I finally finished Chapter 11 this morning of the newly titled book, The Dark Thorn. At the beginning of the chapter I had a fairly strong epiphany about the third book in the series, and I realized the perfect place to plant a seed for that third book was in Chapter 11.

It took me a while to straighten out all the details for that third book so this chapter took a bit longer to write than I had originally thought. But the results make me happy and that's all that matters.

Word count is as thus:

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

Now on to Chapter 12, which is another Bran chapter. After that comes a Cardinal Cormac chapter, which is going to be great fun to write. All I know is I keep having more and more fun as each chapter is started and I don't think a writer can ask for more than that other than a contract, great cover art, a publisher behind ya 100%, lots of readers, and meeting fans. Oh wait... guess I have a ways to go!

Labels: The Dagda King, The Dark Thorn

I finished Chapter 10 this morning. It was a Bran chapter, the first of several in a row I will write, and oh boy... is he in a mess now. Chapter 10 was a very fun chapter to write, as it allowed me to discuss some of the back history of the series and why Bran should even care at all about his situation. Plus, this is the first chapter where I felt like I had a firm grasp on the dialogue for the two characters in the chapter, and that is a comforting feeling for someone who has a hard time with that aspect of storytelling.

I've already outlined most of Chapter 11. And Chapter 12 is fully outlined and won't take long to write. I plan on having these two chapters finished within a week. Then I'll be at the halfway point and every chapter I finish thereafter will feel great as there will be less in front of me than what came before.

The word count as it stands right now is:

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 will be of a similar size to that of 10, perhaps a bit smaller. Chapter 12 should be a bit more than Chapter 10. We'll see. By now, all aspects of the Celtic mythology I am bringing into this story are rearing their nasty little heads and hopefully all of the mythology, British history, and Arthurian legend will intrigue people by this point in the book. Those first 10 chapters were the massive set up not only for this book but for those to come after it; I only hope I've done a good job of building that foundation.

Plus I plan on writing a few posts here that don't relate to my book but about the industry and some of the things I get to do on the side. I've had a few people write me wishing I'd spend more time writing about what it's like being a webmaster for Terry Brooks or getting to know some of these writers I get to meet. Might be fun to talk about that too for a while.

Anyway, I plan on reading your work Aidan sometime this weekend. I'll definitely get to it once The Signed Page has settled down a bit. Lots going on and so little time to do it! But as many of you notice, I keep writing despite life intruding; I think that is an important lesson for all of us to take on. Write when you can, even if it is for only 15 minutes. It never hurts to placate that beast inside your head called The Story!

Labels: The Dagda King

I am home from my trip to New York City, where I visited with many friends at the NY Comic Con—all in book publishing. It was my first time to the Big Apple and I had a great time. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Two things:

1) I didn't meet with Ralph, the agent who has my pages. He took the weekend off to be with family outside of the city. He also received two big manuscripts from clients—the new Terry Pratchett book and the new Robert Sawyer book—so he is going to read those first before getting to my four chapters. Of course, I'm happy with that; he should spend his time with clients who actually make him money.

2) I'll be redesigning the website for Naomi Novik, the fabulous writer of His Majesty's Dragon. She has been meaning to do so for quite some time and now that we have met officially she asked if I'd be interested. I am. I also met artist Stephen Youll, one of my long-time clients, and he wants me to redesign the website that is now posted. Since I love designing website, and I pick and choose who I want to work with, I'm looking forward to these two projects.

But the great thing about flying across country is the amount of time one spends in an airplane. For most, that comment would have been the very definition of sarcasm, but for me I found a great opportunity to actually get some writing done. I wrote 3/4 of my novel's first Interlude, and on the way back I mostly finished it. It turned out exactly as I had hoped, and now the stage is set for the second part of the novel. It was from the point of view of Philip Plantagenet, the Dagda King. It also includes Arawn, Philip's second in command, as well as references to Celtic personages like Gwawl son of Clud, Goronwy the Houndmaster, and the deadly hag named simple the Cailleach. The fantasy elements are beginning to broaden in scope now that Bran has been brought into the real story, and I know the next few weeks are going to be great fun for me to write.

