Totally Invested

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Totally Invested

January 23, 2023

I think I have, ere now, mentioned my childhood love of the Animorphs series. Once, while I was reading an episode, I was so gripped with panic for the narrator, Jake in this case, that I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest. I couldn't go on; things were so dire, I could hardly breathe. So, I broke my own rule. Flipping to the end of the book, I skimmed the last page to make sure everybody made it out alright.

Whether it was right or wrong of me to do that, I'm not sure, but I do know that the memory has stayed with me for many years. The question that comes to my mind now, though, is on the side of writing: Was it a good effect or a bad effect? Should a writer bring his audience to the point that I reached? I was obviously totally invested, but was I enjoying what I read?

In a way, through my terror, I was, and yet I was also miserable. I suppose, enjoyment really isn't a good metric, is it? Every book we consume is building us in some way, especially at the early age when I read this.

Did this serialized bit of pulp sci-fi make me a better person? I'm not sure. I'd almost have to read it again to know. Well, I've just ordered a copy (it took me awhile to find the title: The Capture | Animorphs #6). I'm just going to have to reread it and get back to you with my thoughts.

Did you ever have this experience with a book?
What stories have just totally gripped you?
What were some of your favorite childhood reads?

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1 The words of the Preacher, son of David, King in Jerusalem.
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This last week, Eden got my main focus somewhat to the exclusion of my Dragon Hunters story. However, I think I did some good work on both. I wasn't quite comfortable with how I had ended the fourth part of Eden, but I was hit with inspiration and wrote two new endings for it that just manage to make the book a bit more depressing than it was before. By God, I pray I can finish this series. This is supposed to be the darkest part in the whole story, and I don't want it to end here. The next book should start to shine a little ray of hope. Maybe I'm just getting carried away by my own writing.

Oh well. I've printed out the second part of Eden—so far, I'm calling it "Stained"—and my red pen is ready for battle. This one, I fear, is the weakest part of the whole collection. It has some good bits in it, but so much of the story is just me setting things up for part three. It's been a while since I've read through it, though, so maybe I'll feel differently this time ...

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Sheldon@TaleTold

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A Bit of My Writing Process

How I Outline

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I have, over the past few weeks, been working on a pair of short stories I hope to submit to a horror podcast, The Other Stories. They want cosmic horror. On a day off, I wrote one in a single sitting, but felt there was another story there. When I saw that authors were allowed to contribute two stories per theme, I thought I would bide my time and see if I could write the other, more ethereal story that I sensed was there.

Now that I have written this second story, at least the better part of it—it wants a stronger ending—I feel there is still more to be written. A series of these short stories might make an interesting read, perhaps even amount to a novella. Who knows? However, now and again, as regards my posts here, I sometimes think it would be a good idea to share some of my own writing/outlining methods.

One of the things I do when I see a project developing like this is to ascertain what patterns are showing themselves. Very often, when I'm writing poetry, there is some line or couplet that appears to me, and the rest of the poem pours out of that initial inspiration. I study what I have been given and ask myself: What are the patterns inherent in this and where is it going?

So, if I were to do that with this pair of stories I find a few patterns/themes:

Horror stories revolving around one POV
Retrospective
Themes of Love + Death
Themes of Chesterton's God, the gods, the philosophers, and the demons
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2. The gods: Giovanni
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3. The Philosophers: The Doctor
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4. The Demons: Jasper
  Hail Satan
Nyarlathotep vs Hastur :: Satan vs Death
1. Order vs Chaos
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  2. Nyarlathotep's temple vs Hastur's decay
2. Weakened will (seduction) vs blackmail (threats)
3. Contract vs Betrayal
4. Human sacrifice vs suicide

Anyway, That's just a quick riff. I don't always write these things out; often, I just think them through. The next question would be where the meta story is going, that is, what is its endpoint/cathartic moment. Now, I have one hint as to the next step, to follow the doctor character, who seems somewhat suspicious, and also to fill in the Chesterton pattern. As such, two more stories appear, one following the doctor and one following Jasper.

So, that's just a little insight into how my thinking process works. I don't know if I'll pursue this possible story or not. Either way, let me know what you think, what you're working on, and what your writing process looks like.

Keep writing.

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Now, why do I want to chop up my story like this? For one, I think these breaks in the story make sense. Also, one piece of advice I've heard about self-publishing is to keep a steady flow of work coming out. So, before I self-publish, I want have a ready well of titles to publish at regular intervals. My overarching plan is to, over the next two to three years, get ten titles ready, half or so consisting of this series and the other half based on a few short outlines I've jotted down here and there throughout the years. Then, take the leap and self-publish.

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