Chapter 24, Draft 1: DONE.

Yep, not draft 4 like usual; I wrote this bad boy from scratch. And while I did use ideas from later on in the book, (I moved them up a bit) I didn’t just copy/paste from the later chapters.

And why did I do this? It’s because Kim knew that my characters needed to work harder to figure out the ultimate mystery of the book.

See, back in draft 3 the villain just kind of tells everyone: “Here’s the secret you all missed! Wow, you’re all really stupid for not figuring out anything yourselves! It’s almost as if the writer didn’t leave any clues for you to find!” 😅

Yes, I was weak on clues. Kim told me that the heroes don’t have to figure out EVERYthing, but they should at least meet the villain half-way.

I agreed, so that’s what I’ve been setting up: clues; protagonists catching on; and finally confronting the villain.

And this month I wrote so much for the ‘confronting the villain’ part that it became enough to make a new chapter on its own. 😅

It all turned out great, though. Here’s the usual vague poem. Hm, maybe that needs a headline too.

VAGUE POEM:

A piercing denied; a piercing complete.

Flee while you can; chasing friends you can’t meet.

Though the flag’s been brought down and the prizes now claimed,

It is only now that we can start the true game. Continue reading →