Actual image of the writing process.
As threatened, it's a Q&A episode to celebrate 200 subs! As it turns out, I don't really have that much of interest to say, but uh.... here it is!
A. G. Meade: How does Puck get along with the other gods? (And when was the last time he saw another one?)
Some of them he gets along quite well with, while things have been a little more turbulent with others. The last chapter, Tiamat, introduced the concept of the Chaoskampf cycle, which comes up in various mythologies, and basically consists of a chaos god being overthrown by a hero deity. Familial relations get a bit tense after you end up on the losing end of this cycle enough times.
Conveniently, part two of this question has been answered in the chapter Family since you asked it, so I don’t have to make something up 😅. Eva and Mara, the gods of life and death, are Puck’s closest family members, and the ones he’s seen most recently.
Pilot Obvious: What is your process of writing an episode from start to finish? How long does it take you to write an episode? Do you write in batches? And what do you think makes a story compelling?
The process technically starts with outlining, which in the case of this novel I did 2 years ago, before I’d ever written a complete novel. Since then I’ve added to the outline and rearranged it quite a bit, but foolishly failed to cut out parts that really should have been cut. The actual writing part of the process is pretty messy -- I kind of just word dump onto a page until I’ve hit all of the points on my outline for the chapter. Then (and this is important) I let it sit for several weeks before editing. Ideally, editing is where it goes from raw word vomit to something entertaining to read, but I unfortunately don’t always leave myself enough time to edit, and it shows.
Most of my episodes are around 1000-1500 words, which when I’m focused, only takes me an hour or two to write. Sometimes those hours take place all at once in a single day. Other times they get stretched out over a week or more (especially chapters that require a lot of research). I try to get at least one done every week, to maintain my buffer.
When I was making a comic I wrote it in batches, but the novel is just an ongoing thing. In my head it’s broken up into plot arcs, so while I might take a week off posting between arcs, I keep writing every week.
Lots of things can make a story compelling! I love a good character arc, plot twists that don't feel contrived, detailed world building (but please, no exposition dumping), unusual narrative structure, etc. I just love well done storytelling!
IHateFridays: How long have you been planning this story for? What inspired you to write it?
I planned most of it out a couple years ago, though certain pieces only fell into place more recently. Some I’m still figuring out.
I honestly can’t remember where the idea originally came from… I think I just wanted to write about a friendship between an immortal and a human, without going into vampire age gap romance territory.
Audahlys: What is Puck's favorite drink? How did you come with the design for Elliot and Puck? Did anything in particular inspire you?
Puck loves a sugary cocktail, apparently. I didn't plan for this, it just happened. I believe that Brandy Alexanders are his favorite, but he’s a fan of variety.
I’m not entirely sure where Puck’s design came from, other than that I wanted to give him an aquiline nose. Elliott was supposed to look a lot more androgynous than they turned out… I’ve spent a lot of time looking through photos of cute androgynous haircuts, trying to figure out if any of them would work for my hair type, and I think Elliott ended up a weird amalgamation of traits from various models. Someday I hope to illustrate them in a way that matches how I imagine them.
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