owlmoose | writing progress

I've finished all my Confessional follow-ups except one. This is the story inspired by Ikon's coeurl, the one that practically walked up to me and demanded to be written. I've been inspired before, but never quite so aggressively.

I've been working on it, off and on, for several weeks -- for various reasons, I didn't want to get too deeply into it before finishing "Painkiller". A few days ago, I got blocked. I wrote it up to a certain point and then could take it no further. But the act of admitting I was stuck seems to have unstuck me: not half an hour after making that post, I sat back down with the story, read it through, found an answer, and started moving forward again. As of this morning, I have a complete draft.

Now, I have no idea whether it actually works on any level other than wish fulfillment. It's a romance with a happy ending, and those of you who follow my work know that this is something I have never, ever tried to pull off before. It is easily the fluffiest thing I have ever written (except for one chapter of AGL --

yuna_flowering, you know the one I'm talking about -- and even that ended on a bittersweet note). I think everything follows logically, both from a plot and emotional standpoint. But I've been writing about this couple for almost two months now, and I've gotten too emotionally invested in them -- I'm not objective any more.

I should probably let it sit and not think about it consciously for a few days, then go back to it fresh, but I've never been able to do that. If I have an unfinished story on my hard drive, I will pull it up and poke at it. It just seems to be the way I work. Well, I'll try it anyway.

As for AGL, my poor abandoned story. I went through it a couple of weeks ago and did a full edit, which was helpful. I thought about making some major changes but decided against all of them for various reasons -- some of them probably would improve the story, but none so much that they were worth the overhaul that would be required. So it was mostly minor tweaking and fixing of errors. I'm sort of looking forward to getting back to it and sort of not. I know what I'm doing with the Auron half of the story, but the Liss half is still vague in my mind. I have ideas but am totally unsure whether they're any good. I haven't written anything new on AGL since mid-July, and I'm really curious how it will go once I get back into it. We shall see.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Huzzas for you! As you are possibly aware, I have just this minute posted the first part of An End to Innocence (the story formerly known as 'The First'>. The coeurl just will not quit. And we seem neck in neck in our obedience to it.

I must get into your AGL if you are going to return to it. I, like you, have lately been consumed by these demanding feral cats. (I mean consumed in a figurative sense, of course.)

How is your shoulder today?

It is perhaps too early for huzzahs, since I could still end up having to chuck the whole thing... ;) As far as I know, this is the only story the beast is demanding of me. But I suppose it may still be lying in wait, somewhere in my brain, ready to pounce. You know, this whole "ideas as cat-like creatures" metaphor works very well. No wonder the coeurl is such an effective muse! I see why you couldn't keep it out of "End to Innocence" -- it seems to be an integral part of the teen Nooj. I don't know why you say you can't write women; Kaith is a delightful character, even if we haven't learned much about her.

Shoulder is unchanged. I seem to have the brace in a more comfortable position today. We were making jokes about Nooj earlier, but actually this particular injury is more Auron, with the arm pulled up against my side. Particularly when I'm wearing a sweater or jacket and I have an empty sleeve hanging by my side. It's the wrong arm, but still.

AGL: Got a spare week? :) Seriously, it is long. Way long. Probably too long, but it would be a different story if I cut much. And for all my insecurity about it, I do like the story it is now.

Ah, perhaps the accident the other day which dislocated your shoulder again is Auron becoming more insistent about claiming your attention. We cosset them; they haunt us.

I understand your affection for a very long work. My first effort at fiction, Penumbra is an enormously long piece. Printed out, it is more than three hundred pages and has in excess of 200,000 words. Tolstoy would be proud. I feel sure your AGL does not surpass that in verbosity. LOL

Please do not chuck the coeurl story. I am so hungry for a scenario in which Nooj and Paine are at least moderately happy again. Damn that Shuyin!

Well that's a scary thought. :) Haunted by the characters I write as they trip me on the stairs... that might make a story in and of itself, actually.

No, AGL is not quite that long, currently somewhere around 90K words. I think it's about three-quarters done, which would put it in about the 125K range when complete.

In all seriousness, I doubt I will give up on "The Cat". It's not *bad*, I'm just not convinced it earns its happy ending. But after everything I've put Paine through, I owe her some happiness. And perhaps I feel a need to make it up to Nooj for all the times I've killed him off...

He will be very grateful for a few more days with Paine.

I didn't know you edited AGL! I shall have to go back and reread it (I've been meaning to do so for about a week anyway). You have no idea how much I adore that story. You really should get back to it (hint, hint). A little bit of fluff now and then is good for you :)

Yep. I went through and did some clean-up as a way to clear my mind when I was stuck on other things. Really, not much has changed; you probably won't even notice the differences. (Although, if you do, I would be curious to learn what you think of them!) I will definitely pick it up again, and soon. Maybe even tonight or tomorrow. And large sections of later chapters are already drafted, so I'll probably end up posting in bunches like I did before.

As for the fluff, I should say that this story is fluffy *for me* -- you may still find it entirely too serious. ;)

AGL lives! I just wrote the first scene of Chapter 30. How it goes from here I can't be certain, but I thought you would like to know. :)

you bet I do. Can't wait for the next chapter :) I've reread up to Chapter 4

Maybe I'll actually have a new chapter ready by the time you finish the reread...

Thanks for the review of my nice fluffy story. :) I was expecting to have fun with that one, and I did, but it was also hard to make it work. I wonder why fluff is so much harder for me than tragedy? Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Maybe you were Juliet or Antigone or something in a past life, and your subconscious is so centered on tragedy that it expresses itself in your writing? :)

Heh.

If those are my options, I'll take Antigone...

writing progress

I

Re: I

I

Re: I

I

Re: I

Re: I

Re: I

Re: I

Re: I

Re: I

Re: I