The Interlude is a bit larger than I had hoped for. It is 2372 words. Perhaps after editing I'll be able to get it below 2000. Time will tell.

The word count as it stands is now:

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

Anyway, I am shipping out hundreds of books signed by Terry Brooks over the course of the next few days, so no writing really. But I hope to begin outlining Chapter 10 tomorrow night after I've spent 15 hours shipping books.

I hope you all are well. Can't believe why you keep reading this...

Labels: The Dagda King

Wow, what a two week period I just went through!

I've been extremely busy—to the point I'd forget what day of the week it was. I had three online signings with Jim Butcher, Terry Brooks, and Peter Hamilton, which meant the majority of those two weeks was boxing up and shipping out orders for fans. Jim was great fun and I look forward to seeing him again. Peter is a Brit who is too intelligent for his own good. And Terry Brooks is always the good friend and mentor.

I really enjoy doing the signings. I love speaking to fantasy fans and helping them out. I like meeting writers and talking to them about the business and the craft. The Signed Page is a part of my life in a way I never thought it would be, and I doubt I will ever end it.

Then multiple websites had to be updated. And I deep-cleaned my apartment—gotta love springtime cleaning. Tons of errands had to be run for my upcoming New York City trip. 15 hour days for two weeks was not fun.

It retarded my opportunities elsewhere. I got no writing done. At all. I simply had no time for it. After I got all the books shipped out and websites updated, I finally could get to editing the first four chapters of The Dagda King for Stephen King's foreign rights agent, Ralph Vicinanza. Arguably, this was the most important thing I had to do, for my future plans at least, and it was the last thing I could do due to the responsibility I feel toward my customers.

But the chapters are finished. Shortened. Tightened. Crisp. They are closer to how I wish them to be. It was also very enjoyable going back to those first few chapters and see how my writing and story have changed over the last few months. Those first four chapters are the first arc in the story; they open up many questions without many answers. I hope Ralph enjoys the chapters and we can sit down when I am in New York and talk about the book and any areas of development I need to address for better writing down the road.

Here are the adjusted word counts for those chapters:

Prologue: 3045
Chapter 1: 4075
Chapter 2: 2973
Chapter 3: 3241

Here are the old numbers:

Prologue: 3173
Chapter 1: 4060
Chapter 2: 3244
Chapter 3: 3660

Chapter One actually went up in word count, but I had to smooth over some transitions that were kind of choppy. Other than that, the chapters went down in word count. Chapter 3 had the most significant reduction, but it is an action-packed chapter and I found far too much description in it.

If Ralph likes them, I may have a very professional agent behind me once I finish the book. If he doesn't, I hope to hear his thoughts with unabashed insight included. This New York trip couldn't be coming at a better time, and I hope I come back with good news.

I also gave the four chapters to a friend in the UK who loved my first book but who doesn't like urban fantasy. We'll see what he has to say about them and I hope he posts his thoughts here for you guys to read.

Back to preparing for the New York trip. I think I am finally going to relax today after so many days of work, and I might even take in a Mariners baseball game this afternoon to get away from my work for a while.

Hope you all are well! More updates from New York!

Labels: The Dagda King

Finally.

After a wild few weeks of doing some traveling and meeting with friends and family, I have finally finished the research reading I had set out to accomplish! It took about a week longer than I had hoped but I also had several online signings to cater to and then hundreds of books to ship out so it was not time wasted. In fact, more people than ever read my Prologue after discovering it, so there was a benefit to not writing I guess.

I read four books on Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology, along with part of a fifth, and used Google numerous times to flesh out ideas I had while knee-deep in the reading. The story itself did not change—I just looked over the rest of my outline and it remains solid—but I am much more confident that I have a firm grasp on the details of it. Details, if not handled right, can take a reader right out of a good story and I didn't want that to happen with this one.

The history of the Plantagenet family and how they figure into the story is now set, and Philip has become a very real King to me. Ruthless and powerful, he wants more than he should, and even though he gains power to protect the world it will be that same power that causes grief for Bran and Richard. The Interlude I will start writing today is about Philip; the reader will finally know what is going on in its entirety in this story.

All the while I did research, however, this book's sequels grew as well. I have a far firmer grasp of this storyarc than I did before and that will help me down the road if given an opportunity to write more than one book.

So, I am back. Look for updates again. The middle of this book is going to be great fun to write because it is more directly fantasy-based than the first 1/3; I hope I can pull off those fantasy elements to the readers' liking.

Labels: The Dagda King

Last night, I finished Chapter Nine. It was a Bran chapter, where my protagonist had a lot of choices to make and perhaps not all of them are right ones. It was a lot of fun to write because it had a great balance of dialogue and action. There is just a certain fun quality of writing a gun battle with magical elements thrown into the mix.

Now it is time for a break, from the writing at least. I want to continue on but there is more research to do. I will be reading four different books, some of them written 900 years ago, to gain a better understanding of that world. When I finish this book, I want it to be as authentic and yet fresh for readers that college level medieval literature teachers could use it to contrast and compare literature for that time period to this. On the other hand, I want Neil Gaiman to read this and go, "Wow, he really did his research." Tall order, I know, but that's what I am driving for.

The word count as it stands now is:

Prologue: 3173
Chapter One: 4060
Chapter Two: 3244
Chapter Three: 3660
Chapter Four: 4144
Chapter Five: 4547
Chapter Six: 2793
Chapter Seven: 3598
Chapter Eight: 4939
Chapter Nine: 4257

These chapters will be the ones that are sent to the agent who requested a look at this book. They are being edited right now and I'll be going back over them early next week to clean them up after being plagued by red marks. Should be fun going back over them all and lending a sense of continuity to them if they don't already have it.

After I finish that and my reading, I will start writing the first Interlude. It should be short, somewhere between 1500-2500 words. The book has two of them, separating the book into thirds. The first Interlude is from the point of view of Philip Plantagenet, the Dagda King, my antagonist and the whole point for the book existing. It will be one of those chapters that turns the entire book on its head, I hope, and I can't wait to write it.

Hope all of your writing and reading is going well!

Labels: The Dagda King

Today I finished Chapter Eight. It was a Bran chapter, as I said, and it's the one the reader gets a broad glimpse of what's going on in the story.

These kind of chapters are tricky. How much information is too much? Is there such a thing? Should a writer lay out the entire story so the climax is defined, or should the reader learn as the protagonist learns... as the story progresses? Is there such a thing as letting too much out of the bag too soon?

Most of that is a fine balance.

The background and history: there needs to be enough that the reader is interested in learning more, but not so much they are bored with expository ramblings. I took great care setting this chapter up, deciding before I started what information needed to be in it and not much else. The rest of it can be related as the story moves forward. I tried to tease the reader. Hopefully it will work.

Most books have a chapter like this. In The Sword of Shannara, it is Chapter 2 I believe, where Allanon tells Shea what's going on. In Song of the Fell Hammer, it's around Chapter 20, where the High King tells Sorin what is going on. In The Elfstones of Shannara, it is Chapter 8 where Allanon reveals Wil and Amberle to the Elven Council. Every book has it at a different place but they all share something in common—it must be handled with care.

So I tried.

I am now over 1/3 finished. The count as it stands now:

Prologue: 3173 words
Chapter One: 4060 words
Chapter Two: 3244
Chapter Three: 3660
Chapter Four: 4144
Chapter Five: 4547
Chapter Six: 2793
Chapter Seven: 3598
Chapter Eight: 4939

The next chapter is a Bran chapter. It will be a lot of fun to write; a lot of foreshadowing I've set up in earlier chapters comes to fruition in this one. It will also be the last Seattle chapter. I'm kind of sad about that. I've felt quite comfortable writing in a city I know. All chapters after this will be wholly made up.

