Overwriting

I've been writing quite a lot lately (trying to maintain a chapter-a-day pace for the next few days), and I'm really, really excited about how Heartkeeper: Volume Two is coming together.  I'm up to about fifty typed pages (which is about a quarter of the length of Volume One), but it looks like this one is probably going to be about 40% longer than the first.  I didn't set out to write a longer novel, but it's a much bigger story.  So I guess it's inevitable. 

I did want to talk a little about the differences between the two books, though.  So if you haven't read Volume One, you may want to avoid the next few paragraphs.  Slight spoilers ahead.

The first novel is a character-driven introduction to the world.  It was always going to be a relatively small story in that I only wanted to go from point A to point B.  That's part of the reason it's set in a vaguely familiar (and stereotypical) fantasy world.  I didn't want to go into too much detail about races and such.  Rather, I wanted to be able to focus on the different magic systems, the characters, and (later on) politics. 

In those ways, I was successful.  Looking back, I wish I would have spent a little more time with the gnomes.  Developing backstories and cultures is so much fun for me, and the gnomes have a very unique history.  That said, I'm probably more critical of my own work than anyone else could ever be, and judging by the readers' responses I've seen, most people were happy with it. 

However, with Volume Two, I'm really opening up this world.  It's not a small story anymore, and I can't write it like it is.  Sure, I still want to focus on the characters (I've always felt like writing introspective characters was a strength of mine), but I also want this world to feel "lived-in."  It's a lot more work because I've had to develop each culture's history (to the tune of 200+ pages of notes), but I think the extra effort is starting to show.

Writing a bigger story can be a trap, though.  It would be very easy to get bogged down in the details, and lose sight of the main storyline.  It's a fine line to walk, providing enough detail that the reader feels like each culture and character is three-dimensional while, at the same time, not going overboard, and flooding their attention with superfluous, minute details that don't really matter.  So far, I think I'm walking that line pretty well, but it's a constant struggle to keep it at the forefront of my mind.  It can be so easy to get caught up in a scene and overwrite it.  Still, I think awareness of that danger is key to not falling prey to it.

Anyway, I hope this creative streak continues. 

Writing Up a Storm

I've covered a lot of ground today, and I wrote about six pages.  I'm sure that I'll edit it down a little, but to put that in perspective, the manuscript for Heartkeeper: Volume One was only about 200 pages long (with graphics).  So that's quite a bit of progress for one day, and I plan to get a couple more pages hammered out before the day is finished. 

Since I started posting again, I've received a few emails from fans, wishing me well and praying for me.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers.  They definitely help. 

If you've bought or downloaded Heartkeeper: Volume One, please take the time to at least rate it wherever you bought it.  I'd love to see more reviews, but I know most people don't want to take that sort of time.  However, a simple rating (one or two clicks) really helps let potential readers know that the book is worth their time.   I don't think that's asking too much.

That's it for now.  Hope you all are well, and I'm really excited about where this story is going. 

Update on Second "Heartkeeper"

I've talked a little about why Heartkeeper: Volume Two is still in development (as opposed to being finished), but I wanted to add a few things to that explanation.  Almost immediately after I finished Heartkeeper: Volume One, I started writing the second in the series.  However, when I was diagnosed with leukemia, I sort of veered away from writing.  Simply put, it was difficult to concentrate on writing when a) I felt horrible and b) I was legitimately scared of what my future held. 

It's easy to put on a brave face, and act like nothing is wrong.  It really is.  "I'm doing okay," I'd say.  "I'm fine," or "I'm lucky it's treatable."  I can't count how many times I said, "I'm lucky because if you're going to get cancer, this is the type of cancer you want to get because it's so treatable."  The fact of the matter is that I never really felt lucky.  In fact, I'm a little ashamed to say that I wallowed in self-pity.  Why me?  I don't drink.  I don't do drugs.  I try to live a relatively healthy lifestyle.  But I'm the one who gets cancer at 30 years old.  I think that mindset was harder to get over than the disease itself. 

Anyway, that sort of attitude is not conducive to writing.  Sure, I wrote in my journal about what I was (and in some ways, still am) dealing with.  But as far as concentrating on writing a narrative?  It just wasn't going to happen. 

