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FFC #96 - A Major Update for Dilmir

Posted September 12th, 2022 at 04:20 PM by TGRF
Updated September 12th, 2022 at 05:07 PM by TGRF
TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #96

Today I want to bring you all a major update concerning the Dilmir series. Don't worry, the whole thing hasn't crashed and burned, and you'll be seeing a new fiction very soon. But I've been facing some realizations concerning the end of Dilmir's tale over the last few days, and I've finally come to a conclusion.

Here it is: The Dilmir series will comprise four books instead of three.

Before I tell you why I'm doing this, I need to explain why I did NOT want to do this. This was a hard decision to make, and one which I've tried to avoid making for several weeks. This is because I'm ready, finally, to start work on my first novel. I've been ready to finish up the Dilmir series and move on for some time.

For this reason, I really didn't want to expand Dilmir's tale with a fourth book. I figured this would delay starting my novel even further, and that's not something I wanted to do.

However, today I weighed the pros and cons of a fourth book for the Dilmir series, and came to the conclusion that it's definitely the best option, and something I need to do. And before the more writing-minded of you out there say that a novel is more important than a fan fiction (which is true), let me explain why it's still the better option.

The reason Dilmir needs a fourth book is, unfortunately, tied up in the story of the third book, and particularly in how it ends. Without spoiling anything though, I can say that the third book has evolved into what is essentially two stories, one following the other. I didn't realize this when I wrote the initial outline, and now that I have realized it, I've been trying to wrap up the whole thing in a single story instead of two.

This has caused the writing (of the part containing the second story) to feel rushed or undeveloped. Some characters are coming across as emotionless because I didn't take the time to figure out how they would react to certain events. Other characters are absent for chapters at a time, because their subplots are all finished and they have no place in this last part of the outline. The main character is passive throughout, and rapidly losing sympathy points because he's not taking action. The climax is short, with very little build up, and not very satisfying.

Nearly all of this can be fixed if I take the time to properly develop it into a fourth and final book. I'll be able to flesh out the subplots and characters I need, actually give the main character the correct arc so he's not just a bump on a log, and work on the climax to make it more satisfying. All of this will obviously take time however, which is why I didn't want to do it initially, thinking it would delay the start of my novels.

But here's why that isn't a problem:

I know where to cut off the third book of the Dilmir series. It's completely written, and all I need to do is tweak the last few chapters so it feels more like an end to a book. I need to write up the introduction and such, and then edit the story. But all of that will be fairly quick, and then the third book will be ready to be posted.

After that, I will turn to my novel. I have the base idea of how to do it, but I need to outline the basic skeleton. I need to know who the main characters are, what the main plot is, and so on.

However, once I have the basics, I want to spend a good amount of time just building the world I'll need, and fleshing out the story and characters. This is something I was always planning on doing.

I'm confident I can worldbuild one story and develop another at the same time, so I was planning on maybe writing one final fan fiction during this time, something short perhaps, a final attempt to get a truly high rating once again.

But it makes a lot more sense for me to use that time to write the fourth and final book in the Dilmir series. I don't have to come up with a story idea (because it's already there), which will save a lot of time, and this way I know the Dilmir series is going to be as good as it can be (because I won't be trying to crunch two books into one).

Honestly I feel a lot better having made this decision. For the past weeks, I knew I was compromising on the quality of Archmage of Feylund (which might need a new title now), but I stuck with my decision, knowing I needed to start work on my novel. This way everyone wins. I get to start my novel soon, and Dilmir gets the conclusion he deserves.

The editing of Dilmir 3 shouldn't take very long, not much longer than a week if I stick with it. After that I post it. Be sure to watch my blog/sig for further updates.

Until then, keep reading.

~TGRF.

EDIT: I've changed the title of book 3 to Fall of Feylund. Book 4 will likely remain as Archmage of Feylund.
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