The ramblings of a designer turned writer turned computer geek turned writer turned designer with way too much time on his hands.
Writing Update #1 - November
Posted November 26th, 2023 at 02:23 PM by TGRF
TGRF's Writing Updates - November
It's been a bit since my last update, and with November coming to a close, I feel like it's time to let you all know where I'm at, and what's happening.
Firstly, I can't really continue to call these updates 'Fan Fiction Chronicles' when they aren't really about fan fiction. So I've created a new category, 'Writing Updates', which will focus primarily on novels and writing in general. Functionally they'll be identical to my FFCs.
Fan Fiction
I want to mention Fan Fiction first. There is currently nothing in the works, and I currently still have no plan to release another major story.
The need to stay in 'writing shape' remains, and I would like to find something short I can write every now and then. What form that will take remains unknown, but I'd like to find something soon.
This could be contest entries, personal challenge stories, or simply some sort of Valhalla series I can simply write short stories for whenever the fancy strikes me. Currently no idea has really gripped me though, so there is nothing in the works.
Probably the main reason I haven't pursued any story on Valhalla is because the development for said story would necessarily shift focus away from my novels, which is something I don't presently want to do.
Novels
And that brings me to my novels. Some progress has been made since my last update in September, though not as much as I would like. I've outlined the plot for the first series, which currently looks to be the expected three books long. There are the normal plot holes and logical issues which need to be worked out, but the main points are down and solidified. Importantly, I've worked to keep cliches out of the story, and tried to keep things original.
Characters have made progress. The backstory and motivations for the main character, main side character, main villain, and secondary villain are in place. Not much work has been done yet on actual character development or true arcs - that will come later when I focus more on the plot.
What has really been holding me up is the magic system. I've been trying to come up with a magic system which does everything I want, while also not being so overpowered that it renders the formation of civilization impossible. I've been working on this since June, and I've gone through seven different variants. I think I've finally found a system that works, but then I've thought that before...
Once the magic system is in place, I can better define the world, and the dangers and boons which will shape civilizations and everyday life. THEN I can return to the plot and characters.
General Writing
It's a weird feeling, not having some project to write every day. I have my novels to work on of course, but I can't do that all the time. I increasingly feel the need to find something I can write short stories for. There are plenty of fan fiction ideas I've had in the past which never worked out for various reasons, and it's entirely possible I could turn one (or several) of those into a more episodic tale I can add to regularly.
For now though, that's in the future. Construction of the novel world is coming along slowly, and the plot looks promising. I'll keep you updated as things progress.
Until then, keep reading.
~TGRF.
It's been a bit since my last update, and with November coming to a close, I feel like it's time to let you all know where I'm at, and what's happening.
Firstly, I can't really continue to call these updates 'Fan Fiction Chronicles' when they aren't really about fan fiction. So I've created a new category, 'Writing Updates', which will focus primarily on novels and writing in general. Functionally they'll be identical to my FFCs.
Fan Fiction
I want to mention Fan Fiction first. There is currently nothing in the works, and I currently still have no plan to release another major story.
The need to stay in 'writing shape' remains, and I would like to find something short I can write every now and then. What form that will take remains unknown, but I'd like to find something soon.
This could be contest entries, personal challenge stories, or simply some sort of Valhalla series I can simply write short stories for whenever the fancy strikes me. Currently no idea has really gripped me though, so there is nothing in the works.
Probably the main reason I haven't pursued any story on Valhalla is because the development for said story would necessarily shift focus away from my novels, which is something I don't presently want to do.
Novels
And that brings me to my novels. Some progress has been made since my last update in September, though not as much as I would like. I've outlined the plot for the first series, which currently looks to be the expected three books long. There are the normal plot holes and logical issues which need to be worked out, but the main points are down and solidified. Importantly, I've worked to keep cliches out of the story, and tried to keep things original.
Characters have made progress. The backstory and motivations for the main character, main side character, main villain, and secondary villain are in place. Not much work has been done yet on actual character development or true arcs - that will come later when I focus more on the plot.
What has really been holding me up is the magic system. I've been trying to come up with a magic system which does everything I want, while also not being so overpowered that it renders the formation of civilization impossible. I've been working on this since June, and I've gone through seven different variants. I think I've finally found a system that works, but then I've thought that before...
Once the magic system is in place, I can better define the world, and the dangers and boons which will shape civilizations and everyday life. THEN I can return to the plot and characters.
General Writing
It's a weird feeling, not having some project to write every day. I have my novels to work on of course, but I can't do that all the time. I increasingly feel the need to find something I can write short stories for. There are plenty of fan fiction ideas I've had in the past which never worked out for various reasons, and it's entirely possible I could turn one (or several) of those into a more episodic tale I can add to regularly.
For now though, that's in the future. Construction of the novel world is coming along slowly, and the plot looks promising. I'll keep you updated as things progress.
Until then, keep reading.
~TGRF.
Total Comments 1
Comments
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An episodic or anthology series would be a good way to scratch that writing itch, I think. I'm sure time was you'd write for the fan fiction contest to do so, but that's kind of deadge so just writing random prompts for its own sake might be a fitting replacement.
As for magic systems, I can't really comment on them without knowing what exactly you're aiming for, but if you want to see a really good one to be inspired by (or steal from  ) I'd obviously recommend Fullmetal Alchemist. Not to get into, just for research purposes, of course. Strongly recommend, yup. ~TAF |
Posted November 28th, 2023 at 05:25 PM by TheAverageFan
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