The State of "The Explanation" 2.0
~It has been a year and a half since I posted the last The State of "The Explanation". I had opened it by saying "that it is The Temple's primary project; a Philosophical Treatise, Practical How-To Manual and Grand Majickal Working all in one document. And that I suppose, put that way, I’ve done well by the thing in the past four and half [now six] years. And that I probably should give myself a bit more credit and a bit more slack, but then such was not the nature of being a Prophet. And then I 'sighed'."
After the sighing, I laid out the new order and titles, which are still largely unchanged. However, as you'll see, the word count has radically changed. I went on to explain that "the entrees at E Speaks are ‘finalized’, though I’m sure I’ll fiddle with them a bit more. [I have and will] The entrees at Blogspot are still being edited, rewritten, worked on, etc. except for The Trikona which I’m fairly happy with. The Addendums are complete as is. [The titles as listed here are the final titles]" For the most part - with one major exception and few minor ones - that is still the case.
Her Prophet Explains: “Preface”
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/113769.html
~I was satisfied with this for a while, but after my 'retirement' and return, I'm..bugged, I guess. The flippancy grates a bit now. I'm not sure how much of it to rewrite, only that it needs some. 'Sighing' was also involved with this decision.
Basic Tenets of The Temple of The Pentavalent
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/114401.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part One: Revealed Knowledge, The Pentavalent and a New Matriarchy
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/112814.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Two: The End of Men
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/113106.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Three: “Building a New Matriarchy - Metaphysics”
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/113359.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Four: “Building a New Matriarchy - Grand Strategy”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-three-temples.html
~I had said back in Feb 2013, “At the moment, Part Four is where I am..well, not so much ‘stuck’ as deep ‘in process’. I said a while back: “I do cut myself some slack in that I’m doing a harsh critique of Victim Feminism, the damage done to the Feminist Movement by Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnan, how so-called Rape Culture is actually organic to Male thinking [Dworkin didn't go far enough in that regard] and a look at how Modern Feminism failed politically both with its support of Prohibition and its abandonment of basic Marxist thinking. At the root of nearly all of these issues is that Puritanism [always a tool of Patriarchy] is still deeply embedded in Modern American Feminist philosophy.” ”
Well, that was a fucking understatement. And, in the interim, I have also come to realize the need to weave in the work of Shulamith Firestone and Donna Haraway because both are essential to our Work. To leave their work unmentioned would create a massive blank space in the epistemology of The Temple.
Therefore, what I am facing here is critiquing and expounding upon the work of four of the most important Writers and Thinkers of Second Wave Feminism. To do what I need to do with their work requires some serious fucking Scholarship. *sigh* Effectively, at this point, I AM stuck...
EDIT on 4/11/14: ~I was just reading through Part Four: “Building a New Matriarchy - Grand Strategy” and I realized that the thing actually works 'as is'...which brought up the dilemma of what to do about the required “critiquing and expounding upon the work of four of the most important Writers and Thinkers of Second Wave Feminism” etc. To stick all that into Part Four could actually distract and even derail the 'narrative thrust'. It IS some pretty heavy intellectual lifting, which is a big part of why I've been 'stuck'.
But it came to me rather quickly; stick all that epistemological blather in Part Eight “Summation”. It does need to be related to provide greater depth to the overall context, but putting it at the 'tail [tale?] end' allows it to processed after said overall context has been more or less absorbed.
Part Five: “Building a New Matriarchy - Tactical Initiatives”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-four-temples.html
~Part Five essentially requires more details about the various Tactical Initiatives and also some illustrations of Stage Three of The First Karaal, which I promise will be nifty. [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Six: “Building a New Matriarchy - The Trikona”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-five-trikona.html
~As I said above, I am pleased with this as it stands. [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Seven - “One Possible Future”
~I have thrown out all of Part Seven - “One Possible Future” and also Addendum A: [Tales of the Vekkan Cults]. That's about 38,000 words out the window, which cuts the present word count roughly in half. Well, I haven't really 'thrown them out', just removed them from The Explanation. They will mostly get posted in a separate volume of Sisterhood stories, though some may simply remain unfinished. [This is not the creation of an Apocrypha, but is more akin to The Suras, in that such is a form of 'commentary' that is still relevant to, and is in fact an enhancement of, Canon.]
This is my reasoning. Part Seven as it stood had become unwieldy; too many unfinished stories, too much rewriting to do, and, as so often happens with Science Fiction, much of the science has outstripped the fiction. Instead of trying to fix the whole mess, I have chosen to restart from square one.
About three months ago I started a new novella to take its place, with a single central character whose life covers the major epochs of The Sisterhood. I realized too that this will be more effective because, unlike the original Part Seven, it is a single narrative and therefore will flow more easily. With multiple stories and characters, there is the tendency to put the book down between tales.
With the removal of the multistory Part Seven, the rational for including Tales of the Vekkan Cults was largely gone. So, it needed go as well. [That moved the 'new' Addendum B and Addendum C up to Addendum A and Addendum B]
Part Eight - “Summation”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-seven.html
~I took a big chunk of the Summation and edited it into Part Two. I now need to re-expand it with some new material and also blend in the old Addendum C [The Individual and The Hive]. http://nebris.livejournal.com/7610428.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Addendum A [Calendar for A New Matriarchy]
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-addendum-d.html
Addendum B [The Temple's Flag]
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-addendum-e-temples.html
As before, for those who are interested, the process by which this is taking place can be followed at Her Prophet Blathers About Re-Writes.
