FFC #110 - August Update

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #110

Well it's been a bit.

The reason there haven't been any updates, is because... there haven't been any updates. Dawn of Darkness has continued to progress, and there has been no earth-shattering news relating to my writing endeavors.

However, I have this morning completed the first (and final) draft for DoD. For me, this is a cross between an outline and the final product - scenes are written out in story-form, but some edges might still be rough, and there's room for refinement. All of which will happen during the actual writing. This has also given me an opportunity to identify any shortcomings now, rather than while I'm writing the story, thus enabling me to fix them next time around. So that's a plus.

My last suggested release date for DoD was sometime in September, and that... has actually not changed. Depending on how long the writing takes, it could end up in early November, but somewhere in September is still a good bet.

I've gone over before what you can expect to see in DoD, and that hasn't changed, so I won't rehash it here. I will however say that, based on comparisons with the outline and final product for Archmage of Feylund, DoD is looking to be far lengthier than I had anticipated. I thought this would be a shorter fiction, but currently it's projected to be around 212 pages, which would make it the second longest thing I've ever written. I... did not see that coming. Hence the possibility of a November release.

I will note that re-reading Valkyrie would be a good idea. There will of course be a recap, but there are a lot of references to Valkyrie in DoD, including things that... can't be covered in a recap, for... reasons. So if you plan on reading DoD, I would suggest re-reading Valkyrie. It isn't long.

Novels
I plan on taking a day or two to recharge my creative writing muscles, and then start on the final product for DoD. During this time, I also plan on getting back to work on my first novel. There has been some progress on that front:

The basic idea of the plot is in place. I know what kind of things need to happen and how. I don't really have much sense of the characters or arcs involved, so that needs to get worked on.

The magic is in place, and the world is mostly there. I want to work on the world some more, build up some blank areas and try to make it more interesting and engaging than it currently is. A gripping world will be the key to endless sequels, so I want to get that right.

I plan on working on the world while I write DoD. It shouldn't be too hard: one session in the morning, one in the afternoon.

I'll keep you updated on anything major. There will of course be a minor interruption when TAF posts Apostle's Creed, and we all take an age and a half to read it.

Until then, keep reading.

~TGRF.