Chapter 4 reactions

 Hello hello!

Once again I am astounded by the interest each chapter gets. It seriously makes me wanna lock in every day. But I digress, I’ve been reading the comments as they file in (I’ll be responding to all of them in due time don’t you worry) and the general consensus is that the chapter hit all the marks I wanted. It really worried me about the non-canon backstory addition. It’s a little pet-peeve of mine when I see additions to certain characters that are meant to advocate for more emotional complexity. But they also completely derail the character and make them more sympathetic than they probably actually are.

Draco in leather pants is the trope that usually results from this. It’s not bad per se, but there are always costs and benefits to doing anything. One commenter pointed it out promptly: we get a more complex Anastasia but we reduce that “greed” of hers. Of course, we can rectify that by working the backstory into her greed even more. But that requires time, effort, and proper pacing of characterization. Anyway, I love the idea but there are always pitfalls one should avoid: overly sympathetic to make them likeable. This is different from making them human. It’s like making Draco from HP treat Dobby better in the backstory, without changing fundamentals of who he is or making it make sense. You can do it, just put in the effort to make it work. I don’t want to say this is what good writers do vs bad writers because even good writers drop intro the pitfall. It’s more: writers who care about entertaining the audience AND maintaining a good narrative do this, at least from what I’ve been noticing.

I’m starting to understand the balance between my humor, seriousness, and banter. It was… surprisingly easy to figure out but just required following my gut again. Weird way it  works but I’m not complaining.

Anyway, the next three chapters are progressing but don’t expect another chapter this week. I need to do some reading so I don’t mess up certain dialogue and characterization. So I’ll need some extra time to flesh out.

Anyway, next chapter next Monday, next post tomorrow!