VanessaGalore

Interesting comments. The story is vastly too long, mostly because of the subplots, which then have to be resolved. However, the subplots are how I keep the secondary characters in the story. Also, Veronica's story at the end is probably the main thing you're referring to as too long and that's probably the most important part of the story to me. It loses its impact after everything that comes before it, but the theme of reinvention/redemption is probably why I wrote these stories (including Precipitation). YLD2's ending feels anticlimactic because usually stories end when the villain is vanquished, but in this story it felt like Veronica wouldn't see it as much of a victory and would need some time and perspective. Probably it would have been better to separate this fic into three or four parts (Logan runs away / Briar Hill / chasing Hannah's murderers / Veronica's redemption) (or just two parts) and have little mysteries of the week to fill it out. There's also the fact that I was reluctant to end the story, because I'd become so attached to writing it (kill your darlings, they say). But I'm reasonably satisfied that the story is mostly balanced, especially if the reader can manage to read it slowly (most people read it too fast). It was an incredibly ambitious project, and even now I'm not quite sure how I managed to make it as coherent as it is.

It's interesting that you say this, because everyone complained that Precipitation ended abruptly, and I kind of feel that Precipitation had a more classic ending for a mystery (bad guy killed, romantic arc completed). So I often feel that I truly can't win as far as satisfying my readers. People identify so strongly with Veronica that any conclusion that differs from their interpretation of her motivations and desires feels really jarring and unsatisfying. (For instance, a lot of the movie felt really strange for me, but I see why most people really enjoyed it.) I know that some of Veronica's arc in YLD2 verged on being way too personal for me, and that certainly limited my perspective on the story.

Thank you for your considered comments. Hope you'll check out the extras for the story.