FFC #109 - July Update & Return of DoD

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #109

If there's one thing writing these FFCs has taught me (and probably others as well), it's that I cannot be trusted in my predictions of what is to come.

I've learned to give things time to change - at least a week - before I make any announcements about what fan fiction is or is not coming. This has worked for the most part, keeping me from making wild predictions based on a single day of interest (or lack thereof).

For that reason, when, back in June, I lost all interest in the writing of Dawn of Darkness, my latest fan fiction, I gave things a week before calling it. During that week, I had absolutely zero interest in the story. It was 100% dead. I had turned to my novels, and had no desire to return to DoD. So I called it. I said DoD was likely shelved, and that no fan fiction was currently in the works.

I did give myself one caveat, saying that I could get a new idea for the story which could re-spark my interest. And that kind of happened. I approached the story from a different perspective, and things just started falling into place.

That was two weeks ago. Since then, due mostly to at least half the development being done already in previous versions of the story, DoD is re-developed, re-outlined, and very nearly ready for the writing of the first draft.

Dawn of Darkness is back, and you can expect to see it around September or sooner.

Here's hoping it stays that way.

What's new
At this point I can't just 'write another fan fiction'. I need to keep writing, but I can do that with contest entries or personal challenges. Writing a fan fiction is a decent-sized undertaking, which means I need a good reason(s) to do so.

In that vein, there are some things I'm working on in DoD: The main thing is the development of the background. This means that while the story is there, you shouldn't feel like you're watching it on a stage. The background is real.

This includes adding development to side characters which I normally wouldn't, in an effort to better explain the actions they take, things they say, and to give a better glimpse into who they are. I've been working on this for awhile, and DoD is the next step in that field.

Also, there is worldbuilding. Despite having a system for building civilizations since at least 2018, I have - by some witchcraft - never actually had occasion to use it in a fan fiction. That has now been rectified. The kyrie civilization has now been developed, and there will be mentions to this in the story. These will of course remain in the background - there will be no halting of the pace to describe obscure rituals.

Something else the early versions of DoD did well - which I've mentioned before - is a sense of escalating tension. I have attempted to preserve that in the latest version of the story, which should hopefully ensure much edge-of-seat reading.

All in all, DoD is looking to be a solid entry in the archives of fan fiction. It will conclude my tale of Utgar's origins (obviously barring a sequel idea dropping into my lap - which has been known to happen). As always, there are ideas for future fan fictions swirling around in the unformed void of my mind, but none of these have produced a solid premise yet. Until they do, I will keep my focus on my novels, and the occasional short contest entry or personal challenge story.

There will of course be a decade-long gap when TAF posts Apostle's Creed. Personally, I can't wait. Give us the story!

Until then, keep reading.

~TGRF.