not a lot for the updating

between work and other issues, the writing has slowed considerably, but the ideas are getting down. I've been working on shoring up a few details for things like Under the Fairy Tree that, while I don't intend to do anything with just yet will be impactful. Likewise, Faceless has a few plot points added. I'm trying to ignore the stress of work currently so I can get some quick design sketches in for Cherry Blossoms, mostly figuring on the creatures more than anything. One detail I am trying to sort out is the dwarves, in that I want them to feel real, not a carbon copy of other accepted fantasy concepts. Dwarves are typically depicted as miners, and while that is an endearing image, I do not like it. I've come up with something which has traces of that fantasy heritage, but isn't bound by it and certainly won't be the major characteristic. Likewise a new naga/siren design is in the works but those are for later. I think I've simply lost a bit of the mojo for the moment and need to really kick myself back in gear. hopefully that will be soon.

life has a way of interfering...

I have been both "relaxing" and dealing with having plumbing pipes explode so writing has been a bit difficult to indulge in, but I've now gotten back into the bios. For the moment, I'm going back and forth between the locations and creatures, though I still have several "miscellaneous" things to write out. I think the biggest issue at the moment is less the actual writing as it is the details. I'll be creating an initial culture for the Fiorin Tygons, the mynobbs, and several other worlds and histories. These will be expanded on later, but for the moment I do want to concentrate and make sure I have the initial details in a way that I like and coincides with how I want the stories to flow eventually. Even though I know I can always change it later, I prefer to make it as close to right here and now rather than years from now.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

bios begin

I took a short break to mentally recharge then began working on some paintings of some of the characters (almost finishing the design of So'glin). Today though, I decided to get underway on the underlining biographies of Cherry Blossoms. It is slow going, requiring a lot of going back and forth between the written accounts and research but I've managed to finish 22 of the "miscellaneous" biographies. These include some foods, instruments, and general mentionings of the book. I figure I should get these out of the way, including the religion biographies (which took the longest) so I'd have a stronger footing for the locations, creatures, and characters. There thankfully aren't as many biographies in this book as there have been in others, but it is by no means brief unfortunately. I do hope to continue to gather momentum in completing them.

2nd Draft done

I was, admittedly, joking when I started the second draft and thought I'd have 300 pages or so by the end. Considering the 1st draft was 211, I didn't think I'd add in 89. Turned out to be 90 when all was said and done. I must say though, I like the story now than I did before I began and before I finished the first draft. The concept evolved so drastically that I don't recognize it as anything other than what it has become (even though I know it was originally far more of a lark). While it is egocentric to think it, I do feel like the various things I've learned over the years is finally starting to culminate. Cherry Blossoms just feels deeper than the others.

I think it's for that reason I'm certain this will be the book that I like more than other people do. You never know, it might be considered the best overall, but I can very well imagine the scenario wherein the book I think is the best to date is actually accepted as luke warm to mild disinterest. I do accept this, however. It does, in many ways, simply stand apart from the other stories so even if it stands as a poorly received book, I still love it.

Now onto the full bios and the third draft.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

By my math, I've added 1/4th of a book....

It seems odd to get a slight bout of writer's block on the second draft, though this would qualify more as a writer's break as I do want to consider whether or not I'm going to write some actual battle (as I initially thought to do) or the ending of that battle (which would be much shorter). I'll likely do the latter but for the moment my heart isn't in doing any more.

At current, I have added a total of 70 pages in this second draft, which means 1/4th of the current number is all new. It's hard to feel like I'm rewriting in the sense of correcting as much as writing a whole extra book. That said, it is making the original draft better (in my opinion) and filling in a lot of the gaps that simply were not in the first draft. I am now (mathematically) 73% finished with this draft, which I feel is quite good considering the amount I'm writing as much as correcting. Once done, I will give it to a second set of eyes for opinions and mark-ups and the like while I work on character bios and more sketches. And now that I have painter 12, I hope to make the sketching a lot faster.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

175 of 275

While the goal continues to move further back, and the progress is taking me back to a page number that was the original end to the first draft, I am now 2/3rds of the way through the second draft, and with an added 64 pages worth of new material (which in turn had to be edited and played with, etc) I can say that I have better hopes now for Cherry Blossoms than I did at the beginning. I would like to say I go into writing stories with a full understanding of what I will have by the end, but that's a lie every time. I do remember a director once saying "Once I've finished a movie, I know how to make THAT movie. But I don't know how to make any movie. Only the movie I just made."

This particular book has taken on fully, the dress and garb of what I was only half-heartedly believing that I could write. I wanted some story that helped tell the fleeting nature of life against a background of cherry blossoms and vampires and now it actually feels like it met that goal a bit.

Most of the 64 pages are not conflict but foreshadowing and character. I have had three scenes in particular which were very interpersonal and very character compelling and I have to say, I love them when they work, and they take as much difficulty to do as the writing of action scenes. Now I wonder how well those aspects will hold up against the character backdrops. I will see when I take on the 3rd draft.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com

still not half-way....

48 pages now have been added in the second draft. I am currently at 126 of 259 and I know that I'll be making even more additions in the coming chapters. It's really hard to get a feel for how long this will take considering that I've added a third of what I've reviewed thus far. By such a notion, I should only end up with 70 pages added, but that percentage is going to spike something fierce by the time I get into part 3 of the book. I'm looking forward to the third draft because I'm certain I won't be adding nearly as much that time.

David Barentine
www.wotps.com