Heaven’s Gate actually started as a collaboration for Betsuni’s Patreon in October 2018. I was going to write one point of view of the story, and Ames was going to write a different POV. The plots would eventually fold into one another and on top of that, the overall story was in the “Choose Your Own Advernture” genre. It was a fun idea, but it was difficult to coordinate, so it fizzled out.
Recently, I started a role playing chat with my Final Fantasy club. I was planning to just play a little part and be all cool with my FF X-2 Paine character. I was having difficulty coming up with my next part, so I slept on it and woke up in the middle of the night to write an interesting blurb. One of the other players must have loved it because she DM’ed me to collaborate on a story arc. She asked if I’ve written stories before. I replied that I write a lot with pen and paper but they just stay hidden in my notebooks of randomness.
Then, I remembered Heaven’s Gate – oh yeah … that thing! Heaven’s Gate was inspired by the late 2000s American TV show, Supernatural and a little bit from all the otome games that I obsess over. 😆
I released the first chapter on the website to share with her and went digging for my past notes on characters and background. When I found my notes, this was what I found: “Chapter 2 …”.
Great … great … so, I have to start at the beginning again, huh?
I took a good break after Chapter 1’s release. Then, last night, Y set up my floor lounger for me and the mood was perfect. I put on my headphones and turned on the Relaxing Music for Stress Relief radio on Youtube Music. The light music helped set the background for building my world.
AND THEN … BAM! The perfect song played – A 1000 years by The Piano Guys. This is the anthem of Heaven’s Gate. I could hear it played at different tempos and moods to help build different plot arcs and characters. So … this is my new favorite song on repeat as I write.
When I write, it’s like recording an experience. The music conjures up memories or visions and I just record them with pen and paper. It’s a mess of cursive text and arrows. Some ideas are plot arcs. Some ideas are character actions and background. I just record everything. Future Elle can make sense of it later!
And so, today I became Future Elle and had to form a cohesive story chapter from last night’s brainstorm. I try to keep my chapters around 1000 words … cuz I could write forever and go on about the weirdest things. 1000 words keeps me focused and the story on track.
Are you ready for Chapter 2?
Chapter 2 will have the first story plot choice. The direction of the story will be decided by majority vote.