I have loved the characters and plot for Dragon Consultant ever since I first came up with the idea of five dragon kits and their dad lost in the forest. The story was originally supposed to be for an anthology/collection call. The call asked for unique shifters and a minimum of 50k words. I started working and quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to reach 50k by the deadline. I had too many responsibilities to my other stories; some were in edits and others also had nearing deadlines. I was forced to reluctantly abandon the call and to put Dragon Consultant aside. In the months since, I have caught up on most of the deadlines and edits and I suddenly have the time to pull out old stories, dust them off, and see whether I can get them going again. This was part of my third goal for November.
I read through Kelpie Blue, If A Butterfly Don't Fly, and Ge-Mi first, but quickly realized that all three stories were stalled on difficult scene changes that I hadn't figured out how to smooth over just yet. Instead of tormenting myself with them, I put them back into storage for the moment. Next I thought about starting Justified, but came to the conclusion that adding yet another story to my already extensive to-do list was stupid; Justified could wait. My last hope for completing goal three was Dragon Consultant. Luckily, Dragon Consultant wasn't stuck on an awkward scene change. I had put it aside mid-scene all those months ago and was able to pick up where I left off. The premise of the story is simple enough: a bunch of dragons were traveling to visit my main character to ask for his help in trying to save some other dragons that had been captured by the enemy. Cuteness ensued. However, as I was continuing to write I soon realized that there is a serious problem with the story: I rushed the original planning process trying to meet the deadline and don't have an end-game. I also realized that the original parameters for the story no longer apply. I don't have to write 50k. I could write 20k or 200k, but I don't have any idea what length the plot calls for because I don't know enough of the overall plot! This is a serious problem, one which I have to solve before Dragon Consultant can go anywhere. There are two main plot lines in the story: save the dragons and defeat the bad guy. If I stick to just that, the story will probably end up around 25k. I could also expand the bad guy's role so there are more trials and tribulations for the characters to jump through. That would probably stretch the story to at least 40k. The third option is to write the 25k story and have a sequel that will encompass option two. I'm honestly partial to option three--mostly because I love the MCs that would star in the sequel--but I until I sit down and really plan out the plot of the first book I just don't know what is possible. I will continue to work on Dragon Consultant through November and I'm really hoping it will spark enough plot to continue to star in my goals list through the New Year. If anyone wants to stay in the loop about how writing is going, please visit my Current Projects page where I'll keep my word count progress up to date.
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April 15, 2023 AuthorMell Eight is an author writing with NSP. For more information about Mell and her writing, please visit her website: http://melleightfiction. Tags
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