Preferences for New Fan Fiction II

[William099]

Thanks for the heads up tgrf. I've full faith in you if that helps.

[TGRF]

Things are moving along at a relatively reasonable pace. I've been able to theorize how the subplot development should go, and am currently updating the process.

My purpose with fan fiction has always been to test and refine my process, and I'm feeling the urge to do that with this section on subplots. That's because this first series is creating the process, rather than actually testing it. Subsequent installments in the series won't test it - this is the framework for the whole series.

So once again, an idea has occurred (surprise, surprise). At the moment there is no plan to write 4114. Also, the general plot of 4114 has always been a bit odd, with three distinct climaxes in it (these remain unchanged from the original tale). So I'm wondering... if I should perhaps turn 4114 into a trilogy and test out the process further that way.

Do note: 4114 was never designed as a series. I can't say if it will benefit from the conversion or not.

If I were to do this, it would likely mean that I would develop 4114 before releasing this infinite series. That way the series is still the last thing, and I can come back to it at any time.

What are your thoughts? Should I write 4114? Remember: that means a delay in releasing this series, but a more solid process. Developing 4114 will in theory not take very long. Nowhere near as long as developing this series has taken.

~TGRF.

[TGRF]

@William099 @TheAverageFan @Tornado

I wonder if I could get your opinions on the above?

~TGRF.

EDIT: @BiggaBullfrog

[Tornado]

What is 4114?

[TGRF]

Originally Posted by Tornado

What is 4114?

.... Wow. I had not realized you didn't know. Allow me to explain.

The second fan fiction I wrote was The Quest for Valhalla. This was way back, before I knew how to write or structure anything. It was a tale about a group of heroes brought together to perform a deadly mission. Their quest: locate and destroy Valkrill's wellspring using an intercepted magical artifact.

The tale ended with - to avoid spoilers - a lot of unresolved situations, so I decided to write a sequel. The sequel documented a lot of battles, and eventually culminated with the final battle of Valhalla, in which the heroes fought to the last.

There was an epilogue in that sequel which showed the heroes being returned to their worlds. It was promised that their individual stories would be wrapped up. All were, except for one: the main character.

The main character was Dan Beorm, a Mariedian from the prison moon Isadora. He was summoned by Vydar when he was nearly killed in the fighting pits by a soulborg major. Vydar perfected his crude designs for weaponry, and it is assumed that with these, Dan returned to Isadora and freed his people. But that tale has never been written. That tale is titled Code 4114. Just 4114 for short.

I've been promising 4114 off and on ever since I finished the above-mentioned sequel. I've never written it. I developed it and even started to write it after I finished Apocalypse, but some problems arose. A Chance came along, and I abandoned 4114.

As you probably know, I'm trying to perfect my process for writing novels. Unfortunately, I have only recently included steps to create and develop subplots. I used this current series to create those steps, which means that while they likely work, they haven't been fully tested. I would like to test them before I write my novels. Hence the need for another fan fiction.

Which is where 4114 comes in. The previous development showed me that I need to rewrite the whole tale, from the summoning, through the battles on Valhalla, and then back to Isadora. That means one of two things: either the tale is very long, or it is split up into a trilogy. The trilogy option is appealing because it allows me to test out my process for subplots (the process is exclusive to a series).

Hence the above post.

~TGRF, long-winded.

[TheAverageFan]

If there's three climaxes and three stories (TQFV, sequel, unwritten Isadora conclusion), then I don't see why 4114 shouldn't be a trilogy. If keeping them equal length, tone, etc. is an issue, you may need to change, add, or cut some things from the original source material, but otherwise it seems to fit that pretty well. Trilogies work really well for subplots and character arcs since they are in themselves basically a really big 3-act structure.

As to which is done first--By Any Other Path or 4114--that's really up to you.

~TAF, in theory

[Tornado]

Was thinking the same as TAF.

4114!

[William099]

I'm game for both 4114 done as a Trilogy and done first. Especially considering the analysis of the poster two before me

[TGRF]

I am switching gears to 4114, hopefully for the last time. Aside from the need to test out my process more and the fact that you three are fine with it, I also recently discovered something:

A few days ago I listed all of my fan fictions and compared their ratings against their strengths and weaknesses. It seems that those with easily definable atmospheres had the better rating. This is most easily seen with The Final Battleground. So I did some research on how I could include a definable atmosphere into By Any Other Path.

