Monday, May 27, 2013

Post-Chilled

Ah, the dreaded what-comes-next talk.

As you long-time readers know (if there are any of you left, considering how long Chilled's been xD), usually when I finish a story, I have another story right on its heels. I think the longest time between stories was like three days? Something like that. The reason behind this is that usually when I'm halfway through a story, I've already got a skeleton of the next one planned out, just because my brain's really hyperactive and enjoys plotting stuff a little too much.

Not so with this one, unfortunately. I do have an idea for the next story (it's even got a name) and I've mentioned it here a few times before, but unfortunately that idea keeps changing here and there, and I don't really want to rush into it until I've got a clear outline. That was a very big mistake that I made with Chilled, and is probably why it's so long and glacier-like. When I started Chilled, I had plenty of ideas for plot twists, most of which I've already mentioned (Bluepaw's a traitor! But who is she working for? Blight's Soot's dad! Why does that matter beyond it being amusing for me? Chilly needs Soot's help! But why? Spider has to stop Leopardpaw, cuz she's a traitor! But how is that going to demand half the story?) but no real basis for them, or way to tie them together. It ended up working out, because I'm really good at pulling things out of my arse, but overall the story has become much much much longer than it should have, and I'm kinda burnt out. I really don't want to do that again, and if I do write another story, it will hopefully be closer to Snatched's length than Shattered's.

Another factor is that I am really really really itchy to start writing some original pieces. Dragon's Bargain (a story I started a couple years back for NaNo, and wrote a bit more for last year) is begging me to be completed, and I have another story, Vulpine, that I want to start too. The Warriors scene is great, and the fandom and my readers are incredible, but I want to push beyond fanfiction, even if I don't get a big following there. I want to do some original projects, instead of just riding on the Erins' coattails.

Bottom line is that I do not have another Warriors story planned, or at least not one that will be released any time soon. Instead, once Chilled is completed, I'm going to do some editing/rehauling of everything that I wrote for Dragon's Bargain in November (it's about eighteen chapters, I think, 20-38), and then I am going to see if I can actually finish it (I'm about 3/4 of the way through the story at this point, give or take). After that, I plan to start on Vulpine, which I'm going to talk about further down. While this is going on, my FFN page is going to be pretty slim. Anything that I do on there is mostly going to be side projects - i.e. my one-shot challenge, and possibly the parody or that old Pokemon fic I haven't touched in awhile.

I will still be on FFN. If you guys want to talk to me or ask any questions, feel free to PM me. I role-play on the forums, so I'm definitely not disappearing from the site, and I'll probably have a ton of one-shots to publish. If you guys haven't read them yet, I'd definitely recommend checking them out, since about 60% of them deal with my other fanfiction pieces (basically helping to fill in the universe/look at characters that haven't had the spotlight). I plan to continue this after Chilled's over, as there are some Chilled-related one-shots coming up. This will be the bulk of my FFN activity for the next few months, but I'm definitely not disappearing. ;)

Now, the original pieces. Like I said, I've been working on Dragon's Bargain for a long time. It's kinda my pet story, but because I have my fanfiction obligations, it doesn't get worked on much outside of November (National Novel-Writing Month, for those who don't know!), so I'm excited to finally have some time to finish it. I'm going to be removing 20-38 so I can edit them, since they do need a lot of restructuring and stuff, and then after I upload them back I'll work on finishing the story.

Once that's done, I'm going to start Vulpine, which I'm pretty excited about! I think you guys will like it, if you feel like moseying over to FictionPress once Chilled's done. My username is Prin Pardus there as well, so I'll be easy to find.

Basically, Vulpine is about foxes. I've wanted to write about foxes for quite awhile, but never had a real plot until one popped into my head a few months ago, and then I went on a fox-planning-spree. It was pretty messy, and I'm sure the forums I frequent are sick of my babbling by now, haha. Anyway, Vulpine centers around a group of foxes that live together, known as a Skulk (skulk's a term for a group of foxes, no creativity points there xD). They have a very primitive society, and their lifestyle/training methods are both brutal and dangerous for all involved. I'll try not to go on a rant (because I definitely could), but basically when the fox kits are four months old, they're taken away to begin training. The females are taught how to hunt, and the males learn how to fight. There's usually 12+ kits that go out to train, but only seven (three males, four females) return every year. Unfortunately, the prior year was a disaster, as their usual training area was compromised, and most of the trainees died, leaving only one male and two females to return home. This means the Skulk had to find a new training ground for this year's kits, to ensure such a thing did not happen again.

