The adventures of writing for a 50+ ensemble cast.
Granted, I just killed a bunch of them off, so maybe it's closer to 40 now.
I think the final book in a series is hard to write. Not just because I'm having difficulty (because it's likely that I'm inept), but because most of the loose ends you've had stringing about throughout the preceding books need to no longer be loose. I'm a fan of leaving some things unexplained simply because it'll give the audience a chance, if they so choose, to make up their own story to explain it.
Anyway, I'm into a section of the book where I dragged a bunch of characters together to talk things over and figure stuff out, primarily their next step. When I started writing the chapter, I just wrote. The problem with that is, I'm a fan of making sure everyone says something. So I usually make a "conversation tally" to keep track of who speaks and how often. I'd hate to mention someone at the beginning of some serious meeting and then ever have them say anything. Why were they there then?
I stopped mid-writing-rampage and made up a conversation tally sheet. It alarmed me that I was short around 6 characters from the last time I had to keep tabs on who was speaking and how often and I was having more difficulty with it now that there were less characters. I think that's simply because what I was writing was harder. I had to take what had already been hinted at, discussed, brought up, abandoned and discarded and ensure that it was brought into the conversation at a likely point.
Now that I finished the chapter, I think I'll have to really hard core edit it later. Just 'cause there's so much going on in it.
I'm off to write the next chapter of the book.
Happy writing!
Currently Writing: Revelation (chapter six)
Currently Reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: the CD Illusions by Thomas Bergersen
P.S.!!! My BFF Dana just e-published a book of her poems! They're available on Amazon, so if you search "Heart Wanderings" by Dana Kristi, you'll find it :) It's a good little collection of poems and I strongly recommend looking into it.
Showing posts with label ensemble cast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ensemble cast. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Coming to 5 of 5
I'm beginning preliminary work for my fifth book today.
Is this a dream? Is this just some screwed up, sick joke? It has to be. My fifth? really? That's 5 of 5. That's the end. That's the last of the series.
Really?
It's a wonderful and yet daunting thing to experience. There's a lot left to be done and explained, and as I seem to have followed the models of the fantasy genre, I've left the answers to come in the last book. The darkness has fallen on the characters at the end of the fourth book and in theory, the sunrise comes at the end of the fifth book.
In all honesty, I don't know how I feel about this. I don't know how I should be feeling. Times like these lead me to wonder if all authors feel this way when they near their finish line. Did C.S. Lewis feel this way when he crafted The Last Battle? Did J.K. Rowling feel this strange apprehension when she sat down to begin penning out The Deathly Hallows? Did Orsen Scott Card feel this way about Xenocide? How about Jeffrey Overstreet with his Auralia thread? Or J.R.R. Tolkien with Lord of the Rings? What about Christopher Paolini with Inheritance? Or the countless other authors I have yet to read?
Series writing is hard. If you've been following along, I've documented a good deal of it here on this blog. Not all, but a good chunk. You have to be sure that the pieces you've got in your head match up. You have to make sure the bread crumbs you've been leaving behind in the previous books lead to a satisfying conclusion. Is there a plot twist strong enough to give the audience the double-take they're looking for? Is there an ending that leaves them looking back to the beginning? Do they still ask for more, even when the main story has reached its end? Have you given them a rich enough world that they believe in it?
I'm excited and nervous. I'm smiling yet frowning. What happens when I'm done? What then?
Strangely enough...a lot. At least for me. For me, there's a growing number of stories I want to write that might never get published and I'd be okay with that. But I want to explore these stories and write them out. I want to delve deeper into the characters surrounding the main cast.
When you introduce over 50 characters into your ensemble and say, "But really we're only focusing on about 12 of them", the audience probably takes a breath and says, "Good." Some of them do anyway. I like to think there are whole hosts of smart readers out there that are looking for a complex story with a myriad of characters to follow. At the very least, I like to assume that my audience is intelligent and capable of keeping up with my sluggish brain.
So onward I march. There's a finish line out there, somewhere. Right now I'm in fog and can't really see. I'll keep moving forward though. There's a drive in my soul that keeps pushing me forward, so I can't really ignore it. There's a reason for this advancement. There's a reason for this. This story didn't pop into my head for kicks. It means something. I'm adventuring to find out what.
The outline for my fifth book begins and thus the tidal wave will crest and I'll wait in anticipation for the break of it to wash over me.
Let's discover together. Who's with me?
Currently Editing: Alaster
Currently Writing: Revelation Outline
Currently Reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "Emergency" by The Vitamin String Quartet
Is this a dream? Is this just some screwed up, sick joke? It has to be. My fifth? really? That's 5 of 5. That's the end. That's the last of the series.
