Prologue
On Friday, I finished the Prologue to The Dagda King.
I am quite pleased with it. It is the opening of the story with a character named Richard McAllister. He is a homeless knight living in Seattle, a man who has lost much—including most of his faith in God as well as his fellow man. He is derelict by choice, in a role no man should have to fulfill.
To say more would ruin the story.
I had a fun time writing the prologue, but for reasons you might find odd. When I began writing Song of the Fell Hammer, I really had no idea what I was doing. I sat down at the computer every day to write and I had no real experience to draw from; every day was a struggle to find my voice, to discover how stories should open up and develop for the reader, to have faith in what I was attempting to do.
This time around, however, I feel comfortable sitting in my writing chair. And after the month of research it took for me to learn what I needed to know about my story's foundation, sitting down and writing was far easier than it was the first time I sat down to write the prologue to Fell Hammer. It could be because I know this story more intimately than the epic fantasy; it could be because of what I've learned in the last two years. All I know is I feel free and unfettered. I feel confident in my abilities. And it will have to remain that way for me to learn more of the craft while finishing another book.
Today I outlined Chapter One.
It also takes place in Seattle, with my main point of view character, Bran Ardall. It is an introductory chapter, where the reader discovers who Bran is and how he relates to those he cares about. He has quite a dysfunctional family. If I do my job right, most readers will question whether this character can ever be a hero—and they should question.
Because I'm not too certain he is.
I am quite pleased with it. It is the opening of the story with a character named Richard McAllister. He is a homeless knight living in Seattle, a man who has lost much—including most of his faith in God as well as his fellow man. He is derelict by choice, in a role no man should have to fulfill.
To say more would ruin the story.
I had a fun time writing the prologue, but for reasons you might find odd. When I began writing Song of the Fell Hammer, I really had no idea what I was doing. I sat down at the computer every day to write and I had no real experience to draw from; every day was a struggle to find my voice, to discover how stories should open up and develop for the reader, to have faith in what I was attempting to do.
This time around, however, I feel comfortable sitting in my writing chair. And after the month of research it took for me to learn what I needed to know about my story's foundation, sitting down and writing was far easier than it was the first time I sat down to write the prologue to Fell Hammer. It could be because I know this story more intimately than the epic fantasy; it could be because of what I've learned in the last two years. All I know is I feel free and unfettered. I feel confident in my abilities. And it will have to remain that way for me to learn more of the craft while finishing another book.
Today I outlined Chapter One.
It also takes place in Seattle, with my main point of view character, Bran Ardall. It is an introductory chapter, where the reader discovers who Bran is and how he relates to those he cares about. He has quite a dysfunctional family. If I do my job right, most readers will question whether this character can ever be a hero—and they should question.
Because I'm not too certain he is.
Labels: The Dagda King
posted by Shawn C. Speakman | 9:41 PM
7 Comments:
:D I'm looking forward reading more about this!
I'm intrigued already! Less Blogging more logging ;)
Just kidding, anxiously waiting for updates as always.
-Josh
Care: I'm happy you enjoyed the prologue. I think it gets the reader into the action, and hints at enough things that makes the reader want to know more and continue reading.
J.David: Glad you are intrigued! The great thing about this novel is I think I can write it far faster than Fell Hammer. There might be days where I can write an entire chapter in 12 hours. Del Rey asked for it officially yesterday, so the faster I get it done the faster I can submit it.
Is the prologue already posted?
And not to be negative, but this sounds like i could be dangerously close to what I've read about the book of Joby on A DRIBBLE OF INK, obviosly it sounds like your book wouldn't explore the same religious strugglings of that book, but perhaps those would be replaced by celtic mythology. How is your book going to differ from what we know of that book. From the experpt I have read of it, it involves Merlin and Authorian elements as well. Does this concern you, how familiar are you with The Book of Joby? How is your book going to stand apart? Or are these all just superficial similiarities that a deeper brush with materials will prove to be unfounded.--in my defense, superficial is the best i can draw from a one chapter excerpt of his book, and a semi-synopsis of your book, both designed to illuminate without dispelling the long shadows of mystery.
well, look forward to reading your reply, take care
Anonymous: I haven't read the Book of Joby, and know nothing about it other than that people are enjoying it, from what the blogs out there are telling me.
There are no new stories under the sun, as the old adage goes. And I doubt the author of Book of Joby did anything similar to what I am attempting to do. Perhaps he used Merlin;lots of people have used Merlin. Does that mean all Merlin stories are similar to the Book of Joby? Of course not. The same goes with Arthur, Celtic mythology, etc. They are all different tales of their own devising.
I guess you'll have to wait until I am finished with the book. And even then, it may never see the light of day. haha -- Cheers!
Anonymous,
I'm probably a pretty good authority on this matter, so I just thought I'd drop in an offer my thoughts on the subject.
I'll admit that when I first heard the ideas behind Shawn's novel, I was worried that they would be too similar to The Book of Joby, but as I read more of Ferrari's novel and learned more about Shawn's it became pretty apparent that, beyond a couple of surface level similarities, the two novels are very different in tone, structure and plot.
Ferrari's novel is an intimate story about a man and those who's life he affects. The novel is a slow, pondering (in a good way) examination of Joby's life and the nature of religion, good/evil, love/despair, etc... and is very strong for it.
Shawn's novel, on the other hand, looks to be a frantic, fast-paced Urban Fantasy that tackles Celtic mythology and history in a fun, unique way while still making you think deeply about what you're reading. In many ways, the concepts that I've heard from Shawn's novel sound very much like he's taking the best elements of Epic Fantasy and the best elements of Urban Fantasy and melding them into something uniquely his.
I think as we learn more and more about Shawn's novel, the gap between the two (and between other novels on the market) will grow bigger and it will become obvious that the two share little in common.
Shawn's right when he mentions that there are no more stories to tell that haven't already been told a million times before. What separates good authors from bad authors is how well they recycle what has come before. Shawn and Ferrari both chose some similar elements to recycle. Ferrari has already proven that he's done a good job and I'm confident that Shawn (based on the strength of his first novel Song of the Fell Hammer) has what it takes to succeed equally as well, if not better.
I hope that eases some of your concerns about the similarities you might see between the two novels.
~Aidan
A Dribble of Ink
Aidan: Thank you for the lengthier explanation.
As you've read The Book of Joby and you know quite a lot about The Dagda King, you were the right person to answer the Anonymous person's questions. I couldn't address them simply because I have no idea what The Book of Joby is about.
I do know my book will be closer akin to Hamilton's Anita Blake series and Butcher's Dresden Files. That's my intent. I'm trying to put more of a literary spin than those two series, but who knows if I'll be able to accomplish it or not.
Back to writing! Cheers!
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