Thoughts on (being almost finished with) The Shift

Tonight, I sat on my friend Ally's (CSG4ME) couch and talked about fanfiction for probably four hours. Yeah. We drank beer, too, if that makes us sound cooler or something. We swapped favorites, talked plots, and generally enjoyed dorking around. Also, I shared some of the things I'd written lately - including a one shot I have fondly dubbed "Delusions, and Other Matters of the Heart". I'll let y'all simmer in the sheer glory of that title for a moment. ;)

I have a goal. I do not know whether or not this is an achievable goal or not, but it is a goal. My goal is to have The Shift finished (not edited) by the time school ends, or around then, so that I can start posting during the summer and writing the second fic, The Battle. Realistically, I have only a good three chapters in me for this story, and I'm progressing rather well at the speed I'm going. My new notebook is filling up, almost a third full, and I have some really fun ideas in store.

Writing this first story has been a little bit of a struggle for me, just because although I know exactly what I want to happen doesn't mean I know how to write it right. So much of what I establish in this story will be crucial to the next two and the balancing act is drives me a little crazy at times. It needs to be there, it cannot be subtle, but I cannot beat my readers over the head with it like a ton of bricks.

Legolas' story is really what I thought of when I first got the idea for this probably three or so years ago, and so it is really important to me that I get this right, so I can do it justice. His particular journey through the War of the Ring is unlike any other story I've read, and I hope that everyone will like it. I hope that it will be a new take on something many people have written about.

Anyway, I typed up chapter 8, and I am working on typing chapter 9 while I write chapter 10. Legolas grows from an infant to an adult in probably thirteen chapters in this story, so I apologize in advance for the number of ridiculous jumps in the timeline. (Don't worry - I clearly mark what year scenes take place!)

Spring Cleaning

Similarly to how some people go through a fit of "Spring Cleaning" I've been hit rather violently with a fit of Spring (Break) Writing.

I bought myself a new journal at Target the other day and decided to buy it. (It was cheap, it was on recycled paper... you know. Just doing good!)

Having given myself a deadline (and then totally failed at keeping it) I know I just needed to give myself a good kick and it would all come pouring out of me. There are, of course, no guarantees that it will be any good, but I needed to at least try and push the story along.

Because Legolas' character in The Shift grows from an infant to an adult throughout the story, I sometimes find that he gets stuck at a certain age and I have to force him to grow a little. It's hard to make him grow too fast and develop in the way I need him to (for purposes that will be explained in The Battle, the story from his POV).

So while I've been writing, I've been trying to get as much of this done soon. My goal is to begin posting by the time I go to England this summer in July. I have another few chapters to go, so I think that's reasonable! (This also hinges on Siobhan being a good and timely editor!)

Another thing I wrote this week (in addition to the two chapters, chapter 8 and 9) was a one-shot I'm (perhaps temporarily) calling "Love, Delusions, and Other Matters". I am overly fond of this title, but it is not quite as succinct as it could be. It is from Legolas' point of view and accompanies chapter 8.

So I'm going to go type up these chapters and perhaps do some preliminary editing. I have something like 6000 or 7000 words (I think) to type up. We shall see. I will update later?

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