FFC #35 - An Update on Installment One

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #35

I wanted to give you a quick update on where things stand with the infinite series, Eternity.

The current first installment for Eternity is moving along, despite the dubious progress in my signature. I've had to rework several elements in my process as I develop the tale, and that has contributed to the slow work. However, we're out of the more difficult part of the development, and into the more straightforward things, so it should get a bit easier.

As for content, I wanted to work on implied reactions in this fan fiction. I have a tendency to say what a character is thinking or how they see something, instead of using action or dialogue to convey their state of mind. That's something which has plagued my writing for a long time, so I'm really going to focus on fixing it in this next fan fiction.

After the whole fiasco with stakes, I'm also drilling down on both creation and escalation of stakes throughout a story. I have a process now which I feel pretty confident about. We'll see how it fairs.

The final thing I wanted to work on was character arcs. I've been weaving around character arcs for a few tales, and I want to really study them in depth. I haven't been able to do that for this tale, but I have incorporated them into the process for the first time as a separate element, which is the first step to refining them. I'll drill down on them more in future tales.

Moving on to story, I wanted a tale more centered on the war of the wellsprings. My original attempt was certainly involved with the war, but was more focused on the unrelated lives of the characters, with the war going on in the background. Definitely doable, but not exactly what I was aiming for. This current tale is set directly in the middle of the war. I've also come up with a basic plot which should provide ample opportunity for tension and conflict. Think about the kind of tension you expect from zombie stories. (No actual zombies are in the story. Yet.)

For this tale, you can expect an Utgar-aligned hero, following my apparently-expected format of switching the perceived good and bad guys. Don't worry. I'll mix it up plenty in future tales. I wanted something simple and easy to develop for this first story, so that I could get started. Once I'm started, it should be much easier to start generating stories.

As far as ETA to release goes, I still have to develop the main characters, develop the main conflict, and work with subplots (which takes awhile). If my current rate of progression holds, I would say I could be done with development between November and December. This should be a short tale, so hopefully the development won't take that long - all I have to base the estimate off of is Dan, which was massive. I'll try to get it out before 2020. A Halloween launch (possible, but not likely) would be great, with the amount of tension I am imagining for it.

I will keep you posted. As always, keep an eye on my signature.

~TGRF.