Hello, and welcome! I am ZmunkZ, or if you prefer, Mike. I am educated in physics and mathematics, I work in software and databases, and I am a student of VFX, writing, 3D CGI, guitar, poker, and a variety of other things. This site is where I go to talk to myself. Note: the FDA has ruled this site unsafe for casual or professional consumption.Well, it is official. After many weeks of considering the pros and cons, and breaking my way into my next project, I have finally decided the fate of Spawn.
I always knew going into this project that it would be primarily a learning experience, and maybe also something publishable. I am busy revising the last 8 chapters from draft 1 to draft 2.5, and I have finally come to accept that I am fully comfortable with Spawn becoming a testament to my maiden voyage into writing, and never giving it to the light of day. It is hard to explain how much the process taught me, but the truth is it is only one of many stories I want to tell, and not even a particularly well organized one.
I will continue my revisions to version 2.5 through the ending, and I will continue workshopping until chapter 32, then I am putting it on the shelf as a commemoration of the work that got me started. Maybe, in a few months, I’ll come back and incorporate all the beta feedback, but most likely I’ll just let it die quietly, and steal any bits I liked for other works.
The primary factor in the decision has been my explosive excitement around the new project, the Lunhina Trilogy. Worldbuilding, character development, and outlining for this project went from 0% to 100% in a matter of days, and I have already planted the first 5700 bricks towards the project. I have no doubt alpha readers will bring me off cloud 9, but if I do say so myself, this is going fantastically compared to Spawn. It feels more alive, the characters feel more real, and the story is more organic. I am not fully surprised by the different, considering how much I learned in the first round, but I am surprised by the momentum. In a matter of days, I fell fully behind Lunhina and lost almost all interest in Spawn. Some of that is just excitement at a new project, but it is deeper than that. Spawn has served its purpose, and done so admirably, paving the way for a much better project.
Once I get all chapters to d2.5 and workshopped to 32 (of 41), I’m turning it in, and calling it a day. Lunhina is a different kind of story. This one I would like to sell and publish… that is the point. Last time that would have been an added benefit, but the point was to learn. The stakes are higher now, and I’m aiming for the outfield.
