The Final Lap
Journal 101 21-27 August 2023
I woke up this morning feeling sick, but also excited to get to the keyboard and write this blog… then more of the manuscript. And I’m still in good spirits, though my WORD program just completely erased my default template on my blank documents.
Really deflates the mood to have to try and remember how I set up all my styles and other defaults… the last time I did that was eight or ten years ago.
But I refuse to be completely dampened by this decaying, half-dead computer.
I am in the final lap. I should finish the novel this week unless everything goes to hell.
Words
I’m just going to get right into it.
I had three sessions, but they were all productive. I managed 7,160 words for the week and the manuscript sits at 183,443 total worlds.
I’m in the middle of chapter 38, the final chapter and then just the epilogue is left. The fighting is over. The characters are reeling from their actions and they have done the impossible. Now, we’re looking at the consequences of that victory. A nation reborn, millions of homeless people. Caitlyn wanting to return home, but Slater wanting to go in the opposite direction.
Consequences of Victory
I don’t know if this is a good idea or not, but I felt I had to be done.
The heroes stopped the villain, but not in the way they intended. They were too late to stop the villain’s plan from going off. In the end, they decided to push instead of pull, instead of strengthening the wards, they broke them and the curse on the lands.
They then accelerated things forward and saved the souls of the population of the valley… and most of you are scratching your head trying o figure out what the hell I’m talking about.
The point is they broke everything and saved the population of a small nation… let that sink in… an entire nation. The last chapter is a bunch of characters standing in a newly reborn nation, the enemies fled, and our heroes both triumphant, but overwhelmed with the outcome.
Last Minute Changes
I had two characters who were pretty much doomed to die. But since I was rebirthing a whole nation, I was going to let those characters be reborn with the cursed people. Last minute I let one of them stay dead and I haven’t exactly “rebirthed” the other… he seems the same.
I’m ok with the other character staying dead. I think.
But on the other side, I suddenly decided to split my main group of characters again. I wanted Caitlyn to stay with Slater and keep going in the fifth book. But I suddenly decided that she would rather go back home and handle the problems there.
It just makes more sense that she would go back and save her nation, since its her literal rival who has ceased power.
The only problem with that is where does that story fit?
Plans
Book 3 is all different characters in a far-off nation and what’s happening there during the invasion (also the first of the invaders povs).
Book 4 was meant to be a Fae War showcasing the Sidhe reacting to the invasion from Shadow, and also a reunification of the Seasonal Courts. Also, new characters, possible some of the characters from book 3.
Book 5 was the return to Slater and his group as they rally the Martyr Empire and target the true villain of the piece.
In none of those plans did I have a story of Caitlyn going back to free up Daeria. I mean I could maybe be in the 5th book, or I could do it as a B-story in the 4th book? I don’t know.
This usually happens where as I write I come up with more and more book ideas. Other stories that need to be told. Perhaps planning this as five books wasn’t really the smartest? When I look at it that fourth book seems so odd. A book that mainly takes place in the Faelands, and the outer planes with only a single character from The Ashlands anchoring it to overall narrative?
I have considered having some of the characters from Book 3 move into the Faelands, but I haven’t outlined that book yet. That will be in the next couple months. We’ll see how that all works out.
Lots of Thoughts, Planning to Come
Our future posts will mostly be about planning the next book, revising the previous book, and also writing a player guide for a game set in this world. I plan to take the next month or so (AFTER I finish this manuscript) putting together my own 5e game.
It should be a lot of fun. Also, a lot of work.
In all cases I will chart my progress here.
Media Consumption
I watched Cocaine Bear, Suspiria for the 10th time, and I’m almost done with Goblin (Guardian the great and lonely god).
Goblin is really good… I love the cast. Lee Dongwook and Yoo Inna are great together, and the funny thing is I saw them in another show where they are the romantic leads. That show came after they appeared as support in Goblin, so its really cute to see them here with so much chemistry. Then realize that the other show I watched came about because everyone else also saw that chemistry.
I had to look ahead and make sure that Goblin had a happy ending, because of my previous bad experiences with shows recently. It DOES have a happy ending, but you have to claw through a lot of sad shit to get to it. Luckily, I can manage it because I’m promised the good ending.
I have a bunch more shows cued up after Goblin, but I think I might take a short break from K-dramas… only because I actually want to read some comics and novels. And it’s one or the other with the K-dramas.
Future
I already said that it would be the final chapters of the novel, then outlining the next novel, RPG planning, and possibly another round of revision on the previous novel.
Also, where do I fit the rest of Caitlyn’s story? Or do I just hand wave it? Probably not.
Make it a side novel?
No idea.
You’ll have to keep reading and discover it along with me, because I just do this shit as I feel it.
Thanks for reading and see you next week.
