Thread:AngryLance/@comment-37028137-20200128044919/@comment-37028137-20200226044759

Alright I am getting this one up later than I’d prefer, I had a busy weekend between paperwork and trying to get part of the novel published. (Woo Hoo! Do people still go ‘Woo Hoo’ eh who knows.)

Question 2

When it comes to shorter chapters this can be a good thing. By breaking your narrative into smaller episodes you can allow the reader to digest what they read. I’ve read some novels where I had to put it down mid chapter because it was so long and that can really break the flow of action; so shorter chapters can be a boon. As for not having time I suggest trying to block out time to write in your schedule. That way it’s built into your life and you can work on it at a decent pace without overworking yourself. (This is a piece of advice I sorely need to follow. Ugh) Don’t worry so much about the speed of writing. Sure I can bang out twenty thousand words or so a day if I try but it’ll be shit unless I work on it for a good long time. Also don’t fret over your writing being bad. Writing is a continuous process, you’re not so much writing as rewriting and rewriting and rewriting constantly.

I had a language professor back in university tell me that the first draft of any writing should be considered the ‘Steaming Pile’ as it were. You write the first draft just to write, and see what comes up. It dredges up all the bad ideas and half-baked narrative devices and gets them out of the way so you can come back stronger, take what worked, and improve it. And again constantly updating, and redefining the ideas. Good writing takes time, and from what I’ve read you have a good start on your hands my friend.

Question 3 and 4:

I lumped these two questions together since I think they both affect the other.

In any case I perused through the first two chapters again (I didn’t look at the third one as it said it was incomplete and just as I tell my trainees I don’t give credit for incomplete work.)  I think it stays fairly consistent throughout; and it is certainly solid enough to base a Role Playing Game thingamabob off of.

That being said I think your story is strong, and unique enough that you could expand it into a full on Fan Fiction Novel if you so choose. The characters are interesting, and relatable while having just a bit of mystery about them to keep the interest up. So keep that in mind going forward.

As for plot holes, I did not see any major ones. I don’t know what the narrative arc of your story will be but in the case of mine having time travel it is a handy narrative device to alter minor in Universe inconsistencies. Even so, I generally read and reread my novel as I write so that I can match everything from a character’s actions, speech, mannerisms, all the way down to clothing and hair style. That way I have a semblance of consistency throughout. I also tend to write and then over haul (read as delete) large portions of text or character interactions because I don’t think it matches.

I would recommend you get in the habit of reading your drafts a lot to assure accuracy. I would also highly suggest you make a character bio sheet for each character with their physical attributes, abilities, personality traits both positive and negative, hobbies etcetera. It helps keep the characters distinct and works as a great refresher if you are questioning “Would the character do this or react this way?” (Which seeing as this is for a Role Playing Game you probably have already done this but I figured I’d mention it.)

When it comes to pacing well I’m not sure I am the man to ask. I like to take time building a world up around the characters. Right now I am writing chapter twenty nine of my book and that rounds out just the first third of my novel. (To put that in perspective Nicholas has only been in the past a tad over a month and Vellantha has only been on one journey with him in the TARDIS. Though I suppose what with the time travel shenanigans it makes sense? Speaking on that front I have a question for you but I’ll refrain from asking it until I’ve finished answering all of yours first. That is after all the gentlemanly thing to do.) In any case I thought your pacing thus far was fairly well divided up, and shorter chapters could actually be used as a strength in your narrative. (See Question 2 above.)

In regards to the Grandfather figure I thought he had potential if you flesh him out a smidge more. One aspect I was unclear on was whether or not he was actually still alive? Perhaps I missed that, still this being a Magic and Fantasy setting even if he is dead that could easily be rectified.

Question 5 

Hmm, it will be interesting to see what you do with the Symbiote moving forward considering it is more of a Bio-organic self-replicating mimetic compound, instead of a sentient organism.

Keep me apprised of your progress and if you want me to look over anything else. Well I will retire to bed now seeing as it’s 4:30 am here. So I bid you good morning.

Cheers,

The Weary TimeLord.