SGA/Pern Big Bang fic progress

[icarus]

John has met the feral dragon. The writing in this first draft is really loose, much less finished that I usually do in a first pass.

I also am trying to finish the first draft before I give it to any betas. Kind of how I wrote Primer to the Dark Arts.

27435 / 40000 words. 69% done!

In reality, I have 19 more scenes to do. I average between 800-1,000 words a scene, so I have roughly 15k left. I think this story will end up being around 45k.

What I find myself flailing for in this story is the theme. I like my stories to have a point, though I usually wait for a theme to emerge and then tie all future scenes to that theme. I thought the theme was going to be one of culture clash, but it seems to really be one of nobility. An unwilling nobleman having to face whether his life is all that noble. He has to conform to the rules of two different worlds. Which one makes him a better person? What does that mean about each world?

I think.

Comments

[elizabeth_rice]

I'm always flailing over(?) the theme. I have some How-To books but I wish I could ask the authors to explain it a bit more.

I usually wait for a theme to emerge
How do you recognise the theme(s)?

[icarus]

Sometimes I have to talk to my betas. Usually I have to have about a third of my story written and the rest of it outlined.

I read through what I have and the outline. Then I flat-out ask myself, "What is this story about?"

My first answers are ... flail-y. General. Not quite on the mark.

Like this story. I initially thought it was about culture shock. But John recovered from the culture shock about halfway through the story -- so what was the rest of it about?

Then I thought it was an exploration of nobility. The nobility of the Lord Holders and their ways, and the truer, deeper nobility of dragonriders sacrificing themselves for all of Pern. But ... eh. It didn't seem to fit right. Because the dragonriders weren't all that noble in most of my story.

I had all these backstory conversations with Auburn about how the life cycles of dragons impacted dragon culture.

Then I noticed in my outline this loose end at the end, dangling. So I wrote in a scene to take care of it -- and explained the scene in my outline, what was happening in the undercurrents of that scene.

Once I had that closing scene, though there's a happier epilogue after it, I could tell what my story was (in large part) about.

It was about culture shock, but it was more about how just like the dragons impacted dragonriders, the Holds impacted Holders. Both groups were shaped by their environment. The impact of environment becomes clear when John is shifted from one world to the other.

Now I guess I need to look deeper into it.

[elizabeth_rice]

Thanks for your reply. I've been thinking about the things you've said all day. I'll keep this in mind while I work on my theme.

On a side note, I haven't read the Pern series but I'm really curious about your story.