While I’m slowly making my way through the chapters, creating a logical and coherent first draft I try to keep conflict in mind. Conflict is one of the most important parts when writing a story and my goal is to make the internal and external conflict interesting enough so it pushes the characters forward (and keeps the reader interested). But I find myself struggling with this in the chapters 2 (Need) and 3 (Go) of the Story circle.
These are after all the chapters where the character gets the thrill/invitation to the adventure and where there has to be a Point of No Return for said character. *
Although I am still shaping my world/universe and seeding it with conflict, the conflict between the two main characters is constantly in my head. What is their personal drive, how does this manifest and how can I give it more depth? I assume that this will eventually lead to a better intra-personal and inter-personal conflict where these characters become stronger. I have already been spending a long time thinking about them and I am not yet done with this. So I know it’s there, it just needs to make its way to the paper.
Layering
I’ve noticed that my initial word count of these defining chapters 2 and 3 was already lower than some of the other ones that I spend time on, leading to a conclusion that this is just a complicated matter that I eventually will fix, but it apparently needs more time to simmer in my head. Time I will gladly spend on fleshing out the world and continue writing the other chapters until I get the necessary grasp on these chapters to finish a first draft version. That time comes when I know I have made enough additional notes to create coherent chapters and layered enough character elements in the already written scenes so that I can finish a decent first draft. But it doesn’t end there.
Because in a way this is actually not the first draft of the story, but maybe the second or third draft because it already exists for so long in my head. It just is the first draft written out on paper. I know this because I have lately been thinking on how long I have actually been working on a first draft. My best guess is 2 years. But as mentioned before, pieces of the story have existed much longer in my head. And while I’m not sure how much better it has already become then my first concept ideas, the thought of continuing to layer in more quality while I add quantity to the document excites me. And it keeps me pushing forward in a way that I have never experienced before. It strengthens my resolve to keep on going with this, even though it may sometimes cause conflict in my personal situation. But that is something I will elaborate more on next time.
Updates
If you want to keep updated with the process I refer you to my homepage for word count and my WorldAnvil page for worldbuilding. I’m not that big on the socials and also not sure how I want to handle it. But you’re always welcome to follow along.
Notes
* Think of Luke Skywalker in Episode 4: A New Hope from the moment he gets the droids untill he decides to go with Obi-Wan and you know what I mean.