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Honor Bound Newsflash: June 9
🕑 Added 2023-06-09 18:30:01 +0000 UTCThis fortnight I finished coding Chapter 3 and started writing the prose! I also did edits on Chapters 1 and 2. While I was reading through Chapter 3, I deleted about 2000 words of code because it really was a bit too large without enough substance and some of it was repetitive. I was very happy to streamline things and it will help the pacing no end.
I'm just about halfway through writing Chapter 3 now and have done some dramatic confrontation scenes which I enjoyed a lot!
And I was so excited to put up the Chapter 1 demo on here! I was nervous but I'm so pleased to have done it, and it's been so helpful hearing people's thoughts on it.
Here's a song from my playlist that I've been listening to while writing!
Current wordcount: 116600
Fortnight's wordcount: 10598
Average playthrough wordcount: 32562 (longer than Noblesse Oblige! what!! I had to double check Noblesse Oblige to see!)
Behind the scenes:
I took a week's break due to family commitments and then had to miss a day (again due to said commitments) so this is more of a week update than a fortnight one. I have been learning not to try to split my time when my child is at home during the days which is sometimes challenging but means I don't hit burnout in the same way. Hooray for looking after mental health!
I read Real Life by Brandon Taylor this fortnight and I adored it. If you like melancholy campus fiction you may like this. It wasn't... a happy experience but it's beautifully written. I have Filthy Animals on order from the library and I can't wait!
I also read The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein. It's chronologically second in the Code Name Verity sequence, a series of thrillers about young people in World War 2. While not as heartbreaking as some of the others, it is... very heartbreaking in places. I loved it too.
Sneak peek:
From Chapter 3:
Amid chatter from the students and families, the bus draws up at the campsite. It's upstream of the school and sits by a wide creek, overlooked by a @{(hb_surv > hb_surv_mid) bristlecone pine|} forest of huge, gnarled trees that must be centuries old. Beneath the trees the ground is rocky and uncomfortable-looking, ranging in color from light gray to umber. But beside the creek is a wide plateau of soft grass: better for outdoor sleeping.
While Savarel herds the group of students and their families off the bus, Matia and ${varenn} unload the camping supplies, piling the tents in one section and setting the more delicate cooking equipment in another. They work together with ease, without needing to say much to each other: this must be something they've done a lot since working here.
${varenn} stands in front of the group. The bronze pips on ${var_their} collar gleam in the sunlight. Andie's relative, the young man, straightens up with his hands clasped behind his back, standing to attention.
My favourite bit:
This chapter involves a lot of showing how characters interact with each other, whether that's in a friendly way or bumping up against each other's rough edges. Because of Ozera having such a communal atmosphere, it was important to me to show how the MC involves themselves in the characters' dynamics and relates to the characters in a group setting. One of the characters has said that they think of another as a little sibling that needs to be pushed to do the right thing, which I enjoyed writing a lot!
