L.J. Writes

I've written a new update for Legends of the Dragon King, my retelling of ATLA as Zuko's story. This particular update is adapted from S1E03 "The Southern Air Temple," the one where Zuko duels Zhao. I've put in a few things that I fancy are clever, which probably means it's confusing to anyone who is not me. Basically a "read over and see if it makes any sense" job, though all comments are welcome. I promise it's not Zuko or Fire Nation apologia--and I'd like to know if it comes across that way--but Zuko is obviously an unreliable narrator at this point. The update clocks in at 4,041 words.

The other planned update is more specific to Legend's prequel Shadow of the Dragon King and will be posted to Stories from the Shadows, the OC-centric short story collection. I've written a post-Shadow dialogue between Azula and my OC Cheng as a follow-up to Azula's "slut" scene and the investigative and intrigue plots in Shadow. It's probably not unduly confusing, but I'd like to know if it has the desired emotional effect. It doubles as a sneaky sequel announcement (I believe I also discussed this project with attackfish, the one with disabled lead characters) so I've been holding off on posting, but between being asked about a sequel and restarting work on Legends I feel ready. The dialogue is 1,105 words long.

I'd been forgetting just how much fun fanfic is. Once I got started I wrote literally through the night, and the sheer joy of it was incredible after my long dry spell. I used my personal anxieties and Important Real World Responsibilities as an excuse to keep myself from just playing around, and I didn't even know how much I needed to. And then I followed this urge to get started and it was like ahhhh. It felt right.

Been swamped for a while. Still am, though it's starting to settle down. I've still been writing and reviewing, including turning over new chapters for Shadow of the Dragon King and Everybody Loves Ty Lee to my lovely beta amyraine whom I also beta for. (So I guess we're mutual betas?) She beta-read the ELTL chapter really quickly and well, and it should be ready for posting after editing.

It seems to me, after reading Amy's comments, that everyone who writes should have a beta. Everyone. It helps so tremendously to have someone else read over your writing and point out the annoying quirks and blind spots you never even realized you had, particularly when that someone is an excellent writer herself. The input is so valuable, I have a hard time expressing the extent of it. (Probably because I should be in bed by now.)

The first story of Amy's that I've wreaked beta shenanigans on is Consequence, Conscience, Choice. The first chapter is up, with the second having gone through its second beta-reading. It's good, and I'd like to think it's become even better after my spit-shining here and there. Seriously, check it out.

( Oh, (beep)! My beta wants the outline and I don't have one! )