Chapter 2: The Slog (aka my villain origin story)
I couldn’t make myself go back to Biosphere this weekend. It’s ‘edited’ all the way to the end of Chapter 2. I ran it through Claude again and have to read through Claude’s output and compare to what I have. I don’t think I’m going to be completely impressed, it’s not going to get the emotions right, but it’s a process. I’ll wait until next week to approach it again. I need the story to feel right.
I don’t feel like writing a blog tomorrow either, so here I am today. I really have to move on to the physical tasks of life. Like unpacking the boxes and selling old items before winter hits again. Or doing the donations.
I just hate having to go out with a hijab on, it’s so cumbersome to me. I don’t feel comfortable in it in the sense that I always feel like something is showing, like I’m not doing it right. I like the impact of it. Usually most people leave me alone and only the good people approach or initiate conversations. I don’t know, maybe I should learn to get used to it. Maybe I should take it on permanently. If only it felt more comfortable. (If only life was easy, huh?) I can’t eat with it on either, it always goes haywire.
I wanted to do something productive though, so I started work on a nonfiction book. I don’t know how far I’ll get with it, to be honest. I’ve abandoned so many in the past. I start them based on whatever I find interesting at the moment and then when I lose interest, I move on to something else.
That’s not the case with Biosphere, I will get back to it, because I really do love the story. It’s just that Chapter 2 is a slog. I need to put it in place though, I don’t want to skip ahead right now. I’m afraid if I skip ahead, then I won’t want to do it later when I come back to it. I won’t find any meaning behind it. I’ll get lost in the rest of the story and not want to write something so mundane. So I want to put something down on paper…er…screen. I want to be forced into the character’s head during this time, I feel like the process is worthwhile and good practice. I know after this rough point, the rest of the story should be better. Maybe. It’s going to suck if it’s not. Chapter 3, I already know I’m having trouble figuring out a few things. Buuuut we’re not going to sweat it too much. This is an exercise of just getting things down for now. I will come back and fix it later. Especially after I get to the end, I know that I’ll know more and can draft better the second time around.
With this non-fiction book though, we’ll see what’s up. So far it’s interesting. I just gotta keep the interest level up.
Writing Biosphere has definitely helped my processes. Which is fantastic, because that was the intention of starting it in the first place, so that I can get practice before I tackle Sumarian again. It’s getting me used to managing longer form of writing. Chapter 2 is around 7k words, which is nothing in comparison to the 13k tombs Fictionlyn used to write, but us small potatoes on the ground can’t start dreaming above our station yet. Gotta put in the time and effort to build up to that greatness. And great we shall be one day. Or end up as a plate of mashed potatoes which doesn’t sound as bad considering the yummy factor.
Writing non-fiction as a side project to my side project (Biosphere) is doing wonders for my sanity at the moment. I seem to have this unspoken rule of working at least 4 hours on my writing every weekend. I couldn’t dream of dedicating that much time to Biosphere this time around due to how agonizing it’s been lately. This NF is giving me the chance to breathe, noodle around a bit, research something I’m interested in, and follow my curiosity into the abyss. Will a book actually result from it? Remains to be seen, but I’m going to enjoy the process for now.
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