It just so happens that there are already a pair of foxes living in the area: Sage and Sprite (amusingly, I've had these two characters for years and just never done with them; fox-Sage existed long before Chilled-Sage, and the two of them are quite different). Sage is an older fox (very old) and Sprite is a youngling that he ended up saving (backstory to be revealed later xD). Sprite's always been curious about other foxes, but since there aren't any besides Sage in the area, she has no one to ask. That all changes when the trainees come, along with their trainers. Sprite's consumed with curiosity about these strangers, and ends up getting in a huge heap of trouble.

The story is essentially one about self-discovery, I guess, namely where the characters fit into their world, and whose customs are right, if any are - since Sage and the Skulk have very different views. There are four main POVs, although I won't say much about them just yet.

The great thing about it is that it's completely in my Warriors comfort zone - wild animals living in a group and killing each other for survival? right on! - but the Skulk's customs are still vastly different from the Clan's, so it should be a really great experiment.

If you can't tell, I'm already pretty psyched for Vulpine, and have been for the past month or so. I already have a bunch of character bios made up, and a map for the territory, and I even wrote a sort of character-test piece just to get the feel of the main charries. Aah, it's just going to be so fun, and I really hope you guys are along for the ride!

For the lazy, my FP account is at http://www.fictionpress.com/~prinpardus. It'll be a few months before I can start actively working on Vulpine, but I will probably be filling up this blog with bios and stuff, as time goes on. If you have any questions about the story, please send them my way!

Anyway, this post is getting kinda long. To sum up:

  • No new big Warriors story is on the way (although one might be in the far future, who knows)
  • I will still be on FFN (role-playing and working on the oneshots, which you guys should definitely keep an eye on)
  • I will be working on several original projects, starting with DB and then Vulpine
  • Vulpine is gonna be hella tight, and I'll be updating the blog now and then with bios and all sorts of stuff (I could really talk forever about this, so please ask me questions so I can babble xD)
I love you guys so so so much. Thanks for sticking with me through all of Chilled's rollercoastyness, and I really hope to see you guys floating around my FictionPress account in the weeks to come. <3

71

Sorry! Meant to update this yesterday, but didn't have the time/my wifi started acting funky again. It's kinda driving me mad so far, but oh well. xD

Anyway, gonna do the usual review stuff in this post, and then in the next one, gonna explain what will happen post-Chilled. It might be a bit disappointing, and I'm sorry, but that's just how things are, yo.

Not much to say about this chapter other than hooray! It's all coasting from here. Still doesn't feel quite real that Chilled is gonna be over very soon, but I expect it will when I'm writing that final AN. xD

@Bookworm: Uh, sorry you threw up. That doesn't sound like fun at all. Glad you liked the chapter, though. xD

@Ranger of the Forest: Thanks! The Bullet chapter was probably one of my favorites, even if it took me forever to write. I liked how it turned out. C:

@Mallowfeather: Thank you! We'll get some sort of closure on Chilly, but what kind remains to be seen. c:

@Dracones: Can't help it, I do very much enjoy the "whole heroic rescue thing," haha. I think most of the revelations in this story are over (adoption? traitors? super evil secret ceremonies? what more do you want, man?), though, sorry to disappoint. :P

@Luna-Soul-Sky: Thanks!

@Sarnia Oblivion: It's probably been longer than you think, since most of these chapters take at least a week to get out. Thanks for sticking around! We'll have to wait and see regarding Chillpaw, and the rest will be explained in my next post. :)

@Petalfall: Thank you!

@Accalia: Thanks, glad you've enjoyed it. c:

@The Last Moongazer: Wow, a week's pretty quick for a story of this size. I was trying to reread it back during finals week, and I think I only got to like the 50's, ha. I'm always interested in guesses, so feel free to share any theories you might have! And yes yes yes, homophones are pretty much the bane of my existence. The problem is that when I'm in the "zone" my fingers just kinda do whatever they want, while my brain's occupied with big picture stuff, so that sort of thing happens all the time (even with uncommon words, like weight and wait, and once I think I even typed gamble instead of jingle? weird stuff). I try to catch it when I can, but I'm not very successful. Glad you've enjoyed the story, though. :D

@Mossystar: Maybe we will, maybe we won't. As for chapters, it usually takes about a week for me to get off my butt and write, ha. Just keep your eyes peeled. c:

@Lynxeye: Yeah, that's my bad. I keep saying I'll update the blog on a certain day and then I completely forget. Carmelo's grown on me too (but all my characters have a habit of worming their way into my heart, uff v_v), and like someone (can't remember who, gj prin) said, he's definitely not a saint, but he's not a totally bad guy. He wants what's best for the city, and is willing to do whatever it takes to improve their lives, even if it's at the expense of others. He's a "the ends justify the means" kinda guy. Hehe, yeah. I'm sure there are plenty of authors who can plan out every exquisite detail years ahead of time, but I'm def not one of them. xD

Second post coming up!