How much do you write before releasing the first chapter?
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CharlesEBrown
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Unless there's a flash drive I have not found or I can recover files from a dead computer it's gone so here was the structure of "Hunter's Moon" as I remember it:
Chapter 1: The middle of three brothers narrates as they are driving to the hunting lodge they inherited from their father; the sun is setting and it looks to be a "Hunter's Moon" (low in the sky, huge and orange moon). They see something at the side of the road, stop and find it is a nearly naked, bloody woman - that the narrator recognizes as the wife of the guy he rented the lodge out to; they were supposed to have left a day before.
Chapter 3: The oldest brother, a medical intern, treats the woman's wounds, hears her story (husband went crazy and attacked her as they were packing to leave, and she fled into the woods, just now finding her way out) and decides, with his brothers, to take her back to the lodge and confront her husband.
Chapter 4 is back with the middle brother as they meet the boyfriend (they claimed to be married but are not. it turns out) and find out that he has no memory of attacking her; in fact, has no clear memories beyond stumbling on an odd stone obelisk in the woods the night before.
Chapter 5 is the boyfriend/husband's point of view and reveals that he writes "torture porn" because it is the only way he can keep from enacting what he sees in his mind - either he writes it or he does it. His girlfriend is "into" that - or was, until he comes back from the obelisk with two sets of memories, one of being "betrayed" by the "savages" of this area...
Chapter 6: The "dumb brother," youngest of the three, goes out with the writer to investigate the obelisk. When they find it the writer goes crazy, attacks him and leaves him for dead, then returns to the cabin alone.
Chapter 7: The middle brother and the woman talk, as he senses she is holding something back. The older brother wanders in and out of the scene, increasingly worried about the two who went out. Turns out the girl is into S&M and loves her boyfriends "darker side" - at least, until he tries to kill her. When he returns, claiming that the other brother went insane and attacked him, the middle brother hears a voice say a name: "Zoligahr" - he also seems surprised to find the other brothers present.
Chapter 8: The older brother realizes the writer is acting oddly and holding something back. He tries to get him everyone else and restrained, as strange things start happening - items flying through the air, odd animal noises from outside. When the writer tries to kill him, he instead kills the writer then goes outside to try to get the car to start - only to find it was sabotaged.
Chapter 9: Flashes back to the writer, who believes he has merged with an ancient evil named Zoligahr, who tries to murder his girlfriend (again), and is surprised to find anyone else in the cabin with her. The chapter ends with his death.
Chapter 10: The younger brother turns up, and heads to the garage to see if he can find parts to repair the car (he is a bit of an idiot savant). The woman follows him and ... attacks him. He kills her but is mortally wounded in the process and crawls into the cabin to warn his brothers.
Chapter 11 (had just started writing this one when I burned out on it): The older and middle brothers get into an argument, and it turns out that the older brother managed to pull strings to get the middle brother off of a rape charge a few years ago - and that he resents him for it as it also cost him his chance to be a full doctor and he is now a "mere" paramedic. After a shouting match, he heads off to see what is up in the garage, and does not come back.
Chapter 12: The middle brother hears the Voice of Zoligahr, and decides his only way to escape is to burn the entire place down. As he flees the burning structure, a passing police cruiser picks him up on the highway.
Chapter 13: The point of view of the local sheriff. He is awaiting the arrival of a psychiatrist from the "big city" to talk to the man in the holding cell. His men investigated the burned out lodge and found two bodies - a man who had been dead for several days in the ruined house, and a woman who had been found dead in the garage. The man in custody seems to talk in four different voices when interrogated, each with very different mannerisms. Having checked his ID, he discovers that the man is a suspect in multiple rape cases, had an older brother who died at the age of three in that very lodge from a hunting accident, and would have had a younger twin brother but their mother died during childbirth and the second baby never made it. The other voice claims to be an ancient god named Zoligahr. The sheriff desperately hopes the psychiatrist makes it before sundown, as it looks to be another hunter's moon tonight....
