Chapter Three - Complete

Well, I had an easier time starting tonight than I did last night. I was a bit worried when I wasn't able to sleep as much as I'd have liked (due to the situation with my medicine mentioned in yesterday's post.) But by midnight, I had put down the comics and started to write.

I'm seeming to work in spurts. A couple hundred words here, a few hundred more there. My most productive period seems to be between 3:30 and 5:00am. The past couple of nights, at least, I've been able to just sit down and let the story flow out a bit more easily. That's surely due in part to the fact that the tenants are sleeping by that time on a night when they have to face the prospect of morning classes.

But tonight, I finished my third chapter. And this far in, I'm having some interesting experiences. The story is starting to break away from the notions under which I conceived it. I initially meant for it to be a kind of comedy adventure, but the comedic elements are fading into the background, or transforming into something else. I also meant for it to be, primarily, an ensemble story but I''m finding it easier to center in one of my protagonists. I'm even thinking of adding solo scenes where the main story has natural breaks to help draw out her own story more naturally. I've tried to split the difference between exposition and demonstration in revealing who my characters are. I'm not sure how well I've done that, but I'll find out later I'm sure.

I'm a bit torn as to when to start asking for feedback, as well. On the one hand, writing this story (whatever format the length puts it in) is primarily a test to prove to myself that I can stick with it, and finish it. And getting a lot of feedback early on would probably prompt me to go back and try to re-work earlier things instead of continue the story. I get to wondering if what I'm writing is any good, or if there'd be any interest that would prompt people to want to read it. I'm try to bear in mind, though, that this is just a first draft and not a finished product. And when I get too critical of it, I try to remind myself that I'm not out anything besides time in working on it. (And honestly, I'm getting paid for most of the time I'm spending.)

I'm planning to start the fourth chapter with my main protagonist before returning to the actual story. I think I'm also going to flash over to my antagonist soon. He's a contrast to my protagonists and I think that the best way to highlight those is to give him some more 'screen' time.

I've rambled on for tonight, though. Here's tonight's word count:

Tonight's Word Count: 1002

Total Word Count: 6151

That's two 1K nights in a row. I'm hoping to push for those to be the standard, and maybe push a little further on some nights.