On Endings

It’s finished! Mwahahahahahaha! Done! Complete! No longer sitting on my shoulders like some sort of warped monkey-demon!

So on Saturday I typed up the last part of the New Realm book. It has been a frustrating experience to watch this story meander its way to a conclusion. The thing is monstrously long, horribly inconsistent, and will likely require several rewrites in order to be readable. In short, it’s the kind of novel that I will likely not be working on any time soon, and will not be excited to start again when I finally drag myself to the task.

By contrast, I am really starting to get excited about working with Wolfhound again. In fact, I already seem to be moving beyond the original story and have started planning out the sequel. It’s odd how different my reaction has been between the two stories, and that has made me take a look at myself as an author, and examine a little why I write and how I write.

First off, I’ve discovered that it takes more than an interest in the setting to keep me going. I love Realm’s setting, and it is an interesting concept to go by, but in order for me to get really going on the story I need a plot. Wolfhound was built around the events of the story, and the character and setting fit the plot more than the other way around. While I liked Jacob’s character and enjoyed coming up with the backstory of his setting a lot, it was the plot that drove my interest in writing it. That interest was something I just didn’t have while writing Realm, and the story suffered for the lack.

Second, I’ve started wondering if I should focus more on science fiction stories. While I will always enjoy fantasy, sci fi has always had its own kind of appeal to me, and the setting will often allow me to explore scientific concepts like alternative energy creation and medical techniques that the more logical side of me is already wondering about. At the same time, sci fi doesn’t necessarily have the same sense of magic and wonder that fantasy often has. It will have to be something I think about more as I proceed.

Third, I’ve decided that I need to outline a story more before I write it out. Part of why Realm did not work and Wolfhound did was the fact that when I started Wolfhound, I had a pretty good idea where the story would go. That fed into a solid story structure that held the book together even through rougher patches of the first draft. When I wrote Realm, I just started and tried to let the story go on its own, which may have let it get away from me. Probably not the best strategy. Oh well.

In any case, a project is done for now, and I am moving on with other plans. So goes life. See you around!