Really?
It's a wonderful and yet daunting thing to experience. There's a lot left to be done and explained, and as I seem to have followed the models of the fantasy genre, I've left the answers to come in the last book. The darkness has fallen on the characters at the end of the fourth book and in theory, the sunrise comes at the end of the fifth book.
In all honesty, I don't know how I feel about this. I don't know how I should be feeling. Times like these lead me to wonder if all authors feel this way when they near their finish line. Did C.S. Lewis feel this way when he crafted The Last Battle? Did J.K. Rowling feel this strange apprehension when she sat down to begin penning out The Deathly Hallows? Did Orsen Scott Card feel this way about Xenocide? How about Jeffrey Overstreet with his Auralia thread? Or J.R.R. Tolkien with Lord of the Rings? What about Christopher Paolini with Inheritance? Or the countless other authors I have yet to read?
Series writing is hard. If you've been following along, I've documented a good deal of it here on this blog. Not all, but a good chunk. You have to be sure that the pieces you've got in your head match up. You have to make sure the bread crumbs you've been leaving behind in the previous books lead to a satisfying conclusion. Is there a plot twist strong enough to give the audience the double-take they're looking for? Is there an ending that leaves them looking back to the beginning? Do they still ask for more, even when the main story has reached its end? Have you given them a rich enough world that they believe in it?
I'm excited and nervous. I'm smiling yet frowning. What happens when I'm done? What then?
Strangely enough...a lot. At least for me. For me, there's a growing number of stories I want to write that might never get published and I'd be okay with that. But I want to explore these stories and write them out. I want to delve deeper into the characters surrounding the main cast.
When you introduce over 50 characters into your ensemble and say, "But really we're only focusing on about 12 of them", the audience probably takes a breath and says, "Good." Some of them do anyway. I like to think there are whole hosts of smart readers out there that are looking for a complex story with a myriad of characters to follow. At the very least, I like to assume that my audience is intelligent and capable of keeping up with my sluggish brain.
So onward I march. There's a finish line out there, somewhere. Right now I'm in fog and can't really see. I'll keep moving forward though. There's a drive in my soul that keeps pushing me forward, so I can't really ignore it. There's a reason for this advancement. There's a reason for this. This story didn't pop into my head for kicks. It means something. I'm adventuring to find out what.
The outline for my fifth book begins and thus the tidal wave will crest and I'll wait in anticipation for the break of it to wash over me.
Let's discover together. Who's with me?
Currently Editing: Alaster
Currently Writing: Revelation Outline
Currently Reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "Emergency" by The Vitamin String Quartet
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Not Very Good at Math
So I finished my fourth book yesterday morning.
In the incredibly early morning hours, I chronicled the stories of my characters through their fourth book. I called it quits around 4:45 am because I felt spent. If I hadn't been crying for hours on end, I probably could have plugged away through all day yesterday. But, as I knew it would be, I was bawling my eyes out pretty well from 12:30 till I wrote the last sentence of the book.
Why you might ask? It's fairly simple really: I was writing sad things. Character deaths were popping up all around every corner and, as I write an ensemble cast, I write the impact that death has on everyone still alive. It's never a fun experience. As I mentioned in the previous post, killing characters is like killing a part of yourself. If anyone found it easy, I imagine they wouldn't be a very good writer because they wouldn't be able to relay the feelings of the characters to the audience.
I like to think that, in bawling my eyes out and feeling like someone just killed my puppy, I'm relating to my characters. Therefore by that, I am then relating the audience to the characters. Ultimately it will be determined when my friends and family members read the book. According to my friends, they've been impacted pretty hard by the previous character deaths, so I can only imagine how this one is going to play out.
Today, on the way to a hair appointment, I was telling my mom that I couldn't really fathom what was going on. Let me lay this out for those of you just joining in: Less than one year ago, one of my greatest friends texted me. About a week after she ranted about how much she (a non-fantasy reader), loved my first book, she sent me a poem based upon the first book.
To inspire someone is, I think, the ultimate goal of every author. With that knowledge that my friend felt led to write a poem about my book, I suddenly was fueled to write the second book. In under two months, I finished book 2 and rolled right on into the semester with a fire to write book 3. By the new year, I had finished book 3. From my brother's comments, I rewrote my first book, finishing by early February, all the while writing a novella for my senior seminar class.
And now, only a little over a month after finishing my novella, I finished book 4.
