B.P. Sunny

I write sometimes. As, like, a hobby. They/them I might share some things here. Might not. Might just scroll for fun and never tell you anything ever.

[b-p-sunny]

Wow, Sunny has an actual update this time. How novel!

So, I started a rough first draft of volume one, and I did that thing we all do where I read it one too many times before finishing it because I had written myself into a bit of a corner. I was generally unhappy with the way I had written it since now it feels like I was trying too hard to be elegant and verbose when the situation absolutely did not call for it. Do I tend to go on and on? Yes. Do I want to FORCE myself to go on and on? No.

As a result, I'm using the first draft of the first nine chapters to give me a baseline of how major events play out. This is in the story's best interest overall; now I can address my previous doubts in my portrayal of my characters in the finished product as well as the pacing of the story. I moved too fast in the first draft, which I tortured myself over. I want to push myself to make the mundane parts of their journey interesting too, not just the obstacles.

With hope, I won't find myself at a loss near the end of their journey the way I did in the first draft. This is a minor bump in a long process, and I'm trying to be kind to myself. Every writer at some point faces a similar issue, but if we all let that stop us we would be without some of the wonderful stories that helped shape generations.

There's been some back and forth; I'm building confidence in my skills as a writer, and the process of writing something as ambitious as this is a "learn-as-you-go" kind of thing, but now I'm much happier with what I've done so far!

[b-p-sunny]

Slight update, if you can call it that:

I've had most of the books planned out for a while now. Just bullet-form notes for the most important parts of the story.

I'm stuck on book 10, though. It is by far the bloodiest of them all, and while I'm sure plenty of research could help me with getting the tone just right, I've never been one for war movies. A lot of these notes are reading like the final battle in a fantasy novel (which I suppose this is) but I have no real knowledge of military tactics.

It might slow me, but by god I won't let it stop me!

[b-p-sunny]

Not so much a progress update as it is an update on how off the rails my world-building has become:

I have single-handedly doomed our home planet to ruin in the next three hundred years. From climate change flooding the entire planet, to zombie outbreaks and rampant dinosaur infestations, to giant biblical sea monsters and also a mutated zombie virus that has the ability to turn the dinosaurs that were already prowling around into undead, flesh eating monsters. Because the fall of planet Earth is strictly used as a joke throughout the course of the story though, we humans have of course found ways to profit off of our ancestor's misfortune 2000 years later.

[b-p-sunny]

So, here's my pitch:

In the year 4069, in an age where lifeforms from all different walks of life - different planets, species, and social classes - all work to survive alongside each other, there is an organization called the Mercenary Guild. The guild is exactly what it claims to be, a melting pot of people from all over the universe, bounty hunters and jack-of-all-trades' united under a common goal: Paying their rent on time.

It isn't ideal, especially not with tensions on the rise between the two largest intergalactic alliances in history; still the Mercenary Guild has persisted for over one hundred years, having seen hardship and war and holds strong despite it all. In fact, the guild seems to be thriving in the wake of all this tension.

Our protagonist: a mercenary pilot known for flying solo. After one-too-many bandit raids along the merchant routes and a number of attacks on empire ships, he's been hired for his most important job yet. The job? An escort mission from the emperor himself to bring the sole princess of the empire safely to the waiting arms of her husband-to-be.

So, what does the princess think about all of this? To be honest, she isn't thrilled. A journey through the stars sounds like a dream come true in theory, but the excitement is spoiled by the looming threat of an unwanted marriage waiting for her at the end. What's a girl to do?

Befriending the mercenary tasked with escorting her might not solve her problem, but at least she has someone to talk to. And who knows, maybe he can help her more than she thinks he can.

[b-p-sunny]

What if, and this is just a hypothetical, I wrote a 10 part series about mercenaries in space. And, keeping in mind that this is strictly hypothetical, what if I posted regular progress updates on Tumblr.com?