NaNoWriMo Prep

Update 20 Writer’s Journal 18-24 October

This was a week where I buckled down and tried to get a lot done. We’re going to take off running.

I knocked out three chapters this week, mostly going over ground already covered in the previous 2 versions of this manuscript. All favorite subject matter so I really dug in. And I was able to reuse a LOT of the dialogue. But the change in pov handling did mean that all other material had to be revised or rewritten entirely.

As the title lets on I will be doing nanowrimo again this year. Just using it as a helper to get me to knock out 50k in a month. If you want to friend me on there or just see what the whole thing is about here is the link to my ID: Dathar.

Word Count

As stated, 3 chapter knocked out of the park to the tune of 14,032 words for the week.  A hell of a good week. The manuscript is sitting at 63,770 words and is aiming for 150-200k. I do have a plan to trim a bunch of fat and I’m not worrying about over-writing right now.

For example, my epigraphs at the beginning of the chapters are meant to be a single page, but many of them go on for 2 or 3, so those will all be drastically cut down. As they are mainly “telling” sections of story, and I tend to linger in back story, history, mythology, and the inner thoughts of my characters.

That brings me around to my feelings as I write. Like many writers I lean back and forth from loving my own writing and thinking its utter shite. And when I get the occasional feedback or comment… it usually tends to make me drop into “utter shite.”

Lately I’ve been debating the phrases “serving the narrative” and “travelogue.”

Travelogue

I will unabashedly admit that my novels are either quest or travel based. It happens. It’s a narrative format I like because I feel like I have two strengths as a storyteller. Characterization and World-building (I feel the two are intimately linked but I’ve talked about that in other blogs).

The world (setting) is a vital character to my writing. And I like to move my characters through large sections of it. The thing is, my narrative is character driven, so as much as my characters are moving through the setting, they spend the bulk of their time in their heads or talking to one another and not quite enough time interacting with the scenery.

Now, I do go back and forth in this as well… I’ll spend time talking about the flora and fauna, and the history of various locations, and then move back into the story. And sometimes this works and sometimes it feels like bloated prose.

Now I have read a few novels that are exclusively travelogue. Where every mile and every day is charted and discussed. Page by page. And I am not that type of writer, though I still get the criticize that I am. At the same time, I get a different reader telling me they want more of the details… when my survivalist character is cutting through the woods. They want me to mention the flowers and trees, and how he uses willow bark to make pain killer, or cuts acacia flowers for a quick meal.

Its two sets of advice to slow things down more, and spend even more time enmeshed in the setting, versus just moving from set piece to set piece.

Best Advice

This has made me second guess myself and lead to me dropping the previous versions of the novel, and start fresh three times now. But one of the best bits of advice I’ve received is two-fold… Write like yourself … and How does this serve the greater story?

The first is both easy and hard, do you know yourself? Have you written enough to find your voice? Are you struggling with changing style and pov over multiple novels? That last one is my problem. I keep changing my mind on pov and style choices. The Ashlands was written completely differently from anything I had written when I was younger… and I started this book trying to copy the format of Ashlands… but it wasn’t working. It was dragging out the story in such a way that you were almost reading three novels at the same time and cycling through chapters with so many pov changes that you might forget what was happening.

I’ve changed up the pov and placed more than half of the novel concentrating on a main story, with another story running parallel and converging with the main.

Which brings us around to “How does this Serve the Narrative?”

I’ve had feedback of why am I talking about the ancient history of this city, that is merely a stop over in the “travelogue” that is still bringing the characters to the convergence. This made me sit back and think about why I have “encounters”/ conflicts.

I mean the story is about conflict. Right? If the characters didn’t have setbacks or things that slowed them down at every turn, then yeah… just jump from location to location and deal with what has to happen there. But “fast travel” from A to B without a bunch of stumbling blocks, time spent developing characters, revealing past events/history, and flexing world building… what the fuck is the point without that?

Rant Aside, Actually answering the Question:

How does this serve the narrative?

I have a chapter where the characters make landfall and have to transition from sea travel to overland. I introduce an interesting setting, a city that is decaying and falling into ruin and I hint at the back history, the people that still live in the empty city, and spend some time with my characters moving through this place.

Why? What does this do for the narrative. This is a good question and I am devoting 4000 words to this chapter (more with the epigraph that actually tells the history of the city, but the epigraphs might be skipped by readers).

