Chapters 30-31, Draft 4 COMPLETE!
Yes, TWO chapters this time!
Chapter 30: Got trimmed; Kim convinced me to move a big event to the beginning of the book. It works better as a ‘reintroduction’ to the main characters, so I agreed. And it helps the flow of the finale.
So many paths to pick and choose,
Which leads to the exit? What route should I use?
Only when you reach the point that is highest,
Will your vantage show:
The labyrinth is biased. Continue reading
Chapter 29, Draft 4 – COMPLETE!
To have strength in yourself is conviction indeed
But when your peers falter what then will you need?
Will it be faith if your conviction is strong?
Or is murder the lie you’ve been told all along? Continue reading
Chapter 28, Draft 4 – COMPLETE.
What is this? The timing’s wrong!
First forced down, then shunted long!
Fleeting quarry; erstwhile lore,
Time remaining: three ticks more. Continue reading
Chapter 27, Draft 4: COMPLETE.
The hour is shortened;
the minutes finite;
the panic of;
One last breath. Continue reading
Chapter 26, Draft 4: COMPLETE
Ah, much better! NOW I can write the vague spoiler-free poem that describes the chapter:
Twisting a failure into success;
brings you not joy, but horror, distress;
Is there no savior? Is there no clue?
Abandonment at last came for you. Continue reading
Chapter 26, Draft 4: INCOMPLETE
Yeah, whoops. Where does the time go? Thanks to the numerous changes I’ve made to the story, this chapter requires a LOT of revision. So it’s not done, but I am working. Well, except for the past couple nights that I’ve been writing this blog post. 😁
With no complete chapter I can’t do a poem or progress report, so let’s just review the month’s hottest shows! Or… the shows I watched in April. Spoilers for Fallout and Hazbin Hotel.
Chapter 25, Draft 4: DONE.
Now let us bow our heads in silence as a tribute for Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball. He died on March 1st. I loved his works, and some of my own writing is inspired by him.
So this chapter is for you, man! It will be a thrilling battle for survival between enemies, friends, and rivals! And yes, this intro counts as being silent because I’m writing instead of speaking aloud. Here is the vague spoiler-free poem that describes the chapter:
Adversaries clash, as well as good buddies;
Peers will rumble and ward off monstrosities.
It’s an epic brawl worthy of Dragon Ball Z;
Akira Toriyama: this chapter’s for thee.
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
Chapter 23, Draft 4: DONE.
Yeah, that’s how I should start these blog entries. Just hit you in the face with the chapter in bold followed by the status of DONE, BABY!
Funny thing back when I wrote draft 3: even though it’s the start of the book’s finale, I tossed out all of draft two and rewrote everything. It was almost a fit of madness. Because at this point Kim had read most of the book, her criticisms were mounting, and I was being driven to despair over the sheer amount of work that needed to be done. (Work that I have now completed.) But at the time it seemed like so much.
So all my feelings were UNLEASHED in this chapter. I put myself in the place of the protagonist and struggled against a seemingly-unwinnable situation! 😤
And here’s the summary of the chapter, in poem form!
I just finished chapter 22 of the 4th draft of Abandonment Party 2. This one has the final bit of set-up as we head to the finale of the book.
Such tension! Oooooh what’s gonna happen!? Speaking of: I actually put in some OUTRAGOUS levels of tension in draft 3 of this chapter, just to test Kim when she read it. To see how far I could go before the reader stopped ‘suspending their disbelief’ as they say. Continue reading
