So, according to the outline for my fourth book, I only have 3 chapters and an epilogue left until I've finished.
Hmm.
At this current moment in time, this book will be the shortest out of all of the ones I've written for the series. Not counting my novella of course. Right now I think I'm just shy of 70,000 words for the novel. If I had to guess, I might just crack over 80,000 - if I'm lucky.
Now is that a bad thing? Having your second to last book of a series be the shortest of them all? I really don't know. At the moment I feel as though I'm running straight into the book, so it's likely that I need to go back, write a whole new introductory chapter for the book and then pick up after that. I mean, a chapter might only add about 2,000 words, but it might be enough that I don't feel like a silly person.
I suppose I could look at moving bits of book two to book three and bits of book three to book four. But I don't like that idea. This could change, naturally, but at the moment, I really like where I chose to end each of the books. I guess the beauty of writing in today's world is the fact that you can always go back and change things.
With only three chapters left (according to my outline. Which is likely to be off), I find myself dragging my feet to finish it. I know precisely why. I'm coming up to a character death. Those are never fun. I've been killing characters since the second book, maiming characters since the third, and brutally harming them all since the first. I guess you could say I'm not very nice to my characters sometimes.
Despite putting them all through very real scenarios and suffering in very real ways, I'm not looking forward to this one. Character deaths are always difficult. Any writer (or storyteller in general), knows that. When you take the time to develop characters, it's hard to essentially banish them from your thoughts again. And I think for writers of series books, it's even harder.
When you write a book series (or a movie series I suppose), you've spent an inordinately long amount of time with a group of characters. For me, I've spent years, probably close to ten years, with these characters. It's a hard experience to take a personality that's been in your head for so long that you can't even tell when they appeared and then suddenly make them disappear. Their voice can't pop back into your head willy-nilly because...well, you've killed them.
Even though, as the writer, I know in the end everything's okay, I don't want to experience this. Last time I wrote a character's death, I sat like a lump on a log for a week and couldn't move forward. I practically cried myself to sleep. In the second book when I killed characters, I was bawling at my desk at all hours, wishing I didn't have to do this.
That then raises the ultimate question: does the character have to die?
It's an important juncture to reach as a writer. If you an answer that question with an honest answer that it does benefit the story and it does serve a purpose, then you're okay. But you can't just have characters dying for kicks or to show "how dangerous the situation is." On one hand, yes, the reader needs to know just how drastic the scenario is that you've placed your characters in. However, sometimes I think people get carried away.
For instance, with Harry Potter, I found some of the deaths to be meaningful and have a purpose. I understand Rowling's problem though: when you have a major final battle, you can't just have everyone you've ever met walk off the field with some nicks and cuts. On the flip side though, things are a little ridiculous when you go so far as to kill both Harry's owl and his wand.
Then on the opposite end of the spectrum, you have Twilight. When people should die, they die. If a battle is talked about and prepared for but then in the end, everyone talks and it's all okay and nothing happens, that's not only unrealistic, it's boring.
The goal is to find the happy medium. It's a hard thing to accomplish. You can't just have everyone live. That's boring and unrealistic. Yet you can't have everyone die. That's also unrealistic. There need to be stakes and there needs to be risks, but at the same time, a chunk of your characters can survive the bloodshed. After all, someone's gotta be around to tell the story afterwards, right?
I think (in my limited view point), I've done a good job determining who should die and who should live. I also think that those that survive suffer enough from either emotional or physical damages that it's obvious everyone was effected somehow. At least, that's the hope. There's always the knowledge that I might have screwed up somehow.
But, like I said before, that's the beauty of writing. I can always change it. There's always the ability to edit. And when all five books have been written and I get the overall feedback from my friends and family members, then I'll do an overhaul of the series. I do want to make this the best story I can write, so that's what I'm gonna do.
Let's just see how well I can do that.
Currently Writing: Unseen
Currently Reading: Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "There's a Place for Us" by Carrie Underwood
Showing posts with label series writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label series writing. Show all posts
Monday, April 2, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
World Creation
I've been reading Orson Scott Card's book Writing About Science Fiction and Fantasy and one of the main sections he stresses is world building. As writers of new worlds, it's important to understand the world we are placing our characters into. If necessary, make histories that go back to the dawn of that world. Our understanding of it is a requirement. Because if we don't understand it, then no one will.
I've begun writing my fourth book and I know come the end of the series, I have to destroy the world I've built. I have to look at it and it's beauty that I've wished to walk through, and tear it apart. When I started out it seemed like the logical thing to do. It seemed like the right thing to do.
Now, when I started out, I was fourteen.
