The Thirteenth Colony (State Humans/Country Humans)

Progress Update 9/2/22

Hey y'all, I've got a decent amount to cover this chapter, so I'll start with the least important stuff, and end with news of the new story.

Eye Colors

First up is something I put in my last chapter. I said that most Northern states had blue eyes. The reason behind that is I had an idea while writing it that each state's eye color is caused by there landscape. So while northern states like CT has light blue eyes because of their ice and snow, states like Georgia have dark green eyes reflecting the wide open plains they have, states like Texas have amber eyes thanks to their large desserts, and states like Louisiana have one turquoise and one dark green eye thanks to their swamps.

Deleted Content

Something that I wanted to do but ultimately had to scrap was bringing back the short stories I use to add between chapters when I started writing. I haven't completely abandoned the idea though, as seen in the last chapter, it's possible to write short stories into the main one. And if I can't naturally fit a short story in the main story, I plan on publishing them with these progress updates from now on if I have some available.

Better Writing

It might just be me looking back at my old stories too harshly or looking at this one too favourably, but I feel like I've come a long way in my storytelling abilities. I use to have terrible pacing especially when it came to managing a few separate perspectives, and as a result some of the arks would be stuck in status for chapters with me essentially repeating what I wrote over and over again, while another one would be rushing through seven chapters worth of content in five sentences. But with this story, even if it's early on, I feel like the balancing of different storylines is a lot better, and they all move at a single steady pace together.

Another improvement is the characters. I know the dialogue still isn't the most natural or smooth, but it's like night and day in comparison to my first story. The characters are characterized indirectly, instead of just telling the reader about what they're like. Already a few characters have shown bits of their personalities, and much more is to come. I just wanted to include this as a message about practice and persistence always improving your skills at something, no matter what it is. And who knows, maybe one day my stories will actually be good, instead of just decent.

Story Plans

Ultimately there isn't to much to say here. The expeditionary chapters are wrapped up now, and we can really get into the story. Even though Louisiana and Missouri weren't around yet, the areas they have today were already around, as well as their cities, so I'm keeping them in.

New Story

And finally it's time to announce the new story. It isn't state humans but when it comes out your more than welcome to read along even if you aren't familiar with the premise. The story is about the game Frostpunk. Ever since I played it a few months back I've been trying to get all the different ending for the different scenarios. The way it tells it's story is amazing and I'm genuinely blown away by it.

For those who don't know about Frostpunk,(no spoilers) it's a game set just before the turn of the century. One day the earth began to lower in temperature until all nations fell. Civilization lives on in you, and your city. I can't explain it well so here's a video they made that's about a minute long which shows off the idea better than I can.

There's more to this than the setting though. The game, at least the scenario this story will be about, is ultimately about the phrase, "the road to hell is paved in good intentions." If your able, I'd highly recommend the game. If games aren't really your thing your more than welcome to read along anyway.

Welp I've been doing so much writing today my knuckles hurt so I'm gonna post this now. Thank you for reading this, honestly the fact that there's a few folks who consistently read this story really warms my heart that y'all like this.