Hey hey hey lovely people! Are you ready for Friday???
You may have noticed that every single chapter before this has a big old "(2ND DRAFT) before it. You know what that means... I've changed things. Tomorrow I'll be presenting to you the beginnings of my third draft of this novel, which means we're starting from scratch.
You're probably rolling your eyes. ANOTHER new start?? Well, I've been reading over your comments from the last two drafts of this sequel, and I've been taking into account the things you liked and didn't like, and the things you felt didn't make sense, and the things you, to be frank, called me out on!!
I needed those call-outs, and I appreciate them. In the last draft especially, I was forcing things that didn't feel right for the story. Why would the public suddenly hate The Famoux members? Why was I forgetting characters entirely, like Marlon? Why was Emeray acting so weak after ending on such an independent, strong note in book 1? It didn't make sense, and you called me out on it, and I needed to hear it!
To make an analogy, I don't want this book to be received as I've seen season 8 of Game of Thrones be received. I've heard people say that they feel like the show runners saw some fan theories and went, "Oh, let's make sure we do something no one anticipated," which was to the detriment of several character arcs and plot points.
Now, as you know, I've been pretty transparent in the past about how I read your theories and try to make sure I'm doing the thing you least expect. While sometimes that works, other times it makes for a lower quality story. At least, in my story's case. Not GOT. GOT will forever be one of my favorite shows ever and far superior than any story I could ever write.
So anyway, this time, I'm listening to your concerns. I'm responding to your comments. That's something I didn't used to do too often because, to be honest, I was very intimidated by my readers and didn't want to seem like some kind of annoying omnipresence within the story. But being engaged with the conversation is important.
I know there will be less readers because of the break I took, and I want to connect with you who stayed. I want to reward you for that by making you a character in this book, by reading your works, by supporting your art however I can. I want to let you know how much I appreciate your existence in my life.
I'm keeping the earlier chapters up because readers have expressed that they like seeing my process, even as early as the draft I wrote when I was eleven (Tiffany Box, if you remember!). I know that makes this book a big old mess, but hopefully you don't mind.
Now, for this new, improved draft of The Classix:
This is going to be a much more concise, focused draft. No more filler chapters. No more long, drawn-out scenes where nothing happens. No more rambling on and making things happen at random.
I've told you before that this is the Famoux novel I was the most nervous about writing, because I had no idea what was going to happen in it. I have proven this to you, evidently, and I thank you for being so patient with me while I work this out. It was my own fault for forcing a bunch of poor content way too soon after finishing book 1, and subsequently burning out on this story. That's the truth of the matter: I got burnt out. I started hating my characters. The last time I was posting a chapter for you, I despised Chapter and Emeray so much, I audibly groaned thinking about writing a scene between them.
So, I took a break. Longer than expected. But in this time I've written so many different genres, and learned so much about writing a cohesive and structured story, and I'm ready to come back. I'm so glad you're willing to let me back into your life like this. I will never stop thanking you for that. I'm ready to love these characters again, and let you love them to.
Thank you for being here. Right here, please comment your name so I know who's here, and who needs to become a character ASAP.
Right here, comment here your story name. If you don't have a story, and have something elseââmaybe art, maybe an etsy shop, whatever it is you do, tell me about it here so I can check it out. I want to appreciate what you make, and be a strong supporter in your life.
Right here, comment your social media so I can follow you! I'll add mine too:
My two Twitter accounts are kassandra_tate and hamlllton. The first is my "professional" account, although the second account has sort of morphed into a professionally unprofessional account. I made "hamlllton" to have a place to rant and be an avid fan of things, but that account became the place where I got my job with Lin Manuel Miranda and made several great writing friends in the business. So it's all jumbled up now! Anyway, if you follow either of them, I'll follow you back.
My Instagram account is kassandra_tate. There, you can see me post every single movie I watch via my insta stories.
My letterboxd account is kassandratate. There, you can see me WRITE about every single movie I watch. Do you have a letterboxd? I feel like it's fairly underground while also being a massive social media platform.
My snapchat is kassandratate but I literally never use it, so idk why I'm even putting it down.
Okay I think that's it.
I'M SO EXCITED FOR FRIDAY!!!!! In the meantime, remember:
Sticks and Stones may break your bones, but haters make you famoux. Stay classy, stay classix.
Welcome to the Next Chapter.