After the sighing, I laid out the new order and titles, which are still largely unchanged. However, as you'll see, the word count has radically changed. I went on to explain that "the entrees at E Speaks are ‘finalized’, though I’m sure I’ll fiddle with them a bit more. [I have and will] The entrees at Blogspot are still being edited, rewritten, worked on, etc. except for The Trikona which I’m fairly happy with. The Addendums are complete as is. [The titles as listed here are the final titles]" For the most part - with one major exception and few minor ones - that is still the case.
Her Prophet Explains: “Preface”
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/113769.html
~I was satisfied with this for a while, but after my 'retirement' and return, I'm..bugged, I guess. The flippancy grates a bit now. I'm not sure how much of it to rewrite, only that it needs some. 'Sighing' was also involved with this decision.
Basic Tenets of The Temple of The Pentavalent
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/114401.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part One: Revealed Knowledge, The Pentavalent and a New Matriarchy
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/112814.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Two: The End of Men
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/113106.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Three: “Building a New Matriarchy - Metaphysics”
http://e-speaks.livejournal.com/113359.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Four: “Building a New Matriarchy - Grand Strategy”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-three-temples.html
~I had said back in Feb 2013, “At the moment, Part Four is where I am..well, not so much ‘stuck’ as deep ‘in process’. I said a while back: “I do cut myself some slack in that I’m doing a harsh critique of Victim Feminism, the damage done to the Feminist Movement by Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnan, how so-called Rape Culture is actually organic to Male thinking [Dworkin didn't go far enough in that regard] and a look at how Modern Feminism failed politically both with its support of Prohibition and its abandonment of basic Marxist thinking. At the root of nearly all of these issues is that Puritanism [always a tool of Patriarchy] is still deeply embedded in Modern American Feminist philosophy.” ”
Well, that was a fucking understatement. And, in the interim, I have also come to realize the need to weave in the work of Shulamith Firestone and Donna Haraway because both are essential to our Work. To leave their work unmentioned would create a massive blank space in the epistemology of The Temple.
Therefore, what I am facing here is critiquing and expounding upon the work of four of the most important Writers and Thinkers of Second Wave Feminism. To do what I need to do with their work requires some serious fucking Scholarship. *sigh* Effectively, at this point, I AM stuck...
EDIT on 4/11/14: ~I was just reading through Part Four: “Building a New Matriarchy - Grand Strategy” and I realized that the thing actually works 'as is'...which brought up the dilemma of what to do about the required “critiquing and expounding upon the work of four of the most important Writers and Thinkers of Second Wave Feminism” etc. To stick all that into Part Four could actually distract and even derail the 'narrative thrust'. It IS some pretty heavy intellectual lifting, which is a big part of why I've been 'stuck'.
But it came to me rather quickly; stick all that epistemological blather in Part Eight “Summation”. It does need to be related to provide greater depth to the overall context, but putting it at the 'tail [tale?] end' allows it to processed after said overall context has been more or less absorbed.
Part Five: “Building a New Matriarchy - Tactical Initiatives”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-four-temples.html
~Part Five essentially requires more details about the various Tactical Initiatives and also some illustrations of Stage Three of The First Karaal, which I promise will be nifty. [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Six: “Building a New Matriarchy - The Trikona”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-five-trikona.html
~As I said above, I am pleased with this as it stands. [unchanged since 2/13]
Part Seven - “One Possible Future”
~I have thrown out all of Part Seven - “One Possible Future” and also Addendum A: [Tales of the Vekkan Cults]. That's about 38,000 words out the window, which cuts the present word count roughly in half. Well, I haven't really 'thrown them out', just removed them from The Explanation. They will mostly get posted in a separate volume of Sisterhood stories, though some may simply remain unfinished. [This is not the creation of an Apocrypha, but is more akin to The Suras, in that such is a form of 'commentary' that is still relevant to, and is in fact an enhancement of, Canon.]
This is my reasoning. Part Seven as it stood had become unwieldy; too many unfinished stories, too much rewriting to do, and, as so often happens with Science Fiction, much of the science has outstripped the fiction. Instead of trying to fix the whole mess, I have chosen to restart from square one.
About three months ago I started a new novella to take its place, with a single central character whose life covers the major epochs of The Sisterhood. I realized too that this will be more effective because, unlike the original Part Seven, it is a single narrative and therefore will flow more easily. With multiple stories and characters, there is the tendency to put the book down between tales.
With the removal of the multistory Part Seven, the rational for including Tales of the Vekkan Cults was largely gone. So, it needed go as well. [That moved the 'new' Addendum B and Addendum C up to Addendum A and Addendum B]
Part Eight - “Summation”
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-part-seven.html
~I took a big chunk of the Summation and edited it into Part Two. I now need to re-expand it with some new material and also blend in the old Addendum C [The Individual and The Hive]. http://nebris.livejournal.com/7610428.html [unchanged since 2/13]
Addendum A [Calendar for A New Matriarchy]
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-addendum-d.html
Addendum B [The Temple's Flag]
http://theexplanation-nebris.blogspot.com/2011/09/her-prophet-explains-addendum-e-temples.html
As before, for those who are interested, the process by which this is taking place can be followed at Her Prophet Blathers About Re-Writes.