AtC: Dual Update
Alright, here is what is happening. Ten Years Prior is ruining everything. I was going to double update it in an attempt to finish it faster because I hate it. But since I hate it, I can’t finish it faster. Part VIII, I finished. Part IX is off running naked through the forest, high on shrooms or something, and I just can’t deal with that idiot right now. Despite my wanting TYP to be over and done with forever ago, actually trying to finish it makes me want to punch my computer in the face, so I needed to abandon it for a minute while I spent some time slamming my head into a wall. I really tried to do what I was trying to do but I just had to stop trying because I couldn’t do it.
What I am going to do, however, probably won’t work. It will probably confuse you. It will probably screw up everything, but if I don’t do it, I’m going to have to stab something, because Ten Years Prior has officially driven me insane.
In order to stem the insanity, I am resuming the main story while also finishing up TYP. If this is just really terrible form, and you all want me to just do one thing at a time, I can chill. Just putting out Betray All: Part I is making me feel better. I can glide for a minute on Betray All: Part I and chill out for long enough to force myself to finish TYP, which only has 4ish updates left to its name, and then a kind of epilogue thingy that extends the timeline a bit for more, possibly superfluous, background. BUT if it all is cool, I can continue to do dual updates until TYP is done and then go on about my merrily.
The problem is that I have taken pictures for Betray All up to Part III, where I’ve only taken pictures up to the pictures you see on the site for Ten Years Prior, despite many fruitless attempts to remedy that (seriously, I’ve taken not one TYP picture since my teaser post). Betray All is taunting me. TAUNTING ME. I’ve done too much. But now that I’ve done the much, I have to release the much – veritably striking it from my consciousness through its passage into the interneted strata – or else it will sit on my brain like a toilet seat and drive me loony and next thing you know I’ll be cutting off my ear and gifting it to prostitutes. Except I’m not an artist, and it’s already been done, so that act of crazy wouldn’t be history, it would just. be. crazy.
I’m sorry, I’m having a bit of a moment. I don’t want to be an adult anymore. And wordpress is glitching my face off. And Ten Years Prior is the death of me. And my laptop ate my Velvet Goldmine dvd, over which I’m having a slight emotional crisis. And I left my copy of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies in another country and am willing to swim the Atlantic to go get it. And it has been brought to my attention that I a much better at first person fiction writing than I am at third person fiction, and this new awareness has basically ruined my life. RUINED MY LIFE. But feel free to tell me to reign in my lunacy. Really. Feel free.
DUAL UPDATE!! They are both abominably long.
TWO UPDATES?!?!?!?! Brilliant!!
Don’t stress too much about TYP if you really don’t want to. Like, if you think it’s essential to the story, then go for it, but if it’s giving you more grief than it’s worth, don’t worry about it.
It could just be a thing with flashbacks, maybe? I know those things kind of bother me somewhat, because I already know where my characters have been, I already know a significant chunk of their backstories, and I just want to write what happens next not what happens before. After almost a year of sim writing, I’ve only written one real flashback, which kind of screws the continuity of my main story (after that, I moved all “flashbacks” to a separate story, which has so far proven less frustrating).
But of course, that’s just me. I think you’re doing a great job with TYP, but if you want to deep six it in favor of just moving on with the story, I totally understand and if it’s cool for you, it’s cool for us readers
Now, let’s see if I can read both updates without being late for class
Van
October 14, 2009 at 10:02 am
See that’s just it, I don’t really WANT to deepsix TYP, it’s just so HARD. I’m not good at writing as I go, but I think I might just suck it up and finish it.
But YES, I completely agree with you. When I’m already knee deep in the AFTER, so much that I know the ending, it trips me up to approach the BEFORE. But I didn’t do a great set up with my characters so I had to do the before. To make some things easier to understand. And there are some big moments in the past that need to be approached, otherwise I’ll have to bring them up and explain them in the present, and I’d prefer not to do that.
So I’m just going to bang it out. And if I can do both at the same time without anyoen being confused, then I’ll stick with that. It’ll make me feel better
Veron
October 15, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Oh my God, Veron. Those paragraphs melted my face. MY FACE! You are definitely having a moment–breathe, woman! Breathe! Oxygen is a nice thing, especially for your lungs and the brain, LOL!
Do whatever you need to do to get the big elephant out of the room. It is the philosophy I have adhered to when doing non-serious fiction stuff, ie the stuff not getting published. All my stuff is that way, but I digress, yours isn’t. This is supposed to be FUN… a fact we all kind of lose once it stops being fun. Which, to be honest, is pretty much after the glamour wears off and it becomes a rat race just to get anything done.
Do what you NEED to do, screw all else. Hell knows we’ll still read–you’re awesome. So, exercise those creative demons as you will. It’s your story, your ballgame, your time and creativity.
I feel bad for posting given that I’m LIGHTYEARS behind, but I didn’t see this before I emailed you, so you get this short and sweet pep talk… or not so pep talk. You know I suck at those, LOL.
I will get caught up… once my moving stops sucking out my soul and gnawing on it for breakfast. Srs. This is NOT fun. I thought it was supposed to be, but it isn’t. At all.
Mao
October 14, 2009 at 3:12 pm
MAO! MAO MAO MAO! I’m sorry I melted your face, I might have melted mine too. I think the fun kind of melted somewhere in there too. Hehe, no but I enjoy putting out the story, it’s just the maintanence that is killing me. I’m going to do both, and that should cool me out. It’s like, huge incentive, if I can do both storylines simultaneously.
SOUL-GNAWING MOVING BE DONE! That was helpful right? Me yelling at your soul-gnawing moving?
Veron
October 15, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Um… I agree with Mao… BREATHE!!! And also, eat cookies. Or something … cause wow. I feel like I need to reach out and hug you or something. Srsly.
Note to you: WE WILL ALL BE HERE. No matter what. So don’t feel abominable pressure to write something that you don’t feel is right just because you feel like you HAVE to put something up … kay? Cause everyone here knows that you could write the telephone book and it would be just as compelling. Relax! You’re good
Have faith, have some decaf, and a bubble bath… and just remember that this is for YOU not for US. Writing should never be for the people that read it.. that’s just the plus. The writing should always and ultimately be for YOU and to please YOU and to create the world YOU came up with.
the_mctavishams
October 15, 2009 at 12:16 am
COOKIES! I’ll take an internet hug! I love internet hugs!
Hahahaha, I suddenly want to write a telephone book just to see my name on the front. “Telephone book, by Veron.”
That is so sweet. I think Ten Years Prior was for the readers, because it brought a lot of sense into the mix. There were gaps in the story that I had to fill, but actually writing those gaps in is such crap. I’m not good at writing as I go. It’s painful. But having a chance to write it all out and then approach it is not one that I have. But using Betray as incentive, I’m just gonna do it. As long as dual updates don’t kill anyone. And that hasn’t appeared to have happened, so GAME ON!
Veron
October 15, 2009 at 3:34 pm