FFC #84 - Dilmir Returns

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #84

You know what? I'm back.

I am back.

I'm not writing like I used to, with stories and development filling every waking hour. And when I do write, stories don't flow unending like they used to either. But that's a way of writing I can never return to (barring making a million dollars and retiring to my writing mansion). But I am writing. I've solved the problems and learned the concepts, and the writing is working.

What this means is that I am back to discovering and practicing writing techniques, and back to turning out fan fiction. And this brings me to Dilmir.

In case you missed it, I recently asked my readers what they thought about a Dilmir rewrite. The idea had been floating around in my head for some time, and with my current ideas for a Valhalla-fiction not gelling satisfactorily, I decided to give it a shot. My first attempt at organizing the rewrite fell apart, but I'm back at it, and things are looking promising this time.

I wanted to give you an idea of what to expect in this rewrite. As usual, take this with a good helping of salt.

The Dilmir rewrite will be a series. It's currently set for three books, though that could conceivably drop to two.

As is going to be the case with any rewrite, there are some substantial changes. However, I wanted to keep the tone and feel of the original as much as I could. This meant changing the main characters as little as possible, and minimal changes in the setting. I was especially careful with Ilrin, because I know one reader in particular really likes her character. The setting is a bit different, but I think the overall tone should be the same.

As for changes, the plot is entirely different. There are similarities, especially in the first book, but at no point should you be able to guess what will happen next. There also looks to be a more central antagonist across the entire series, which is something the original lacked.

In terms of writing practice, this is going to be a big step forward. I've never structured a series before, and it turned out to be far more complicated than I thought it would be (the main structure is already done). This series will have arcs spanning multiple books - something I've never done, and hopefully also finally put side characters and subplots to good use, filling in the story and rounding out the plot and characters - something else I've never done to my satisfaction. I'll also of course be working on the general issues I've already identified, mainly developing the antagonist, developing content and side plots, and making the opening more part of the story and less info-dump-ish.

I'm not ready (for once) to put a release date on the first story yet. The third and final story still needs a bit of work if it's going to be included, and then I'll need to go back and fully develop the first story before I can start to write it. I know that I can develop a single story pretty fast if I can keep my interest in it up, so we'll see how that goes. You could see the first story as early as the end of this month, or it could be a while. I'll keep you updated.

Until then, keep reading, keep writing, and keep the flame of 'Scape alive!

~TGRF.

EDIT: I've finished outlining the series, and it looks like we're going to have two books, not three. The third book was feeling tacked on, and I figured out I could include its necessary bits in the previous two books.
EXTRA-EDIT: So as I detailed here, the rewrite has fallen through. However, this does not mean I am no longer 'back'. The writing is still there, even if the current story has fallen apart. There will be other stories coming.