Cut to a few months later, when I was on the cusp of the remission declaration (which is defined as being cancer-free for six months), and I sort of turned a mental corner.  It was time to stop feeling sorry for myself, and start to actively try to achieve my goals. 

There was one problem, though - I just wasn't happy with what I'd already written.  There were elements I liked, certainly, and there were specific scenes which were very good, but as a whole, I just didn't care for where the story was going.  So I scrapped it, and started over.

When I sat down to rewrite it, though, I had a bit of an epiphany.  I needed more organization if the novel was going to be successful (artistically).  It's a big story with a lot of details interwoven into the narrative.  Volume one was always going to be a small, character-driven story, and so, didn't require a lot of planning.  I think I only did a very basic outline, a small, regional map, and a short character list.  All-in-all, I only had a dozen or so pages of notes.  Everything else was just in my head.

With Volume Two, however, I wanted to have a plan.  I wanted to refer to people and places that would appear in subsequent books, and I wanted, above all, consistency.  That meant that I had to get down to it, and actually plan. 

I started with the outline.  Originally, I only intended to give a short five-six word summary of the chapters, but it quickly became a map for the entire book.  I included back stories, secondary and tertiary characters, lines of dialogue...everything.  By the time I was finished, I'd ended up with 50-60 pages worth of outline.  That said, the entire novel was completely planned.  All I had to do was write it.

The only problem was that I had created so many new characters (most aren't really that important to the story, and aren't in the story much) that I started to get them confused.  So, I decided to build a detailed character list.   That ended up being about fifteen pages long.

Finally, I needed to flesh out my map.  As with everything else, it sort of grew into what it became.  Originally, I was only going to make a basic world map with city, landmark, and terrain names.  When I started working on it, however, I decided that I'd use it as a bit of promotional material.  Make a pretty map, and generate interest in the book.  So, I spent a few days building what I think is a very nice map. 

And now, I'm in the midst of writing the first draft.  It's really coming along nicely, and I've got that feeling of excitement I tend to get when a story starts to come together.  At last count, I was about fifteen percent into it, and the prep work is really paying off.  I can only hope that it continues to go so smoothly. 

As to plans for the future of this little blog, in addition to giving you guys updates on the progress of the novel, I'm considering doing a series of short stories (published weekly) as a way of fleshing out my world for you all.

That's it for now.  Thanks for reading, and I hope that the second novel lives up to your expectations.

Second Heartkeeper Prep - The Map

Cartography is not easy; I can say that with absolute conviction.  Every part of it - from conception to execution - is tedious and time-consuming.  That said, it is an invaluable process in that it forces me to think about my characters' journeys, and it cements the world in reality.

With the first book, I worked off of a very rough regional map.  It was always a small story with only a few real locations, so that was all I needed.  But this story is so much bigger, and it's intended to open up the world.  The map had to reflect that.

So, this is my first real fantasy map:

This is the map after a texture pass and the addition of the compass rose:

Part of me wanted to go with a traditional fantasy map with icons, names for everything, and borders, but with a full-world map like this, that's not really an option.  So I chose to make it a little more realistic - kind of like a satellite view of the world, with only the cities named.

I started with a sketch (basically just the continents and major landmarks) on nine 14x17 pages (creating a 3x3, 9 tile grid).  Then, I took pictures (the pages were too big to scan), and loaded those pictures into Photoshop CS5.  From there, I refined the shapes of the continents, did the coloring, applied the textures, and then, finally, labeled it.  All in all, it took about 12-15 hours of work, but I think it was well worth it.  The result is a useful bit of art that I can use as a reference and promotional material.  That, and I think it's just pretty cool.  Hopefully you all do too.

In the next update, I'll probably have another couple of maps ready.  I still need to do a political map, and I'll probably use a variation of this one to establish the names of natural formations (mountains, rivers, oceans), scale, and major landmarks.  I also have plans to create maps of Nou Tyran, Byn Takar, and Linston sometime in the near future. 

So keep checking back, and I'll keep posting.