And in with the new!
Soulformer is done! I mean… it’s done for now. And by that I mean draft 3.0 has been finalized (and I have to admit… I finalized it about a week before Thanksgiving). I already know there are grammatical errors, typos, probably some more plot issues, but I’m very happy and proud of the work I’ve done on this story for the past three years.
Real quick, I’ll do the final chapter-by-chapter review of the last six chapters for Soulformer. And I’m mostly trying to be vague to avoid spoilers considering these are the last chapters in the book.
Chapter 37 required a lot more revision than I first expected. There was an interesting moment for Trim and Kinnick in there that really felt jarring and did not work at all in the previous draft, so I toned it down and reworked it to the point where it feels a bit more natural, and the dialogue seems more genuine.
Chapter 38 was pretty good as is. The chapter flowed well and other than some tweaks to the prose and some mild story changes to help the flow and to improve the natural feeling of the reactions of some of the characters (specifically Merith), it was good to go.
Chapter 39 was similar to 38. There was some additional prose and description that was needed and some sections earlier in the chapter that needed to be reworked, but overall, it felt pretty good as is.
Chapter 40. Ohhhh boy, chapter 40. My favorite chapter in the whole book, and it still is. I had to do very little to this chapter which was what I was expecting. I think it’s one of my best chapters I’ve written, and I really like how this (as an intense action scene) came together. Most of this chapter was just spent reading it, making minor tweaks here and there. Chef’s kiss.
Chapter 41 and 42. This was where things had to take a pretty drastic turn. All throughout this draft, I have mentioned the changes to the ending, and this was where it was implemented which made these revisions a little more difficult. I essentially deleted most of 41 and a good portion of 42 and had to rewrite the entire thing. There’s a bit of a showdown, a big reveal, and some emotional character work that all needs to happen at once. I’m not sure how well it was pulled off, if I’m being honest, but it is absolutely a massive step in the right direction.
So, now where do we go from here? Well, that’s a great question. I mentioned a special project in my last post, but I still can’t reveal that one quite yet. It will definitely be in the January post for sure.
As for Soulformer as a whole, I’m putting it down for the time being. The way I’ve described it to myself and to people who have asked, I will come back to Soulformer book 1 either when I’ve finished the first (or maybe even second) draft of Soulformer book 2 and want to revisit the first book to make sure things align correctly, or if I somehow miraculously get some interest in the book and have it looked at professionally. I don’t plan on dipping back into book 2 in the nearish future, so it could be quite some time. I have two book ideas I really want to get to before coming back to finish off the Soulformer story, and that’s kind of what I plan on doing.
And that brings us to what’s next for me as a writer. In previous posts, I mentioned my next project being a sci-fi horror story, but that I won’t really do much writing prior to the end of the year.
WEEEEEEELL….
I kind of broke that rule. It was my own suggestion not to start writing that in December, and technically I followed that… because I started writing it in November.
I know, I know. I tend to get ahead of myself. I’ve just been so amped about this story idea for almost a full year, and I wanted to dip my toes into something new and exciting and nothing like what I’ve written before. As I mentioned previously, I’ve been doing a lot of research and outlining, developing characters, creating a basic plot outline, etc. I’m still doing all of that, but I did have an idea on how the story will start and what the first couple chapters will look like.
So, I couldn’t resist, and I started writing the first chapter. I’m only 4 or 5 pages in, so it’s not like I’m cruising through the meager notes I have so far, but it just felt good to get words on paper for this idea that I’ve been mulling over for so long.
I’m also concurrently drafting up the chapter-by-chapter outline that I love to do to make sure I’m mostly on track for the plot as a whole. I need to put more focus on that, but I do expect I’ll be taking a little bit of a break throughout December with the holidays. I imagine there won’t be as much of an update on this story in January, but who knows? Sometimes I can’t help myself.
Anyway, this is a bit of a momentous occasion for me and I’m so happy that I’ve (mostly) completed the story that started this whole journey. From draft 1 to draft 3, it has changed drastically, and hopefully all for the better.
Here’s to a new year with new stories to come!