I didn't even understand that there was a world there to really explore. But that's a story for another time. No, instead I'm going to talk a bit about the fact that one day I'm going to have to tear everything apart that I've built. It's a necessary part of it all, although I couldn't explain why without first explaining everything else. At the same time, I can't give away too much because I know Kara knows about this blog and might pick something up that she shouldn't. (Yes Kara, I'm keeping an eye on you, even from 400+ miles away).
I don't look forward to that day. I didn't look forward to the deaths of characters and I definitely didn't relish in those agonizing hours spent in front of my computer, bawling my eyes out as I tried to write the words to the saddest things I could think of.
But I know it's there. I know one day I'll finish my series and put the books on a shelf and say, "It's finished." And on that day, I'm going to step back, look at what I've done, and ask, "Okay, now what?"
Aside from End Game, I have no idea what I'd do afterward. I mean, I think I've only got that one good idea. I really don't want to write anything else right now because I'm filled to the brim with stuff just for this one idea. I can't imagine adding a different world, different characters, and different situations into my brain at the moment.
Will it still be the same when I finish my series? I don't know. If it is, I won't complain. I'll enter the mission field. I'll write a memoir or something. Maybe I'll start a college. I don't really know.
I won't run away from it though. In starting my fourth book, I'm running toward a finish line that I've set up for myself. A goal that only I instated, and I'm glad I'm the only one to say, "Okay, by here, we've gotta be done!" It makes it more manageable to me. I don't know how, but it does.
And who knows? Maybe by the end of the summer, I'll have all five books done. Wouldn't that be awesome?
Currently Writing: Unseen
Currently Reading: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Currently Listening to: "Sleep" by Polyphony & Stephen Layton
I've begun writing my fourth book and I know come the end of the series, I have to destroy the world I've built. I have to look at it and it's beauty that I've wished to walk through, and tear it apart. When I started out it seemed like the logical thing to do. It seemed like the right thing to do.
Now, when I started out, I was fourteen.
I didn't even understand that there was a world there to really explore. But that's a story for another time. No, instead I'm going to talk a bit about the fact that one day I'm going to have to tear everything apart that I've built. It's a necessary part of it all, although I couldn't explain why without first explaining everything else. At the same time, I can't give away too much because I know Kara knows about this blog and might pick something up that she shouldn't. (Yes Kara, I'm keeping an eye on you, even from 400+ miles away).
I don't look forward to that day. I didn't look forward to the deaths of characters and I definitely didn't relish in those agonizing hours spent in front of my computer, bawling my eyes out as I tried to write the words to the saddest things I could think of.
But I know it's there. I know one day I'll finish my series and put the books on a shelf and say, "It's finished." And on that day, I'm going to step back, look at what I've done, and ask, "Okay, now what?"
Aside from End Game, I have no idea what I'd do afterward. I mean, I think I've only got that one good idea. I really don't want to write anything else right now because I'm filled to the brim with stuff just for this one idea. I can't imagine adding a different world, different characters, and different situations into my brain at the moment.
Will it still be the same when I finish my series? I don't know. If it is, I won't complain. I'll enter the mission field. I'll write a memoir or something. Maybe I'll start a college. I don't really know.
I won't run away from it though. In starting my fourth book, I'm running toward a finish line that I've set up for myself. A goal that only I instated, and I'm glad I'm the only one to say, "Okay, by here, we've gotta be done!" It makes it more manageable to me. I don't know how, but it does.
And who knows? Maybe by the end of the summer, I'll have all five books done. Wouldn't that be awesome?
Currently Writing: Unseen
Currently Reading: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Currently Listening to: "Sleep" by Polyphony & Stephen Layton
Monday, February 20, 2012
The Continued Adventures...
Of the writing life!
At least the writing life of a fantasy writer. I'm beginning to embark on the journey of my fourth book! Woohoo! Always a fun thing; starting on a new book. If I'm successful in writing this by the time I graduate, I'll have written 3 books in a year and rewritten my first one and written a novella! I like to think that's pretty dang good.
That's still to be determined of course. It's likely that everything I've written is in dire need of editing. In fact, that's incredibly likely. But enough about that. Editing is most of the work of the writer.
One of the most difficult things I've had to come to terms with is the unknown elements of a book. It's been a little while since I was planning out a book and didn't know mostly what was going on. My fourth book isn't the one I'm talking about. For the most part, my fourth book is pretty well figured out. Naturally, when I actually start writing it, that might not be the case.
I started a timeline to see where I was in my characters lives since the beginning of the series. It's an important thing to do. Since I'm not a fan of just sitting around forever for kicks and giggles, I tend to plow straight forward without looking back until I'm knee deep in water. But I realized that I was having a lot happen quickly. Which I like. I'm not complaining in the slightest, because it makes sense to me to have this all happen so quickly.
