbus, to make a specific moment less patently ludicrous. Firstly, I am referring to the moment when Blitz had formed a shield between herself and Argent, while falling through the air, upside-down, and Argent landed on the shield, after which, Blitz collapsed the shield and Argent balanced on Blitz's hooves.

I was not drinking or otherwise under any chemical influence at the time I wrote that segment, but readers could be (and are) forgiven for thinking such, because I would have assumed that to be the case.

Secondly, rather than falling off Blitz mid-flight and crashing into Eagle in the middle of the battlefield, Crystal now simply crashes into the ground, and Eagle quickly comes to her aid from wherever he was, because he saw her marker stop moving suddenly in a blob of red bars on his EFS. Much more sensible and less spectacularly unlikely.

The change in Chapter 5 is more significant, but at the same time, technically meaningless. It was only a few paragraphs. In that short segment, Night Cloud was telling Crystal about the possibility, however remote, that she could have ancestors from the Dunn Kingdom, based on the presence of a genetic trait.

I removed that entire part of their conversation, and it didn't change the chapter at all... nor did it change the world in the story, because it had no effect on the story, and was never referred to again. I don't remember all the details that culminated in that segment of the chapter, because I nixed them years ago, before publishing that chapter, and I left that segment in, heavily altered, for reasons I still can't fathom. It was a leftover of a plot bunny that had burrowed deep underground and hidden, and its inclusion contributed nothing to the story, while attempting to be a bit of world building. Instead of building up the world, though, it merely crumbled and gathered dust. I never chased that plot bunny to its den.

So, it had to go. I won't miss it, and I rather doubt anyone reading this even remembers it.

In conclusion, here is some advice for prospective writers: If you have written something in your story, and that something doesn't seem to lead anywhere... read through it again, and determine whether it needs to be there at all. Chances are, it's just going to cause a part of your carefully constructed world to crumble away.

If there is a hole in your wall, don't leave it there to crumble. Clear away the debris, lay new brick and mortar, and give it a fresh coat of paint.