TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #45

It's me, and I'm back with another update. Let the rejoicing begin.

So, obviously, I have not yet posted Utgar, the first of the three short prequels to Eternity. The reason is that I wasn't happy with the private stakes. While I think I (for once) actually have the stakes I need, they weren't being shown well enough. I didn't feel like their weight was conveyed hardly at all, and the set up before they were threatened was virtually non-existent.

So I've done some pondering on the matter, and come up with some ideas which will, I hope, fix the problems. I am most likely looking at a rewrite of the first few chapters, and possible tweakings of references throughout the rest of the story. SO editing will probably take a bit longer than I originally anticipated.

Meanwhile, the character arc for the second story is in place and outlined (haven't paired it with the 3-act structure yet)....

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #44

*TGRF enters with maniacal laughter*

I HAVE THE POWER!!!

...

In my last FFC, I mentioned how everything was seeming to come together for me, and my study of the 3-act structure had started to solve a lot of problems I had been plagued with for years. I was sure it was just a temporary thing, and I would start having problems again soon.

Usually I'll outline a fan fiction easily, but once I get down to the details of how exactly things unfold, and how characters reach the decisions they do, things tend to fall apart, and I can spend weeks at a time stuck, unable to get characters to make the decisions they must. I was sure that would happen with the Prequels.

But it didn't. The 3-act structure has prevailed. I can't believe I haven't used this thing until now.

Point is, I have just today finished writing the first of the three Prequels...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #43

The weird thing about the three-act structure is that once you understand it - really understand it and know how it works - you start to see it everywhere. I'm starting to see it in places which aren't even stories. Point in case. My writing endeavors are currently in the last half of their second act.

In the middle of act II there's a midpoint, where everything becomes clear and the main character makes a resolution to charge forward. This midpoint is followed by a series of victories, where everything goes right for the main character. I feel like I'm starting on those victories. I'm a little worried, because the 3-act structure says that following those victories will be the deepest and darkest failure yet, but... we'll consider that later.

Point is, things are on fire with my writing. I've mentioned it before, but I've always been frustrated when I would look at something simple, like a short movie...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #42

It's been awhile since there was an update. That's because I've been studying character arcs a lot, and that led to extensive study of the 3-act structure, and specifically the 2nd act. I've never really had a good grasp on the 2nd act, so I thought now was as good a time as ever to see what I could learn. There are some issues, but I think I'm making progress.

Meanwhile, I haven't been writing. I originally wanted to jump right into Eternity, but as I studied character arcs, I decided I needed practice writing them first. So I switched gears to the Valkyrie prequels. But then as I started outlining those, I realized I needed more information on the 3-act structure. And once I started learning that, I decided I needed an even shorter story to test it out on. So I went to my Personal Challenge, where readers challenge me to write a story incorporating an HS character and a single random word. Even those were too long...

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #41

When I posted my last update, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything I've been learning about character arcs and how to construct them. Since then things have died down a fair bit and I feel like I have a good grasp on the positive character arc, and at least a solid understanding of the flat character arc. I have not looked at the negative character arc yet, but that's planned.

I have, as I said, run up a few bare-bones outlines as tests for working with character arcs. These tests used the Valkyrie, as they appear in Eternity, my final fan fiction series. Specifically, they dealt with their backstories.

I still plan on writing those short stories up and posting them. But there's still some kinks I need to work out in the process, especially with the flat character arc, which I only really began to get a grasp on today.

I had been planning on restarting my Personal Challenge,...