Chapter 1: The middle of three brothers narrates as they are driving to the hunting lodge they inherited from their father; the sun is setting and it looks to be a "Hunter's Moon" (low in the sky, huge and orange moon). They see something at the side of the road, stop and find it is a nearly naked, bloody woman - that the narrator recognizes as the wife of the guy he rented the lodge out to; they were supposed to have left a day before.
Chapter 3: The oldest brother, a medical intern, treats the woman's wounds, hears her story (husband went crazy and attacked her as they were packing to leave, and she fled into the woods, just now finding her way out) and decides, with his brothers, to take her back to the lodge and confront her husband.
Chapter 4 is back with the middle brother as they meet the boyfriend (they claimed to be married but are not. it turns out) and find out that he has no memory of attacking her; in fact, has no clear memories beyond stumbling on an odd stone obelisk in the woods the night before.
Chapter 5 is the boyfriend/husband's point of view and reveals that he writes "torture porn" because it is the only way he can keep from enacting what he sees in his mind - either he writes it or he does it. His girlfriend is "into" that - or was, until he comes back from the obelisk with two sets of memories, one of being "betrayed" by the "savages" of this area...
Chapter 6: The "dumb brother," youngest of the three, goes out with the writer to investigate the obelisk. When they find it the writer goes crazy, attacks him and leaves him for dead, then returns to the cabin alone.
Chapter 7: The middle brother and the woman talk, as he senses she is holding something back. The older brother wanders in and out of the scene, increasingly worried about the two who went out. Turns out the girl is into S&M and loves her boyfriends "darker side" - at least, until he tries to kill her. When he returns, claiming that the other brother went insane and attacked him, the middle brother hears a voice say a name: "Zoligahr" - he also seems surprised to find the other brothers present.
Chapter 8: The older brother realizes the writer is acting oddly and holding something back. He tries to get him everyone else and restrained, as strange things start happening - items flying through the air, odd animal noises from outside. When the writer tries to kill him, he instead kills the writer then goes outside to try to get the car to start - only to find it was sabotaged.
Chapter 9: Flashes back to the writer, who believes he has merged with an ancient evil named Zoligahr, who tries to murder his girlfriend (again), and is surprised to find anyone else in the cabin with her. The chapter ends with his death.
Chapter 10: The younger brother turns up, and heads to the garage to see if he can find parts to repair the car (he is a bit of an idiot savant). The woman follows him and ... attacks him. He kills her but is mortally wounded in the process and crawls into the cabin to warn his brothers.
Chapter 11 (had just started writing this one when I burned out on it): The older and middle brothers get into an argument, and it turns out that the older brother managed to pull strings to get the middle brother off of a rape charge a few years ago - and that he resents him for it as it also cost him his chance to be a full doctor and he is now a "mere" paramedic. After a shouting match, he heads off to see what is up in the garage, and does not come back.
Chapter 12: The middle brother hears the Voice of Zoligahr, and decides his only way to escape is to burn the entire place down. As he flees the burning structure, a passing police cruiser picks him up on the highway.
Chapter 13: The point of view of the local sheriff. He is awaiting the arrival of a psychiatrist from the "big city" to talk to the man in the holding cell. His men investigated the burned out lodge and found two bodies - a man who had been dead for several days in the ruined house, and a woman who had been found dead in the garage. The man in custody seems to talk in four different voices when interrogated, each with very different mannerisms. Having checked his ID, he discovers that the man is a suspect in multiple rape cases, had an older brother who died at the age of three in that very lodge from a hunting accident, and would have had a younger twin brother but their mother died during childbirth and the second baby never made it. The other voice claims to be an ancient god named Zoligahr. The sheriff desperately hopes the psychiatrist makes it before sundown, as it looks to be another hunter's moon tonight....
DreamReaper
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1k+ words a chapter. Then go out to touch a bit of grass before continuing the rest.