|
|
August 10, 2009
-
My notes drastically changed how this chapter was to turn out. As I returned to writing, starting with chapter
216, in my head the basic premise for this chapter was "Darksage 3". For most of the time when I was writing
this Volume, I had the idea that Melfina was going to purposefully seek out and challenge Darksage. The only
problem is that I didn't really know how the Volume was going to end for most of that time, and I realized it
wouldn't quite for me. And then when I scanned my notes, I saw that it had an "OR its she's thinking about her
parent's death."
-
That fit much better with the ending to the Volume that I eventually figured out. Although after I finished my
first draft of the chapter, I was doing the revisions to Volume 1, and saw that Melfina has a very similar
scene where she lays her head down after failing to realize she couldn't make enough money to save her shop. But
I very much liked the concept of Melfina praying to her parents, and Darksage overhearing it all, so the best I
could do was keep her in the kneeling position and not laying her head down again.
-
If you haven't noticed, (and I'm guessing you haven't), the first letter of each chapter spells out a sentence in
each Volume. That sentence has one of the Virtues in it. The Volume is loosely themed after each Virtue, and
if you're too lazy to look, this Volume is about Spirituality. That is one of the reasons why the Melfina in Prayer
idea appealed to me. Taking a look into her beliefs fits very well with the theme.
-
My first draft of the Volume only had Melfina throwing a few pain spikes and straight to wither. It was very short,
and not very exciting at all. It was simply too easy. It should be obvious that she's going to win (or if not, then
that's even better,) but there is a balance between not dragging it on too long, because the readers know the outcome,
and making sure that it feels like the character earns what just happened. The final version is much better.
-
The ending used to be extremely cheesy. Darksage said everything but the last line, he walks away, and she notices
his health improving with each step, and then he stops, turns his head, and says, "You are a necromancer now. You
are never alone." I'm definitely glad I changed it to just being part of the conversation, rather than being a
"Back turned. Stop. One-liner."
-
Of course one thing that I wish is that I could have finished the document in the end on time. But I think taking
a look at finishing all of them will have to wait until after Volume 2 is complete.
-
Word Count: 1,807 (Word count for entire story is now above 50,000 words!)
|
|