Children of the First

So I know I haven't posted chapter 25 yet... it's still not finished. I've had a really hard time writing lately, mostly because I've been mentally and physically exhausted for the past week or so. I was still trying to get work done every night, but ended up beating my head against the wall and getting nothing done. . . which added frustration and stress to my weary mind and made writing even more difficult. I did make some progress last night, but none today. Today, my girlfriend and I were flying down to New Orleans so i could walk in my graduation ceremony this weekend. Since I am in New Orleans—and since this is kind of an Alex-focused celebration weekend—I won't be writing (much), and will just try to relax and enjoy the trip. I'm sure you all understand, since you've been so understanding in the past. On another note, a new reader (whom I won't mention by name, since I didn't ask first) has recently made a generous donation and brought us to 13 bonus points. That means we're only two points (dollars donated or reviews written) away from a bonus chapter! Once we reach 15 points, I'll either post a bonus or maybe even start a poll to determine what kind of bonus it is. It depends on whether I have an idea I love or not. Thanks for supporting the site! Updates will resume next weekend with chapter 25. Thanks for reading! Rock on. \m/ -Alexc

Here

So if you're reading this, you've probably read "Announcement: The chapter is written, but will not be published." I wanted to let you know that I still stand by that decision but that you've, as virulent_Goblin put it, "been holding [your] ass for a week" and you're all wondering what's taking so long. Lots of things:

1. Because I'm trying to get us into the meat of the story, I'm taking extra care in mapping out the flow of the chapters and their place/impact in/on the story overall.
2. Seamus (my MacBook and dear friend) fell ill and was undergoing repairs, though I'm going to pick him up as soon as I finish writing this. Not having my comp means I can't use my normal writing process of "outline & rough demi-draft on paper, revise, type up rough draft in word & revise, send to Whitney-Editor, revise, format and transfer into wordpress, revise, publish, wait for Pan and others to find things I missed & revise ad infinitum." I tried writing it all longhand, but that was killing about 3 rainforests an hour and my hand and wrist were rebelling. I tried using my iPod Touch but that was killing my thumbs and patience and taking forever. Roommate's computer is a PC, uncomfortable to use, and doesn't have all my stuff on it, so that didn't work for me. (Though I can use it for non-fiction writing, like this post. My muse is an apple user and very picky about work condition, apparently.)
3. I'm moving at the end of the month, so I have cleaning, packing, finding someone to take my room, moving my stuff, and other relocating-related chores that must be done in a timely fashion.
4. 1718 had the January reading with Andy Young, and it was my last reading ever. That got priority. [Shit, I'd forgotten that I still have to update seventeeneighteen.com... but that brings me to the next one:]
5. I have to make sure my chunk of NOLA doesn't implode when I leave, which means training a webmaster, making sure the Tulane Review has a prose editor, et cetera, et cetera.
6. iPod Touches are distracting (even if you're not already prone to distraction. I had no chance.)
7. other stuff I'm sure is perfectly valid but can't remember.

So, all excuses aside, what can you expect for CotF in the next few weeks?

The new chapter is coming along, if slowly. I have a busy weekend ahead of me, but I should have the chap done Monday or Tuesday. It'll be a long, good one, I promise. (Damn well better be, right?)

I'm moving to Maryland around the end of next week, so I won't have time to update during that time.

After the move, I'm going to continue with the fresh start feeling by updating wordpress (and maybe the site), getting my blog and author site situation straightened out and set up, catching up on reviews and other projects I meant to do, and then I'm going to quit smoking cigarettes. I said I would quit when I finished school (My mom says I said "college," I say I said "school"), and even though I'll be going to grad school in a year or so and could wait until after that, that's another 3 years at least and I think it's time to quit. I got the idea in my head, so I should probably act on it while I still want to. Oh boy. So, thanks for being understanding and keeping coming by; I really appreciate it. If you need something to read, check out the Web Fiction Guide, there's tons of great stuff over there, much of it written by people I've met through the WFG community and consider friends. Rock on. \m/ -Alex

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.

So I'm in this creative non-fiction workshop and our last assignment is to write about whatever we want. Naturally, I'm going to write an article (or piece, story, essay, whatever) about writing on the web, specifically webnovels and other webfiction (i.e. not just another thing about blogs). I think I'm going to focus on the growing community of readers and writers and see where that takes me. It might take me to the relationship with traditional media, or to the future of blogging, or somewhere completely different. I don't know. I do know that I'll draw on my own experience, but that I'll need more than that. I'll need you. I want to know what you read, why you read on the web, how long, ect. Basically, anything you think or feel about webfiction that you want to share would be great. Any little anecdotes about writing on the web would be greatly appreciated as well. (Don't worry, I won't quote anyone without permission. This is just to help me work out what I'm going to say.) Thanks!

I don't have anything due for class the rest of this week (except for reading some of E.B. White's essays, which isn't exactly an arduous task), which would normally mean I have more time to devote to the internet in the next four days, but unfortunately (or I guess fortunately for my sanity) this is the week I'm running the light board for the Newcomb Dance Recital. That means that I'm in the theater for many many hours every night, which is when I'd usually be writing. I'll probably have a good bit of downtime, so i'll see what I can get done in that time, though I doubt seeing me bent over a pad of paper and ignoring my cues would inspire the Prof to be generous with my grade. So, you could skip all that and just read this: I will do my best to get the next chapter up by Thursday, but it means working while the sun is up, so I can't promise it wont take until the weekend. I will, as always, do my best to get it up as soon as possible and keep you guys updated if anything changes.

A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. -Thomas Mann

Sorry for the poor-ish quality... [display_podcast] What do you all think of the podcasting bid'ness? (Thanks to Dianne for the idea and Cameron for the second.)

I have too much homework, honestly. I thought I was going to be able to do two chapters a week, but it turns out, I'm not. As much as it pains me to do so, I'm dropping back to one chapter a week until I have more time on my hands. I'm sorry I keep changing the schedule on you guys, but I'm still working it all out I guess. Blarg. UPDATE: There will be a new chapter over the weekend. Sorry I can't do more, and thanks for sticking around, guys. The fact that there's a conversation (albeit a fairly ridiculous one) going on in the comments is really cool, and I hope such merriment will continue. Now, I've got to get back to my homework. Boo-hiss.

Update

At the Blog