Q: What's with the length?!

No one asked this question (yet), but I feel compelled to bring up some of the issues that affect the way that I write, so:

Q: Why is this story so long? Why does it take so long to get to the conflict(s) and resolution(s)?

A: I love words. :)

Actually, the expanded reasoning for the length is that I don't think that very personal issues - like the ones that I'm trying to present in this story - can be solved in a single day (or a chapter, in the case of this story).

For example, one of Chie's principal internal conflicts is that she has a tendency to see things in black and white. There's a definite separation of what is "strong" and what is "feminine" in her mind. She's (very) slowly learning that this doesn't have to be the case, but someone with her very straightforward disposition often needs a kick in the head to really understand the point. It's essentially the same issue that first created her Shadow in the game. (At least, that's how I'm interpreting it.) Yousuke's issue is slightly different: he doesn't want to grow up, but external pressures are forcing him to do so. Both of these characters are coming to terms with the flaws and shortcomings they see in themselves - and in each other - over the course of the story. That kind of soul-searching takes time.

Readers should also keep in mind that, while the story's been "in production" for over a year, for the characters it's only been about seven months since what happened in Chapter 1.

Another issue about the length of the story is that I just enjoy writing the way that the characters interact, my main protagonists most of all. One reviewer said that there was "too much" Chie/Yousuke stuff, and that I wasn't devoting enough time and space to the supporting cast. My reply was that the story is about Chie and her relationships with other people, most notably Yousuke, and that's why they get so much screen time. And (as I mentioned in an earlier post), everyone tends to think that the world revolves around themselves; the story, told as it is from Chie's point of view, necessarily focuses on how she feels, what she does, the moments affecting her life. If I jumped around to other characters' perspectives, I think the story would lose a lot of its subtlety and insight into Chie's character as I've envisioned her. I'm trying to get readers to learn along with Chie, not just be told right out what's happening. She's not a mind reader, and neither should the reader be.

Plus, jumping around to other perspectives would make the wordcount astronomical. :)

That said, there's quite a bit of stuff that I could edit out, but just plain don't want to. Of course, this is author conceit, because - as I said - I love words. But pulling out what I sometimes consider extraneous moments would probably take away from the little character moments that I enjoy so much.

Taking the latest chapter (Chapter 56, "Where Shadows Dwell") as an example, there are several bit moments that I could have left off the page, but I simply enjoyed them too much not to include them:

* the "Who's gonna be leader?" argument;
* a huge chunk of the phone conversation with Naoto and Rise;
* the sleepover at the Tatsumis';
* Rise's phone conversation with Chie;
* Kanji's modifications to Kuma;
* the incongruity of a sexual moment before a battle;
* the kokoro gamae sake ritual;
* and that beating-over-the-head explanation of Souji's Shadow.

The chapter would likely work just as well without any of these, but I felt that they gave a bit more insight into the interrelationships that have developed over the story. (I did, by the way, take out each of these moments - in various stagees of editing - to see how the chapter flowed without them...but put them back in because I'm such a word-hound.)

That said, there likely won't be another chapter as massive as Chapter 56 was. :)

I thank everyone who enjoys the story and the way that I tell it. And for those who don't, well, you didn't have to click on the link in the first place. ;)