concerning Diamonds and Dust

The thing about Diamonds and Dust is that right now I am very split between trying to sit down and write the rest of it out - just to have a first draft done - and going back to the beginning and revising. I'm sure many of you are thinking, "FINISH, DAMN YOU!" Bits of me are saying the same. But the problem with this is that I've gotten to the point in D&D where it's obvious that the story is really starting to take on a life of its own - it's going in a completely different direction than what it started out in. Many of the ideas I have for revisions reflect this, especially where the characters and their relationships with each other are concerned (coughGinWillHunterZachcough). There are also a lot of places in the middle that could really be fixed in terms of pacing and POV, and there a lot of additional scenes that I would add that would strengthen the characters, give more insight into people and backgrounds, and generally make the story much more cohesive than it is right now. And Virginia cries too damn much - it's driving me absolutely crazy. The story I have in my head right now no longer reflects what's been posted on FP, and I don't like that. I don't like the idea that subsequent chapters I post might reference something I've decided to edit and would therefore be lost on my readers or just confuse them out of their minds.

I think more than anything D&D really reflects how transitory the writing process can be. In this instance, a lot of this is because when I started writing this, I didn't actually have any idea what was going to happen - I just had Virginia, a girl freshly out of boarding school, and the vague knowledge that she was about to get way in over her head. I knew that she was going to have to deal with a whole lot of shit, and that the things she was going to experience would test and change her as a person. This much, at least, has remained the same, but how I want to show that now has changed. The beginning, I feel, no longer best reflects Gin's current situation, and it by no means sets the tone for the story that I want it to set.

So... I think it's fairly obvious at this point that I've pretty much already made my decision. I'm going to start actually revising Diamonds and Dust. I haven't decided how that process will work exactly - if I will post revised chapters as I go or not. I do know that the chapters are already long enough as it is, and that any additions I make will completely change how the story is presented in its chaptered format. Right now I'm leaning towards finishing Chapter Eleven - simply because I know exactly what I want to happen and it would be a good place to pause at, and I also feel like I might be stoned to death if I don't - and then returning to the beginning from there. I don't want to scare you guys away with words like hiatus and on hold, but it's a very real possibility... at least until I'm done playing catch-up.

I imagine that after this first editing process is complete, the second version of Diamonds and Dust will look very different from the original D&D you knew and loved. Hopefully you will love this one even more, and will believe - like I do right now - that the revisions will do the characters and the story far more justice than it does right now. But I guess only time will tell. Till then, though, please let me know what you think.