Hmmm

So, in preparation for book 2, I've been reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothuss again, because I tend to read books I enjoyed multiple times. There's always something there that you didn't notice the first time around, and sometimes things you miss in the second. This time through i'm noticing something very strange that i didn't pick up on too much the first time through. I don't know how to describe it. it's almost like listening to an awesome story told to you in complete monotone. It's like the author doesn't have a clue what pacing or tone are, and just gives you all of the events that happen in the same dry tone. There's no rising action, there's no climax, it's just events in a character's life that just sort of ends like the writer suddenly realized his book was too long and split it into multiple parts, but didn't have a very good place to break off the first one at. It's still a good and entertaining book, but going through it a second time I'm starting to get kind of annoyed with the writer's lack of emotion, no feeling, no excitement, just like he's telling it in complete monotone, droning on like a teacher giving a lecture on historical events. It almost feels like he doesn't even care about what he's writing. Oh well... I'm still going to buy the other two books in the trilogy--hopefully he'll have learnt how to tell a story by then--and despite the weird monotone feel of it, The Name of the Wind is still a pretty good read.

Exile Chapter 48 Draft 4

Done with chapter 48 of the fourth draft of Exile and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Lots of filling in descriptions of Avalon, and fixing continuity errors. Not much else.

Exile Chapter 47 Draft 4

Work suuuuuuucks in the snow. Takes 2 hrs longer than normal, you freeze your butt off all day long because the heaters in the postal vehicals only work when they feel like it, which isn't often, and you get completely soaked from the knees down.

/whinefest off

Anyway, I've finished Chapter 47 of the fourth draft of Exile and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

There was a ton of work needed on this chapter. And it actually ended up shorter than the third draft was. I cut out a really large chunk of Lilia explaining how Mal's new knife works, glossing over it because a detailed explanation really didn't belong there and kinda derailed the flow of events.

Other than that there wasn't much in the way of big changes, mostly I just fixed bad writing, added more description, and tried to make everything more coherrent.

Exile Chapter 46 draft 4

I've finihed chapter 46 of the fourth draft of Exile and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

This chapter needed a lot of work. There was a lot of just general bad writing, some very big continuity errors, and a lot of missing character developement on Lilia's part. All of that has been fixed, and it's all looking much better now.

Ok, so earlier we have Mal finding his reason to stop running away and stand up and fight. In this chapter you can really see the changes in his character that have come about because of all of the things he's been through. He's not an awkward, whining, emo-filled douchebag that thinks only of himself anymore, he's moved beyond that and basically grown up and taken reponsibility. Through his hardships he's grown as a character, to be more than he was at the beginning of the story. His behavior in this chapter is also influenced by what the Northern Sage told him he should do.

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.

End of Part 4 draft 4 ^^V

I've finished Chapter 44 of the fourth draft of Exile, which is the end of Part Four: Transfiguration. You can download it at the bottom of this page.

Ok, as I said before i had a lot of trouble naming part 4. I setteled on Transfiguration, becoming something else or more than what you are now, for a few reasons. First of all because Mal becomes a Samirreh, and learns how to use that and the Dark God to become even more than that. Also because this is the part of the story when all of the characters come to personal realizations that help them to become more than what they are, to grow stronger so that they can defeat their opposition in the end. Weasel comes to terms with her husband's death and moves on with her life. Mal finds a reason in himself to fight. And in this chapter Silmera overcomes her own inner emo and discovers that it's really her that's been the cause of all of her own unhappiness in life, and resolves to take what she can get, namely Mal, as she has finally discovered that she has feelings for him as well. The only character that hasn't had his moment of transfiguration yet is Patrick, and that comes later on during the battle.

There were a lot of changes to the last half of this chapter. There were some sontinuity issues to fix, but mostly what I added was some very deep delving into Silmera's character as she does some soul searching to find her reasons for going on in herself. Though I haven't played it up very much until now, she is suffering quite a bit, and is really trapped in a cage of her own making. She had some very deep delving into her own motives to do and I kind of just glossed over it in previous drafts. She sacrifices her life later on to save Mal's, and there was no way that she would have done that unless she found her reason to go on with life in this chapter. Before this chapter she was never exactly selfish, but she also doesn't care much about other people. Now she's resolved to be a better person, and to care more, and to take what love and happiness she can get. She's finally, after a thousand years of searching, found what she's been looking for, and she'd rather die than see someone take it from her. She needed to discover these things in herself, and this is the best place for her to do that.

anyway, this chapter is reaaaaaally long, because she has quite a bit of crap to work through in her heart, but at the end she's got real motivation for doing the things she does later on in the story. She's finally found something to hold onto, and she'd not going to let anyone take it away, even if she has to die to protect it. She'd lost her purpose in life, because what she set out to do a thousand years ago has proven completely impossible. She wanted to die because she knew no other way of life. Now she's discovered a new purpose, a new reason for living, a new reason to fight.

Exile Chapter 43 Draft 4

I've finished draft 4 of Exile Chapter 43 and it can be downloaded at the bottom of this page

Going back to the three act play story format this chapter is the end of act two. The bad guy wins. Things are not looking so hot for our heroes right now, and there doesn't seem like there's much hope. Mal has triumphed over his inner emo, but now Silmera's been taken prisoner and he's got to fight his way through sixty thousand Samirreh and Ven to get her back, not to mention the fact that there's still the matter of his destiny to be considered. And time is running out, there's only a day and a half to go before the Samirreh force their way into Avalon and make it impossible for him to do what he needs to do. At this point in the story, he's looking at some pretty bad odds and there doesn't seem like there's much he can do to overcome them. He's even had to do what he swore he'd never do again just to get to Nothengard in time.

But there is still hope, no matter how small it might be. Aaron is gathering his army, and Mal has made a deal with the Dark God to get him to them before his time runs out. Now begins act three. The heroes regroup, and throw themselves at the villains with all they have left.