Writing Report – 21 February 2018

Today was much like Tuesday, February 20 in terms of my pacing for today, but a lot of my inconsistent focus lies in the fact I have not been at the peak of my health this week. I’m fighting a bad case of stomach flu that means I struggle to sit in one place for more than an hour, but I will not let illness slow me down. Dedication is one of the many tools in a writers arsenal. If you are dedicated to your craft, nothing will stop you.

Progress Report: Wednesday 21 February

Focus of Writing: Crucible

Word Target: 2,000 (minus the 500 from last week)

Words Written: 2,009

Overview: Wednesday is the day that I work on post-apocalyptic adventure novel, Crucible. It is part of an experimental series of novels I have going on that are all set in a shared universe. I never anticipated to write Chronicles: Ascension, Crow, Crucible, and Eden as part of the one universe, but the more I think on it, the more I can see it working.

Crucible, as a whole, is a unique novel as it lies in the space between the events of Eden and Chronicles: Ascension. The format allows me to build the sense of a ruined form of Earth that resorted back to primal ways. I borrow elements from other forms of media, but I make them my own and write them as I see them. For Crucible, the focus does not lie on the world in any sense, as it provides nothing more than a mere backdrop for the internal conflict of the characters.

For the characters themselves, the majority of the novel focuses on two characters: Lumi and Ash. They come from different sides of the same world. While Lumi grew up in a sheltered and protected life like a rich and entitled person would, Ash grew up in a harsh environment. Ash knows how to manipulate people with nothing but her words and Lumi, having not experienced such a thing, has no idea how to react, so she goes along with it.

The dynamic of the two characters is designed, from my point of view, to be a commentary on social status in our modern world. The way I write the dynamic is meant to evoke feelings of a rich person not knowing how the world outside their bubble works. To the extent it works, I do not know, but I hope it comes across in the way I anticipate.

Crucible has a linear first person style. The only focus character is Lumi, even though Ash plays a critical role in the novel. The original idea for Crucible did have Ash as a focus character, but when I looked back on it, it seemed too similar to many of my other novels, so I reworked the story to have Lumi as the prime focus.

Lumi is a female lead that goes against my typical archetype and it is a welcome change to the strong female lead. Lumi is supposed to play the direct opposite of Ash in the novel. Where Ash shows foresight and intelligence, Lumi fails to realise what goes on around her and is not the smartest in seeing the signs. I write Lumi to seem more like a follower than a free thinker, which is another commentary on society as she follows the words of a charismatic and intangible person in Ash.

Some people might disagree and argue with me on this, but in the world of Crucible, Lumi serves to fill the role of not only an entitled and sheltered person, but a middle American voter. In this case, Ash fills the role of Donald Trump. Do not perceive the novel as something against either of those, but that is the best and most relevant example I can think of as it pertains to the main characters of Crucible.

What I Did Today: Today’s work, much like the work on Crow yesterday, took place in a single location and had a key focus on character. Specifically, I focused on building up Ash and how she uses nothing but a clever work to con Lumi into doing something she would not normally do. I do give a little undertone that Ash is more than human, though the subtlety of it ensures nothing major is given away. At times, it is though Ash speaks through Lumi, dictating what she does and how she does it.

 The Best Samples From Today: The best work from today is without a doubt two short speeches by Ash that show how chilling and calculating she is. They form a couplet that will take most people off guard the first time they read it.

Sample #1

“Life is a fleeting construct. A candle will stay lit as long as there is fuel to feed the fire. Without that fuel, what are we? A bag of meat and bone is all we are without the spark that fuels our existence. I sent this one to the afterlife early, but it was not something I did lightly. She died because of your actions. Because of your ignorance, she will not see the sunrise again. The boy is next. Bring him,” Ash said.

This sequence is a commentary about life and how insignificant it is in the grand scheme of things. It gives a sense of the brutality in the world without showing so much as a drop of blood. The whole paragraph paints Ash in a very grim light, which is right where I want her to be. She is a character that needs to have something to change, and the hardest thing to change is our ingrained morals and beliefs.

Sample #2

“Very well. You’re free. You did as I asked. Now run before I change my mind. I will not show the same courtesy if our paths cross again. Next time I will bury you in a shallow grave with no name or marker to signify where you are. Your name will disappear off the face of the Earth and no one will dare to think of you. Run,” Ash said without any inflection in her voice other than a cold callousness.

The second sequence is the last paragraph I wrote for today, and it brilliantly illustrates the apathy Ash has for everyone around her. She needs to give off an anti-hero vibe as well as providing a lot of conflict for Lumi, since most of the novel focuses on their dynamic.

How Productive I Felt I Was: In terms of my productivity today, I accomplished a lot with the development of Ash’s character. She is more than background filler and eye candy for a reader now, which is something I despise. Every character should have some meaning to be in the story, and Ash now has a defined role to counter Lumi. My confidence with Crucible is still low, given that it was something I started a long while ago, so I need to gather my thoughts every week, which I feel I do quite well. The more I work on Crucible, the more comfort I have transitioning into the world. I find this world almost as easy as falling into Terrus from The Elder Ones.

I feel I did a lot more with a lot less this week, given I had 500 less words to meet my designated quota of 2,500 words per week average. Last week had a sort of rushed feel to it due to me adding in a further 500 words, but this week was something much more paced and methodical and served as an instrumental climactic sequence for the second chapter.

 What I Intend To Write Next Week: Next week I can focus on leading into the third chapter of Crucible, Expedition. It is something long overdue as the second chapter is approaching a record length for me (it is, in fact, the third longest chapter I have written ever and the longest outside The Elder Ones) so it will be good to work on a new micro plot. That is the way I see chapters in my books. They service the main story, but they each have a plot of their own that helps a reader better understand the characters involved in the novel by shining a spotlight on a new aspect of their personality.