Writer's Blog: My Love For You is Ultra-Wide

The above picture is what my screen looks like when I'm working on Mind Blind. As you can see, it's crowded.

There's Microsoft Word, where I write and code the first draft. There’s also a copy of the prior chapter up on screen, so I can easily reference the variables used in it and make sure that I’m not dropping any of the storyline continuities. Finally, there’s my notes, which remind me of the variable numbers that I’ll be using for flavor text and choice options (I used an old copy for this screenshot, so anyone enhancing this image hoping for spoilers is out of luck, sorry!). And this isn’t even showing the map of Chicago and the online poetry anthology used to write Glitch’s dialogue that I keep open in my web browser. It’s a lot to fit on a 17-inch laptop monitor, and my screen at home isn’t that much bigger.

Thus, in order to preserve what dwindling eyesight I have left (-5.75, which means the world looks like a Monet painting without my contacts) . . . I’m buying a ultrawide monitor!

This is an indulgence that will make my writing life exponentially faster as well as squint-free, and which I can only afford because of this Patreon. So thank you! I’ll share my new Chicago setup as soon as the monitor comes in. (I’d planned on finally getting a working microwave, since mine died in September, but will be holding off on any improvements to my condo until I learn whether or not my building’s being converted.)

As far as Mind Blind progress goes:

Total Words: 222,000

Patreon Chapter 8 Update: March 26

Anticipated Total Wordcount: 250k

Eventual length depends upon how talkative Glitch and Sally feel like being. Their scenes (of which you’ll be able to choose one) are being written last despite happening first in the chapter. The reason for this is that I’m still considering over how Button’s cover story should be implemented, and how much control readers should have over it. You guys seemed to like the idea of Button having a say in last week’s blog, and I think it would be more fun to let you choose as well, but it does make for more complicated narrative pathways down the line. Plus, there’s the fact that I need to come up with different variations on the undercover identity for Button to select in the first place! This latter issue is more of a stumbling block for me than the former—there’s limited reasons I can come up with for why Button would despise Unity and their family, given that Button can’t reveal their mind blindness to Vengeance.

All this means that Sally and Glitch’s scenes are being put on hold while I instead finish Gray’s and Rosy’s training montages. What I do know so far about Glitch’s scene is that Button will be able to break up with them over the NPO Program/telling K about Button’s Zero/Not telling Button about K/Just because . . . and Glitch can also break up with Button (but only if Button refuses to listen to Glitch’s perspective).

For the training sessions: If you didn’t activate Gray’s romance in Chapter 7 (which has undergone a slight rewrite), Gray’s scene in Chapter 8 will be your final chance to lock in his romance route . . . unless you’re on the didn’t-have-a-crush-in-high-school-but-are-slowly-opening-up-to-possibilitespath, in which case you’ll get another chance to think “Maybe there could be something between us” but the actual romance with Gray won’t happen until near the end of the book.

This non-past-crush (crushless?) path is the ultimate slow burn with minimal romantic content with Gray, and it’s more suggested if you first pursue someone else and then change your mind—like Glitch. In that case, Gray will be your backup boy. (Sorry, Gray!) Having a positive relationship with Nick remains a requirement for Gray’s romance in both cases.

As far as wooing Rosebud goes, you’ll need to select their training scene instead of Gray’s in order to be eligible to romance them. This doesn’t lock in Rosy’s romance route, but it will open up future dialogue options in later scenes that are essential in convincing Kim to fall in love with you (more than any RO, Rosy takes some persuading).

There won’t be a huge amount of K in Chapter 8, since K trains and works with whomever you don’t pick. K will be your only ally once you’re inside Vengeance (or will they?), so they’ll get plenty of quality Button time later. For now, I wanted to let the other ROs have one-on-one intimate scenes (well, as intimate as it can get with Nick in your head) before launching Button into danger and officially introducing the members of Vengeance. The in-game justification for this interlude of fluff? Button needs at least some training before being sent to their doom, and it will also take a day or two for Vengeance to take the bait and contact you and K.

. . . And if I keep on writing, I’m going to spoil the entire plot for Chapter 8. 

Have a great weekend, everyone!