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Another progress report: Day 22
Just about 1,000 words written today. Not bad, considering that some prime writing time - noon to sixish - was taken up at the cousin's for Thanksgiving. And then I got home and wasn't really in the mood. And now that I'm in the mood I have a bit of a headache and am tired. Also, this Clementine I just peeled is dry, blech. *chucks it*
If I really push it, I might be able to finish - or get really close to finishing - before I have to go back to work on Monday. Or I can pace myself. It's nice to have a little bit of freedom.
I've also handwritten the dialog for three scenes that haven't happened yet. It's something I do if the characters involved are speaking to me especially clearly, and it lets me focus on exposition/narration later, without having to worry about keeping up the flow of the conversation. The dialog itself is probably at least another thousand words, so should something go horribly, horribly wrong at the end, at least I would have that to fall back on as a little buffer.
No big story revelations today, although I finally accepted that I'm just not going to be able to have a big honkin' reveal with this story the way I did with WBP. In that case the big reveal wasn't absolutely necessary - I could have divulged who Aten was earlier than I did - but it worked for the story and made writing the foreshadowing fun.
In this case, it could work for the story, but it would feel too strained and would require that I keep things too general, which takes away some of the emotional impact of the eventual reveal. Plus I already have multiple storylines going on, both in the present and at various points in the past and future, and I'm worried enough about that getting confusing for the reader. I don't need to frustrate them even more by being pointlessly vague. That said, I'm not going to announce it with a big neon sign, either.
In non-writing news, I had to give Lou the kitteh a bath in the sink after he was not careful of where he stepped in the litter box. Thankfully, his big brother, Hermie the Maine Coon tabby, is raising him to not be afraid of water, so I was able to soap up Lou's feet - yes I own cat shampoo - and clean off the ick with a minimum of struggling. He's now curled up in my lap, giving himself a bath and purring like a beast. I think I am forgiven.
If I really push it, I might be able to finish - or get really close to finishing - before I have to go back to work on Monday. Or I can pace myself. It's nice to have a little bit of freedom.
I've also handwritten the dialog for three scenes that haven't happened yet. It's something I do if the characters involved are speaking to me especially clearly, and it lets me focus on exposition/narration later, without having to worry about keeping up the flow of the conversation. The dialog itself is probably at least another thousand words, so should something go horribly, horribly wrong at the end, at least I would have that to fall back on as a little buffer.
No big story revelations today, although I finally accepted that I'm just not going to be able to have a big honkin' reveal with this story the way I did with WBP. In that case the big reveal wasn't absolutely necessary - I could have divulged who Aten was earlier than I did - but it worked for the story and made writing the foreshadowing fun.
In this case, it could work for the story, but it would feel too strained and would require that I keep things too general, which takes away some of the emotional impact of the eventual reveal. Plus I already have multiple storylines going on, both in the present and at various points in the past and future, and I'm worried enough about that getting confusing for the reader. I don't need to frustrate them even more by being pointlessly vague. That said, I'm not going to announce it with a big neon sign, either.
In non-writing news, I had to give Lou the kitteh a bath in the sink after he was not careful of where he stepped in the litter box. Thankfully, his big brother, Hermie the Maine Coon tabby, is raising him to not be afraid of water, so I was able to soap up Lou's feet - yes I own cat shampoo - and clean off the ick with a minimum of struggling. He's now curled up in my lap, giving himself a bath and purring like a beast. I think I am forgiven.
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That said, the reveal in WBP was probably my favorite thing. I had to stop and admire your brilliance.
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Aww well goodness knows I really do love cookies of all kinds, but LOL. When I was first pondering ideas for a sequel I did consider that maybe Aten wasn't as 'dead' as they all assumed, but then I decided that Natasha had had enough manipulation and it was time to screw it someone else.
That said, the reveal in WBP was probably my favorite thing. I had to stop and admire your brilliance.
(On the other hand, that makes me kind of stressed, because SO MUCH PRESSURE to write something that doesn't suck by comparison.)
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That said, the gleefully wanton "Time to screw it to somebody else!" attitude makes me really, really excited. It's possible I need to look into this masochism thing....
...nah.
I can't tell you not to stress out because that would just be hypocritical advice when I stress out about that all the time. But I can say this: I'm pretty much going to love anything that a writer of your caliber writes without comparing to any other work, so I hope that takes some of the pressure off (also, it proves the universe evidently revolves around me).
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A little of that probably leaked in from the 'source material' that inspired the Aten twist, where the characters who are 'linked' actually become very close over the course of the novel. In the case of WBP, Aten was actually more Natasha than Natasha was herself, with her recent memories gone, and yet to Natasha, Aten seemed like the inexperienced, more innocent one. So yeah, it was a very interesting dichotomy to play with.
So bringing her back to lose her again would probably be too much of a punch to the gut, yeah.
Yeah. Godheads is scifi so there ends up being a way for both characters to survive, but that wouldn't work in this case. I think Natasha's biggest challenge immediately post-WBP would have been really reintegrating who she is an who she was, and having the Aten personality somehow resurface would have made that too weird. Not to mention it would have lessened Aten's sacrifice in the first place.
That said, the gleefully wanton "Time to screw it to somebody else!" attitude makes me really, really excited.
I am an emotional whumper. It is my blessing and my curse.
But I can say this: I'm pretty much going to love anything that a writer of your caliber writes without comparing to any other work
*blushes* Thanks. I think my best bet now is just to focus on making this story good albeit good in a different way. And it really is a different kind of story... even though there's still manipulation and angst and traveling (omg I'm actually really tired of the traveling) the characters are necessarily different than they were. There's also more of an ensemble feel, rather than it being strictly "Natasha and Clint and Steve as the sidekick and the others in cameos", which is an interesting challenge.
(also, it proves the universe evidently revolves around me).
Ha, me too apparently. Yak yak yak.
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I think it was part of that Pixar's rules of storytelling that was floating around the internet awhile back, but one of the rules they had was "Take a look at your story, acknowledge what worked, what didn't, and just strive to be better next time." And it fits for a lot of writers, I think. Every story, even if it's going to be a sequel, needs to be different. You're going to have people that liked the first one better, ones that liked the second one more, but I think as long as you're honest and give it a good shot, you're going to succeed in some way or other.
I'm right there with you on the ensemble thing. My current one is in Natasha's POV, so she's obviously going to play first fiddle, but everybody on the team has a huge role to play. I'm actually about to write a huge team-fight, which is my biggest fear/migraine, so you have my complete admiration for tackling the whole kit'n'kaboodle.
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