With only one book left to go in the overall story arch (because there's potential for 7 spin off novellas, 2 prequels and a plethora of stand-alone books based on the world), I have to wonder how this has happened. If you had told me a year ago that I was going to write three books, rewrite my first book and write a novella, all in less than a year, I would have punched you and cried that you were mean.
And yet, somehow, here I sit. Four books. Four books and one novella. How...? How did we get here? When did the tomorrow turn into the today? What a crazy phenomenon - the passing of time and the progression of a dream.
With accomplishment and approval at my back, I want to stride forward into the fifth (FIFTH! And it's the final one! Holy wow!), and complete the series. I want to get what's in my head out on paper. I want to see all five books stacked in a pile of paper and words and thoughts and story. Already knowing what the first three manuscripts looked like, a smile plays on my face. This crazy scenario I find myself in is surreal. It doesn't feel possible, and yet somehow, it is.
I like to think that God is blessing me with this. I haven't a clue where He's taking me, but I'm excited. A little nervous from time to time, but mostly, I'm excited. The writing life is an epic adventure of happiness if we allow it to be.
One more. Just go one more.
Smile people. Because the sunrise can be painted in your own world. Don't mind me as I go off and paint mine :)
Currently Writing (add-ons): Alaster
Currently Reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "A Thousand Miles" the Boyce Avenue Cover
In the incredibly early morning hours, I chronicled the stories of my characters through their fourth book. I called it quits around 4:45 am because I felt spent. If I hadn't been crying for hours on end, I probably could have plugged away through all day yesterday. But, as I knew it would be, I was bawling my eyes out pretty well from 12:30 till I wrote the last sentence of the book.
Why you might ask? It's fairly simple really: I was writing sad things. Character deaths were popping up all around every corner and, as I write an ensemble cast, I write the impact that death has on everyone still alive. It's never a fun experience. As I mentioned in the previous post, killing characters is like killing a part of yourself. If anyone found it easy, I imagine they wouldn't be a very good writer because they wouldn't be able to relay the feelings of the characters to the audience.
I like to think that, in bawling my eyes out and feeling like someone just killed my puppy, I'm relating to my characters. Therefore by that, I am then relating the audience to the characters. Ultimately it will be determined when my friends and family members read the book. According to my friends, they've been impacted pretty hard by the previous character deaths, so I can only imagine how this one is going to play out.
Today, on the way to a hair appointment, I was telling my mom that I couldn't really fathom what was going on. Let me lay this out for those of you just joining in: Less than one year ago, one of my greatest friends texted me. About a week after she ranted about how much she (a non-fantasy reader), loved my first book, she sent me a poem based upon the first book.
To inspire someone is, I think, the ultimate goal of every author. With that knowledge that my friend felt led to write a poem about my book, I suddenly was fueled to write the second book. In under two months, I finished book 2 and rolled right on into the semester with a fire to write book 3. By the new year, I had finished book 3. From my brother's comments, I rewrote my first book, finishing by early February, all the while writing a novella for my senior seminar class.
And now, only a little over a month after finishing my novella, I finished book 4.
With only one book left to go in the overall story arch (because there's potential for 7 spin off novellas, 2 prequels and a plethora of stand-alone books based on the world), I have to wonder how this has happened. If you had told me a year ago that I was going to write three books, rewrite my first book and write a novella, all in less than a year, I would have punched you and cried that you were mean.
And yet, somehow, here I sit. Four books. Four books and one novella. How...? How did we get here? When did the tomorrow turn into the today? What a crazy phenomenon - the passing of time and the progression of a dream.
With accomplishment and approval at my back, I want to stride forward into the fifth (FIFTH! And it's the final one! Holy wow!), and complete the series. I want to get what's in my head out on paper. I want to see all five books stacked in a pile of paper and words and thoughts and story. Already knowing what the first three manuscripts looked like, a smile plays on my face. This crazy scenario I find myself in is surreal. It doesn't feel possible, and yet somehow, it is.
I like to think that God is blessing me with this. I haven't a clue where He's taking me, but I'm excited. A little nervous from time to time, but mostly, I'm excited. The writing life is an epic adventure of happiness if we allow it to be.
One more. Just go one more.
Smile people. Because the sunrise can be painted in your own world. Don't mind me as I go off and paint mine :)
Currently Writing (add-ons): Alaster
Currently Reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "A Thousand Miles" the Boyce Avenue Cover
Monday, March 26, 2012
Battle Writing, Part II
So I'm onto the major battle of my fourth book (woohoo!). Once again, I find myself having made my life difficult. Sometimes I wonder if I've done all of this solely because I want to make myself work harder than might be necessary. Then at other times I assume that I'm actually smart and this is merely something random that happens along the way.
