I have some things I'd like to share. There are spoilers for future lives, so if you don't want to know them, DON'T CLICK the buttons. Easy peasy.
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#1: MC is DUMB:
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Sometimes, I hear someone comment that the MC of a particular novel was dumb. Not only mine but in several of them. I even had the very thought several times. I saw one such comment from a user that I respect very much during this arc.
I think it happens due to miscommunication. It can happen on either side, from the author or the reader. What matters was that the character's intentions and emotional state didn't get through with the text.
Exempli Gratia, Snowdrop's actions that led to the nuke, and her accepting the deal to wipe her memories of Radiation magic, including the episodes in which she used it.
Think of how much stress she accumulated up to the events that led to those two key decisions. Seeing Rosalinda be used. Seeing the bounty on [Assassins] turn into a child hunting season. Meeting her brother posthumously and seeing the ghost reject a new shot at life because it was too distressed. Then the dream. Once she came upon the ambush again, she overreacted. BAM, the city was gone. She learns she killed newborn babies. And their mothers too, that much was implied.
See how snarky she was with Wyxnos during their calls. Was she that passive-aggressive in other calls? No. Part of it comes from the fact that each life she is a slightly different person with a slightly different personality. Calling her previous lives by the given name should've been enough, but if it wasn't, then we have another bullet point.
Given the chance to just wipe that shit out, she jumped at it without thinking straight.
So, maybe I didn't convey her feelings and emotional state very well. I might go back and make minor edits to add those feelings and thoughts in more detail.
There's a second reason. The reader was projecting themselves strongly on the character, and those WEREN'T the choices READER would make.
Let me go on a tangent, and use an example. The Nothing Mage, by Nyxia.
In this novel, around chapter thirty-something (it is not online anymore and while I could get it on KU to check, I won't) we get "confirmation" that MC is bisexual. I challenge this notion, because...
He slept with a classmate (female) at his first school, he was transferred to a better one. When he gave goodbye to a senior (male) student at his second school, during an enemy invasion, without knowing if they'd see each other again, he kissed the guy on the lips and went on his way.
Several readers bombed the reviews and quit in disgust. Mostly because they felt they were the ones in MC's shoes. Please let's leave the discussion about prejudice out of this. That is its own can of worms. Nyxia suffered a lot because of their bigotry.
Closing thoughts on this. Apply the Principle of Charity. Quoting Wikipedia:
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
> In philosophy and rhetoric, the principle of charity or charitable interpretation requires interpreting a speaker's statements in the most rational way possible and, in the case of any argument, considering its best, strongest possible interpretation.
So, before calling the MC's decisions dumb or "author made MC dumb because it suited the plot", try to read between the lines and find out the character's implied motivations. Be charitable.
No, I didn't take offense at the comments, honest criticism will never offend me, just point where I might be lacking. Keep'em coming. But it happens often enough with several works that I think it should be discussed.
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#2: Future lives:
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I intend 100% to reach life 100. If the novel ends there or not, only time will tell. ILH has a refreshing mechanism that keeps my imagination fresh, as every life can have a different theme and setting.
Like with the lives, I try to make all of them important, but I classify them into "major" or "minor". Snowdrop is a major one. We'll see profound changes to the three main aspects of the story. MC, System, and World. World History can be classified into "before Snowdrop" and "after Snowdrop". Comparing that to the impact Arista had, one can see the difference. The "minor" ones still bring changes, but it doesn't compare to what already happened and what's to come.
There are three lives that I am already working on, thinking of scenarios and what will happen. Minor spoiler alert, don't click if you don't want to know.
In alphabetical order by species (not the order they'll appear): A Dwarven Miner/Smith, a Gnome Tinkerer, a Human Blood Mage. If they are going to be major or minor I will only know when they happen.
That leads us to the third point.
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#3 The Halloween Chapter
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The Halloween chapter IS canon and will happen somewhere in the future. I have two or three chapters after that one drafted (but they're stale as discussed before) so I can remember key points of that life. The rest is a Major Spoiler for what is to come, but as anyone that read that chapter can tell...
MC lost her memory. So, let me put this out front:
There will be an Amnesia Arc, that will span several lives.
People think that Amnesia Arcs suck.
I spent a lot of time reading on the subject. Why readers think that, why they suck, and my personal experience reading them. Amnesia sucks because we
1) strongly dislike the idea of it happening to ourselves.
2) believe the story won't move forward
3) believe the whole thing is a waste of time
There's a solid, plot-bound reason for it to afflict the MC. I won't disclose it here. Too much.
But I think, back to the three main elements of the story, MC, System, and World, that the amnesia arc will be a good opportunity to develop the latter two, and show different aspects of the former. It will also let secondary characters get in the spotlight and reveal more of what is going on behind the scenes.
I hope it doesn't suck that bad. Unless I radically change my mind, it will happen.
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#4: The other web novels by Yours Truly
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I would love to finish all of them and then more. I have dozens of stupid ideas for web novels, some of them are in the incubator, a few of them aren't. I want to go back and finish them. But right now, I will keep ILH going until the end.
To those that love the other stories, my sincere thank you. And my apologies. You've seen how fast Snowdrop's tale came together. If I'm inspired, I can write 10k words in a day. Please don't comment on the quality. You can ask for your money back. I'll refund 100% of it.
But right now, my brain is full of ILH plots and scenes. Heck, I laid down on my bed yesterday and as I drifted to sleep I came up with an idea that became a late-night chapter. I jumped out of bed, electric as if I'd downed an Energy Drink, and published something.
The other stories are sitting on the back of my mind, waiting to pounce into the spotlight once again. I still have a pretty good memory and everything is preserved and crystallized in my synapses. Let's hope they can come out someday.
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Thanks for reading my works. Here's to 2021 full of several chapters a day.