So, here we are. The last chapter of Boneclock. In some ways, it’s a relief, but in others, it feels like a loss. I mean, I have been writing this story for most of the previous year, so it feels like moving up a grade in school. Kind of. I don’t really know how to properly explain my feelings right now, but I can certainly say this: It’s been a blast, even through the frustration and the creative blocks, I had a lot of fun, and I hope you reading this did too.

Now, on to the introspection part. I actually had to go back and skim how I normally wrote these, even though my last one wasn’t that long ago-- in fact, it was exactly one month ago today that I wrote it at time of writing-- but I think I can pull a few topics out. Firstly, I want to focus more on the broader strokes of writing a web serial of whatever people call what I do. Debating characters chapter to chapter is fun and constructive, but there is just as much value in looking at where a character came from, and how they affect the story overall.

This one won’t be the longest, but it will be the one that I have put the most thought into. As such, let’s get started.

Self Improvement

Okay, so this is a word or sentiment that a lot of people throw around and, unlike most words that are thrown around like this one, most actually understand what they’re talking about. And, come on, you know what these words mean. It means the improvement of one’s knowledge, status, or character by one’s own effort. That was lifted straight from the oxford dictionary, by the way, so it’s obvious that a lot of people understand what they’re talking about with this.

But I don’t want to whine about people throwing the term around, I want to highlight a key aspect that I, personally, believe is key to self improvement. Introspection. Yeah, I know that my saying that looks like I’m getting all snooty at people who don’t do these chapters, but hear me out. 

Okay, how many of you have watched CGP Grey? A few, I’m sure. How many of you have watched his QnAs? A couple less, probably. The reason why I bring his channel up is because he was the inspiration for these introspection chapters in the first place. In one of his videos, he stresses the importance of using a self evaluation loop to constantly improve, and after thinking about it for a while, I thought it would be a good idea to show people this loop in action, to show how I plan on improving. That’s what all of these introspection chapters have been: my effort to show how I plan on improving. I hope that came across alright, because sometimes when writing these, it feels like a blog, and if anyone here wanted to read those, you would look elsewhere for it.

Novels Unto Infinity

So, as you can probably tell, this is the last chapter of Boneclock. I decided to end it when I did because, really, the story of Mori’s life in Granulous had ended. This is something that a lot of writers forgo in favor of continuing their stories until they ruin it, switching to hiatus whenever that happens. I’ll be honest: I hate that system. I don't dislike putting a bad story into hiatus-- I’ve done it myself already-- but continuing a story until you ruin it robs the reader of the payoff, the catharsis, of a story’s ending. The reader can say that there’s nothing else to read, and it’s an experience both euphoric and depressing all at once. But, in my opinion, that’s an important part of reading novels.

There are only a handful of novels that I have read past the point where the writer clearly planned the ending. All the rest are either novels without a clear end goal in mind, where the storyboard probably went something along the lines of ‘let’s explore a funny or cool premise’ or novels that I dropped because it felt like the characters were going through the motions. It’s depressing when that happens, and I never want my characters to feel like that to any of you if I can help it. 

Self Improving Novels

Alright, now that I’ve covered both facets of this one, I can finally state my slightly controversial opinion. If you start out writing a novel as a bad writer, no matter how good you make it later, you will need to either rewrite it, or end it, because the story will only be as good as your foundational chapters. Okay, what do I mean by this?

Let’s answer that with an anecdote. When I first started writing Boneclock, I was not the best writer. I’m still not. But, right now, I’m pretty sure I’m a hell of a lot better than I was a year ago. The problem I found with Boneclock, though, was that my inferior writing skills back then kept coming to bite me in the ass. Fara and Mori’s friendship, the entire time in Green Oasis, everything that was the foundation of this story came from when I wasn’t as good at writing.

This, in my mind, makes the story built on top of that foundation only as good as that foundation. If you can’t make the readers sympathize with the characters, or make some important turning point in the story too unbelievable, you ruin it for the rest of your story. That’s why I always find the authors who start writing a story when they’re still learning the ropes and continue ad infinitum to be doing a fool’s errand. No matter how you improve after staring, you’re still bound by the quality of your first few chapters. That’s what I think, anyway. I think it can be debated, but until someone is desperate enough for human contact to suffer through my ramblings to debate it, I won’t be changing my mind.

Conclusion

Yeah, I think I covered everything I wanted to. Like I said before, it’s been a wild ride, and I’m happy to have enjoyed/suffered through it. For making it to the end, though, I think you readers deserve a little something. I’ll throw you a bone and explain Blueshift a bit. Basically, it’s ‘what if there was a sci-fi world, but then a magical world made a very rude entrance. That’s the broad strokes, anyway. I also have another project I’m working on, but I’m going through some… life altering times right about now, and I want to make sure I can handle one novel, rather than kill myself dealing with two. Anyway, Blueshift chapter two should be available for the $5 patrons by the time this one comes out, so stay tuned. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.