But those chapters are going to be great fun to write, because the real story is about to begin.

Labels: The Dagda King

Chapter Six is finished.

And it also became Chapter Seven.

I decided to split it. Six is 2793 words and Seven is 3598. If you add them together you'll see what I saw—one large chapter that sticks out compared to the others that preceded it.

I really like how Chapter Seven came out. Lots of fantasy that still manages to move the story forward. The other knights, besides Richard, have become real people to me... particularly a surly knight from Chicago named Sal Vicenzia. I think you'll love to hate him.

As it stands now:

Prologue: 3173 words
Chapter One: 4060 words
Chapter Two: 3244
Chapter Three: 3660
Chapter Four: 4144
Chapter Five: 4547
Chapter Six: 2793
Chapter Seven: 3598

On to Chapter Eight. It's a Bran chapter, and the last chapter before all hell breaks loose for all involved. Bran confronts his bitch of a hypocrite mother in it, as well as discovers what is going on.

Hope your writing or reading is going well!

Labels: The Dagda King

Today will see the completion of Chapter Six.

As I predicted in my last update, it was a more difficult chapter to write than what had come before. One of the major conflict points of the entire series had to be set up and I wanted it to be done right. It was a Richard McAllister point of view chapter, and although Richard comes quite easily to me as a character, the story aspect had to be handled delicately. A lot of conflict. And that was just the first half of the chapter.

The second half is Richard with his fellow knights. In this part of the chapter, which I am finishing up, the reader meets the other six knights and gets a good solid taste of who they are. It took me some time to develop them, to know their stories, to know their strengths and weaknesses, and to make them believable. They come from Seattle, Chicago, Betwys y Coed, London, Paris, Rome and Vienna. If you look at all of those cities, you'll see a commonality; I'll leave you to find it (it's not hard). I can't wait for you to meet them. Some of them with enter and reenter the series at different points when it is necessary.

Now, for a bit of good news, both writing and business news.

First, I received a rejection letter for Fell Hammer in the mail over the weekend. You may be asking yourself, "How can that be good news, Shawn?" Well, if an agent or editor has decided to give you a well thought out response, it can be invaluable information to have. The editor in question enjoyed the intricate story (his words, not mine, I don't think the book is intricate at all), enjoyed the characters, and enjoyed my style. But the areas where I needed to improve, he said, were with the development of those characters, their dialogue, and how every character seems to just say what is needed for the story.

Now, the latter part of that is semi-problematic. I come from the Terry Brooks school of thought where you put what is needed in the story to either drive the story forward or give the reader a better understanding of the character. Extraneous conversation, even if it is more life-like, can bog the scene down for the sake of genuine conversation. So I am of two minds on that one—I will probably try to give a bit more and see what happens.

As for his other comments, he was right on. Character development and dialog. How do I know he is right? Because I saw it myself when I went back and read some of it a month ago. And I am happy to see, in my own writer's progression, that my dialogue and character development is much much much much improved in this new book. Growth equals opportunity, and if I am still growing as a writer it means my opportunities in New York also grow.

As for the second bit of news, an agent contacted me 10 or so days ago—on a Saturday, no less. Completely out of the blue and unprovoked by me. How did that happen, you may ask and who is the agent? This speaks to the importance of networking and putting yourself out there and making friends at writing retreats and conventions. If you haven't believed me about the power of networking, than you should believe it now after I tell you what happened.

Robin Hobb aka Megan Lindholm came to visit me two weeks ago. Megan had asked to do a signing with The Signed Page for the US release of Renegade's Magic and since Megan is one of my favorite people I said sure. I've known her for six or seven years and she's one of the sweetest and smartest writers I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know.

