The Demon King: Let’s Finish It, For Real This Time

[rynling]

I was thinking that I was maybe 60% of the way through my first attempt at an original fantasy novel; but, on further consideration, I was really more like 80% finished.

The two main charm points of the story are:
- the eponymous demon king being stupid, and
- the demon king’s chemistry with the evil queen.

Everything else is largely irrelevant. If the two most interesting characters aren’t on the page and interacting with each other, of course the story isn’t going to be fun to write. I therefore reworked my outline of the remaining chapters to cut out everything that isn’t the good stuff. Now I only have five more chapters to write, including the one I’m currently finishing.

Also hooray for me for once again being 80% done with something and then leaving it unfinished. I read a post on Tumblr that said stopping 80% of the way through a project is incredibly common for ADHD people, and I’d like to ask the OP to stop breaking into my house and observing me in my own home.

Comments

[lassarina]

I swear that every time I try a writing project I plan out scenes that aren't the good stuff and then can't understand why I stop having fun writing them.

[rynling]

runicmagitek recently wrote that they stopped reading a fantasy novel called The Book That Wouldn't Burn because it was incessant verbiage, just endless plot scenes unconnected by any real emotion. I was intrigued by the book's premise, so I started reading it myself, but I should have trusted Runic's assessment. The author was clearly writing the story according to points listed on an outline (and, given his fecund publication schedule, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he's working with a studio of ghostwriters). If anything, that novel is a painfully practical demonstration of why you've got to write what feels "interesting," not what feels "necessary."

[lassarina]

yep. figure out a way to work the necessary into the interesting if you must, but if you're bored, so is your reader.