Jan
13
2009
Announcement: The chapter is written, but will not be published.
Posted by: Alex McG in Notes from the Author
So last night I wrote that the chapter was not up to snuff and would go up today. Well, I addressed the issues, but the more I thought about it (and the more I talked about it with Whitney--friend/editor/sounding board) the less I liked it.
It was okay. It was clean, decently written, and had some funny bits--but, they weren't that funny, and more importantly, it wasn't going anywhere. It didn't advance any meaningful part of the plot, and it ended up feeling like filler in many ways.
I don't want filler, and I don't think you do either. The last chapter was fun because we got to see another of Lenis' critters, but that's about it. It didn't advance the plot or character development in any real way, and I think the story was coming close to losing momentum and falling into a personal drama or "soap" mode. That works for some webnovels/comics (Tales of MU and Questionable Content would be good examples), and when it works it can be great, but that's not what Children of the First is.
I can't afford to get stuck writing filler just so we know what happened every day; shit's gonna happen, people! No time to waste! I never intended to keep the pace this slow past the first week of classes, but we're through 20 chapters and it's only been four days of story time, so I've decided to scrap this chapter and write a new one--one that I actually had planned, that advances the story, and that I'm excited about.
I wasn't excited about this one. If I'm not excited about it, why should you be?
So, to wrap this up; I had planned on a few more chapters of Shawn's day-to-day life (finishing the first week of classes), but it was in danger of getting stagnant and, to put it bluntly, fuck that. We're jumping ahead. It's go time. Hold on to your butts.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Stupid "life" always causing problems.
But anyway good news.
January 18th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Such a tease!
January 19th, 2009 at 2:18 am
Yeah, sorry. It was a tease for me too--all that work to get the chapter postable only to decide that it was bad for the story. It's for the best though, I promise.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:51 am
Now, I've been holding my ass for a week and let me assure you it's made cooking, eating, and using the bathroom quite a challenge; Any updates to when the next chapter will be out?
The classroom stories were my favorite part of MU, but I haven't seen them in a while. I'd chalk MU up as an instance where getting laid made a story (or its author) worse rather than better. That or trying to stick to a schedule while lacking ideas, and using nympho lesbian sex appeal as a distraction until a better idea can be found. When sticking to a schedule sometimes it's necessary to write crap so it might become a brilliant idea, but I approve of your recognizing it for what it is.
CotF has unique characters in a very interesting environment, and I am very much looking forward to reading how the tale unfolds.
January 21st, 2009 at 11:10 pm
it is all good, worry not, for the squirrel gods will smile upon you once more, come the plucking of your acorn.
seriously, don't worry about it, as long as it happens eventually, it's all good
March 18th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
author must starft a book, it's great!
March 24th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Gracie!