Wrote a lot today, in three chunks with breaks in between. That, unfortunately, doesn't mean it is any good, and I really am not a huge fan of what I wrote. However, I'm following the "Write or Die" tactic where I just go and ignore any stupidities (plus, it's discovery writing, something has to be bad). In the end, it moved the plot, and it is a scene that exists. It's too long, but I'll survive. Plot is moving.
In other news, I know what is happening next chapter, but past that I'm in the dark. I'll need to spend some time planning should this story actually, you know, have a decent plot. There are a few things I like about writing a series vs stand-alone, which I will now elaborate on.
Lots of times when I write, I have way too many good ideas that I want in a particular book. Usually this results in one of three things:
1. A bunch of the ideas get cut, and it bothers me (Paradise Seekers)
2. The ideas get put in, but due to length/time/etc. I end up having to rush them, and they don't end up as elaborate as I would have hoped (Harbinger).
3. I put every idea ever in, and the book is huge and kind of not that great (Lacrymosa).
There is the rare instance that I find what I feel is a good balance (Where Gods and Mortals Dance), but even then that novel is too long. Usually it just doesn't work, and I end up planning series (see now-dead Ringforger, and the fact that Effulgent Corruption was planned as a minimum two books from the start) that never get written.
However, actually writing a series that I know is a series from the start is actually pretty fun (and a new experience). I get to hint at things that I know won't show up for a while, as well as introduce things in a bare detail (one that works for this book) that will be elaborated on later. And, if I get a cool idea that I really wan't to use but just can't in this book, I can sleep knowing that if I really want, I can add it in later. It's a neat thing.
At any rate, Steelgods was always intended to be something I write when I'm stuck on my "main" writing, with the requirement I write the entire books in a month or less, so that will give me plenty of time between books to plan the next one. Hooray.
Enough blabbing, here's today's crap.
"April cocked her head, disbelief in her eyes. “Bandits? This far west? I’ve heard stories from bards about packs of them by the Steel-Imbued Land’s borders. You know, where people actually have money.”
She looked down at my ruined pants. “Then again, those seem fairly expensive. Are you the son of a Spoke?”
I couldn’t hold back the snort of laughter. “Don’t I wish. Spoke wouldn’t allow their children this far from the Imbued. At least, not without an escort of Cog-”
“Don’t say their name,” April interrupted hastily.
I laughed again. “Cogs? Why?”
“My father told me stories about them,” April didn’t meet my eyes. “Inhuman monsters, once men but now more machine. People transformed to serve the Steelgods. Don’t say their name.”
I rolled my eyes. “Part machine? I really doubt-”
“Have you seen one?” April interrupted. I shook my head.
“No.”
“Well then, you can’t talk.”
We were silent, and again I wished I could travel back and restart the conversation. "
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1 comments:
It's my assertion that it's hard to say what's too long or too short if the plot supports the length. A well-paced plot with interesting characters in 180,000 words will be read. Just don't expect me to slip it in my pocket on an airplane trip.
Anyways, we live in the Electronic Age, so if you really want an airplane read that's 180,000 words total it wouldn't be that hard to deliver the book in chunklets.
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