I finished the second Interlude two days ago... and then I finished it again today.

How can that be?

After stepping away from the second Phillip Plantagenet POV chapter, I didn't like the ending of the chapter. It felt limp. It felt weak. It did not have the resonant power I felt it needed. So I went back in, rearranged some things, and now I am happy with it.

I've received a lot of advice over the years from writers far better at the craft than I am:

1) Brian Jacques offered, "Learn how to paint with words."

2) Terry Brooks said, "Read Read Read, Outline Outline Outline, Write Write Write, Repeat."

3) Greg Keyes advised, "The right sentence tells you it is in the right spot."

It's the Greg Keyes advice I find more and more useful as I write more and more. I can't even explain what the advice even means in a tangible way. The right word, the right sentence, the right paragraph—it just feels right when it is in the right place. I feel at peace when it is right. If a word or sentence or paragraph is not right, it feels like a bee buzzing around in my head and it won't leave me alone. It forces me to look at that part of the chapter; it nags and nags and nags. Until it is fixed. Until it can be put to rest.

The second Interlude had several moments like that, including the ending. The chapter commanded me to reexamine it because it wasn't laid to rest. Now it is and it is a relief.

The word count stands:

Prologue: 3045
Chapter 1: 4075
Chapter 2: 2973
Chapter 3: 3241
Chapter 4: 4144
Chapter 5: 4547
Chapter 6: 2793
Chapter 7: 3598
Chapter 8: 4939
Chapter 9: 4257
Interlude: 2372
Chapter 10: 3346
Chapter 11: 3185
Chapter 12: 3639
Chapter 13: 4878
Chapter 14: 4562
Chapter 15: 3840
Chapter 16: 3984
Chapter 17: 5441
Chapter 18: 4725
Chapter 19: 5651
Interlude: 3687

The next two chapters are with Bran Ardall. I will start outlining the first tomorrow, after I ship out the signed Paul of Dune books and the signed Anathem books.

And then I get to write the climax of the book—where all hellfire breaks loose in Annwyn!

Labels: The Dark Thorn

As I've said a few times in this blog, the fluidity of writing is different every day.

I'm having so much fun writing The Dark Thorn, especially now that I have entered the third act and the climax. That third part has been outlined pretty strongly and the story hasn't deviated at all for a long time. You'd think that is a great thing, right?

Well, it is. The end is within reach and I know all of the twists and turns before it gets there.

But since my dream time is not needed for the third act, my dreaming mind has sprung forward to thinking and dreaming about Book Two.

Believe it or not, I already have the first five chapters outlined fully in my head.

It happened in the last two weeks, when I was fighting with Chapter 19. I didn't ask for it to happen. But in a way I am happy, because it shows that I am not a one book wonder when it comes to writing in this series with these characters. I can tell I'll still be happy to write about them in Book Two.

While dreaming, a new title also came to me. Like all creative exploits, writing is fluid, a constantly evolving process and sometimes the best titles are not the initial titles we come up with. The same is true here.

Book Two is now titled The Long Winter.

The Long Winter is the third title for Book Two. But it is the right title.

For now!

It might change again, who knows? But this title is closer to what I was looking for. And that makes me happy.

So I apologize for the changes, especially to those who liked the previous title. I can tell you that The Splintered King will not change. That title is perfect for the book.

Labels: The Long Winter

Greetings to the two people who are still around reading this!

Thanks Mom and Dad! Love you much!

Yes, it is a true story, I have been absent from my own blog for far too long. There are some really great excuses that I won't entirely bore you with. One, I took a long trip through California which ended at the San Diego Comic Con 2008. That was fun. Then upon returning home to Seattle I crunched my left elbow on my kitchen table and after the splitting pain and sleeping on it one night, my elbow literally swelled up like a Popeye arm. Infection spread from something bursting, a cyst more than likely, and with that cellulitis came bursitis.

Which meant three weeks of swollen, uncomfortable typing arm where I slept most of the day trying to kill whatever infection had entered my body.

After that, huge online signings with Terry Brooks, Greg Bear and Naomi Novik. Lots of boxing of books, lots of shipping of books—lots of people happy.

So I've been busy. And then inevitable happened:

I got stuck on a chapter.

Yes, the OCD outliner got stuck. Chapter 19. The final Bran chapter of a three chapter arc that ends the second part of the novel. Lots going on, lots of character development. Lots of action. Lots of fun fantasy settings. A lot to put into one chapter.

I wanted to put three story elements into that one chapter.

The three elements wouldn't fit. It was like putting a square peg into a tiny round hole. It simply didn't work.

I fought it and fought it and fought it. I wanted all three story elements in the chapter. I wanted it badly. They were great. They were needed. They would make the chapter exactly what I had hoped it would be.

After fighting it for three weeks, I walked away from it—literally.

I went for a long walk. Six miles. I thought about what I wanted to accomplish with the chapter, going over the details almost line by line, wondering where I had gone wrong. I was sure there was some thread that I hadn't put in that would tie all of the story elements together, give them cohesion, and make the chapter work.

The walk failed. At least I got home!

The next day I went to a Seattle Mariners. I sat and watched baseball. I drank an overpriced beer, ate a gut-wrenching stadium hotdog, and enjoyed the ending warmth of the day.

Then lightning struck me. I knew what I had to do.

I left in the fourth inning. I didn't see the end of the game, which turned out to end on a walk-off homerun in extra innings for the Mariners.

I couldn't wait to get home to that chapter!

What had I done wrong?

In short, I wanted all three of those story elements in the chapter so badly I hadn't thought maybe it could only hold one! So I moved two of them out. I placed them in later chapters where they fit and actually made sense, and finished the chapter.

So now I am back on a good schedule and not stuck. Fun!

My word count as it stands:

Prologue: 3045
Chapter 1: 4075
Chapter 2: 2973
Chapter 3: 3241
Chapter 4: 4144
Chapter 5: 4547
Chapter 6: 2793
Chapter 7: 3598
Chapter 8: 4939
Chapter 9: 4257
Interlude: 2372
Chapter 10: 3346
Chapter 11: 3185
Chapter 12: 3639
Chapter 13: 4878
Chapter 14: 4562
Chapter 15: 3840
Chapter 16: 3984
Chapter 17: 5441
Chapter 18: 4725
Chapter 19: 5651
Interlude II: ?

As you can see from my last update, I finished two chapters, Chapter 18 and Chapter 19. Both were fairly intensive with a lot going on and had to be handled with care. I had hoped to be done with the book by now but that just didn't happen. As I've said before, sometimes life happens. It's what we do after life's little altercations that defines whether we can finish a book or not.

So now on to the second Interlude with Phillip Plantagenet, the King of Annwyn, whose plans are coming to fruition despite certain characters' attempts to the contrary. It is outlined and should be a short chapter like the first one. Then I'll be back to Bran and two chapters I am really looking forward to writing.

So, I am back! I promise!