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For those who notice these things, the whole of Polinka's story is getting reposted as I went through, tidied a few things up, found a couple of goofs, and generally got re-acquainted with her.
I'm still working on her continuation, but at the moment I'm somewhat 'blocked' in that there is a whole aspect to her life which is only very lightly and not at all accurately hinted at. The continuation is intended to be about that, as well as her finding a girlfriend, but so far I remain unable to see how. Mechanically I know what needs to happen and why - I have a ton of background developed with regards to what is going on here and in the other stories sharing this - but in Polinka's case I simply cannot see how to make it happen. It was originally intended to come about as the unanticipated solution to external conflicts coming into her life, but that now feels very clumsy. There needs to be another way, but thus far, I remain unable to find anything satisfactory.
We'll see. I like writing about her far too much not to continue.
Time for something very different to 'clear' my mind before coming back, I think.
At least now I've taken more notes about what happens to her during this story, my memory not being what it should be. Old age, curse, you.
Cheers...CH
Just a quick note to clarify what might happen to Polinka next.
Her holiday story was originally intended as an introduction for me to get to know her as she slotted into a larger world that I've been working on and conceptualising for a couple of years or more now. That introduction ballooned a little, mostly because any attempts to hurry things up resulted in the story lacking certain key moments, both plot and personal. Which is how we got where we are, with Polinka going on holiday, having one self-image, becoming oddly closer to her father in an intimate but non-sexual way, and learning she is really not interested in men after all, much to her own surprise.
Her story, going forward, will open up both the larger story in which she is a part, and also her attempts to go 'kiss a girl'. And her music.
For now that 'book 2' remains only a list of plot points and character beats, without a structure or a plan. It will come, but not for a while. I have a lot of other things to work on, tidy up, and some even publish. I have also learned the importance of taking 'down time' from each of the stories I'm working on so I don't feel burned out or 'obligated' towards them. Ultimately, everything I write is, first and foremost, me entertaining myself, and also staving off the moment when I start talking aloud to my characters.
Sorry, Polinka? Staff meeting? The Rowdens are there? And the Walkersons? Okay, be there in a minute...
Clee
So for the longest time I kept revising and rewriting things because I was sure, no matter how good a draft was, I could do even better given one more pass. And sometimes I could. And sometimes I killed my love for what I had written, turning it all into a chore.
This is also, incidentally, why the continuation of Greyshough Redux is a little slow in getting underway as I just looked at all those words, all the things needing to be added, removed, rewritten, and just decided no. So instead it's all being re-written as if from scratch, as that will be quicker than editing it into shape.
Back to my point. No more perfectionism. Whilst that might also mean a few more typos than normal, it should also mean a little more posting than the past five years.
Such as today, and now you get to meet Polinka, a spunky young woman who has been keeping me busy and typing for a year or more now.
Bonne Chance...CH
Before anyone gets too excited, all that is getting uploaded for now are the updated chapters after my recent (final) edit as I took notes and tidied up some of the punctuation. No story changes. No character changes. Just proofing and tidying.
The rest of the story is beginning to firm up, and my next task will be to work through the next few chapters, see what's there, what isn't, and what shouldn't be. That should take a while as there are about 400k of words to work through before I can get to writing the remaining and concluding chapters. For context, that 100k more than what is published here so far. Yeah, going to be a while. I'm also going to stop writing such long chapters because some of them are 25k each and editing/proofing them takes more than a day. Oof. Oh, and there are 80k of scenes and scenelets I need to audit to see if there is anything in there worth incorporating into the main story.
So the TLDR as the kids are saying, nothing new yet, lots of work for me, but it is still happening even if it does feel like it needs some more taming to get it under control and headed for the finale.
400K!?
Yikes...CH
After a year or so of mulling over what to do with the Greyshough following last January's (unpublished) rewrite where I wrote out Leri, I had an idea of how to do it. Sacrifice all earlier plans for Book 3, cut most of Book 2, and it just might work. And I get to reinstate Leri who I felt guilty about cutting in the first place.
Slight problem.
I have so many different versions of this story, from the original drafts through the various (attempted) rewrites, that I was not able to easily find the version as published here. Meaning I had to download my own story and copy it back into my word processor before I could begin reading through, taking notes, and planning for the continuation to conclusion.
Ho hum.
TLDR; I know how to do it, but like I did with Laika/Arlaud's story, I want to let it breathe, so it won't be any time soon, but it is on the cards. As is a full and proper backup.
CH
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