Big Picture Revision

Yesterday I submitted my Personal Narrative (PN) for the Foreign Service Officer process (because I passed the test! YAH!). This involved answering 6 questions in 1300 characters - including spaces. That's not a lot of space to try and convince someone to interview you.

Photo Credit: UnSplash

Writing and editing and editing and editing these responses has only solidified my revision process. Even though these were professional and not fictional responses, I approached my answers the same way I approach my short stories and novels.

Disclaimer: this is my process and not necessary yours. Do what works for you.

I only recently discovered my process which is outlined below. I'm pretty good at creating something, but I've always been hesitant at revising. It takes A LOT of time and I didn't like the idea of spending time working on something that has already been completed when I can work on something new.

Pigrann - Chapter 3: The Emperor

<<<Chapter 2

              The Emperor hated visiting Urial. Overpopulation, insufficient waste removal, thinning atmosphere, and regulated water use made this his least favorite planet out of all the colonies. Yet somehow it remained the capital in this zone. And worse, the best laboratories had been outfitted here, long before he had ever become emperor. So he couldn’t just ignore it. He made few, but regular visits to his labs and then left as quickly as he had come.

Already, this trip broke the standard visit. Unsolicited. Unauthorized. Unofficial. Necessary. He returned this time, not as the Emperor to check on the progress of his projects, but as a scientist ready to witness the results of his experiments. After all, they had finally found her.

Why Stela had decided to hide on this awful planet he hadn’t figured out. Maybe she thought she could hide among the crowds? But the population itself created a need for an excessive amount of PROBers and it was doubtful she would have lasted long before being scanned. Maybe she decided the risk was worth the price to spread her Pigrann-hating propaganda to those who have already been saved and protected? Maybe she wanted to be captured? Unlikely. Maybe Abervon’s central power rested here? Even more unlikely.