Exile Chapter 42 Draft 4

Two days off in a row... That happens once in a blue moon for me. Anyway, I've finished the fourth draft of Exile Chapter 42 and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Lots and lots of continuity errors were fixed in this chapter as well as Mal asking the Northern Sage for some advice, which is something I think he needed to do. Brave as he may be, he's not exactly the smartest guy ever born, and he needed a little push in the right direction for what he would do when he reaches the Allied Army. Having him come up with it all on his own was a little unrealistic.

I've always liked this chapter, not because it's got massive battles or duels in it, or because there's a whole lot of action. I like it because it's where Mal's internal struggle comes to a head. This is where he finally sees the figurative light at the end of the tunnel and decides he's going to do things because he wants to, not because he's told he has to. He's been through a lot, and there's more to come, but it's not so hard to carry anymore because he's made his decision to fight. This is basiaclly where he grows up, stops whining, and looks ahead to what has to be done. When writing you only have your words as tools. It's not like a movie when you've got the music, the sound effects, real people before you acting out all of the emotion. One thing that writing has above a movie is that you can describe every single thought and feeling that is going through a character. This makes it so that emotional struggles in a character can be just as interesting, if not more so, than actual physical conflict. The triumph of a character seems so much more triumphant when you know everything that's been going through his head, and all of his emotions rather than seeing an actor on a screen with a big smile whilst some sort of triumphant fanfare plays in the background. Which is not to say that sort of thing doesn't get the same message and emotion across, it just does it in a different, more vague way.