Best I can tell, a book is a series of scenes that solve my problems. Character needs to either express their problem, move towards their solution, achieve their needs and wants, or show the reader how these revelations changes their life.
Books are a series of scenes. I’ve been reading some more: contemporary works from the indie authors here, a few of the classics, I gave Gibson another try. I don’t know how people can read Gibson. Every day I try to remember what I read the day before and I have no idea. I wonder if people cooing over his ‘sky was a TV set to a dead channel’ line are doing so because it’s the only line they can remember.
Maybe there’s something wrong with me.
But there’s something I noticed when writing dog walker especially, and softbone as well. I write scenes because I like the idea of the scene, then fit the characters and themes into it afterwards. I have no idea if there’s such a thing as a six act structure, but I like it.
6 acts, 3 chapters per act, 10k words per act, 60k words. A nice chunky novel that doesn’t waste the readers time. I noticed during my non fiction days that once you get over 70k words for a book, it becomes very difficult to keep the entire concept of the book in your head while you’re reading. I don’t know the math, but there’s clearly some kind of mental limit to a 100k word bastard that you kind of have to deal with a memory over run.
But the idea of 3k chatpters, 10k acts and 60k books helps me focus my scope. Each chapter can have between one and three scenes. I don’t know what I want all of them to do yet, so I add the ones I know. So far I have a scene were Jake is hired by UKU to exfil a smuggler and Jake is enjoying his life with Nancy. I have a scene where he picks up the exfil, who turns out to be a detransitionning dude from the temple (amazon white flight acropolis) and I have a scene of a terrorist attack by Indian techno-zealouts. I have one scene of a guru trying to recreate Jakes fever dream moment from the first one (a nice thread from the last book, like gollum and the ring.)
But those are just scenes, by themselves I’ve got things that happen, but no reason to exist. Why read about them at all? because I have a good imagination? good prose? fuck that. What I ended up doing last time, and will do again, is to break it up into thirds. Peoples character arcs will be 2 acts per. Like Jake
Longhoused cuck for acts 1 and 2. A guy making efforts to take deliberate action and stand up for himself in acts 3 and 4. A guy who fill the role of the hero in scenes 5 and 6. Then for each act I just look at what level hes at and write his actions and dialoge to fit. Then I do the other characters.
I think I might have an antagonist in this one too. I did two books of man vs himself, it’s time for a man vs man. the easy answer is to make an anti Jake, but I think I’m going to make the troon a ghost of christmas future for book 1 Jake… the route that could have been. This means I have to introduce him early, since Jake is already a completed character.
I think Jake’s arc will be something more like an “I can save her” kind of thing. He sees himself in the kid and tries to save him as a way of saving himself. I’ll know as I progress if this is going to be a good arc or a tragic arc. My gut is telling me tragic, but who knows?
I do have another idea. Since I’m doing a holy war I need it to fit a satirical side of today. The Indian zealots get thrown into jail because captial punishment is icky. Make it so they use the jails as a recruitment centre? I like the idea of the DEI religion manufacturing it’s own worst enemy, first by importing them, then by offering a training facility.
And since they are both despicable, who wins? or is it an intractable war?
I’ll be rehiring Nick when I get about a third of the first draft done. At that point I’ll want some strategy sessions, which should help me finish the draft and get to he edits. I also need a break to publish Praxeology vol 4… no working title yet.
The only thing that sucks is I don’t really have a place for scavengers, the Japanese or fem-law yet. I don’t want to just forget about them but I think a more intimate story with them as background artifacts might work out. I don’t want to do that thing where ever book has higher stakes. I hate when Jon Wick did that.
Either way. The scenes are about 1.5k words, once I add charactrerization they should each fill a chapter, which will be nice. At this rate I need 12 more scenes and 6-9 character arc moments and it’s a book!
