Static Sonata

Me writing the first draft:

"This sentence is terrible."

Future me during editing:

"Don't worry. I'll fix it."

Current me 🤝 Future me

One of the hardest parts about writing Alastor is that he never loses his smile.

Happy? 

Smiling.

Threatening someone? 

Still smiling.

Mildly annoyed?

Smiling.

Emotionally devastated?

Believe it or not...

Still smiling. 

Reader: Leaves an innocent comment.

Me: "Wait."

"...that's actually a fantastic idea."

Opens chapter outline

One of my favorite things about posting on AO3 is that sometimes readers inspire scenes I never would have thought of on my own. 

Started editing at nearly 200,000 words.

Finished editing at 175,000.

At first I was terrified of deleting that much.

Turns out the story wasn't mourning those words nearly as much as I was.

Those 25,000 words died so the remaining 175,000 could live.

Me: I have a solid outline.

My characters: That's adorable.

Me: Wait, where are you going?

Me while writing Static Sonata:

"Today someone will have a mental breakdown."

Me this week:

"What if Alastor complains about sand, grills burgers for everyone, and goes swimming with his wife?"

So I wrote a fluffy beach one-shot.

Sometimes both the characters and the author need a vacation.

A Day Worth Having

https://archiveofourown.org/works/87411161

One of the hardest parts of writing wasn't finishing the first chapter.

It was clicking "Post"

Sharing something you've spent months working on with strangers is surprisingly intimidating.

• Never explain a thing when a suggestion will suffice.

• Leave a few questions unanswered. Curiosity is a marvelous motivator.

• Trust your audience to connect the dots.

• If they are arguing over what you meant, you've likely done something right.

• And above all, never allow anyone to understand your emotions.

That would be terribly embarrassing.

One of the most frustrating things is realizing that you can suddenly see all the problems in your old chapters.

The good news is that you've improved.

The bad news is that now you have to look at the old chapters.

A happy day in editing hell.

Readers are smarter than you think. If you've already shown something, you probably don't need to explain it three more times.

The first draft is allowed to be messy. Fixing a chapter is much easier than staring at a blank page.

Characters will sometimes become more interesting than your original plan. Let them.

The scenes readers remember are often not the ones you expected. Sometimes a throwaway conversation gets more attention than the dramatic reveal you spent weeks preparing.

My favorite slow burns are the ones where neither character realizes what's happening.

The reader knows.

Everyone around them knows.

The characters remain blissfully convinced that they're being perfectly reasonable.

As a writer, this is incredibly fun.

Current victim of this writing strategy: Static Sonata

Human Alastor AU - Slow Burn -  Murder Mystery - 1920s New Orleans

Contains violence, murder, sexual content, and mature themes.

Me: This chapter will be from Alastor's perspective.

Alastor: Excellent.

Me: So you'll tell the reader what you're feeling?

Alastor: Absolutely not.

Me: Then what am I supposed to write?

Alastor: Observations. Other people's problems. The weather. Anything except that.

Currently dealing with this problem in my fic, Static Sonata: https://archiveofourown.org/works/82612551/chapters/217467496

One of the things I find interesting about writing characters like Alastor is that their appeal isn't about whether they're good or bad.

It's about the contradictions.

The same character can be:

charming and unsettling

genuine and manipulative

"What if the reader doesn't understand this?"

adds explanation

"What if they still don't understand?"

adds another explanation

"What if they miss the implication?"

adds a third explanation

Me while editing:

"Oh.

They understood the first sentence." 😂

New Orleans. 1928.

A serial killer stalks the city.

Evelyn Bennett begins her first day at WWL Radio.

Unfortunately, Alastor finds her interesting.

And that is never harmless.

"How fortunate I am to be granted such charming company."

Evelyn found her voice a second too late.

"Good morning, sir."

Sir. How insufficient.

He tilted his head and studied her closely.

Young, educated, and composed, she should have seemed entirely out of place there.

Yet something about her quietly resisted that expectation.

"Alastor," he corrected. "We will be working closely, after all."

Intelligent. Kind. Patient.

Capable of seeing the best in almost everyone.

Possesses a truly exceptional ability to assume responsibility for problems that have absolutely nothing to do with her.

Can identify the emotional needs of everyone in a room.

Remains considerably less successful when identifying her own.

Frequently places the well-being of others before her own.

Has yet to discover that this is not a sustainable long-term strategy.

Somewhere along the way, I became very fond of writing a character whose strengths and flaws are often the exact same thing.

I came across a post about pairings where two characters slowly spiral into the worst versions of themselves until the relationship consumes everything else in their lives. It made me think about the story I'm currently writing.

The more I thought about it, the more I saw the differences in my story.

It's rather two people building something beautiful on unstable ground.

The relationship is genuine. The feelings are real. They make each other's lives better in many ways. They find happiness, purpose, companionship, and a future they actually want.

That's precisely what makes the situation painful.

The threat is that something meaningful may not be able to survive the secrets, choices, and circumstances surrounding it.

For me, that feels more tragic than two people bringing out the worst in each other.