Discovering New Worlds, One Syllable at a Time
Want to know more? Click here and then click, “Notify Me on Launch!” The campaign starts May 2nd! Even if you don’t plan on backing the project, you clicking “Notify Me on Launch” helps is so much!
And watch this space… we’ll be sharing more soon, including character concepts, covers, and… well, just wait and see!
Do you want to write faster? Write more. Writing is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger you’ll be. You’ll be able to write faster for longer.
You know the problem with muscles, though?
They atrophy, too.
I mentioned a few weeks back that my daughter slaughtered a series I’d already outlined. That’s okay. I think it’ll be much, much better for it. So, this week I finally sat down to actually outline the series that had been destroyed. Well, re-outline it. You get the idea.
I set up some basic characters, some basic conflicts, the overall setting. All good. I saw some definite possibilities in character interactions that would be a lot of fun.
And then I started outlining.
Well, I tried to outline. See, it’s been too long since I’ve outlined, apparently. I stared at the screen. It took far, far too long to figure out what I was doing. Where was the main character going to go? I knew she had to end up over here, but right now she was over there. How to get her from point H to point I?
And I was not gruntled by this at all. I had six books to outline, and it took me two days to get a passable outline for one book.
So this week… it’s back to the writing gym. I’m working on outlining again. Don’t skip leg day. You’ll wind up like me, apparently.
I’m still excited by the project. I think it’s going to be amazing by the time it’s done. This is time well spent.
I just wish the muscles hadn’t atrophied from nonuseage. Sigh.
It’s done. It’s finally done.
This week we shipped the very last of the Madelyn of the Sky Kickstarter rewards. We’d planned it to last this long, of course. The entire idea was sending out six books over the course of a school year. In fact, we’re shipping these books two weeks early!
(Oh, and the first five books are currently available everywhere, and book six will be available April 15!)
But it was also a lot of work. And that means… we got to celebrate this week! Huzzah! One six-book series (with two Kickstarter-exclusive spinoff books) is complete!
But that’s not the only thing I finished this week. I also wrapped up completing revisions based on the developmental edit I got back from my editor for all six books of Cade and the Last Starship. In fact, I’ve already gotten line edits back on book one, so I’ll be starting in on that soon enough.
And we’re starting construction on the Kickstarter for Cade. We’re aiming to run it starting May 1… so mark your calendars! Another six-book series coming your way soon!
And what does this all mean?
A writer writes. It’s what a writer does. And just because one series is done, it doesn’t mean the writer stops writing. Another series is on the way. The series after that is starting to take shape.
It never ends. One book will conclude. A series may be closed off. But there will always be more.
And what a glorious thing that is, eh? A story may end, but stories won’t. And I get to keep telling them.
One done. How many more to go?
Let’s find out together.
This time it’s my daughter’s fault.
I had the whole six-book series mapped out. It needed work, but the bones were solid. No problem. I had the full concept, ready to go.
And then my older daughter wanted to go to the mall to look for ideas for cosplay. No problem. I took her. And as we headed over, she mentioned the dark fairy wings she has as part of her arsenal of items. And I thought, “Hm. It would be a lot of fun if the protagonist had wings…”
I presented my daughter for the idea of the book series, and then asked if she thought the main character with wings was better.
“Yeah! But what about…” And then she asked a question about the setting.
And then another question.
And another.
Long story short, I’m almost back at starting over for the entire book series. Thankfully, I hadn’t started drafting it yet. I’m only starting over at the outline level, which is very doable. And I think the story will be so, so much stronger for it.
They say you have to kill your darlings. I’ve experienced that a few times in my writing career, but never scrapping an entire series before. I’ve dropped characters, scenes, thousands and thousands of words… but the entire concept of a series changing?
Well, it was a darling, and now it is dead. But, as I said, I think it’ll better for it. I want the best story possible, and this is closer to that.
And I have my daughter to thank for it.
Apparently I need to talk to my kids about the books more often…!
Sometimes reading a book will hurt.
Sure, sometimes it’s because the author has done a fantastic job crafting characters that go through trials. You’ll read the people there and ache when their lives fall apart. That’s good writing.
And sometimes… sometimes reading a book will hurt because you can tell the author doesn’t know what they’re doing.
And it gets worse if you’re a writer yourself.
Continue reading “Reading Hurts”
Jonathon Mast: Author