Writing Is Not an Alibi

Yes, you got that right. As the title says, I have my own website now, and it’s alive and kicking: come have fun at DasteRoad.com! 

Also, the secret that wasn’t really a secret - the news I was hinting at in my latest tumblr post - is finally out: as explained on the website, and as I mentioned to some of my closest pals lately, I’ve decided to take on the adventure of using self-publishing to turn my greatest passions - writing and drawing - into careers, and build my own creative community online.

In other news yes, I am still alive, and work at the new place is going fine. Also yes, I’m still tinkering around with the Evil PoB Revision, but I finally feel like I’m getting my groove back.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this tumblr now that I have my own website, but I’ll probably pick it up again and still keep it as a more in-depth blog about writing WIPs.

Until soon!

It’s official: I’ll be leaving for the new place in 6 days from now. I didn’t update earlier simply because I didn’t get much done lately, between trip-and-move organization, some tedious post-phd bureaucratic business to take care of, and thankfully, hanging out with friends and relatives to celebrate the upcoming big change in my life. I did still work on the revision almost every day, but since what I’m doing at the moment is mostly cutting-and-fixing the prose, I only got in 86 words net total from last time I updated.

Since the following days are going to be just as busy (and the following week is going to be even worse) - not only because of the upcoming trip and new job but also of a special art-related gift I want to get done before I have to leave - PoB is officially going to take a step back and stay on the backburner for a while, at least until I settle down at the new place and I have a clear notion of how much free time the job is actually going to allow me. I’m still going to work on it daily, but this is officially no more a final rush, at least for the moment. I’ll assess progress at least every week, and whenever I manage to make significant steps forward, like getting to the end of a revised scene.

I know some time ago I said I might have some interesting news when the revision for PoB would be done - I haven’t forgotten about that. It’s still too early, but said news might be revealed soon, and before the end of the revision. Stay tuned!

Yes, I know I said I’d assess progress daily. But discovering during the last few days that I’ll have to leave to start at the new job much sooner than I expected seriously messed up my daily schedule. I am still working on the revision each day (I got in another 6940 words total from last time I updated), but I’m going much slower than my ideal estimate, mostly because I’ve been dealing with a couple of completely new scenes with a pivotal importance (given that they introduce the key characters and worldbuilding points). I might play catch up once I get to the scenes that only require a light editing, but I’m starting to think that my goal to end the editing phase in one month might be a little too optimistic, at least in the situation I’m in - especially because I have no idea of what will become of my writing time once I get to the new place and start working again.

In any case, I will keep striving each day for my best case scenario, and I will update each day - and yes, this time for real: it actually helps me work a lot better.

Day 1 brought only 986 words. Considering I have to get in at least 2400 words a day if I want to finish this monster in one month, this is not a good start, but once I’m done with the current scene (a completely new one that didn’t exist in first draft) things should move faster. Also, I know perfectly well what I was doing wrong: now that I have all this new, shiny and awesome worldbuilding/backstory from the revision, it’s hard to resist the urge to cram it all right in chapter one - but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Yes, it’s the return of the dreaded ExpoSyndrome, a word I made up myself because I’m just that witty and cool.

When I started reading Girl Genius, one of the first things that made me say “look out, this is good stuff” - besides the fact that the heroine actually did something other than whine and look pretty, which is much more than what you can generally expect of the average female character - was that the Foglios never stopped the story to explain anything. They just showed how their world worked, and it made sense. Yes, it’s not really the kind of comic you read for the hard science - it’s actually much closer to fantasy, and expect a lot of exaggerations out of comedic effect or for simple coolness - but it gives you an interesting, believable setting and a sense of wonder without being confusing.

Or without running into plainly idiotic deadends, for that matter. There’s a ton of examples I could point out to clarify what I mean, but out of honesty I’ll choose one from my own writing. Back in the Jurassic era of 1995, while I was in junior high I was writing a cheesy fantasy novel that had one of the most blatant examples of Mary Sue I can think of now. It was titled “All For Love” (no kidding), and it had elves, random magic, castles, wolfpeople, evil witches, devastating illnesses, exploding moons, tragic deaths, eternal loves (even a polyamorous relationship - surprisingly open minded for me at the time, given that I was a bit of a prude) and overall ridiculously flat characters. Yes, all of this. It’s actually extremely funny to read, unintentionally of course. In this novel, I had a civilization of wolfpeople that lived in a centuries-long isolation from the rest of the world because of some supposedly impassable natural barriers (that turned out being actually easy to cross, but we’ll get to that in a minute). The wolfpeople had this prophecy that they would be able to break free of their isolation when their king would sire a heiress from an elven woman. The prophecy was of course fulfilled: the princess was born and soon met the Mary Sue and her friends, that studying so-called clues in the legends (because all legends are 100% true as everybody knows) had discovered a way to reach the wolfpeople’s kingdom. They became fast friends and the princess joined their party to go off adventuring in the outside world.

