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bedlamsbardSo I started Dust 25 (again), version 3.now-moving-onto-the-action, and while I can't tell if it's working for me so far, I don't hate it yet, which is at least a step up from the other two versions. Which, let's be honest, are still labled as drafts for Dust 24 -- the Edmund chapter really came out of the blue, but I'm glad it did. They're labeled as "dust 24 a.k.a. a visit to the butcher" and "dust 24 a.k.a. jill in anvard," if anyone was wondering. Sometimes I get creative with my chapter labels (since I do write each chapter in a different document, then c&p it into the big "Dust in the Air" and "Dust in the Air part II" docs later so I know complete wordocount), but since I don't always know where I'm going with the chapter...not usually.
On the other hand, I've also got labels like "finally someone gets laid" and "cair paravel is a more savage place." And a deleted chapter called "the susan asskicking chanel." I've also got a way early one which is "death by exposition." I still can't believe I never thought to call Dust 21 "lucy in the earth with diamonds," though.
...I now must have a chapter that I can call "death by sexposition." I cannot however think what that content would entail.
Other gems include "boys and their toys", "fun times with criminal types", "escape from cair paravel", "fun with naiads," "hit the ground running," "oh god poor susan," "thieves, drugs, and money", and "gangs of cair paravel." A long-ago deleted chapter is called "cattle-rustling for fun and profit." Actually, a lot of these have the word "fun" in there somewhere.
I feel like I should do some kind of quiz to see if anyone can match labels with chapters.
Er, where was I? Structure. Anyway. I tend to work off a tripartite structure, which isn't something I'm really aware of consciously except for Dust, since it's a, um, trilogy; I had the sudden idea a few days ago that I might be able to work out my problem with Dust 25 if I stopped thinking of it as set-up and started thinking of it as meat. (That sounds wrong. The center of the story, rather than the crispy outer edges, let's put it that way.) The first part of Part II is already 52K, so at this point, not only is set-up wearying for me to write, it's wearying for people to read. I've done a lot of set-up already: the confrontation in the High Reaches, the set-up in Archenland, various things in Cair Paravel, Edmund's plot, the Calormene army, and so on. (Those are the major things I can think of off the top of my head; there's various other Cair Paravel and Archenland bits besides the main ones.) Not to mention I've still got set-up spillover from Part I, so I don't need to add any more just to add it. (Also, let's be honest...I couldn't think of anything else.) I don't know why it took this long for me to get this through my head.
There's a switch in -- mmm, I'm not sure style is the right word, but let's go with it. Mindset, I guess -- between writing set-up, which I've been doing, and meat, which is what I'm tentatively starting to do now. I'm not trying to set the scene anymore; the scene's been set, the action's starting. I don't know if writing the story will actually go faster now, but I've been pretty clear on the pieces for a while; I just kept telling myself, "One more chapter as buffer. One more chapter as build-up. Don't make it too abrupt." Look, when there's three months or more between each chapter, I'm pretty sure the last thing I have to worry about being is too abrupt -- especially when I very seldom put two chapters from the same subplot next to each other. (At least in Part II; I definitely did in Part I because I had no frickin' idea what I was doing.) Which means it can be, and probably sometimes is, a good six months between chapters from a subplot. And that's just sad. (I don't do it deliberately, I hope y'all understand. It's just...things happen. School happens, a lot of the time. *twitches* My three chapter burst during winter vacation was the next thing to a miracle.)
So I'm pretty curious to see if this change in mindset will work. Because then we will finally, finally be able to start building to the dramatic climax of Part II, which is one of the scenes I've been planning since fall of 2008. (Which is going to be one of those confrontations that tells you what class I was taking when I thought it up -- Ancient Greek Tyranny & Democracy.)
I have also just realized that my tripartite structure does not really allow for any falling action. It's just, like, set-up, rising action, MORE RISING ACTION DRAMATIC CLIMAX. I'm pretty sure this is also in evidence, on smaller scale, in the Rilian stories.
On the other hand, I've also got labels like "finally someone gets laid" and "cair paravel is a more savage place." And a deleted chapter called "the susan asskicking chanel." I've also got a way early one which is "death by exposition." I still can't believe I never thought to call Dust 21 "lucy in the earth with diamonds," though.
...I now must have a chapter that I can call "death by sexposition." I cannot however think what that content would entail.
Other gems include "boys and their toys", "fun times with criminal types", "escape from cair paravel", "fun with naiads," "hit the ground running," "oh god poor susan," "thieves, drugs, and money", and "gangs of cair paravel." A long-ago deleted chapter is called "cattle-rustling for fun and profit." Actually, a lot of these have the word "fun" in there somewhere.
I feel like I should do some kind of quiz to see if anyone can match labels with chapters.
Er, where was I? Structure. Anyway. I tend to work off a tripartite structure, which isn't something I'm really aware of consciously except for Dust, since it's a, um, trilogy; I had the sudden idea a few days ago that I might be able to work out my problem with Dust 25 if I stopped thinking of it as set-up and started thinking of it as meat. (That sounds wrong. The center of the story, rather than the crispy outer edges, let's put it that way.) The first part of Part II is already 52K, so at this point, not only is set-up wearying for me to write, it's wearying for people to read. I've done a lot of set-up already: the confrontation in the High Reaches, the set-up in Archenland, various things in Cair Paravel, Edmund's plot, the Calormene army, and so on. (Those are the major things I can think of off the top of my head; there's various other Cair Paravel and Archenland bits besides the main ones.) Not to mention I've still got set-up spillover from Part I, so I don't need to add any more just to add it. (Also, let's be honest...I couldn't think of anything else.) I don't know why it took this long for me to get this through my head.
There's a switch in -- mmm, I'm not sure style is the right word, but let's go with it. Mindset, I guess -- between writing set-up, which I've been doing, and meat, which is what I'm tentatively starting to do now. I'm not trying to set the scene anymore; the scene's been set, the action's starting. I don't know if writing the story will actually go faster now, but I've been pretty clear on the pieces for a while; I just kept telling myself, "One more chapter as buffer. One more chapter as build-up. Don't make it too abrupt." Look, when there's three months or more between each chapter, I'm pretty sure the last thing I have to worry about being is too abrupt -- especially when I very seldom put two chapters from the same subplot next to each other. (At least in Part II; I definitely did in Part I because I had no frickin' idea what I was doing.) Which means it can be, and probably sometimes is, a good six months between chapters from a subplot. And that's just sad. (I don't do it deliberately, I hope y'all understand. It's just...things happen. School happens, a lot of the time. *twitches* My three chapter burst during winter vacation was the next thing to a miracle.)
So I'm pretty curious to see if this change in mindset will work. Because then we will finally, finally be able to start building to the dramatic climax of Part II, which is one of the scenes I've been planning since fall of 2008. (Which is going to be one of those confrontations that tells you what class I was taking when I thought it up -- Ancient Greek Tyranny & Democracy.)
I have also just realized that my tripartite structure does not really allow for any falling action. It's just, like, set-up, rising action, MORE RISING ACTION DRAMATIC CLIMAX. I'm pretty sure this is also in evidence, on smaller scale, in the Rilian stories.