Progress Report (Patreon)

Hello, hello!

This week was harder than the one before because I had to go back to my normal day-to-day routine: working my day job. But it was also revitalizing because it was the first time I had Monday and half of Thursday off!

It's funny because I ended up writing more words on Thursday than I did on Monday — by a small margin, but still.



It really shows how effort isn't always translated into word count. On Monday, I wrote a tougher scene — with more branching and complexity. There were so many times I had to pause and really think: How would this character react? What would they say? What would be their opinion?

I worked on it for way longer, yet the outcome (on the surface) was shorter. On Thursday, I was in a much more straightforward part of the rewrite; so while I sat for fewer hours, I wrote more lines.

But, ramblings aside, I accomplished my goals this week!! I wrote every single day and got to the last part of the re-write. I think I said on the other progress report that the people you could ask about was the third part of the rewrite which was a mistake — that's the very last scene. I added a little thing for those who made a pact with Cynthia — it makes sense for the characters, and I can't believe I didn't think of it before.

Now I'm at the part where I get to write about all the lovely people you can negotiate with Mist to know more about. Here's the updated list, thanks to your help:

• The Devil's Guardian
  
• The Theer Twins

• Lieutenant Vallen
  
• The Pirate King and Neia
  
• The Inquisition's reason for being in Tarragona
  
• Mist
  
• Tarek
  

I have the first draft of the Devil Bridge's Guardian written — so her part will be quick, but the others... the others are going to be so much fun. It's an interesting exercise: to think about how much Mist knows about these people. What makes sense for the lord of secrets to hoard, and what doesn't? Who would catch his interest, and who wouldn't? Which of them would he not even be aware of their existence?

It's also fun to write Mist being completely honest and open about whatever you might ask of him. He never does this, but that is the deal, and Mist never breaks a deal.

It's just... It's just fun 😋. This is the part I'm most excited for you guys to read, so I want to make it as good as my skills allow. No shortcuts, no easy way-outs.

The goal for next week? I want to either finish the entire list or be very, very close to doing so — it depends on how much depth I'll go with each option. As I said, I don't have a first draft for most of these, so it can go anywhere. I can never tell before I put the metaphorical pen to paper. I always get my best ideas when I'm writing, not before or after.

That's it! The Progress Reports are usually on Friday, but sometimes I finish writing really late, and I'm too tired to write the report after that, so I do it on Saturday. ♡

Hope your weekend had a good start. I went to a pond today and saw a mamma duck with seven yellow ducklings in tow. Seven little souls flapped their feet as hard as they could so that they wouldn't fall behind. There's a metaphor in there, but honestly, I just enjoyed the heartwarming sight.

See you soon! 🌹