Drawing from the Well
It has been an outstanding writing period lately, and not just for Book III. Let’s start with outside-writing news. I got the second proof of my website this week and it looks good. There are still some tweaks to make and some integration work to do, but we’re getting close to launch. I’ll have more details on what that means for the blog when we get there. I also have been in communication with my cover designer for Book I this week to nail down some of the finer details. Hopefully, I’ll see the first sketch next week!
As for Book III, if you follow me on Instagram (@brian.gardner.11209) you’ll see that I just finished the third of five arcs in Book III. It feels so good. The one downside is that the two remaining arcs remain unstarted. I never touched them during NaNoWriMo so now we get into the hardest part for me: beginnings. The upside is that this isn’t a FIRST book so I’m picking these characters up where I left them. More to come and I can’t wait!
And I cracked 90k!
Scenes: 152/230 (That’s 20 more finished scenes!)
Words: 10,218 since last post bringing us to 90,470/~137,000 (66.09%)
Filling the Well
It’s been a pretty good spate of reading lately. It’ll be even better during my upcoming Father’s Day trip. Long road trips are so great for audiobooks for me. I’m amped for that.
For now, I went as far as I will with Recluce. The first two books only connected tangentially and I need more than that. The second half of Towers of Sunset was good but Modesitt’s writing just seems to bounce off of me. It’s a shame because he’s written so many books, I wish I could sink into his worlds. I also read Take Back Your Book about reverting book rights from traditional publishers. It was interesting and even went into depth on self-publishing. Good stuff.
Now I’m listening to The Girl Who Drank the Moon which, although targeted at a younger audience than me, is a fantastic palette cleanser from Recluce. I see a lot of it coming but it’s still super interesting. I’ll let you know how it finishes next time.
46/100 for #ProjectBookworm2022
Well Chat
We’ve spent the last couple of months talking about writing process and finding your way in this open-ended world of making up worlds. From plotting to pantsing and everything in between to finding where you land on that continuum.
So where do I land?
I’ve mentioned several times that I’m closer to plotter than pantser but I definitely love discovering scenes while drafting. Beyond that, I’m BIG on plot and character interactions, small on description. I always have to go back multiple times in editing and beef up my character and setting descriptions to make them more visible and believable. In my pre-edited draft of Book I, I went too far with this, but that’s the joy/curse of editing, right?
My favorite part of writing is climaxes and my greatest dread is beginnings. Even starting Book II was hard for me despite picking up the characters close to where I left them. Starting Book III was even worse, but that was for reasons that I can’t explain until Book II is in the wild. We’ll get there one day.
Climaxes, though, those are the big moments for me. I grew up on Dragonball Z, Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, and Gargoyles. The moments when everything comes together and the hero is able to do far more than they were able up to this point are my jam. I build every book around those moments. I already know how this entire series will end. The endpoint, especially when it’s mind-bogglingly exciting, gives me something to aim for. And when I get to that point, I can’t be stopped from writing. I’m in the zone, I’m in my flow state, and I have to see how it comes together. Yes, I’m putting it together, but it’s like the creative monster in my brain takes over. It’s the most fun.
My biggest thing right now is #ChooseYourHard. Writing is hard. Not writing is hard. Beginnings are hard. Endings are hard. Description is hard. Plot is hard. Starting is hard. Finishing is hard. Plotting is hard. Pantsing is hard. Existing is hard. Rather than focusing on the fact that what I’m doing is, in fact, hard, I focus on the fact that I chose this path and love it for that.
Who are you as a writer? What’s your hard? What do you love? Sound off or come visit me on social media and let me know. I love talking craft and would love to talk craft with you. Be well.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG