Welcome to the cKotch.Com blog. I’m Christopher Kotcher, and this is Kotcher’s Pen. Time to delve into my writing’s inner workings.
Uniting the Stories
Last week, I covered the joys of revision. I detailed my general history with revision and discussed my current routines.
This week, I go into more depth on the revision of my lifelong literary project, Story Chronicles. I want to further explain the history I’ve already shared and reveal recent developments.
So, without further ado, let’s begin at the beginning.
Story Chronicles is the one piece to unite four series of stories first written in my earliest days.
I’ve already detailed two of the series in depth. Cubey and Liney’s stories cover the adventures of a cube who befriends a Line Spirit. Winzow and Dooz’s stories involve robots with a window and a door for a head defending humanity from evil robots.
The other series would be the Preservers and the Laser Heads. Those will get their own in-depth posts in time. I’ll be sure to create some links here when that happens.
For now, I’ll say the Preservers are spies protecting the world. They have access to both magic and technology, and they’re guided by a living book called Rulebook.
Regarding the Laser Heads, I’ll say they’re aliens from a distant planet. Powerful laser cannons rest in their heads. Their society is built around fighting tournaments and colonizing other worlds.
These stories have always been dear to me. Their fun, wild tales have always put a smile on my face. Much of my greatest joy in life comes from seeing these characters bring similar smiles to others.
In my mind, these four sets of stories have always stood together. There’s just something about them among everything else I’ve written.
I wanted them to remain together even when written and published.
So, I created a character to link my stories together. He would be a young writer, a bit shy but with a good heart. He could be someone who represents my own experiences creating these tales.
I made Ulysses Nlucky a storyteller, and I gave these stories to him.
Spread Across a Series
My initial plans made Story Chronicles a series of eight short books. They’d have four Ulysses’ chapters and one story from each of the four series.
Every chapter led to a story. After all, the whole point of these books was telling the tales. At this point, Ulysses was merely an excuse to connect them.
This can really be seen in how I first started writing those initial versions of Story Chronicles.
I actually wrote the stories first. Ulysses’ segments were created second as a mere framing device.
For example, in this early version, most of Ulysses’ chapters tended toward a typical three-part structure.
There would be a reaction to the previous story told, followed by some mishap or bad luck, and finally, another story would be created to help escape the bad luck.
Ulysses was meant to be a normal kid character. However, these early days certainly presented him far more cartoony than I would eventually have him be.
I mean, my original first Ulysses chapter featured him tripping on a mirror and sliding down a hill all the way to school.
I wrote the first full draft of the first Story Chronicles book in this early style. I didn’t get much further than that.
In fact, the only story series I fully prepared were “The Adventures of Cubey and Liney” and “The Winzow and Dooz Saga.” Spreading a good tale across eight stories for each of those series led me to plan the rest of Story Chronicles as an eight-part series.
Of course, I never did craft the remaining seven books in that original style. I don’t know why.
I did have a tendency to bounce between projects back then, but I also still started some sequels here and there. And yet, those original Story Chronicles sequels never came.
In the end, I believe, even at a young age, there was something missing in those books to me. They weren’t what I wanted them to be.
I wanted something bigger and better, something grander and greater. I wanted to make a classic of epic proportions.
One Big Book
I wanted to make Story Chronicles one big book.
Here, all the stories could truly be united. Here, all the little plot points in Ulysses’ chapter could weave together in some grand narrative.
Around this time, Ulysses’ chapters dropped their cartoony nature. The stories were already fantastical enough. I thought his chapters could be a balance to them.
You’d see all these crazy adventures in every story. Then Ulysses would help balance their intensity with his simple life.
However, I also wanted to see some excitement in Ulysses’ chapters. So, I decided to have some fun with the narrator.
I’m almost embarrassed to admit the fact now, but I feel I can trust you. The early drafts of the one-book version of Story Chronicles featured alien narrators.
They were a microscopic species flying around in an invisible tour vehicle. The tour guide was a massive fan of Ulysses’ writing and was travelling through time to show his people the inspiration for the kid’s stories.
The alien angle led to a few interesting choices.
