Clap, clap, clap—we're done, meow.
Time for another round of self-reflection.
Plot outline:
I didn't spend as much time planning this book as I did my last one. This Wuthering Waves fanfic had the game's story to follow, so I only needed to adapt it.
But those constraints also gave me trouble at the beginning, and at a few points later on.
How was I supposed to fit the things I wanted to write into the existing story?
At first, I reproduced the game's plot almost beat for beat for more than twenty chapters, slipping in bits of original material here and there.
The result was that, apart from the first three chapters, which I was fairly happy with, even I thought the next dozen or so felt padded.
If I was just going to copy the game's story, why wouldn't readers log in and watch it there? At least they'd get animation.
After that, I mostly wrote original plotlines involving the protagonist and condensed or cut the game's existing story.
Since the timeline still followed the game, its plot gave my outline a floor to stand on. I didn't have to rack my brains over it.
Characterization:
The game's characterization gave me a foundation, too, so I really only had to flesh out two characters myself.
Those were Mo Bai and Mo Hei, the two major original characters.
Mo Hei was easy to write. As Mo Bai's shadow and imaginary friend, his actions and thoughts revolved around Mo Bai.
In other words, I could build his character simply by writing a little about him whenever I wrote Mo Bai.
Mo Bai.
I swear, if I ever write another fussy, insecure protagonist like him, I'm a **.
It's not that this kind of protagonist is bad. I just can't pull