Fic Talk > Updates
Drop it like it's hot! Or... Updates from Dee. :o)
nicksgal:
Woah, blast from the past!
So I've come back and decided to take on Wednesdays for an update day (seems like no one is using it and Wednesdays are what really started this whole thing, more on that below). So before I talk about my newest update, I wanted to talk about why I started writing again.
Fellow writers, you will understand that sometimes you are carrying on with your day and a character or plot (a Rose plot bunny, if you will) will pop up and say, "Hey."
Right around the time AJ started on DWTS and Nick first appeared on Masked Singer in a crocodile suit (I'm really glad this will never be a spoiler here), this persistent little guy (https://ibb.co/GxDQhG3) popped into my head and said, "Hey, remember that thing you knew in PBox, but no one else knew in PBox unless they were really good at extrapolating from incomplete information? Even me?" "I remember." "Let's talk about that." "What do you want to talk about? It's been a decade." "Let's write it." "I don't think anyone will read it, it's been a decade." "Who cares about reading it? Let's write it." "Nick, we're writing for free, reader engagement is currency. Also a decade." "Time-schmime, money-schmoney, let's write it." "Nick..." "Let's write it."
And this went on for about a week until he finally said, "I'm still here after a decade waiting for you tell this story. Isn't that a good enough reason to write it?" And I thought about it. "Well, okay, Nick, since you're here, let's write it. But first we have to fix some problems in PBox..." "Fine, let's go fix them... And then we write!"
So before I started fixing those problems (like I remembered how much I hated chapter 10, 11, and 12 for instance), I went back and read the whole story and in that process remembered all the love I had for the characters and their journey and the original complete story I had wanted to tell about them, even though some bits needed some TLC (like chapter 10/11/12). "Nick, you were right, we should write it." "I was right! Yay! Time to write!"
So I sat down and started writing, but it was just bits and pieces at first, parts that seemed interesting, snippets of dialogue, or notes to research later if I ended up still writing. I even drew the crudest map of Safaiananpou on my phone with my finger in Google keep (it is so bad and squiggly, calling it bad and squiggly does not do the description justice for how bad it actually is). Then Nanowrimo approached... And in a year of self improvement, I stared at it and said, "Nick, let's try to write something every day." "We're writing again! Every day!"
So on November first, I went back to the beginning and wrote and wrote and wrote and edited in those snippets where they belonged, all while my tiny cheerleader supported me. I thought, maybe I can write 50,000 words, but my only real goal was to write something down each day rather than aiming for the suggested 1,667 words (like on election night, I only wrote 5 words, but I wrote them and celebrated that). "We did it, Nick!" "Yay!" And every day, I wrote and we celebrated, whether it was a 133 word day or a 5,726 word day (that only happened once).
To be honest, Nick actually previously came tapping (with a similar conversation, just substitute "five years" where "decade" is) when the real Nick was on DWTS (there's something great about new Backstreet on TV once a week, it's like the 90s). However, while I had some motivation, I had no real ideas at the time after I wrote about ten pages of half of the then first, second, and fourth planned chapters (the content of these original chapters is still there, but quicker paced in this final version as chapters one and two), then walked away hoping my little buddy Nick knew I just didn't have it anymore.
But as you've noticed, and I mentioned, he's a persistent little guy (he always has been), and this time, Nick poked, nagged, and chewed the scenery until I wrote what was interesting ("Fill it in later," he said) while waiting on ideas for completing the blanks rather than constantly hitting a block and walking away. And in the end, I did write 50,000 new words (51,768 new words actually, it's the first time I've ever finished NaNo despite trying many times) plus the snippets I'd already written which translated into twenty-one chapters of Nick's story that he kept begging me for.
And that whole time he sat at my desk, cheering me on. Then at the end of November he said, "Look, we wrote it." "We sure did." "Now, let's see who will read it." "Alright. You and me, buddy." "Go say 'Hi' first." "You're right, we should go say hi first." And the craziest part is, now that I sat and wrote every day for an entire month, I finished dinner most days last week and thought "Now what?" And he popped in and said, "Let's keep writing today." And I did and now there's twenty-two chapters (and probably twenty-four to twenty-six soon knowing I have a big chunk of "interesting tid bits" I wrote down already that happen right around now in the story's timeline). So, today, thank a persistent Nick for insisting the rest of his story gets told, his persistent insistence is also why he didn't die the first time around (Is this a spoiler? Probably!). Here's a cheers to those characters and Rose plot bunnies that bother us until we do something about them. Onward to the next bit!
nicksgal:
Alright, part two, the story. So persistent small demon Nick insisted that you hear the rest of his story. A summary below:
Pandora's Necklace
A demon shrouded in only shadows.
A ceaseless and persistent curse.
An evil strong enough to be coveted by the Devil.
A necklace ready to ignite.
When the box no longer exists, what binds demons and priestesses? What do they fight for? And what will they find at the end of their battles?
So that being said, welcome back to this tale. If you haven't read Pandora's Box, you will be very confused, so go read it if: this sounds at all interesting, you were intrigued about just what brought me back, or you read all the posts on this forum mentioning him and thought "I like that tiny persistent Nick, he sounds like a good seed" (he is). You can probably read it comfortably over a week or so if you want to dive right into Pandora's Necklace. If you read PBox originally, a few things are being edited and added here and there, but nothing that majorly changes the story as a whole entity, so this next arc should all make sense. I'll leave notes for you at the bottom for any chapters you may want to revisit if they had any sort of overhaul that's relevant to the current plot. I signed up for an AO3 account, at the suggestion of everyone here, and will be spending the next five weeks or so (minus a holiday week story, probably) updating/posting the edited chapters for Pbox before posting Pandora's Necklace. This week, the first ten chapters are up in their shiny and best edited form!
However! You all can read PBox now! So for loyally hosting my musings and stories for the past 14 years, I figured I should post it here while the option is available. So, please find links as follows:
Pandora's Box on Absolute Chaos (with shiny updated chapters 1-10): http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894
Pandora's Necklace on Absolute Chaos: http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=11583
Pandora's Box on AO3 (if you want to enjoy 10 chapters at a time): https://archiveofourown.org/works/27988290
Treat me kindly, y'all!
FrickingKaos:
Oh Em gee. You have NO idea how much i squealed when I saw a story/sequel to Pandora's Box. The original is one of my very favorite stories and I am super excited to see you post again.
RokofAges75:
I'm glad you're back and writing again! Sometimes a good long break is needed to get the creative juices flowing again and discover your passion for it again. And sometimes discipline is needed to get you going again. I am most productive when I'm on the "force yourself to sit down and write something every day" plan. Like you said, some days I only write 5 words, and other days I write 2,005, but hey, you never know until you try. I'm glad it's been going well for you!
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on December 12, 2020, 07:42:05 AM ---Oh Em gee. You have NO idea how much i squealed when I saw a story/sequel to Pandora's Box. The original is one of my very favorite stories and I am super excited to see you post again.
--- End quote ---
Aw, Delphina! I'm excited to hear that! I didn't think it was anyone's favorite but mine, especially after this long, haha. Let me know what you think!
I enjoyed typing up that little author chat, so I'm planning on writing one for every update. So I hope you'll enjoy some nice background thoughts/behind the scenes chat on it all.
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