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This and That March of the Writers – Day 8 Day 8 of March of the Writers – This or That 📚 Physical books ✔️ Night owl ✔️ Series over standalone ✔️ Handwriting AND laptop ✔️ Summer & Fall 🍂 Catchy title AND gorgeous cover 📖 Planner… but also a Planster 🧠 Writers all have their own process. This is mine. #MarchOfTheWriters, #MOTW2026, #MOTW, #WritersLife, #AmWriting 📚✍️🌙🍂
Figuring out POV
One of the things I've really struggled with in "The Last Queen of Ravka" (LQR) is picking and sticking with a point of view. At first, I planned to write this story in a Third-Person Limited POV with the narrator only knowing the thoughts of Alina. I got about two chapters in before deciding that writing in First Person from Alina's perspective made more sense and played more to my strengths as a writer (I'm really good at voicing my characters, if that makes sense).
Rewrite #1 to change the established point of view was fairly simple. Most of the narration worked very well from Alina's perspective and I merely had to replace the nouns/pronouns. It was tedious, but fairly swift.
And then I got to just shy of the approximate halfway point and realized it wasn't working.
Alina took on a life of her own at around chapter six, demanding some important conversations take place significantly earlier in the story than I had planned. Seriously. Give her a little agency and suddenly she's subtly calling out Aleksander on his bullshit.
Aleksander's behavior was coming across as extremely out of character, however. I realized if it was appearing this way to me, the writer, it would certainly come across to readers. The problem was that the mental/emotional journey he was having in my head wasn't coming across on the page with only hearing Alina's perspective. I considered having Aleksander actual say some of his thoughts out loud, but in my mind, Aleksander communicates like an emotionally stunted twelve-year-old. That is, not at all.
And then came Rewrite #2. I realized that for the story I am telling to work, I needed to actually write certain things from Aleksander's perspective. Once I--and readers--could see his thought process and emotional journey, his actions began to make sense, even if he is a (fairly) soft and snuggly Darkling by canon standards.
Problem: structure.
I made this realization while writing Chapter 7 (now tentatively chapter 8; more on that in a minute). This is just shy of the anticipated halfway point. I was at least able to write THAT chapter from Aleksander's perspective and realized this was exactly what the story needed. I know many authors--especially those writing fanfiction--will just write a random chapter or two with a new narrator. I even see this in many novels, and I think this works well when writing a third-person limited narrative where narrator shifts aren't as jarring. But I am writing in first-person.
Not to bag on people who write random chapters from a different perspective, but structure IS important. Following a set structure increases comprehensibility for the reader and shows a certain amount of forethought and planning that creates for more sophisticated writing. And, as tempting as it is to say "it's just fanfiction!" and throw technique out the window, I am treating this as if it were a novel I plan to shop to publishers. So. I needed to figure out how to established the first-person alternating POV.
The first two chapters really needed to remain from Alina's perspective. Changing the POV in the original chapter two also didn't allow enough room for exposition regarding Aleksander's intentions and mental state anyway. I decided to insert a chapter between these two, essentially moving everything back a chapter. For the rest of the work, I need to figure out which chapters can be reasonably be rewritten from Aleksander's perspective (changing nouns and pronouns is certainly a large part of this process but there is much more than this to establishing a character's perspective) and where I would need to insert new content. Chapter Four blessedly lends itself to being from Aleksander's perspective, allowing chapter five to remain as is. So tentatively, the story is shaping up like this:
Chapter One- Alina Chapter Two- Aleksander Chapter Three- Alina Chapter Four- Aleksander Chapter Five- Alina
From there... well, I need to take a long hard look at chapter six and make some decisions. Theoretically, the easiest thing to do would be to rewrite this from Dear Darkle's POV as chapter 8 is already written that way. But, will this be the best thing for the story?
I'm currently in the middle of fixing chapter four, so I guess we know what I'll be looking at after that...
An overview of my upcoming work
I am a Darkalina stan. #sorrynotsorry I'm not one of the crazy people on Twitter calling for Netflix to change the plot of the series for Darkalina endgame. I'll spare you the rant about why Darkalina would not be an appropriate ending for a YA series (though Malina isn't exactly the greatest either...). That said, I'm going to read and write as much HQ Darkalina as I can because I love the dynamics.
My first work, Stags and Sacrifice, was an AU set after Ruin and Rising in which Mal died but the Darkling lived. Alina and the Darkling set off on a quest to regain their powers. It was told from alternating first-person point of view and I also rewrote large sections of the original trilogy from Aleksander's perspective. Because these scenes were at the end of each Aleksander chapter, it almost had a "Last Five Years" vibe to it. Ugh. It turned out so good. There are things I wish I had done a bit differently, but it's basically the first long-form work I've ever done that I can reread without cringing. It was sweet, it was angsty, it was romantic.
And "The Last Queen of Ravka" (henceforth known as LQR) is a VERY different story.
It is my take on the (semi) oft-used "what if Alina didn't run after Baghra told her about Aleksander's plans?" AU. Mine is *slightly* different from the start in that Alina decides that rather than confronting him, she's going to use her knowledge to manipulate him into getting her own way--or at least doing things in a way she can live with.
I've given myself several challenges in this story, two of which are (so far) working out and one that is not (more on that in another post). These challenges are:
#1: Making each chapter 5k+ words (my S&S personal minimum was 2k)
#2: Including a lot of (at least from my view) smut. I don't regularly write sexually explicit content and I'm not super comfortable with it so this *may* be the last fic I ever write with it.
