It's always a nice surprise...

[lebateleur]

..when characters you'd long given up on suddenly start talking again. That's what happened to me today when reread bits of a Saiyuki story I'd given up for dead about a year ago. I started writing it about two years ago, give or take, and have thus far spun two completed stories out of it and gutted the middle for a third story, before giving up on it entirely when I could no longer work Minekura's canon into my plot, and it started to seem as if the characters were speaking in my voice instead of their own.

I was reading what I'd written and thinking to myself, shame, because some of this is pretty good. And then I thought, no, dammit, this is solid writing! and then, I can't give this up! So I sat down and starting thinking about it, and all of a sudden, bits and pieces were falling into place as if they'd always been there.

I had quite a bit of free time at work, during which I filled a good portion of my notebook with a continuation of the story. I'm going to sit on it for a day or two and see how I like it, and if it's still as good as I think it is now, I just might try to finish it.

The good news for you, fragilistikal, is that I wrote it out longhand, so you'll have two more days before you receive your revised page count.