paused

Project Threshold

📓 Writing an urban fantasy romance about witchcraft, finding your voice and the 90s.

This was my first properly committed attempt to write a novel. It's set in the 90s, partly because I wanted to avoid writing extensive text message conversations and partly because I really wanted an excuse for a character to say "It's the 90s". It's also intended to be the first of a trilogy.

Some of my big touchstones here are the Rivers of London series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Spaced.

I finished the first draft in the summer of 2025 and immediately decided it was kind of bad. I made a start on fixing some of the structural and character arc issues, writing a fairly detailed outline (25k words!) for a second draft, but it didn't feel like it did enough to fix the fundamental problems.

Currently on pause so I don't totally burn myself out on it.

Milestones

Contemplating the next rewrite (January 2026)

I basically parked this project in October 2025 to work on Undertow. At the time, I wasn't sure if I'd come back to it. The first draft's problems felt too big and too messy, even after the attempt at a reworked outline.

But for the last few months, it's been quietly percolating in the back of my mind, and now I am starting to get ideas.

The basic premise of the book is that the narrator is a twenty-something fuckup living in London in 1997. Her older sister (her only living family) goes missing, and when she sets out to find her, she discovers that her sister was involved in a magical underworld and that she herself may have dark powers. Also she hires a private detective who turns out to be a vampire, will-they-won't-they, etc etc.

Problems with the first draft

My protagonist is kind of boring. She doesn't have a particularly strong character arc, and as a complete newcomer to the world, a lot of what she does is just wandering into situations and having things explained to her. While she does drive the plot forward, her naivety is kind of irritating.

My love interest was even more boring. I came up with an elaborate backstory for him and absolutely none of it showed up in the novel itself. Instead he just broods in a trenchcoat. Trying to write romance between these two was like trying to make two cardboard cutouts kiss each other. Technically, something's happening, but it's not exactly three-dimensional, and I'd be pretty confused if anyone was actually into watching it.

The plot itself was decently cohesive, but felt bloated by too many strands that didn't come together until late in the narrative. I'd never tried writing a mystery before and it absolutely showed.

So! Here's what I'm currently thinking.

Fix #1: Make my protagonist worse

Right now, our hero is entirely too sweet. I like my protagonists jaded, prickly and filled with self-loathing. Which is why I think she'd be better if she had a much shittier relationship with her sister, a complete inability to hold down a job, and what is arguably a drinking problem. Everyone in her life is starting to get fed up with her shit, which gives her something to prove. She's still somewhat naive about the world she's entering, but less babe-in-the-woods and more walking disaster. Also, she initially didn't realise her sister had gone missing because she was crashed out on her best mate's sofa, smoking weed and watching Teletubbies re-runs.

Fix #2: Cut the cruft

Introducing the magical underworld happens too slowly. Conversely, the protagonist gaining control over her powers comes on way too fast. I think the pacing would improve if the protagonist is already somewhat aware of the world, but has been kept away from it by her sister, ostensibly for her own good. They're both aware that she has some kind of power and that her using it (or even anyone else finding out about it) would potentially be very bad for everyone. And this gives her added "destined to be a fuckup" angst points.

There's a whole plotline where the protagonist learns to stand up to her shitty boss. I think I did this in an attempt to demonstrate character development, but it has basically nothing to do with anything. So that can go in the bin. Starting the novel with her getting sacked (again) will do enough to set up her problems.

The protagonist also has a best friend who is mostly kept on the periphery of the story until the third act because they can't find out about the magic stuff. I actually like this character and would like them to get more involved, so they're going to be dumped into this whole mess sooner rather than later. Also they're getting gender-swapped. Speaking of which...

Fix #3: Make everything more gay

I like the whole "vampire detective" concept, but this guy is doing absolutely nothing for me. I could spend ages working out how to make him tolerable, or I could just chuck him in the bin and start fresh. So I sat down and thought what kind of vampire detective love interest would actually interest me, and the answer is one who swears like a sailor, throws a mean punch, and looks a bit like a scruffier Tasha Yar. She can fluster the protagonist by calling her nicknames and have significantly fewer moral issues about fucking her enemies up than Edward Sullen did. The trenchcoat stays though. (No this is not just me repackaging one of my leads from Undertow, honest, I swear I can write multiple types of character.)

Also, this is a story about learning to embrace and gain power from a deep truth about yourself that others have told you is wrong and should be hidden... and I made my main character straight??? I mean, come on. What was I thinking?

Fix #4: Give the protagonist a sword

Is she going to know how to use it? Absolutely not. But everything's cooler with swords. Also I can just picture my heroine two lagers in with an episode of Xena on the telly, trying to swing an ancient magical sword around her shitty rented flat.

When am I actually going to do this?

Not now, that's for sure. Right now I'm still knee-deep in the first draft of Undertow, and that definitely needs to be finished first. So many things I want to write, not enough time to write them.

But after feeling burnt out on this story for a while and worrying that the whole thing might have been a waste of time, it's exciting to feel my enthusiasm for it starting to return.

⬅️ Back

© Ratlands 2025. Proudly human-made. If you feed this site to any kind of AI, I will shit in your bed.