#WordWeavers 2406.10 — MC POV: if you could wipe something from your memory, would you do it? CW: Intense
Hypotheticals are valid only in quantum thaumadynamics, but I'll humor you on this one. I watched someone die, struck down on the street realizing in the same moment that had I not saved the evil beside me that had thrown the grenade he would be alive. The horror of the moment, the smells of smoke and the sounds of shots, return to me as PTSD episodes. It's triggered when I find myself powerless to protect the people I'm responsible for. It happens more often than you would expect.
Would I wipe away that memory? No. Without it, might make the same mistake of justifying evil. Especially when I see it in myself.
Citron is an arsonist. He likes to see things (not people) burn. He is also a gawky teenager who works to pay the rent for his aged parents, while trying to act cool around his coworkers. He dresses sharp. And he's employed by the mob. He's got plenty to fear, like keeping his fragile world together for as long as possible.
Lesser fears?
Girls. It's not like he can talk about his hobby or his job or comic books with them.
Well, not exactly. His boss is around his age, though a heck of a lot more mature. She especially likes how he can be all business and turn off his ego. She's incredibly cool, like that time she handled the constables that had been tipped off about their evening delivery. Best of all, she likes his talent. (Spoilers: It's magic.) Calls him her power-pyro.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 10 Nbr 10 — Do you revise and add more plot if you feel your story is too short?
Inklings was supposed to be a sudden fiction story, but 800 words proved insufficient to express a shy person's predicament with attraction. Adding more words developed the characters to where I could see a further ending, first to where they might misinterpret themselves into bed, and then again to where the love interest's past breaks into the present and the MC has to save his life with her magic. Now I see an epilogue, too.
Yes. Each change required a revision and backfilling earlier parts to create foreshadowing. This allowed me to add more plot.
Was it because it was too short?
Um... except for the 800 words in the beginning, well... dunno.