Extended Writing Update

I feel like I'm cleaning out a basement with chapter 9 xD

I continue to be so glad I have the alpha to keep me on-schedule. It's wild how much having an external deadline helps my process. At the moment it's forcing me to look at things realistically, and unapologetically toss things into the "keep," "keep with revisions," and "cut" piles.

One of my biggest takeaways from this continues to be "don't let the main plot diverge insanely depending on route, and let variation come from the ROs." The most noticeable moment for me this week in regard to that has been looking at the "mood" of each RO's route in this chapter. They all have serious notes to them - I mean, it's a pretty grim scene we're walking into at the base. But with Keo's there's this element of heaviness and worry regarding the fact that this is the Den - or some faction of it - doing all this. Meanwhile, Wren's the type of person who (without giving spoilers) has seen some pretty terrible shit and who copes by doing everything they can to keep from falling into gloom and doom about it. So on Wren's route there's a few lighter moments and more intellectual curiosity. And Rin... has a rough time.

So yeah, looking at those three, I feel like whether you romance someone or just go as friends, there's plenty of variation per chapter-route, and why did I put myself through trying to write three totally different branches?? T_T Ah, well. I've been paying for this lesson for so many months that I can at least take comfort in knowing I won't repeat the mistake! And to be honest, I like writing enough that often when I make errors like this, I still kind of... I don't know, have a healthy outlook, I guess? Like, I tend to laugh about it even as I'm pulling my hair out.

Here's this week's preview ~

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"What, because he's so talented?" {wren_heSheThey} smile{s}. "So intelligent? So brave? Or do you think, just maybe, it's that he's well-connected."

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"You think that's it?"

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"People like him always claim their power comes from merit. It never does."