This is all well and good, isn’t it? Too bad that nobody, starting from me, the author, ever bothered to wonder how the HECK an elven woman with a furry fetish even ended up in the wolfpeople’s realm if they were supposedly isolated and impossible to reach. If an elven woman was there, then they were already no longer isolated. It makes no sense, and it gets even worse when you discover that “yes, there’s a mundane, not-dangerous way around the barriers, but how do you know you’re in the right place?”. Excuse me? THIS idiocy is the reason for centuries-long isolation? Ever heard of common ways to orient yourself? And you know you’re in the right place when you meet the scary half-wolf warrior tribe, you huge dork.

I hope that was clear. Especially the “idiotic” part.

Now back to work - back to implying and showing worldbuilding instead of lecturing. Onward!

It took me much more than what I thought, since working on the outline revealed a couple of problem areas I hadn’t noticed before, but both the to-do list and the revised plot outline are finally done. I know the plot structure of the revised novel, I know which scenes I have to cut and which I have to add, I know the important changes I have to keep in mind along the way - so yes, I’m ready to start the final phase. Phase 3: actual editing of the novel. After almost ONE FRIKKIN’ YEAR from the end of the first draft, but oh well. The most important thing is that I actually persevered and arrived here.

As I said previously, I’m giving myself a month from now to complete Phase 3. I’ll be assessing progress daily and set up a new status bar.

And oh, apparently I won’t be unemployed for much longer: I’m starting a paid training program (hopefully with eventual hiring) with a company probably in around one month. Stay tuned.

Yes, you read that right.

I had the final phase of the evil state exam to take care of lately (oh, and it went pretty well apparently) and I’ve been away from home often, but the Replotting phase is done. DONE I SAY. I’m currently building the final outline and to-do list so I have a clear plan of everything I changed and I’ll have to keep in mind - then I’ll be ready to dive straight into Phase 3, aka the actual Editing of the beast.

I don’t aim to update frequently these days, but I’m giving myself one week at most from now to finalize my to-do lists, and one month from then to get through the Editing + Typing phase. Then, as soon as the Evil PoB Revision is done - a thought that gives me the chills even now… I might have some announcement to make. It’s too soon right now, I still have some things to take care of and think about, but still, we will see. Onward!

I had to balance my writing time with studying for the evil state exam, but I finally nailed a few things that were bothering me about the Ending. Now I have to address the Aftermath, and I’ll be ready to rebuild the plot outline. Onward!

Updated Replotting to-do list:

• Erthel’s mom’s backstory [done];
• Erthel vs. the investigation [done];
• Erthel vs. her job [done];
• Erthel vs. herself [done];
• The Arvelsen and Valdersen bloodlines [done];
• The Ending and the Aftermath [70%];
• Based on the previous results, building of the revised plot outline.

The replotting points about the Arvelsen and Valdersen bloodlines turned out to be largely obsolete or very intuitive based on the previous results, so today marked another point of the to-do list done. Go me! I also started working on the Ending and the Aftermath. I already know this is not going to be a quick point, but now that I’m on a roll and working every day on this again, I’m getting lots of ideas. Onward!

Updated Replotting to-do list:

• Erthel’s mom’s backstory [done];
• Erthel vs. the investigation [done];
• Erthel vs. her job [done];
• Erthel vs. herself [done];
• The Arvelsen and Valdersen bloodlines [done];
• The Ending and the Aftermath [10%];
• Based on the previous results, building of the revised plot outline.

Today was productive: I solved my issues regarding the Erthel vs. herself side plotline rather quickly, since most of them had become obsolete or really simple to address after the rebuilding and the replotting I got done until today. Yay me! Onward I go.

Updated Replotting to-do list:

• Erthel’s mom’s backstory [done];
• Erthel vs. the investigation [done];
• Erthel vs. her job [done];
• Erthel vs. herself [done];
• The Arvelsen and Valdersen bloodlines;
• The Ending and the Aftermath;
• Based on the previous results, building of the revised plot outline.

It took me almost the whole week, but I FINALLY wrapped things up with the side plotline about Erthel’s job and her relationship with the rest of the village that was bugging the hell out of me. I didn’t really expect this point of the to-do list to be so hard, but it’s not that surprising given that it gave me quite the trouble during the first draft too and I ended up dropping it halfway - so I gave up the chance of finding the story while writing it like I did with the other plotlines. But anyway, what matters is that I actually found a solution I like, so onward I go!

Updated Replotting to-do list:

• Erthel’s mom’s backstory [done];
• Erthel vs. the investigation [done];
• Erthel vs. her job [done];
• Erthel vs. herself;
• The Arvelsen and Valdersen bloodlines;
• The Ending and the Aftermath;
• Based on the previous results, building of the revised plot outline.