Apparently, the answer was to start over, because doing so took the story in a totally different direction. The theme and core remain intact, so it won't take long to develop it once I get back to it. The setting has changed, and possibly the characters, however.

But now is the time to get back to 4114. Fortunately, it was fully developed last time. Unfortunately, it was not developed as a series. This means the first half of development should go relatively fast, while the second half goes relatively slow. Watch my signature for progress.

~TGRF, apparently sticking to the tradition of ignoring his readers to work on 4114.

UPDATE: I am currently stuck on the injustice. The injustice is what drives the character to complete the goal of the plot. I'm having trouble getting it into the right format. Last time I just moved ahead - not this time. I'm going to get this right.

[TGRF]

Code 4114 is underway. Tentative titles for the three installments are Victory, Defeat, and Peace. The last one is more subject to change than the others. A cover for the first installment should be arriving shortly.

The first attempt at the core could not work. It was literally impossible. I redefined the goal (which fortunately still worked), and am now on the last phase of the core development. Things are moving along.

While very similar to my previous development, this story is different enough from what I had that I could post what I wrote for 4114 last time. I will wait until the development is complete, but it is a possibility.

Again, note that there have been quite a few large changes from LBV. Do not go into this expecting the Quest for Valhalla.

Watch my sig for updates.

~TGRF.

UPDATE: A minor realization led to a reconstruction of half of my series process. This is good. Previously, the process was trying to create an infinite series using steps designed for stand alone novels. While the main plot was engineered without an end (critical for an infinite series), the subplots were not. This would have yielded several great first books, but no plan for anything afterwards. I have now reconstructed the half of the process which was creating the subplots so that they too have no end. I am remaking my process to accommodate these changes.

Fortunately, I don't think any of the old steps had hit 4114 yet, so I should be able to jump right back into the development once the new process is completed. Watch my sig for progress.
EDIT: Despite what I said above, I've decided to just start over on 4114. There are a few reasons. One is that it is always easier to start with a clean slate. It prevents things from sneaking in across versions. I also hadn't gotten very far anyway, so it isn't much of a restart. And finally I had a thought about the setting which could change things quite a bit.

[TGRF]

Development for 4114 is moving along nicely. I think I finally have the right setting.

I've decided to briefly pause the development so that I can create the core for my novels. I need to do this because they are fantasy novels. It's a good idea to spend a long time just playing in your fantasy world before you write the story, and without the core, I don't have that world yet. So I'm going to create the core, create the world, and then get back to 4114.

This interlude could be as brief as a day. Or it could take a week. Either way, it won't be long. I've gone over so many countless iterations of the core of these novels that there isn't much left to discuss.

Watch my sig for progress, as always.

~TGRF.

UPDATE: The core for the series is now in place. I am of course super fired up about the novels now (and my process, which is now self-correcting and WORKING) and have no interest in going back to 4114 just yet. That will calm down over the weekend. 4114 development will start back up in a few days.
In case you are curious what the 'deviants' are in the novel development: a deviant is where I realize that one part of the novel is doing something other than it's supposed to. This usually results in things deviating from the theme and showing a different theme - or none at all - instead. This most commonly happens with the drive - the reason the character struggles to complete the goal. The first few drives tend to deviate very slightly, making the character actually work for a slightly different goal. While slight, these deviations are VERY destructive if I don't catch them - They are the reasons I have to restart my development all the time. My new process now has built-in steps to detect and eliminate these deviants, and it is working. I found three in the series almost immediately after creating them, and was able to correct them.

[TGRF]

4114 is stalling beneath me. And I know why.

Despite everything else I have ever said, there has always been one main reason I never wrote 4114: the story was written without a theme. I've always tried to force a theme onto 4114, and it has always fought back, rejecting every iteration I try. It was never built for a theme, and it seems like it just isn't meant to have one. The whole idea is inherently against it.

I do have a few options. Writing without a theme is not one of them, as the whole point of writing 4114 is to test out my process. I could of course try to find a new theme. Or I could remove the tale from Valhalla. That of course goes against the other point of 4114: to finish the tale of Dan. So I'm not about to do that.

Finding a new theme might sound like the best option, but it's a lot easier said than done. Even if I find a theme which seems to work, it is highly probable that it won't, and will only end up costing me a lot of time for nothing.

At the moment my best option is to just consider 4114 as it was always meant to be told, and try to find why it was always meant to end the way it was (oh yes, I've always had an ending for Dan in mind). If I can determine that why, and get the answer right, that will be my theme. Without knowing that... 4114 is going nowhere.

~TGRF.