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New Ending for Novel!
Dec. 17th, 2010 06:39 amMostly this is a note to self post, but I'm more than willing to share. And hey, if anyone's writing a novel and want to take some ideas from the old version, help yourself.
So, the old version is this: Caprice (female lead) has discovered lust/love at eighteen. Turns out, her spirit guide has been manipulating her body which also manipulates her mind, and she's not really feeling those things. Whether it's real or not, she acts on that by moving in with a guy she "loathes". All the while she's suspicious of him (this guy, Toriaun, has a whole family of essentially serial killers), but who's she to question him and find out for sure? Things don't pan out and she once again becomes a free woman. At age twenty-one, she reunites with him over her job (which is specifically demon-slaying, where he is a demon owner). Once again, she moves in with him. Because her thoughts and body isn't entirely her own, more lust/love ensues.
The new version will explain things better as well as hopefully tell a good piece of the story. Caprice used to be a skeleton spirit (basically, a "living" "breathing" self functioning entity) on the spirit realm, but she wanted a human body and being sent down to the human realm. In order for that to happen, her self-appointed spirit guide had to devote all his time to controlling her human body. Because the life she's living is very temporary, as Caprice is beat over the head with. All that is explained in earlier pieces of the novel. The new information is that up to age eighteen, Caprice's body switched genders every five hours or so. She never got used to it and wanted a set gender. Her spirit guide was able to make that happen, but in doing so, it changed her personality in major ways. The old version of discovering lust/love comes into play here. We go back to the new version, where Caprice has much better control of herself. She can lust and love, but when she's suspicious of Toriaun, she's more than willing to investigate. Yep, she was right to be suspicious. While they're an ideal couple in Toriaun's head and Caprice sometimes wonders what would've happened if Toriaun wasn't a crazy serial killer like the rest of his family, their real-life relationship goes nowhere. Then the meeting him again at age twenty-one does happen and it ends with him thinking she's too tied to her job (demon slaying/leashing) and her thinking he's a total waste of flesh. Demon-based issues come up (to be honest, I haven't thought out the new version for what they are), and the chapter ends with Caprice moving into the demon realm.
Basically, I'm getting the story back to its original concept. There is eventually a relationship of sorts between Caprice and Toriaun (it's creepy) and other characters have genuine romantic relationships, but this trilogy is not supposed to be a romance. It's also not going to be horror fantasy (assuming that's a real thing) and that's unfortunate, but you have to make sacrifices and go with it. Genre woes aside, when I initially came up with the idea, it deeply involved supernatural creatures and all that slaying/leashing was kind of essential (as opposed to, it sounds cool, it makes Caprice appear tough when she isn't, the usual stuff you'd find in some fantasy subgenres). If I use this particular journal as a guide, I think I can make this a decently usable first draft.
So, the old version is this: Caprice (female lead) has discovered lust/love at eighteen. Turns out, her spirit guide has been manipulating her body which also manipulates her mind, and she's not really feeling those things. Whether it's real or not, she acts on that by moving in with a guy she "loathes". All the while she's suspicious of him (this guy, Toriaun, has a whole family of essentially serial killers), but who's she to question him and find out for sure? Things don't pan out and she once again becomes a free woman. At age twenty-one, she reunites with him over her job (which is specifically demon-slaying, where he is a demon owner). Once again, she moves in with him. Because her thoughts and body isn't entirely her own, more lust/love ensues.
The new version will explain things better as well as hopefully tell a good piece of the story. Caprice used to be a skeleton spirit (basically, a "living" "breathing" self functioning entity) on the spirit realm, but she wanted a human body and being sent down to the human realm. In order for that to happen, her self-appointed spirit guide had to devote all his time to controlling her human body. Because the life she's living is very temporary, as Caprice is beat over the head with. All that is explained in earlier pieces of the novel. The new information is that up to age eighteen, Caprice's body switched genders every five hours or so. She never got used to it and wanted a set gender. Her spirit guide was able to make that happen, but in doing so, it changed her personality in major ways. The old version of discovering lust/love comes into play here. We go back to the new version, where Caprice has much better control of herself. She can lust and love, but when she's suspicious of Toriaun, she's more than willing to investigate. Yep, she was right to be suspicious. While they're an ideal couple in Toriaun's head and Caprice sometimes wonders what would've happened if Toriaun wasn't a crazy serial killer like the rest of his family, their real-life relationship goes nowhere. Then the meeting him again at age twenty-one does happen and it ends with him thinking she's too tied to her job (demon slaying/leashing) and her thinking he's a total waste of flesh. Demon-based issues come up (to be honest, I haven't thought out the new version for what they are), and the chapter ends with Caprice moving into the demon realm.
Basically, I'm getting the story back to its original concept. There is eventually a relationship of sorts between Caprice and Toriaun (it's creepy) and other characters have genuine romantic relationships, but this trilogy is not supposed to be a romance. It's also not going to be horror fantasy (assuming that's a real thing) and that's unfortunate, but you have to make sacrifices and go with it. Genre woes aside, when I initially came up with the idea, it deeply involved supernatural creatures and all that slaying/leashing was kind of essential (as opposed to, it sounds cool, it makes Caprice appear tough when she isn't, the usual stuff you'd find in some fantasy subgenres). If I use this particular journal as a guide, I think I can make this a decently usable first draft.
