Writing Log #7 - "Screw you. I'm going out of bounds!"

Whew, I'm beat this week! I put a lot more into making the PDF than I thought I was going to, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. I'm so grateful for everyone who requested it here and/or bought it.

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This week I wrote 6,200 words, and seeing as I'm writing this at 11pm in my time, you can guess how close I was to missing my own deadline...but I did it! The first draft for chapter 4 is complete at a massive 20,700 words. I have a TON of editing notes for this one (and the other ones too, really), and while it seems daunting now, I think the end result will be great.

June goal: finish the first draft for both chapter 5 and 6. That's all the chapters in the first book! (And one might say that's the point where the real writing begins...)

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The scene I wrote this week was Lulu exploring a simulated environment based on a social media app that I'm pretty sure is the demonic spawn of Instagram and Twitter. Something's not quite right with her accounts, and she's determined to get to the bottom of it!

Needless to say, things get weird on her walkable timeline.

"The old search feature is obsolete," the voice tells me. "You can ask Beta AI to show you posts on specific topics."

"I don't wanna talk to an AI!"

I swipe the keyboard to the side; it crashes into a video of a young man lip syncing to a song he definitely doesn't own. When it hits his forehead, he falls back.

Pretty sure I just simu-killed someone.

"You have a crush on an AI."

"Shut up."

When Lulu enters a simulation, the data is essentially filtered through her brain. If she's aware of her crush on the puppy guy coding these things, she's gonna be hearing about it... (Alvin remains blissfully unaware of everything Lulu actively experiences in simulations. We're not quite at the confession of love yet!)

Squinting, I move on. Because there's nowhere else to go. And now it's just ads for literally anything.

"Here are some more posts you'll like."

"I categorically do not like any of these posts."

[...]

"Would you like to buy this?"

My eye twitches.

"No, I don't wanna buy three dollar hoodies that smell like they'll kill me, I wanna get away from these fucking ads!"

Squeezing through the space between the giant ad frame and the wall, I hold the communicator. "Alvin? Can you patch in my quads? I need to outspeed some spam."

Lulu just wants to see posts from people she follows. It's my ultimate wish fulfillment fantasy.

To actually get anywhere, Lulu might need to think outside the box a little more. Outside the...bounds, if you will. (I have an obsession with going out of bounds in the old Pokemon games and I was determined to make it a thing in some way.)

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This scene was largely focused on Lulu and her little misadventure, but I'm thinking of starting chapter 5 with a pegging joke, so next week I should be making up for the lack of shipping material. (It's going to make sense in context...and still be a pegging joke.)

Until then, please enjoy the design draft for Hifumi, a character mentioned at the end of chapter 4. They're the "accidentally became an investigative journalist and just can't stop" type of video essayist. Are they perhaps interested in the strange case Lulu got herself involved in...?

Only one way to find out--me starting the chapter 5 draft. See you next week!