Mary Catelli's Erraticly Updated and Exceedingly Ill-Organized Journal

There I was, trudging up to the end of the story.

Then it stopped.

I looked at it.  I knew what happened after the event I described.  But I knew it wasn't part of this story.

I considered the possibility of sequels and jotted down notes.  Ah, how the prospect cut down on a long denouement.

Felt stuck.  Poked something else, and the original problem fell into place.  The heroine's path was going too smoothly.  I needed a problem.

Then I felt stuck on the problem for a bit.  Fortunately, just a twist that can be resolved by some quick thinking worked, but I did need a twist.

Some principles of story-telling work independently of medium.  Notice how few webcomics have installments that do not shift the course of the story, even if not a full-blown peripetia.  

Not mine.  The character's library.  I had put in that there was a library in the home he -- acquired. 

I had also put in earlier that he liked to learn himself.  That he had sneaked off to talk to a wizard just to learn.

So -- that the other characters are reading now is not enough.  He should have read earlier.  I'll have to hint.  Also to let him give some direction.

 What to do to escalate a story after the duke's soldiers have tried to kidnap the heroine?

Why, have the duke himself follow them!  And escalate the search, of course.  Personally committing himself does not, really, in this case mean he's given up on weaseling out of responsibility, that door was sealed when his men came for her.  But he is going to try to escalate the search.  Blame them for not trying hard enough.

Thus the final clash is sharpened.

Something's going to happen. 

Time is passing between the heroine's escape and the rescue force arriving, but things have to happen in there.  Some have to be dealt with in summary, or suggested, because they are time passing in ordinary ways.  It feels a little weak, though.  I think there shall be a bit more drama.  Now I just have to figure out what it is. 

Figured out why some plot bunnies are not forming a plot. 

If you have an idea about a hero who has to go through various kinds of magic and discover which one will solve a problem -- well, I know what the problem is.  I know what the type of magic is.  I even have some other types to mislead him.

The problem is that there has to be some system to plot them so he knows it's exhaustive.  Also, I don't like random laundry lists of odd-ball magics. 

Hmmm -- I may have specialists in light magic and darkness magic, and then generalists. 

Some writers can write scenes out of order.  I can't.   

All right, I can realize in the fifth chapter that a new scene is needed in the second for support.  

But if I write ahead, I then have to fix the scene to fit into the story.  Or possibly junk it altogether.

You can write a story of isolated scenes and have the reader infer the logic, but normally the story bears the reader on the flood with a steady flow.  Smoothing out any snags is essential.

In fact, it will. 

The hero realizes that those who took over his childhood village were in cahoots with the necromancer, but has no evidence.

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