It’s been over a month. Let’s talk.
I’m still not feeling entirely into anything right now. I don’t know how much of that is grief and how much of that is laziness; I’m VERY content to be lazy even at the best of times. But I am facing two pretty huge tasks in terms of Floating Point, and the life situation sure ain’t helping me want to tackle them.
First: The Welcome to Floating Point print book. The eBook is actually finished thanks to the god-tier editing prowess of Lawrence Chu. But the print version is a formatting nightmare, thanks to all the sidebar boxes, file info tabs, and that freakin’ emoji kitty. I’m only a chapter into formatting it and I’m fuzzy on how I’ll tackle some of its deeper visual trickery.
I’m tempted to just say ‘screw it’ and release this as eBook only. I make barely any sales off these books, honestly. My ongoing Patreon is ten times more profitable for me and has allowed this book to pay for itself for art contracts and editing work and so on. Buuut, I know I like seeing a real book on my shelf to prove I’m not a failure and I have created something that actually exists, and I know that some of my fans like collecting the books.
What I’m saying is: if you want a print book of FP, post in the comments or email me or whatever, just make yourself heard. I want to gauge the interest in this. It takes a lot of effort to put together and generally yields little to no return given how few copies sell… but if there is support for it, if there is a call for it, I WILL do it. I don’t know how soon I can promise it arriving on shelves but I’ll know for sure it’s worth doing.
Second: The Revelation of Floating Point book is a bit wobbly, maybe? I have a complete story arc, end to end, and I know everything that’s gonna happen in this book. It’s not like I have writer’s block. I just don’t know if it’s a story worth telling anymore. The first book was, and let’s be frank and lay it on the table, my reaction to various online culture clashes like GamerGate and I felt I had a lot to say through my narrative about the binary nature of pointless conflict. The second book has… I don’t know, something to say about religion? but is generally more of a story of the characters involved and what they want out of life. Is that enough? It has no grand statement to make. It’s got no parable to modern day conflicts. It’s just what it is. is that enough? I don’t even know anymore.
I think the third book, Exodus From Floating Point, that’ll be back in the territory of examining online culture and disastrous conflict… but this middle book has a different flavor. Is it tasty? Is it plain? Is it gross? Is it even worth reading? I dunno. I could use some feedback here; I’ve gotten very little since the book started out beyond typo fixes, which are great, but at this point I’m doubting my path. And if it IS boring, well… I dunno. It is what it has to be, this middle chapter. I’d need to do some serious revamping to make it into something else entirely if it’s not working.
So, yeah. That’s where I’m at. It’s not a fun place. Still not sure when I’m going off “hiatus,” it’ll depend on if I can sort this out and either get back on track or realize my existing track is correct. And I’d welcome your input. Thank you.
Zeppeline says
I’m a chronic lurker — I think I’ve commented once before, way back when I caught up to wherever City of Angles was at that point. But I’d like to add my voice to those saying that yes, this story is worth writing. Sometimes stories don’t have to be about grand statements. Some stories /shouldn’t/ be about grand statements, I think. In narrative, as in religion, sometimes it’s less about the broad message and more about the individual people. And it appeals to my sense of symmetry to pause for breath and character this book before diving back into heavy and well-defined themes in the third.
Anyway, that’s my two cents.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Thanks for the two cents. The more I think about this the more I realize yes, it does make sense for the middle book to be about transitions and characters.
LD50 says
Hi Stefan! I don’t think I can say something as thoroughly as it have been said in previous comments, so I’ll say briefly. Don’t worry, write out the second story—as you can see here, it’s interesting to sufficient amount of people. By the way, I think there are much more readers not being commenters for some reason, so… uhm. Let’s say the first part won’t feel complete without the second anymore. We can’t unread it. :)
(Hopefully I didn’t said something impolite. Thank you anyway.)
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Nothing impolite! Thanks for your feedback. It’s appreciated.
