Started on Next Segment: "Red Hair and Rune Blades"
So I've started work on the next Nightshades segment, tentatively titled "Red Hair and Rune Blades." While technically a rewrite of an earlier story with the same title, this one is going to be going in a couple of different directions. This is mainly due to that whole story arc that I'm trying to work in. The last segment had virtually nothing to do with the story arc, though I may go back and change a few things so that it ties in better. Right now, word count is just under 40k, though with a bit of effort "Red Hair" should push me over the 50k part. At least it better, since that will finally get me back on target as far as word count goals though.
"Red Hair" should be fun to write, as Helmut at least was always a bit of fun to write, even if he always had the depth of cardboard. At least he doesn't talk as much.
So why word count goals? Mainly to keep me writing. Even if I don't like it, the writing stage is not the time to be editing things, apart from basic continuity glitches. I am doing read throughs of pieces before emailing them to the reader base, but I am sure things are slipping through the cracks in a bad way. Chances are it is only going to get worse as time goes forward. On that note, I'm going to make a point of rereading what I did on "Nature of His Game" (i.e. segment three) to see where I left our heroes.
I also have no idea what the next segment after this is going to be, as looking back to my notes all I see is "placeholder" with no notes about what I want to put there. The good news is that this is only one of two places where "placeholder" appears, the other being the anticlimax. I'm also not terribly sure how good I've been about following my own set rules. I do not want to turn the respective characters into Marty/Mary Sues, and thus a good bit of the editing/rewriting process could well be toning down the uber qualities of our respective badasses.