At what point do you have to reevaluate what’s going on with your story? When it starts feeling more like a chore than something you do for fun? When you realize that there are things you weren’t happy with to begin with and now, however long later, you’re still not happy with?
These are just a few of the thoughts that have been running through my head the past few days. This is NOT a preface for saying I’m going to stop writing Shadowcrest permanently!! I am taking a short break, but I will be back and so will the story. But there may be some changes on the horizon for it.
Shadowcrest is, when distilled down, a fish out of water story, set in a post (localized) apocalyptic setting. I think that it could work as a story if it were set in Ancient Rome or in the Twenty-third century (a la Star Trek) or any medium in between.
I’ve believed for a long time that the setting is the most important character you have in a story. But like all characters if it’s not working any more, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with tweaking a character or even, sometimes gutting a character.
Shadowcrest is one of the longest going stories I’ve ever written, not in terms of story length, even if you jammed every thing I’ve written so far into a novel, it would maybe crest a hundred pages, I’ve probably got nearly a dozen finished or unfinished manuscripts sitting on my harddrive that are longer than that. But in that a year in, its still going strong, still interesting, and I still want to know what happens with these characters, and if you’re here, every week reading this, you’re probably still interested in what happens with these characters.
But I truly believe that some changes need to be made. What sort of changes? I don’t know that yet. I’m taking some time to try and figure that out, just a couple of weeks, a normal hiatus for me.
What I can say is:
- All of the characters will be back. (Including Alistair…) There may be some cosmetic changes, depending on what I decide. That is one of the things on the table. But even if I make Alistair wear a gorilla suit he’s still Alistair.
- My plot outline, which is planned out through the end of Season Two, is staying intact, all of the salient points and plot arcs I have in the works are still greenlighted.
- The soapy, trashy writing you’ve come to expect, plus my absolute obsession with sex-gone-wrong, will still be here.
What I can’t say is:
- That Shadowcrest’s current setting will be staying as is. The medi-esque, faux-European time and place are the first things up on the chopping block.
- The characters may or may not look exactly the same as regards costuming, hair, cosmetics, and even possibly some genetic changes. If I change the setting, the “look” I currently have for Shadowcrest may or may not make as much sense. However, I really want to stay true to the concept of the characters, so don’t expect to see Peyton all decked out in fluffy princess dresses with long Rapunzel hair.
But who knows. In a couple of weeks I may decide I like Shadowcrest as is and continue on unchanged.
Last thing: This is not a pity-post, I’m not looking for an ego-stroke, or a “Oh no, Andavri, we love Shadowcrest just as it is! Don’t change a thing!”. I just want to make you guys aware of what’s going through my mind and why I’m taking a bit of a break to figure things out.
When I know what’s going on with Shadowcrest, I’ll let you guys know what’s going on with Shadowcrest, thanks for reading, hopefully see you guys in a few weeks.
~Andavri