I sat back and thought about it and realized that my entire story is told in parallel symbolism/ themes. I hate to reveal things, I love it when a reader has to piece it all together (though at the same time I like to give out a dozen clues to make it a fair challenge).

Let’s talk about:

Parallel Symbolism/ Themes

1. I have a lot of characters that are either long lived or misplaced through time. I have a possible villain who was locked in a prison for 1000+ years and is now free and trying to get back home and take back his place in the world. At the same time I have a Prince who was frozen in a spell for nearly 3000 years, who is a hero trying to find his place in a world that is different but not.
   With both of these characters I explore how things are the same and yet different, and I have them adapt to what is going on. BOTH of them have to deal with false history and lies about who they are/were.
2. My villain is really TWO villains, and without giving away all of the details they symbolism and embody an Alpha/Omega dynamic. Going back to my prisoner mentioned above, he is the first of his name and family line, and one of my main heroes is the last of that Family line. Meaning we have a First and Last who are facing off against an Alpha and Omega.
3. The third theme is about repeating history, cycles of violence and upheaval, and the a “secret true history” of things.

So, when my characters land in the ancient city and spend 10 pages moving through it and talking about the people and history of the area, part of that history is about the Gods of this world and their struggles… but more importantly its about how the gods use the people and this world as a game. This ruined city was literally just a flex between two gods, and the people within have been wrecked and ruined. They live in a state of degradation and misery, thousands of years after the offence that killed their city, none the wiser about WHY they live their lives like this.

To further add to the parallel, the “heroes” moving through this city sad and disgusted by its state are in the employ of a God who wants them to thwart the Alpha/Omega (also a god)… and as such they are also PAWNS.

Now, in the moment, reading that chapter in the book, it comes across as 10 more pages of travelogue and commentary with little pushing the “main story.” But when taken within the whole scope of the book (and the OTHER books in the series) it is both foreshadowing the possible future, and maybe taking some trust away form the “benevolent mentor god leading the ‘heroes.’”

Moving On

Anyway, I just wanted to sit down and answer that question and really think about WHY I write what I write, and why it feels like a necessary part of the story. Even if it isn’t super exciting and doesn’t “seem” to drive the story forward. It is a clue and a building block that rewards a deeper reading of everything that is going on overall. I freely admit that some things in this book won’t serve THIS book, but WILL serve the WHOLE series overall.

Moving on.

Last week saw three D&D games! YAY! It was nice. Besides the two normal weekly games (and yes, I do know that I promised I would start writing one of those games as a serial on here, but my novel has taken priority, also my failing health hasn’t helped things) my monthly Curse of Strahd game happened.

I really do like curse of Strahd but the long time between games just kills me. Details get fuzzy and things just feel very slow. But I guess I shouldn’t complain. As I know there are a lot of people out that only play once a month. I feel bad for them.

That all said I have really, really wanted to play Call of Cthulhu. I love D&D, have been playing it for 30+ years and will always want to play it. But I’m spoiled for D&D. I just really want to play CoC, and have almost worked up the nerve to look for online games or perhaps even ask some of my friends on discord to get into a one shot or short scenario.

I think it might because my health is worrying me, or perhaps I’m just becoming more social during my favorite time of the year. I don’t know. But I really want to play more… and yet at the same time I also want to curl up with a good book or stack of comics and just stay alone. It is my constant struggle. The want to play games and hang out with friends, and the need to wrap up in blankets and stay in bed with books or movies, or both.

Horror Movies (or other stuff)

This is Halloween, and I watch horror movies year-round. All the time. I have logged over 4200 movies on my Letterboxd account. But I still want to watch some decent movies. Part of my problem is that there at=re a bunch of tropes I loathe and I just skip those movies. Overly religious fanatic who wants to murder children/main characters for GOD! Nope. Most possession movies. Nope. Pregnant woman in peril. Nope. Etc.

It becomes very hard to work my way through newer movies and is the main reason I end up watching classics I’ve already seen a million times. That all said, this is the final week before Halloween and I would like to get in a bunch of good movies. So, if anyone has suggestions, give me one or two and tell me something you think is awesome about it. Why should I watch it. Extra points if you tell me where it is streaming. Thanks.

Outro

Well, this is the longest post I’ve done in a while. So, I guess I should sign off here. Thanks again for reading and I hope my struggles and thoughts help you.

Happy Halloween!