Diminishing Interest

[trolls' bane]

I find that the way I write now works good too. I put down a chapter or so on paper, making it sound great to me at the time, then later on read it and think it's too dumb. Then, I transcribe it to the computer, using memory of the next few sentences and a little bit of changing and it sounds great when it comes out on the screen. Usually, these transcriptions come out with a different number of paragraphs and sentences, and it has worked quite well.

I notice, though, that while I'm writing, the characters are totally different, but their personalities slowly blend together. That is why, and I've planned this ahead, one of the main characters in ZAQ1 (Percy Russell) is going to stay behind (doesn't ruing much telling that now, because that only makes you just as far ahead as I am) on-planet, and a few other characters are going to be killed off, with a possibility of one returning when I can start off his personality with a clean slate (not a new personality, but you get the idea).
I also feel that it is easier on me to "bump up" chapters. By this I mean that I write out a chapter, then later on (usually the next chapter) I find that I need to add a whole lot of something in to have a smooth story. So, I take the chapter (the one I had finished) and "bump it up" to the next chapter (i.e. Chapter 6 becomes 7 while former Chapter 7 becomes 8). I also divide and join chapters, parts of chapters, and paragraphs. The first two chapters of ZAQ1 were originally not chapters at all, but when I realized the potential of the story, I divided it into two chapters. I went along with writing, and pretty soon the two resulting chapters little resembled their original form. This caused a slight problem, because now half of what is now chapter two was chapter one back then, so I added in all of the necessary stuff in front of present-day chapter 2, made the beginning of present day chapter 2 into chapter 2, and the part before thus became chapter one. Even the chapter mark has gone up and down on the first 5 pages many times since, but I think I like the way it is now.