#3: Writing from a single first-person point of view (though it started as 3rd person and that didn't work so I changed it). This did NOT work out so I'm having to deal with massive rewrites/additions half-ish way through at 40kish words (chapters are separate documents and I'm too lazy to do the math to see how long this thing is currently).
How it's going
Okay? I let chapter one unfold organically as I got a feel for how I was going to write this and where the plot would go. Once I had a clearer idea and was sure this was something I wanted to pursue, I made an outline of the overall story.
I know some writers can follow their whims and let stories unfold organically. Trying this has CONSISTENTLY led to failure for me. Every. Single. Time. The pile of abandoned work on ff.net will show you this. Creating an outline--at least for me--is like using a roadmap: it shows me where I'm going, though I still have the freedom to change my route if I want/need to. And my story GPS has rerouted a few times already.
My original plan was for 15 chapters (of at least 5k words each. I'll leave the math to you), but now it is looking like it will be at least 16 due to some necessary rewrites (look for me to groan about that in a later post...). I would like to finish before the school year starts, but we will have to see.
My next post will likely include some chapter one excerpts and spoilers for how all THAT unfolded. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments :)
I need a community
So *technically* I’ve had tumblr for a really long time. I’m a millennial. If it’s a form of social media, I’ve probably had it at some point. I’ve not really used it, though, because I am prematurely a grandma and tend to be a late adopter of many trends, including technology. I didn’t wear skinny jeans until 2011 (now you can pry them from my cold dead millennial hands) and I didn’t get a smart phone until I was 24. I’ve never really “gotten” tumblr. And honestly? I still don’t. But here I am.
I have been writing fanfiction since I was 12. I have written (though not necessarily published) for many different fandoms: Lord of the Rings, X-Files, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Twilight, Law and Order: SVU, and now, my latest obsession, Shadow and Bone.
And now my need for community...
I am a good decade older than most of the other writers in the fandom. There is a part of me that cringes while reading a WIP and seeing “next chapter will be delayed since I have exams!” because I am so far away from that phase of life, I’m now the one *giving* the exams (granted to 12-year-olds and not college students, but still). Because I work with children and I don’t want kids or parents to necessarily find my smutty Grishaverse works and associate them with me as a professional, using my “real” social media and my real name is not an option.
But now, here I am with the (mostly) Gen-Zers. Why? I need a community. I need a space to talk about not just the fandom itself but my process as a writer. Some might see writing fanfiction as a “waste” because there’s no way for me to profit from this, but I enjoy it. I love playing with these characters and shaping the story the way I think it should’ve been and asking the question “what if?” I want others to see my process and help me struggle through things when it gets difficult.
And it does get difficult.
Which is why I have a terrible history of abandoning works. But I’m not doing that any longer. I am learning to do better and I actually finished and published “Stags and Sacrifice” at 75k words.
And now I’m 40kish words into my newest work and it has been... challenging. So... welcome to my brain. Welcome to my metanalysis of my own writing process and occasional pleas for feedback. Welcome to the spoilers for my upcoming WIPs. I hope you’ll help me out
I almost NEVER make videos, but I had to share with you this terrific planner for writers from @thewriteservices! Start 2020 off with a PLAN so it can be your most successful year as an author yet! On Lulu: http://bit.ly/2020authorsplannerbluecoil #writerslife #writersofig #writingcommunity #writersprocess #writingplanner #writinglife #writingsociety #writers_den #writers_together #authorlife #authoress #authorscommunity #authorssupportingauthors #authorgram #indieauthors #indieauthor #authorplanner #authorplanners #authorsplanner #authorjournal #2020authorsplanner #audreyhughey #selflessselfpromosunday With @julie_embleton https://www.instagram.com/p/B6p7o2UA_DM/?igshid=vp4q33oaby9k
(Sooo who uses structure and who doesn’t!? Out of those that do and don’t I would love to know who has more writing problems! ?📝🤔. . There are insanely needed and amazing pro’s tonusung structure, but there are a few con’s as well. It going to go into the good, because there are so many and the resonate so deep into the #writersprocess.. the bad on the other hand can be counted on one hand. Are you ready!!!! Ok, this is one of the worst pets of Structure and I don’t mention it to deter from using templates and diagrams. I share so that you can skip over and keep raging on your #wip : #1 Do not fall into the trap of finding a structure element that seems to work for you, but then writing to fit and fill the structure. That is no good.. stifles creativity.. ushers in #writersblock , etc. you MUST write for you.. your audience, and/or your Story. I’m a structure addict and I have a few diagrams of my own that I will be giving out, but will never just fill slots and Story thoughts and think you will get closer to being done faster or that it’ll make a more compelling Story. It will not and you will have done your self a huge disservice. #writerslunchtimetips 😳🗝📝. . “Isn’t this stuff just the neatest!!” -Blake Snyder . #Repost @scriptabovetheline @thescreengang @finishlinescriptcomp @page_awards @writers_burn_out @capterniedavis ・・・ "Screenplays are structure, and that’s all they are. The quality of writing—which is crucial in almost every other form of literature—is not what makes a screenplay work. Structure isn’t anything else but telling the story, starting as late as possible, starting each scene as late as possible. You don’t want to begin with “Once upon a time,” because the audience gets antsy." William Goldman 🧨📝💥 https://www.instagram.com/p/B1O_bMgg45y/?igshid=16k8c1fz3rn1s
How my work is going today. #writer #writerslife #writersprocess
Whoever said writing a book is easy has never seen my workspace. #katsjourney #candiman #editing #arcing #writersprocess #thanksLeigh (at Austin, Texas)