For example, half of the space in any Ulysses’ chapter could be filled with references to movies and games. Since the aliens wouldn’t know about them, they’d just describe them in some comedic way.
I gave a few comments on the future of humanity as well. Silly stuff like us not being able to beat the common cold for another thousand years after Ulysses’ lifetime.
Over time, the alien angle grew grating to me. I started running out of ideas for references, and I saw little point in the tour guide’s nerdy narration over time.
When I began questioning my alien angle, I started questioning other things too. Mainly, I wondered why I thought Story Chronicles would work as one book.
I mean, I hadn’t even cut any planned stories or chapters from my earliest plans. The thing would have been a whopping sixty-four chapters, an absolute behemoth!
These thoughts swirled in my head for a long time. Still, I kept revising Story Chronicles as one book. I couldn’t move past the vision of my single grand epic.
At least, not until recently.
Return to Series
When I was editing Story Chronicles as one book, I was always removing things. Things always had to be simpler so everything else could be jammed in.
Over time, I felt I was losing a good amount of artistry. I was simplifying things so much that much of the original charm seemed to be fading.
I wanted to get that charm back.
Also, I wanted to flesh out more of the people around Ulysses. Many of them play important roles in inspiring his stories. Shouldn’t they have chapters dedicated to their experiences?
There was just so much stuff happening “offscreen” so to speak. I wanted to show it rather than tell it.
Of course, these changes couldn’t be made if Story Chronicles was only one book. I mean, it was already a sixty-four-chapter behemoth.
No, I needed to return to basics. I needed a revision that looked to the past to move to the future.
And so, the vision of the lifelong literary project changed again. Story Chronicles cannot properly be told in one big book. A series of smaller books does it far more justice after all.
There are still many parts of the plan to iron out, but I believe taking the time for this next major revision will be well worthwhile.
Patching the Portfolio
New revisions mean changes to the pieces already in the portfolio. However, there are a few things I wish to note.
When I was initially adding pieces to the portfolio, I did so under the impression Story Chronicles would remain one book.
Furthermore, the Ulysses chapter shared in the portfolio has been split into two chapters.
I do not want to place too much of the series’ first book on this site. I want you to be surprised when the time finally comes for you to hold it in your hand.
Therefore, I’ve come up with the following plans to update the portfolio accordingly.
- Regarding Ulysses, I will share only his first chapter. This version will include much of the content seen in the previous version published on this site. However, the scenes in the car won’t be included. Those are now part of Ulysses’ second chapter.
- The first Cubey and Liney story and the first Winzow and Dooz story will have their full revisions placed on this site. I debated this idea a bit in my head, but in the end, I decided to give people a proper taste of these two tales.
- I’m not planning on anymore full chapters or stories from Story Chronicles to appear here. However, I will write posts about some of them in the future. Like always, these posts will mainly be about discussing inspiration.
- I will keep the older versions on this site. You’ll be able to access them through using a link on the current versions. I wish to include these old versions so you can see how things have changed as an example of my current revision process.
Discussion Time!
This is an exciting time for my lifelong literary project. Probably the only thing more exciting will be the day I finally begin publishing it in full.
I’ll go more into particular plans for the series as I iron them out. For now, just know that, in addition to this blog, Story Chronicles is the top priority in my writing.
Turning to you, what do you think of these plans? Are you going to check out all the changes in the portfolio? If you’ve already been there, what do you think?
Kotcher’s Call to Action
Please check out three revised pieces added to the cKotch.Com portfolio. We’ve got new versions of Ulysses’ first chapter, Cubey and Liney’s first adventure, and Winzow and Dooz’s first mission. Don’t worry, the old classics will remain. You can find the old versions linked in the newly revised versions.
If you like my content and wish to see more, you could check out my books Five Strange Stories and Good Stuff: 50 Poems from Youth on Amazon. They are enrolled in the Kindle Matchbook program, so anyone who buys the paperbacks can also get the eBooks for free.
Finally, be sure to like my Facebook page and share it with your friends. I post a link there whenever a new blog post goes live each Friday at 5:00 PM EST.
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