Anyway, so I'm working on, really, the only battle of the fourth book. It might be only one battle, but it'll encompass at least four chapters (possibly more upon revision). So I'm writing it and I'm discovering things along the way, which I'm always open to. Especially because my ability to understand the time of events has always been so clumped that pretty well everything from book 2 on I just said, "And then stuff happens!" So I'm glad for the chance to actually get it all figured out. Or at least, kind of figured out. But a part of me doesn't want to finish this battle.
Have you ever been afraid of the dark?
I mean, most kids are afraid of darkness at some point. Then one day we grow up and say, "Monsters aren't real," and get over our 'irrational' fear of the dark and nighttime. That's great. I'm not afraid of the dark to a degree. If I haven't seen a scary movie trailer or been dabbling in sin recently, then darkness is pretty much harmless to me.
Now how about the darkness within yourself?
I'm terrified of that. Absolutely terrified. I know once the battle is over, I'm going to have to delve into the darker sides of my brain to write the scenes necessary for the story. I know this is coming. I even have a playlist on my iPod all ready to go. I don't want to listen to the music though. I don't want to write those scenes. I don't want to get into my antagonist's head right now. Sometimes he's fun to write, but I know he won't be fun to write in these upcoming scenes.
For me, personally, he poses such a temptation to just say, "Well, I have to write it for the character," and easily can then find myself slipping into the temptation to sin. And my biggest stumbling block is my own mind. It's no one else's doing but my own when I stumble and fall into sin, because the biggest sins I struggle with are those dealing almost entirely with the mind.
Heh, and here I thought writing would be a good thing.
So I'm afraid of the darkness within my own being. The darkness within my own mind. But I know I need to get past that and get to the end of the book. I can't just sit back and say, "I'm not ready to do that yet," forever. Eventually I need to write it. At least, I need to if I ever want to finish this series. Which, naturally I do.
Such a strange conundrum this is. Maybe when I get to that point in the story, if I pray hard enough and be sincere enough, this won't be as detrimental to me as I fear it will be. At least, that's my hope.
For those who are interested, here's a picture of what all I have open on my computer for this battle scene:
Currently writing: Unseen
Currently Reading: On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
Currently Listening to: "503" from the Angels and Demons soundtrack
Anyway, so I'm working on, really, the only battle of the fourth book. It might be only one battle, but it'll encompass at least four chapters (possibly more upon revision). So I'm writing it and I'm discovering things along the way, which I'm always open to. Especially because my ability to understand the time of events has always been so clumped that pretty well everything from book 2 on I just said, "And then stuff happens!" So I'm glad for the chance to actually get it all figured out. Or at least, kind of figured out. But a part of me doesn't want to finish this battle.
Have you ever been afraid of the dark?
I mean, most kids are afraid of darkness at some point. Then one day we grow up and say, "Monsters aren't real," and get over our 'irrational' fear of the dark and nighttime. That's great. I'm not afraid of the dark to a degree. If I haven't seen a scary movie trailer or been dabbling in sin recently, then darkness is pretty much harmless to me.
Now how about the darkness within yourself?
I'm terrified of that. Absolutely terrified. I know once the battle is over, I'm going to have to delve into the darker sides of my brain to write the scenes necessary for the story. I know this is coming. I even have a playlist on my iPod all ready to go. I don't want to listen to the music though. I don't want to write those scenes. I don't want to get into my antagonist's head right now. Sometimes he's fun to write, but I know he won't be fun to write in these upcoming scenes.
For me, personally, he poses such a temptation to just say, "Well, I have to write it for the character," and easily can then find myself slipping into the temptation to sin. And my biggest stumbling block is my own mind. It's no one else's doing but my own when I stumble and fall into sin, because the biggest sins I struggle with are those dealing almost entirely with the mind.
Heh, and here I thought writing would be a good thing.
So I'm afraid of the darkness within my own being. The darkness within my own mind. But I know I need to get past that and get to the end of the book. I can't just sit back and say, "I'm not ready to do that yet," forever. Eventually I need to write it. At least, I need to if I ever want to finish this series. Which, naturally I do.
Such a strange conundrum this is. Maybe when I get to that point in the story, if I pray hard enough and be sincere enough, this won't be as detrimental to me as I fear it will be. At least, that's my hope.
