My draft is so f*cking broken. Like my main character’s entire arc is ‘I need to find my parents!’ Then a POV character literally finds them (without her) and gives them to her." I may have accidentally ended it because soon after that comes the final battle, Federo's capture, the breaking of the seal, the reawakening of an ancient god, etc. Kovi's just a side-character by this point. Like she shows up to the military academy on Ch. 2, then becomes a side-character as Federo takes charge. We have a few battle scenes, some lore about religion, he finds her parents...and that's it. That's...the whole friggin' book. WHAT'S THE BLEEDIN' POINT OF IT!? D:< bE a WrItEr! It'Ll bE fUn!" And now I feel like if I just do an alternate opening in Oscaria where Kovi is found by Federo and Zantium and they have ravens I'll be starting all over again. Again. Again. How does alternate openings/endings in a draft count as writing? :C I'll feel like I'm just plodding along with no end in sight. Unless maybe in that alternate version, Federo and Zantium are professors at a local academy and they help Kovi find her parents, and the whole 'joining the academy' is her end? I know. Legit, I know it's the first draft. Maybe it just needed 12K words for me to realize that what I have now wasn't working. I'm just scared that I'd be starting all over again if I start writing the new version on top of the old one. I guess it wouldn't count so long as I don't delete what I already wrote? Basically had a few story arcs: > Kovi finding her parents -- the inciting event, she wants revenge and wants to train herself up to get revenge and find her parents > Warlord with blood claim to the throne goes to war against his own people > Emerging of some demonic god because warlord opened a seal thinking it would give him unlimited power and basically gets possessed for his troubles
If I may, I'll offer 2 approaches:- 1. Can this story be expressed in a single sentence containing a pivotal irony? 2. The character arc might just have been a goal:- Like my main character’s entire arc is ‘I need to find my parents!’ Might it be that it's the relationship with the parents? Physically locating them in the world might be the story's Act 1, and in Act 2 the MC realises the problem is deeper than she thought. In order to meaningfully reconnect with them, she needs to develop as a character, and overcome some internal obstacles represented by an external antagonist. Reconciling with parents is good hero's journey material (imo) because people's relationship with their parents informs their own parenting.
Good thinking! It's possible that maybe Act I is the finding of the parent, but Act II is them realizing that they have to carry their own weight, especially when they realize that the choices they made in Act I has led them to engaging in a mission they have to get involved in without the parents? In other words, the character learns to stand for themselves and be self-reliant without needing mom and dad to come help them?
^^ That's friggin' brilliant ^^ I have a similar problem. My stories rush to the plot points. In my current project, I started sketching backstories and really started getting to know my characters a little better, and finding out what motivates them. Now I can start writing richer plots for them to live through. and have a much more satisfying journey -- not to mention longer.
It's never a total waste. If you do go back to page 1 or close to it, you'll probably find parts writing themselves as you mine material from your earlier version. Plus, while 12K is a feat, you'll soon catch back up and sail right past that number. I once had to backtrack 35K. It hurt like a bitch, but it was worth it later. Plus, now I have the better part of a novella I might still use one day.
Yeah, that's the idea for her arc -- she learns self-reliance, and what could be better to force her to learn this lesson than if she has to partake in a dangerous mission and her parents can't come with her? I like that idea. Even if she has good relations with her parents, maybe she learns that not relying on them doesn't mean she actively hates them. Let's just say she was SUPER sheltered growing up.