To an audience...well, I haven't gotten any bad reviews yet about the timing and pacing.
Anyway, I started writing into my fifth and final book of the series and hit a huge gap. What's going on in that book entirely? I don't really know. I know lots of stuff that will happen in the book. I know how the series is ending, I know how the last book is beginning. I know what's happening in it, I just don't know the order or the details to a minute level.
Then again, I never know the details to a minute level. In fact, I sort of BS my way through the whole thing and somehow come out with something coherent. I don't know how, I just seem to. It's times like these where I wonder if I actually know what I'm doing. What do I realize I'm getting myself into? Because this lake just keeps getting deeper.
I'm waiting as patiently as I can on timing for publishing my books. However, I'm having trouble. I can't seem to find an agent to back me (which is worrisome), and I don't dare to publish traditionally without an agent. Perhaps I'm not presenting the series in a good enough light. Maybe I'm not presenting myself in a good enough light. I don't know how to change that. Writing a query letter wasn't something Houghton offered in classes. I wish they did. If it were up to me, it would have been part of my senior seminar project; learn how to write a great query letter.
Instead I was taught how to write short stories a million times over. It was helpful, but now that I'm trying to do something with my books, I don't know what to do. And it seems just downright silly to buy a book about selling a book. It seems silly, but it probably isn't. The downside is, that requires money, which I don't have.
*Sigh* I keep trying to remain positive. Someday this will work out. It's just taking a little longer and is a little harder than I had thought. It'll all be okay. Just keep breathing and keep fighting. Eventually this will work out.
Currently Writing: Alaster
Currently Reading: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Currently Listening to: "This Man" by Jeremy Camp
At least the writing life of a fantasy writer. I'm beginning to embark on the journey of my fourth book! Woohoo! Always a fun thing; starting on a new book. If I'm successful in writing this by the time I graduate, I'll have written 3 books in a year and rewritten my first one and written a novella! I like to think that's pretty dang good.
That's still to be determined of course. It's likely that everything I've written is in dire need of editing. In fact, that's incredibly likely. But enough about that. Editing is most of the work of the writer.
One of the most difficult things I've had to come to terms with is the unknown elements of a book. It's been a little while since I was planning out a book and didn't know mostly what was going on. My fourth book isn't the one I'm talking about. For the most part, my fourth book is pretty well figured out. Naturally, when I actually start writing it, that might not be the case.
I started a timeline to see where I was in my characters lives since the beginning of the series. It's an important thing to do. Since I'm not a fan of just sitting around forever for kicks and giggles, I tend to plow straight forward without looking back until I'm knee deep in water. But I realized that I was having a lot happen quickly. Which I like. I'm not complaining in the slightest, because it makes sense to me to have this all happen so quickly.
To an audience...well, I haven't gotten any bad reviews yet about the timing and pacing.
Anyway, I started writing into my fifth and final book of the series and hit a huge gap. What's going on in that book entirely? I don't really know. I know lots of stuff that will happen in the book. I know how the series is ending, I know how the last book is beginning. I know what's happening in it, I just don't know the order or the details to a minute level.
Then again, I never know the details to a minute level. In fact, I sort of BS my way through the whole thing and somehow come out with something coherent. I don't know how, I just seem to. It's times like these where I wonder if I actually know what I'm doing. What do I realize I'm getting myself into? Because this lake just keeps getting deeper.
I'm waiting as patiently as I can on timing for publishing my books. However, I'm having trouble. I can't seem to find an agent to back me (which is worrisome), and I don't dare to publish traditionally without an agent. Perhaps I'm not presenting the series in a good enough light. Maybe I'm not presenting myself in a good enough light. I don't know how to change that. Writing a query letter wasn't something Houghton offered in classes. I wish they did. If it were up to me, it would have been part of my senior seminar project; learn how to write a great query letter.
Instead I was taught how to write short stories a million times over. It was helpful, but now that I'm trying to do something with my books, I don't know what to do. And it seems just downright silly to buy a book about selling a book. It seems silly, but it probably isn't. The downside is, that requires money, which I don't have.
*Sigh* I keep trying to remain positive. Someday this will work out. It's just taking a little longer and is a little harder than I had thought. It'll all be okay. Just keep breathing and keep fighting. Eventually this will work out.
Currently Writing: Alaster
Currently Reading: The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Currently Listening to: "This Man" by Jeremy Camp
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Gosh This is Hard
You know, as a child I always thought writing was something old people did. No one could actually do it in today's world and anyone that did got lucky and never really had the chance to live off of their struggles. Then one day, I was told that wasn't the case. Then we had people like J.K. Rowling and Stephanie Meyer show up and I realized, hey, if they could do it, why not me?