For those who are interested, here's a picture of what all I have open on my computer for this battle scene:
Currently Reading: On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardner
Currently Listening to: "503" from the Angels and Demons soundtrack
Friday, December 9, 2011
Battle Writing
Kids, if anyone ever tells you that writing a book is easy. Smack them.
Especially if the book your writing is part of a series and even more so if you're placing it within a fantasy world of your own making. Also, learn from my mistakes: don't write such a story and then make up your own races and then on top of that create 30+ characters to live within that world that you know you'll be interacting with on more than just a 1 page basis.
What brings this on? I'm into my third book, probably a little over half-way done writing it, and I'm in a battle scene. Normally these are really fun for me. Battle scenes are where most of the images in my head come from. But this one is really difficult, and I kind of always knew it would be, I just never wanted to admit it.
I've got around 25 of the 30+ characters I've created in this battle, and that's what's making it so difficult. See?
That's everything that I have open on my computer as I write a battle scene for this current situation. Most of what's open right now are word documents. I even created a whole word document that analyzes where my characters are and has a table to allow me the ability to strike through everyone that we've seen so far in the battle. You see, the problem with only mentioning two of them throughout the whole ordeal makes it sound like it was only two people involved in the battle. That doesn't make it believable when you've got over 20 characters running around in said fight.
Writing is a task that takes hours of blood, sweat and tears. Anyone who tells you it's an easy process has never actually attempted it or is in denial. Even more so when you take into account the kind of world we live in today.
I could, if I wanted to, self-publish my book right now. I won't, because there's a lot left to edit before I even pursue publishing. But because anyone who ever sits down and decides to open a word document and write a 100 page story can post their book online and sell it for whatever they want. Because of that, we run the risk of people uploading crap that is still on its first draft sitting out on the internet for unknowing buyers to fill their libraries with.
There's a very real risk for lots and lots of bad writing to get out into the world. Now, in theory, only the good stuff will become popular. But that just isn't the case anymore. If enough hype is brought up around a series (or even one book), it can mean little to nothing if the story is well constructed or the writer in question can spell or properly construct a sentence.
Anyway, I'm going to go back to writing for a smigin before I call it a night/morning. I've got my last day of classes tomorrow and I need to be somewhat coherent. I do have a presentation in my Ceramics class first thing in the morning.
Currently Writing: End Game: Trinity (Chapter Eighteen)
Currently Reading: The Time Traveler's Wife
Currently Listening to: "Enigmatic Soul" by Two Steps From Hell
Especially if the book your writing is part of a series and even more so if you're placing it within a fantasy world of your own making. Also, learn from my mistakes: don't write such a story and then make up your own races and then on top of that create 30+ characters to live within that world that you know you'll be interacting with on more than just a 1 page basis.
What brings this on? I'm into my third book, probably a little over half-way done writing it, and I'm in a battle scene. Normally these are really fun for me. Battle scenes are where most of the images in my head come from. But this one is really difficult, and I kind of always knew it would be, I just never wanted to admit it.
I've got around 25 of the 30+ characters I've created in this battle, and that's what's making it so difficult. See?
That's everything that I have open on my computer as I write a battle scene for this current situation. Most of what's open right now are word documents. I even created a whole word document that analyzes where my characters are and has a table to allow me the ability to strike through everyone that we've seen so far in the battle. You see, the problem with only mentioning two of them throughout the whole ordeal makes it sound like it was only two people involved in the battle. That doesn't make it believable when you've got over 20 characters running around in said fight.
Writing is a task that takes hours of blood, sweat and tears. Anyone who tells you it's an easy process has never actually attempted it or is in denial. Even more so when you take into account the kind of world we live in today.
I could, if I wanted to, self-publish my book right now. I won't, because there's a lot left to edit before I even pursue publishing. But because anyone who ever sits down and decides to open a word document and write a 100 page story can post their book online and sell it for whatever they want. Because of that, we run the risk of people uploading crap that is still on its first draft sitting out on the internet for unknowing buyers to fill their libraries with.
There's a very real risk for lots and lots of bad writing to get out into the world. Now, in theory, only the good stuff will become popular. But that just isn't the case anymore. If enough hype is brought up around a series (or even one book), it can mean little to nothing if the story is well constructed or the writer in question can spell or properly construct a sentence.
Anyway, I'm going to go back to writing for a smigin before I call it a night/morning. I've got my last day of classes tomorrow and I need to be somewhat coherent. I do have a presentation in my Ceramics class first thing in the morning.
Currently Writing: End Game: Trinity (Chapter Eighteen)
Currently Reading: The Time Traveler's Wife
Currently Listening to: "Enigmatic Soul" by Two Steps From Hell
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