Exile Chapter 45 Draft 4

I've finished Exile Chapter 45 draft 4 and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

This chapter is the beginning of Part Five: Destiny. Ok, so, you probably didn't notice this while reading through, but this story follows a pattern with which points of view the story is told through. In part one, it's my main focus to grab your attention with as much excitement as i can. Therefore there are points of view of five separate characters in those 4 chapters, and several rapid scene changes. This is to make it feel like things are running out of control and confused. You don't know who's who quite yet and you're exposed to points of view from characters that you never see again after Part One, or who play very minor roles in the rest of the story.

After Part One I settled into a more stable pattern in parts 2-4. There are two main viewpoints, Mal and Silmera, and they get pretty equal screen time. Mixed in are the supporting viewpoints of Patrick and Weasel, usually one chapter per part, and two in part 2 because it's so long. Things move very slowly, and there's little in the way of scene change. Keeping with two solid character viewpoints and a chapter here and there of side story gives for a more structered foundation to build up the story on. You know who the story is about, you get to know them, you see their trials and such through their eyes.

Then we get to part five. After you've gotten comfortably into the groove of having the story told from these two main viewpoints, I pull the rug out from under you and start tossing in viewpoints from characters that previously had none. The story switches very rapidly between viewpoints from characters you haven't had much contact with, and between several different locations. This is to make it feel like things are speeding up again, and everything is falling apart and crashing down around the stable foundation i built in parts 2-4. When I was planning this story out, i planned it this way on purpose to make for a more exciting ending. It's not literary ADD, it's all intentional.

Anyway, this chapter is the beginning of everything ramping up to the big finish. The chapter is told from lilia's point of view, a character who has been a presense in the rest of the story mostly off screen, talked about by the main characters, but rarely interacted with. Giving a minor character the spotlight in such an important scene might seem strange, but it gives me a way to both explain what's going on, and who everyone is without seeming like I'm only doing it for hte benefit of the reader. Every other character in this scene knows who everyone else is, and exactly what the situation is. Only Lilia is oblivious to it all, so I use that to explain it all to you. Plus, giving her the spotlight as the point of view starts the avalanche right off with something unfamilliar to shake things up right from the beginning.