Zankou says
So I should start off by saying I really look forward to seeing the books when they’re ready. Since Anachronauts and all the way through City of Angles, buying your books has become somewhat of a habit for me. That being said, I am now on the other side of a fairly large ocean from you (international shipping, sigh), and I did just stick to the eBook version for the final chapter of City of Angles. I think I have to abstain on the question of a print book, and/or admit that I’ll probably stick to just the eBook again for Welcome to Floating Point.
This leads into the second point: since about halfway through City of Angles, in part because of my book-buying habits, I started to fall out of the habit of reading the chapters as they came up. I would like to imagine that that comes across as a vote of confidence in your work; I’m confident that I’ll enjoy the books and will keep buying them even without having seen the work in progress. But, in this case, it’s kind of unhelpful since it means I haven’t yet read much of anything from Floating Point and can’t really offer any specific feedback on the direction of the story as it stands.
For whatever my vote is worth, having not actually read any of it yet, I really do think it will be enough for Revelation to be what it is. I think I (and probably not just me?) will be able to find all sorts of my own messages and ideas in the book even if you didn’t have some specific thing to say in mind when you wrote it, and I think that stories can still be worth telling whether or not they have some important message to them.
And honestly, when all’s said and done? Whether you stay on your current path or end up changing things around, I remain confident that I will find Revelation worth reading, as I have with everything else you’ve written so far. I do apologize for having fallen out of regular readership, and having nothing more specific to offer you than that, but hopefully it helps.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
You’re more involved than you give yourself credit for. I know some folks prefer to read complete works rather than drafts in progress, and I’m glad you’re supporting me even if it means a more point-of-contact approach. Thank you.
Lirazel says
I like paper. (If you could see this house…) Plus, I could barely see the emojis when I read the first volume electronically on my phone, and it would be nice to see them.
As for the story, I think it’s worth telling for two reasons:
1) It’s complex. And the whole point of the entire series, to me, is that things/people/truths/Truth are/is complex. Yes, it makes for a slower, character-driven story, but it’s so easy when writing about sentient code to make everything two-dimensional.
2) In fact, many of the online controversies of the day are fought out with the same fervor people bring to religious disputes, down to and including the death threats. I think it’s important to show that even when it’s revealed that a “religion” or “ministry” is being run by some manipulative, exploitive asshole, once the rubble has been swept aside there is still something there. That something is notoriously difficult of definition, but not unreal on that account. So far, you are dealing well with this.
Also, it’s a fine piece of writing.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
I should probably be talking to you more personally about the religion angle, especially considering where I plan to go with it. I’ll poke you on IRC or something.
Jeremy Jinkerson says
The second book is delving further into who the characters are as individuals and within their various relational contexts. They are striving for actualization and personhood and learning to recognize their flaws (or try to avoid them). This is classic stuff, and it is the sort of things that people on grand adventures have to wait until the adventure is over to do. The fact that they’re having these exchanges and interchanges after we’ve gotten to know them while they’re fighting the religion-villian is icing. Yes, please tell *this* story.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
A well stated approval of the current direction. Thanks, Jeremy, food for thought.
Qwertystop says
It’s been good so far – I’m fine with something more character-based than metaphorical. I mean, I started reading your stuff with Anachronauts, and while I’m sure some broader could be read into that it wasn’t obvious to me at the time.
As for the paper copy… I’d like it, if it’s not too difficult, but I can see how it would be really hard to get it in a printable state.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Anachronauts was a pulp adventure, sort of a wandering two-fisted tour of the world with a heavy character and setting focus. Much less about themes, other than some simple underlying ones about building community vs. insular selfishness and expoliting cheap and easy energy vs. renewable, long-term strategy. So, it made sense to be largely about our large cast… their goals, dreams, and transitions from each phase of life.
While Floating Point started mostly as a way to indirectly address the problems we face today, with a much more scaled-down cast, it’s expanding too. So, perhaps this is a natural evolution of that.