Writer's Blog: The Changes Cha-Cha of Plot Development (Patreon)

I’m currently dealing with a low-grade fever that’s upset my balance just enough that my thirteen-year-old neighbor accused me of being publicly inebriated when I wobbled down to the lobby for my mail. (This is not indicative of any true severity of illness, however, but rather my complete and utter lack of coordination to begin with.)

Anyway, given my unexpected cold, I had the notion that it might be fun to talk about the things in Mind Blind that were also unplanned. It’s probably become obvious in recent updates that I thrive off last-minute alterations and inspiration bursts, but some of you might be surprised by how much these sudden eureka moments have shaped the overall text. 

So, without further ado, I’d like to present (with some spoilers) . . .

Surprisingly Major Plot Points That Got Added In At The Very Last Minute

1) Nick’s presence in Button’s head. I’d always intended for some sort of minor communication to happen between Nick and Button while he was in a coma, but him being stuck in Button’s head wasn’t something added until the very end of writing Chapter 4. Needless to say, it ended up greatly impacting the story (not the least because I then had to write multiple ongoing conversations in every scene, as Nick would talk to Button but couldn’t be heard by others).

2) One particular character (of the political persuasion) was just meant to be a patsy and not an actual culprit. The more I learned about him while writing another character, however, the more I realized that he wasn’t as innocent as he tried to convince me in my head.

3) I didn’t know that Rosy and Hope knew each other (much less that Rosy was Hope’s recommendation to supervise Nick) until the phone conversation between Hope and Button. This conversation needs to be reworked once I finesse the parent feeling variables, but I often learn unexpected things about characters in the middle of writing a scene. A lot of these things get thrown out due to not being consistent with what’s already written, but I've decided to keep the Rosy-Hope connection.

4) Vengeance’s plan originally revolved around the use of a BRS bomb that would neutralize Ments. This was instead of their current plan explained in Chapter 16, which is more . . . let’s just call it “biological warfare.”

5) One of the gender-variables character was only ever meant as a red herring and never intended to be an actual character. That they subsequently turned out to be one of Vengeance’s head honchos probably shocked me more than readers.

There are a few others as well that I can’t share yet due to spoilers, but it’s definitely interesting to look back on how my original plans changed now that I’m (hopefully?) past the point of plot surprises.