Recovery day, in Digital Magic chapter 12.
The commentary will lag a week for the next little bit. Eventually, there will be a catch up, but not right away.
Digital Magic is still in a raw first draft version. I have marks I use for later passes to fix later. In NaNo. the idea is to get the words written, not agonized over. If I don't like a word but can't think of the one I want, I'll leave a special character that wouldn't normally appear, like $, or block out the word or phase with {} or []. On an edit pass, these stand out.
I didn't want to write out the party and all the events happening during it. Not even as a montage. It wasn't plot or characterization critical, even with me trying to get Jackie and Steve together. The aftermath is more interesting and lets readers fill in their own details. Everyone has a different definition of a wild party.
Speaking on chemistry, Jackie and Trish's nameless classmate might have more chemistry than the intended potential pairings, Steve and Lance. Again, romance be hard, yo. I try to challenge myself, but this went beyond my skill level. Some planning might have helped, but even when I do some primitive outlines, things change as the story decides to go elsewhere. It's something that came up with other stories I've posted that had large gaps before the last few chapters were done. But I thought I had the characters thought out for Digital Magic. Just not thought out enough.
The hookups mentioned were mainly for the fun of wrapping up the party. They also emphasize that Jackie hasn't paired up yet. Adding in Gary and Liam was an early attempt by me to show some diversity. At the time, it was something I just tossed in. Why not? Chances are good that at least one of Trish's classmates is gay. No use in denying or whitewashing it. Someone else can write their story, though. I'm having enough problems with a heterosexual romance.
Jackie's training session with Lance covers three elements. One, that he is in the running with Steve for Jackie's affection. Two, that Jackie is developing her own approach. Magic, at least in this setting, changes from caster to caster. Three, Lance is part of a larger group of people. One-person operations don't really need a warehouse. And the B-plot comes out, finally. I think, on retrospect, I would've been better off getting the B-plot out sooner and making it the A-plot. Hindsight is, much like this year, 2020. The B-plot gave me a structure to work in, one that I can build out from. The Soul Blade went this route. The romance in that story came organically. That, ultimately, is the problem with Digital Magic. The romantic elements aren't organic and Jackie is resisting being paired off as a result.
The nature of ley lines, in Digital Magic Chapter 14.
Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, History of Adaptations, 2010-2019..
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Archie Meets Batman '66.
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