Temptation strikes

[layla]

I have been thinking more and more seriously about ending the current Raven's Children story arc right where it is, at issue #12.

It's a decent breaking point. The whole issue is clearly foreshadowing for Future Events of Great Import, but it is also a roundup issue that shows bits and pieces of the entire cast, then leaves them at a stopping place and moves on to someone else. There will be a time-jump from this issue to the start of the next one, which WAS going to be the finale for the story arc -- so why not stop here?

The main reason why it's taken so long to get going on the new issue is that I'm having serious doubts about the direction of the series. The next issue will lock me into a story direction that I don't like nearly as much, now, as I did four years ago. Right now, everything is up in the air. It could go any number of ways. Once I complete that next issue, several plot threads will be tied up and I'll be basically committed to taking the story in the original direction. This may result in me, later, either re-writing history or dropping the whole series as unsalvagable, and I don't want to do that. There is so much in it that I want to keep -- and so much I want to throw away.

Also, the next issue really should be much longer than I'm trying to make it. There is a LOT of material to be covered and a lot of plot threads to tie up. I was going to deal with it by simply dropping several plots and only focusing on two of the major ones. Tonight I re-read the first 15 pages, which is what I've got scripted and thumbnailed. It feels very, very rushed. I'm not happy with it. I don't want the big finale of the story arc to come out feeling hurried and slapped together, and I fear that that's exactly what will happen if I do it right now.

So ... what if issue #12 becomes the final issue of "Shadow of the Snow Fox"? I think I can live with that. It keeps the arc to a manageable length (it was really getting out of hand) and I think the events of the next issue could reasonably spread out to encompass a story arc all by themselves, if I flesh things out a bit rather than using the bare-bones approach that I've been contemplating the last few months.

And it will set me free from this series that is becoming an albatross around my neck. I don't want to drop Raven's Children. But I have such severe doubts about the quality of the series ... I just want to put it down for a while, and work on other things, and come back with fresh eyes and a less-jaded attitude. It's hard to work on RC when it's currently my least favorite of about 5 different projects.

I have so little free time right now that I don't want to waste it slaving away on a project I don't feel strongly about.

Comments

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

I really want to agree with the approach of putting it away until you like it again and feel comfortable about the story again, but I also really want to get another TPB from you and find out just what's going on and to dip into your universe again. As a writer, I advise the former. As a fan, I want you to do a huge brainstorming session with some trusted friends/editors and see if you can make the story work for you again.

I'm sorry I'm not much help.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

I do appreciate it and I've heard similar things from other people ... whenever I "test the waters" on stopping the series, I get a few people telling me NOOOOO!!! -- which is awfully flattering; no matter how disappointed I am with the series right now, obviously it connects with some people. I don't hate RC and I have no intention of leaving it forever. But really, I'm working mostly from obligation at this point, and that's no fun.

I have also been thinking about laying off the main story for a while and doing some short stories, rather like I do with "Kismet".

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

What I'd really like to know is how everything went so wrong with RC -- how the plot got so out-of-control, and why I'm so unhappy with it now -- because the same thing has not happened with Kismet. I've been working on Kismet in some form since 1992 ... similar to RC. It's true that I started the Kismet comic later than the RC one (RC in 2000, Kismet in 2002) but page for page, between the main Kismet story and the spin-offs, I've probably done MORE pages of that in 2 years than I did of RC in 4 years. And yet I'm still happy with Kismet and excited about working on it. The same, at present, cannot be said of RC. I wish I knew what happened so I can prevent it from happening again.

[trishalynn.livejournal.com]

Is it possible that because RC was the first to be "published" there was more riding on it and more pressure involved for it to be successful?

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Maybe a little bit of that ... and a little bit of expecting it to be really, really good and then being crushingly disappointed when it went through the usual growing pains of learning any new craft. By the time I plunged full-time into Kismet, I'd not only gotten a lot better, but I wasn't expecting quite as much from myself. With Kismet I was just trying to have fun and not so focused on the end product -- not that it's bad to expect quality work of onesself, but not if it interferes with being able to work at all.

[jkcarrier.livejournal.com]

I dig Raven's Children, and want to see it continue. But you wouldn't be doing anyone any favors by forcing it. If this were just some general malaise, there might be some wisdom in gritting your teeth and forging ahead. But since Kismet is clicking right along, then obviously your muse is trying to tell you something.

Keeping your hand in by doing the occasional RC short story sounds like a fine idea. You've got such a rich, fascinating world built up there,it would be great to see some different aspects of it. And coming at that world from a fresh angle might be just what you need to help untangle some of those plot threads in your mind.

[laylalawlor.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the support.

I really am starting to think that I just need to step back from it for a little while and turn my attention to other things, until I can look at it with fresh eyes. Then maybe ease back in with a few short stories, until I'm ready to take up the reins again.