When she came to Seattle, we talked about anything and everything as usual. Then she asked me if I had found an agent yet and how the new book was coming along. I told her the current book is writing itself, that I am really excited about it, and I think that Del Rey and any other publisher who reads it will like it. She knew that Del Rey had passed on Fell Hammer but had asked to read my second effort.

She then proceeds to tell me that her agent is looking for new fantasy writers and asked if she could talk to him about me. I was just shocked. To her understanding, if a publisher asks to see more work from a writer, it must mean the writer has something worth reading. After questioning Megan about her agent and how she feels about him, I told her to tell the agent to look me up, read the Prologue, and if he is so inclined to write me an email and we'll talk.

The agent, it turns out, is Ralph Vicinanza, foreign rights expert and agent for multiple bestselling writers, including Stephen King.

I received Ralph's email with openness and with excitement. Here I hadn't even solicited him and he was soliciting my work. He asked to read my first four or five chapters of the new book, despite it not being done, and he'd let me know what he thought. How kind is that?

Since I don't usually edit my books until the end, I was in a bit of a predicament. I want him to have the chapters but I want them edited first. The good news is my editing ex-girlfriend has offered to do it; she is already hard at work on them and hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have something to show Ralph. In the meantime, I'll be working on those edits as well as writing, so my output will probably decrease a bit with the additional workload. But it is worth it—this is an opportunity I can't pass up no matter what it does to my schedule.

I am going to give Ralph the first 1/3 of The Dagda King. It should give him a fair understanding of what I am trying to accomplish. And I guess I'll know relatively quickly if I have something or not. I hope I do.

Cool Note: He asked for the chapters in .txt format because he reads on Amazon's Kindle. Super cool.

So don't forget: networking is your friend! You never know how building friendships and relationships will help you in this twisted journey.

Labels: Agent, The Dagda King

After nearly a month since Chapter Four was finished, I have completed Chapter Five.

It took me longer than expected, despite being derailed by the wisdom tooth. I should have finished it a week ago but the chapter required additional attention. Cardinal Cormac Pell O'Connor is a complicated man, and not only did I have to handle him with a certain carefulness I had to put enough back story into the chapter to satisfy the story.

You see, this story draws a lot from history. Although I did a lot of research before hand the story is still growing and I am seeing new things to add that not only sharpen the story but make it breathe a little easier for the reader. It's more interesting than it was when I began, and that means I have to keep that level of interest up for the reader as well. Cardinal O'Connor has a back story and it had to be handled right but I had to be careful to write it correctly to get the full literary significance out of it for those who like to read deeper into a story's meaning.

That's one reason for the chapter taking so long.

The other one I am more interested in. It turns out, this chapter has a lot more words than the others. When I looked at it, I realized why: the chapter is one of only three or possibly four I will have devoted to the point of view of Cardinal O'Connor. Since that is true, I have a lot less space to place with in his story. His story is important, and due to the constriction I think some of that need boiled over into a longer chapter.

I should know if that theory holds true when I write the next chapter. Chapter Six is a Richard McAllister chapter. It is one of three or four he'll have in the book. If it is longer like the Cardinal's, I'll know I am on to something about the length of my chapters depending upon how many chapters those characters get in the book.

So, for those keeping score, here we are:

Prologue: 3173 words
Chapter One: 4060 words
Chapter Two: 3244
Chapter Three: 3660
Chapter Four: 4144
Chapter Five: 4547

Now I am off to outline Chapter Six to hopefully start on it tomorrow!

Labels: The Dagda King

I thought since some of you have read my Prologue, it might be fun for you to see its inception paragraph in the book's outline.

Prologue: It is Pioneer Square in Seattle at night. Raining. Fall. Creature comes through. Richard defeats it, but not before several homeless are ravaged. He stares into the gloom of the Underground Tour cavern, probing the darkness for something else that never comes. All of the homeless scatter before him—they fear him. Knows fairies and some kind of smaller fey thing have gotten through and knows they are the scouts searching for something near.

