Writer's Blog: Like That One Couple That Lights Each Other On Fire

Chapters 6 and 7’s rewrite is well under way! (Also, the majority of Chapter 9, because I found it easier to write all of Hope’s scenes at the same time. But Chapters 8 and 9 probably won’t get posted for another two weeks, as I still need to make a feedback post for them.) 

Regarding the next update, though: I’ve extensively experimented with combining Chapters 6 and 7, since both chapters are comparatively short (only 25,000 words each!). However, I really like the cliffhanger of Kenzie being revealed as a non-Ment at Chapter 6’s end, especially for readers that chose to stop for the dogs in Chapter 1.

To compromise, I tried creating two separate chapter cut-offs: readers who met Kenzie on the way to Aeon would have Chapter 6 end at it’s current point, while readers who took the subway or walked would instead have Chapter 6/7 merged with it ending when Button reaches Operation Hemera’s base. This actually proved simpler to do than it sounds, coding-wise, and really only required changing every chapter cover so that Kenzie-route people were technically a chapter behind. I liked the narrative this way and felt it flowed better for every route. . . but ultimately realized it would be a nightmare for collecting feedback and possibly an imposition for trying to discuss the story with friends (the conversation I imagined played out similarly to Button's recitation of Who's on First, What's on Second). All this brought me back to debating whether Chapters 6 and 7 should be merged for everyone or no one. But, again, I really, really like the cliffhanger of Kenzie being revealed as a non-Ment, especially for readers that chose to stop for the dogs in Chapter 1. So I'm currently leaving it as-is. 

Probably. Maybe.

It’s a Catch-22 that I’ve been trapped in for this past week, with every day seeing the two chapter files merged and then reseparated with the speed and frequency of that one on-again, off-again couple that everyone first encounters in junior high and who either marries immediately after college or end up taking out restraining orders on each other (or both).

. . . I can’t be the only who knew a couple like this, can I? They’re genuinely the best analogy I can think off right now, although that may have something to do with being back in the town I grew up in.

In addition to (tentative) reorganization), Chapters 6 and 7 have a lot of other changes, the most noticeable of which is increased interactions from Nick. I want to gradually lessen his commentary to foreshadow his eventual silence, which requires frontloading the earlier chapters with even more cheeky commentary. This commentary is also more customized than before, with Nick’s responses depending on several new variables as well as his overall relationship score. Instead of just splitting Nick’s dialogues into “good” vs. “bad” relationship, there are now three score brackets: 110 and up indicates Button and Nick’s relationship is “Close,” 80 – 110 is “Loving But With Tension,” and below 80 is “Fratricide Is Tempting.” 

Feel free to let me know if you disagree with the numerical limits. I replayed with several trial Buttons to see what their score ended up being by Chapter 5’s conclusion, and they were all pretty accurate, but I’m open to tweaking the number limits a bit if people feel like anything upwards of 100 should be “Close,” for example.

I’ll be posting the rewritten Chapters 6 and 7 up after May 9th. Because, in something akin to irony, my mom’s surgery falls the day after Mother’s Day. My brother’s been visiting, which is great, although it’s been difficult to juggle my admittedly obsessive writing schedule with being around family. Thankfully, my mother’s next-door neighbor is away on a trip, and I’ve broken into his house Chapter-15-style and am currently using it as a quiet place to work. (Naveen, if you see this, thanks!)

I admit, I’m nervous (read: internally freaking out while maintaining a façade of calm good humor and somewhat morbid jokes) over my mother’s surgery. Just because, well, it’s surgery. Even if it’s a common surgery and I logically know that she’ll be fine. I’ll definitely be relieved and make a post to celebrate once she’s in the clear. As it stands, I’ve bought a guidebook on writing Regency Era settings because I watched Season 2 of Bridgerton and felt inspired. . . both for this month’s Mind Blind’s short stories, and for something else that I’m cooking up but am not quite ready to share just yet. For now, let’s just call it a tiny fluffy muffin of a side project on which I sometimes dabble whenever my brain overheats from coding interactive fiction.