Excited. Excited! Shush!!

One annoying mistake I’ve been making is absently calling chapters ‘scenes’. A chapter can include multiple scenes but a scene is just, well, ONE scene. And when I say stuff like I’m taking the outline a scene a day, it sounds like I just spend an entire day wrangling with one teeny scene haha. Or like my individual scenes are essentially short stories—for people who see me posting about reaching 6k words a day. Serves me right for posting with excitement* and not attention lol.

Anywayyy, in this case I really do mean ‘scene’. I have been very excited about writing the book 3 of ADOBS and I think I’ve abused that word already. Every day, I post about a scene I just wrote or am about to write, and it’s always tagged exciting. When I noticed this some days ago, I wondered if my followers ponder if there’s ever a scene that’s NOT interesting for me, or if I’m just full of shit.

The truth is that even for scenes that initially scare me to approach, by the time I tackle them and get to the end, I fall in love with them. I love how they turn out and I also feel accomplished for being able to step up and face them. I love seeing that they actually weren’t as scary as I thought and now I’ve conquered the mountain. This makes them exciting for me. So it’s not that writing is an entirely rosy process for me. I’ve had scenes in other books that even by the conquered end, I still didn’t feel joyful; they were that hard to write. But with this manuscript and with my previous one—Ailey Ose Is Endgame—it’s all ended with joy and excitement.

Then there are the scenes where right from the jump I’m excited to unfurl them. And the process of working through it until the end is a time of bliss.

I recently posted about the new plotline that I am weaving into my series. At first, I was so intimidated by the idea and initial outline because it was all tragedy. Like, from the moment this new character is introduced until the end, they don’t know joy and don’t catch a breath from grief. Part of what inspired this is that from Bookstagram, I noticed how much readers love books that break that hearts. (I will never relate). And that these are the type of books that stay the longest in their minds. (I can somewhat relate to this part.) Of course, my goal is to provide future readers with a memorable story and reading experience. Hence that was a part of the inspirations for making this character’s arc completely tragic.

But this was scary for me to write because I’m just not that type of writer. Heck, I’m not even that type of reader. I found myself procrastinating. Bulking up my outline. Going back to tweak this or that. And it finally occurred to me that I needed to change something in the tragic outline if I wanted to actually get to work.

And so I did. I shed a bit of light on the character’s dark situation. (Although now I’m hoping I haven’t shed too much light). And it has been a BLAST to write since. There’s a ton of banter—which I LOVE to indulge in! There’s other intriguing stuff I’d best not spoil too early. I’d been sure the Book 2 additions would be easier to write and Book 3’s would be the soul killer. But Book 3 so far has been easier to write compared to Book 2’s own tragedies.

This brings me to the main point and inspiration for this post. Which is an outing scene I’ll be working on today. Lord I AM SO EXCITED!!!

I almost wrote it late last night, after finishing another awesome chapter, because I was itching to experience the moment. I don’t even know how I managed to pull away from my laptop and eventually decided it would be better I waited until this morning.

Based on reading books from the author who inspire me most, I’ve come to love slice-of-life moments in fantasy books. It’s another thing I’ve noticed settle readers in a fantasy world and makes them want to return. Some other books with these moments are the City of Brass and Divine Rivals. Many fantasy books focus on the nitty gritty details and readers go in and out, never to linger or return. Other than where the dungeon, palace, slums, and battlefield are, we don’t know what types of music a kingdom prefers in comparison to their neighbors, or what yearly festivals the MCs enjoy.

I’ve tried to weave these into my books, going a step further to touch on recreational activities. And since it’s fantasy, these activities can be as out of this world fun as possible hehe. Anyway, with the intensity of Book 3, it felt alright to dribble in a few scenes of my MCs catching a breath and interacting with softer parts of the world. This next scene will see an MC and a… friend going to a restaurant. (Cue broad smile). I’ve never written a scene in my fantasy worlds of characters going to dine before. I’ve mentioned theaters and dance clubs, but this is new.

So again, I’m very excited!! To take readers into the city and show them a glimpse of what the social life is like.

Since yesterday, I’ve been on Pinterest seeking gorgeous restaurant ideas and looking for ways to make it fantastical. I’ve been picturing the scene in my head, and just preparing in advance while I have to wait to write. These EXCITING moments are part of why I love writing so much.🩷