When I was ready to start writing the book, I took the above paragraph, pasted it into its own new .doc file, and started writing it. Those who are astute will see not everything lines up exactly in the Prologue. It's not raining—the reader never knows what it is doing outside. I took the part about scattering homeless and worked that in with how people perceive Richard in general, as well as at the end with Walker and that man's worry at what he's just witnessed Richard do. Fairies do get through, but another creature does not.

The differences come about for several reasons that I can think of. One, I wrote that paragraph a while ago and since that time I've thought more about what I want to do with that chapter. And two, when I'm writing, it is an organic thing and those important aspects I want in the chapter blossom in their own unique ways. I don't always have control over that.

That paragraph is how most of my outline chapters look—just a few sentences describing the setting, what's going on, and what happens by its end. Some chapter paragraphs are longer than others, but they are all the same in how they help me operate and keep things straight.

I thought I'd share. This is quite an intimate look at my work, and I hope it sheds some light on a part of my writing process.

Labels: Craft, The Dagda King

Just a quick post to let you all know I have uploaded the Prologue of The Dagda King to this website. It is in HTML and will eventually be made into a .pdf file.

The Prologue!

Read it and post your thoughts on it here!

Labels: The Dagda King

Chapter Four is now finished.

I admit this is slower than what I would have liked but also not bad considering the holiday traveling, the eating, the sports and movie watching, and the partying I was privy to this year.

The chapter did not deviate from what I wanted it to be. The setting changed a bit, moving from an office to the nave of a Catholic Cathedral, but other than that it stayed true to the outline and my own inner vision. Bran is on the hunt for answers, and those he has grown to care about most are turning on him in unexpected ways. I find it gratifying twisting him; after all, he is a hated character in my book.

Now on to the next chapter. Chapter Five is the first Cardinal point of view chapter. I am excited to write it since it will be the reader's first introduction to him as well as opens up the world and what is going on—to the reader at least. I only give away enough to satisfy the reader, leaving Bran to figure it all out on his own. Events from the Prologue will begin to make more sense in the larger story's construct with Chapter Five, and it has some good fantasy elements I think readers will enjoy.

So, in a moment, I will be going next door to my favorite pub to sit down and outline the chapter.

After that will be Chapter Six. Chapter Six is the first true Richard McAllister point of view chapter. It will do similar things as Chapter Five; it will broaden the reader's understanding of the world Bran is stepping into.

And then in Chapter Seven, Bran steps into it. And all Hell breaks loose.

I have also finished rewriting the Prologue. It is much stronger now. My ex-girlfriend is an editor on Seattle's largest book publisher and her red pen flowed a few weeks ago onto my pages. Now I have incorporated her thoughts where I saw fit, as well as rewriting it to be less Brooksian. I plan on posting the Prologue as soon as I can find the time to put it into Adobe In Design to make it look purty.

I hope those of you who read this are either writing something fun or reading something great! This is probably my last finished chapter of the year—although I may surprise even myself in that regard—so have a safe New Year. Be kind to each other and give your dreams wings. Only you can do both.

Labels: The Dagda King

I finished Chapter Three tonight.

I should have finished it several days ago, to be honest. But I had Terry and Judine's surprise anniversary party to attend on Saturday (was fun seeing Terry's old editor, Owen, who flew in for the occasion), Sunday was taken up with shopping and football, and Monday was spent working almost all day. That left me with last night and tonight, but the chapter was one of those that almost literally wrote itself.

It is another Bran chapter and the climax of the first three chapter arc. Going in I knew it would be one feisty action chapter, and it lived up to my expectations. Remarkably, not much changed from how I originally imagined the chapter in my outline to what made it on the page, but one unexpected element happened near the end and I like how it sprang up out of nowhere.

For those keeping score, here is the break down of words per chapter:

Prologue: 3197 words
Chapter One: 4059 words
Chapter Two: 3244
Chapter Three: 3633

And before anyone asks, yes I am going to keep doing this tally and yes it is important to me. I think a lot of writers who are unsure in the craft have a tendency to pontificate beyond what the story needs. By observing my word count, I am attempting to keep this growing writer in check. Of course, my lower word counts could be a result of what I spoke about in last post, but I still think it is a good idea to watch one's own work from a different angle.