And now at 23, I realize my child-self was right.
Publishing isn't just hard, it's like, super-impossible. I'm exaggerating of course. However a bit of me isn't. I've been searching for an agent to back my book series and perhaps help me get published. And you know what? As a new writer, NO ONE WANTS ME.
That's also a bit of an exaggeration. There are some people out there looking for new writers, and naturally I will be seeking them out with a video of me crying saying, "Please, please, please take me on! I promise I'm good!" But most agencies, both Christian and secular, don't want new writers.
I understand why. From a business standpoint, we're a major risk. All it takes is a little misplaced faith and BOOM, you're an agent or editor with a crappy book that no one wants to buy and a writer you've got to pay whining that it wasn't their fault.
But then what about those of us that are good? Now, I'm not saying I'm great. I'm not even comfortable saying that I'm good. But I've been told enough times by a wide variety of people that I am a talented writer that it seems a little silly to ignore them. Especially when among those people are friends who wouldn't really care if they hurt my feelings in the process of telling me the truth. Because to my friends, telling the truth and hurting someone is better than lying and snickering behind their back.
All of this to say that I might have to self-publish.
Now, that wouldn't be the end of the world. I'm aware of that fact. However, it really wasn't my first choice. I really would prefer to actually learn the publication process. But hey, for all I know that's the way I need to go.
For some reason though, that road seems so much harder. Self-publishing means doing all the work myself and me paying out before even a hint of revenue comes in. Granted, if it worked well, then all of the profit would come to me (at least most of it would, I think). However if it didn't work well, I'd be up the creek without a paddle.
It's a little discouraging really. I know that the traditional publication process can take up to a year and a half. By then the fantasy thing might be old news. It might not be, but all it would take would be some new fad to come along and suddenly everyone but die-hard fans would hate fantasy stuff. And where would that leave my novels? High and dry that's where.
So what do I do? Struggle along and hope I'm going in the right path? Or take a plunge and a leap of faith and self-publish?
Sometimes I wish for neon signs. And other times, I'm so incredibly glad I don't get them. This is one of the times I wish I got them.
Currently Editing: End Game: Genesis (Chapter 24)
Currently Writing: Alaster
Currently Reading: Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "Alive" by Superchic[k]
And now at 23, I realize my child-self was right.
Publishing isn't just hard, it's like, super-impossible. I'm exaggerating of course. However a bit of me isn't. I've been searching for an agent to back my book series and perhaps help me get published. And you know what? As a new writer, NO ONE WANTS ME.
That's also a bit of an exaggeration. There are some people out there looking for new writers, and naturally I will be seeking them out with a video of me crying saying, "Please, please, please take me on! I promise I'm good!" But most agencies, both Christian and secular, don't want new writers.
I understand why. From a business standpoint, we're a major risk. All it takes is a little misplaced faith and BOOM, you're an agent or editor with a crappy book that no one wants to buy and a writer you've got to pay whining that it wasn't their fault.
But then what about those of us that are good? Now, I'm not saying I'm great. I'm not even comfortable saying that I'm good. But I've been told enough times by a wide variety of people that I am a talented writer that it seems a little silly to ignore them. Especially when among those people are friends who wouldn't really care if they hurt my feelings in the process of telling me the truth. Because to my friends, telling the truth and hurting someone is better than lying and snickering behind their back.
All of this to say that I might have to self-publish.
Now, that wouldn't be the end of the world. I'm aware of that fact. However, it really wasn't my first choice. I really would prefer to actually learn the publication process. But hey, for all I know that's the way I need to go.
For some reason though, that road seems so much harder. Self-publishing means doing all the work myself and me paying out before even a hint of revenue comes in. Granted, if it worked well, then all of the profit would come to me (at least most of it would, I think). However if it didn't work well, I'd be up the creek without a paddle.
It's a little discouraging really. I know that the traditional publication process can take up to a year and a half. By then the fantasy thing might be old news. It might not be, but all it would take would be some new fad to come along and suddenly everyone but die-hard fans would hate fantasy stuff. And where would that leave my novels? High and dry that's where.
So what do I do? Struggle along and hope I'm going in the right path? Or take a plunge and a leap of faith and self-publish?
Sometimes I wish for neon signs. And other times, I'm so incredibly glad I don't get them. This is one of the times I wish I got them.
Currently Editing: End Game: Genesis (Chapter 24)
Currently Writing: Alaster
Currently Reading: Eragon by Christopher Paolini
Currently Listening to: "Alive" by Superchic[k]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)