1-7 Thoughts

This is a blog post talking about 1-7, if you haven’t read it yet, do so here. If you want to give criticisms for this section of the story, you will be able to post in the comments here!

First chapter since after the website has gone public! I actually got hit by a lot of writer's block when I was writing this chapter. The scene with Aroha and Messa was easy enough, since I already knew what her ability was. But that scene was basically all stuff that would be included in 1-6-2, but I wanted a more intense cut-off, so I put it here. But when Isaac stepped into the guest's room, I really had no idea where to go from there.

That's something I often struggle with, actually. These little moments that happen in between the more exciting fight scenes. It's difficult to write these scenes because I don't want to put in filler, but I can't just cut to the next fight, because pacing. I realized that if I had more well defined characters, then I could have more fun or have the scene have some type of substance.

The thing I've been learning is that if you feel like you're writing a scene just to fill the gap, then you should add something more interesting. As I've said in my previous blog posts, I've had a bit of trouble writing Isaac and Messa during these early chapters, so I decided to help fix that.

I actually wrote the scene of Isaac waking up from his dream first, as a 1-7-2 before I thought of the little dream sequence, but then I figured that a two part chapter was unnecessary. Although, having it immediately cut to the next day just felt... off, you know? That's when I finally came up with the dream sequence. I already know where I'm going to take Isaac's character in the future, so here I could add some foreshadowing. Don't worry though, there's a good reason on why Isaac's subconscious would produce a dream like this.

Another thing I often do (that I really shouldn't) is compare my work to others in a really unhealthy fashion. It's often good for newer writers to try and analyze series that they think are great, in an attempt to find out why they work so well. But you can often fall into the pitfall of finding great media that you love, and be hard on yourself for not having some of the great parts of that piece of media. As an example, I'm reading through Jujutsu Kaisen right now, and now I feel like an idiot for not having an introductory arc that's not nearly as exciting as that series' introduction arc. It makes me feel like I didn't capture the quality in battle shonen manga that I try to capture. It feels like I've, in some capacity, failed as a writer.

So as a reminder to myself, and to any future writers out there, just know that your series will be flawed. Sometimes, it will be flawed in places that are strengths for the series you love. But, that's okay. You're trying to make your story, not the epitome of every single thing you enjoy mashed into one piece of media.

Now, I'm gonna chill out and enjoy my 19th birthday, as usual, feel free to post any criticisms in the comments!