Chapter Four is a Bran chapter as well and will be the beginnings of the fallout from Chapter Three. In it, I get to explore two of the coolest architectural buildings in Seattle. I'll begin outlining it tomorrow and start writing it on Friday—unless I decide to drive home for the holidays on that day. Then it will be just a lost day when it comes to my story.

After Chapter Four, I get to have some fun though. Chapter Five is the first real Richard McAllister point of view chapter, and Chapter Six is the first chapter from my Cardinal's point of view, who still does not have a name but will very soon!

Cool Things: More people who have read Fell Hammer's excerpts are demanding I make the book available as a download, which I am still considering. JK Rowling sold a tiny little book for 4 million dollars and gave it to charity. Christmas is only a few days away, and that means Christmas cookies! And George R. R. Martin has finally finished A Dance of Dragons—just kidding!

Labels: The Dagda King

I finished Chapter Two last night.

It happened in a flurry, just one of those chapters that wrote itself. I was excited to write it, and I knew I was excited to write the first part of it. It's a fun scene and I think it will amuse people.

But what made the chapter easy to write was something unexpected that happened. Without giving too much away, Bran had to make a choice half way through that on its surface means nothing to the reader -- and really meant nothing to me at the time. When I came to the choice, however, I saw an opportunity and put just a bit more thought into it.

At that exact moment, the choice took on a depth in the story I had not previous imagined. It was like a lightning strike, and with that energy guiding me I wrapped up the chapter very quickly.

This illustrates something that I feel is important for those naysayers of outlining: just because you think your story through before you sit down to write doesn't mean these creative moments don't hit you like an electrical storm. Every time I sit down, even though I have my outline, I still don't know what is going to happen when I start writing. I still get new dreams and thoughts while I write, and those are a spur of the moment thing that help grow the story in exciting and unfamiliar ways.

On a side note, the chapter is 3244 words. For those keeping track, the break down is:

Prologue: 3197 words
Chapter One: 4059 words
Chapter Two: 3244

As you can see, there is no rhyme or reason to it. Chapter One is longer simply because that is my introductory chapter of Bran and there is a lot going on in it. I might be able to weasel that one down in edits later though. The other two are, however, what I feel will be indicative for most of the book—far shorter chapters than what we saw in the epic fantasy.

Chapter Three is already outlined. I did it Sunday night when I outlined Chapter Two. I'll be getting on it tonight probably, since it is an action-packed chapter and I love writing those!

Hope all of your shopping is going well! Don't be stressed! And try to relax this time of the year! It's supposed to be fun.

Labels: The Dagda King

I finished Chapter One Friday night. I am happy with how it played out. It introduced Bran, and as I mentioned last time I am almost overwhelmed by how much I do not like him as a person. That was my intention all along, but he's has grown into his own breathing character and he's not one I like.

Which means, I hope, that there will be enough conflict between him and the reader that really good character development can be possible.

Another item of note: my chapters are shorter in this book than in the last. I'm not sure if it is because I am a tighter writer now as I learned a lot last time, or if writing a story set in the real world takes fewer words than writing a wholly made up world. I have a feeling it is probably a little of both.

Last night, I outlined Chapter Two. It's the first Bran chapter where the boundaries between this world and the other begin to blur in shocking ways. I took my time with the action in Fell Hammer; in this book, I get right to it and don't let up.

Tomorrow I will go to work, come home, and write until dinner. Then one of my friends who is a professional editor will meet me and we'll discuss the Prologue. I sent it to her last week, she's read it, and we are going to discuss some areas she thinks can be improved. She liked it a lot, loved the last few paragraphs, and will probably rip me apart. Wish me luck!

Labels: The Dagda King

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.

Labels: The Dagda King