Recent entries

Will

My main problem with romance is that it's added to literally every story as though it's a required component, and it's often just thrown in there. In nine out of ten stories, the characters are just in love because they're in love, and we expect that because it's the weird side item that comes with every single meal.

So I intentionally left it out of Traveler's Gate.

But now that TG has become much bigger than I thought it would, if I want to expand on the character's lives, logically there's going to be SOME romance in there. There's romance in everyone's life to some degree.

It just won't be the focus, because the focus is fighting giant interdimensional monsters with a huge sword.

***As for the anime influences, the parallels to the Shounen Jump Big Three are almost entirely coincidences.

The madra in Cradle parallels chakra from Naruto because they're both based on chi myths and legends that originated in China and Korea. We're drawing on the same source material. But the two magic systems work exactly the same way, so picturing madra flow as chakra flow is dead-on.

The only One Piece connection is that they both involve pirates on a magical sea, but I wasn't intentionally making that parallel. They're pirates because I wanted to do a pirates vs. ninjas thing, and it's a magical sea because awesome things are awesome. I would love to write something that was directly inspired by One Piece, though. That would be amazing.

I love the Devil Fruits system but I wish it had more rules, and I love how haki solves the main Fruit problem (i.e. why aren't the Logia users invincible?) by giving them a catch-all force that can be used against anyone with any powers. But it's also kind of vague, as haki is just sort of "general magical power," so I'd want some more character there.

And if I wrote my own series I'd get to tweak those as I wish, which would be so much fun!

The Traveler's Gate parallels...I get the connection to Bleach, I really really do, but believe it or not it's entirely a series of coincidences. Simon uses a large Japanese-style sword because it's cool, and if I was inspired by anyone it was Sephiroth. With that sweet sweet Masamune.

The black cloak was a last-minute addition. Seriously, it was like the last thing I added to the book. My cover artists had come up with that sweet-looking Nye on the cover, but my beta readers kept assuming it was Simon (because anyone on the cover has to be the main character, I guess). And they were confused when he never wore a black cloak; I had him in peasant clothes all book.

So I gave him a cloak. Now it's Simon on the cover if you want it to be, or it's the Eldest, or it's just a random Nye. However you interpret it.

And the mask was complete improv. I gave Malachi a mask as his Ragnarus artifact, but when he died it was just sitting there on the floor. And I've always had this pet peeve where main characters let their enemies' strongest weapons sit there and rot instead of taking them and use them for good.

So I had Simon take it. Then I had to think...well, he has to find a use for this mask. For Malachi it allowed him to draw more from his Territory, but how would that help Simon? The chains already limit how much he can draw. Maybe they can fix it and make it work for Valinhall...

And that's how that happened.

If I were to take anything from Bleach, it would be shikai/bankai. In fact, I'm trying to figure out how to work something like that into Cradle, because I think it allows for a lot of character individuality.

***

That said, I can tell you where I DID intentionally copy the Big Three as well as a bunch of other anime series, and that's in the fight scenes. I usually picture fights as a choreographed anime sequence in my head, and work from there. If you think of them as reading an anime, awesome!

And finally, to answer your main question: yes, I picture Lindon and Yerin as Chinese, as well as most of the characters. The only exceptions so far are Suriel and Eithan (and, in Blackflame, the rest of Eithan's family).

Thanks for reading, Simon! Glad you're enjoying the stories!

Dustin

While we don't have a clear answer on if more than one can be acquired, I feel that it was at least partially answered on whether they can pick their own or not. They can pick their own to a certain extent, as long as the remnant is compatible with their madra. Of course there is still quite a bit we don't know about this world. It could also be an anything goes as long as you can dominate the remnant with your madra and using one that is compatible is the preferred method or easier.

Will

If you bond the same Remnant, you get the same Goldsign.

That said, no two Remnants are EXACTLY alike, so sometimes there are variations. Also, you don't HAVE to bond a Remnant that was on exactly the same Path as you, as long as its madra isn't too incompatible with your own.

Which is why Jai Long was able to bond a Remnant outside his Stellar Spear Path, even though it resulted in an unfortunate Goldsign.

Andrew

So are the sword & other deadly artifacts supposed to be a common type of thing in Cradle, or were they just a rare(but deadly) occurrence?

Will

Most people don't practice a Path that's as strictly lethal as this blood/death Path. These guys figured, "If we use the sacred arts in combat so much, then surely the most lethal Path is the best."And they were sort of right, until they all killed each other.

Andrew

By 'common thing', I meant more along the lines of 'ancient tomb with valuable/powerful weapons/treasures that travelers stumble upon and try to loot'. Also, what's the general technology level in Cradle? It seems like a blend of low-tech and madra usage

Will

Then yes, it is pretty common!

It's an old world, in which aura tends to gather and condense naturally over time into very valuable materials/treasures, so treasure-hunting and adventuring can be actual careers.

On top of that, animals can advance into sacred beasts over time, which means that small non-human civilizations can rise spontaneously from the wilderness.

In other words, it would be a great world to run a DnD campaign in. That was not by design, but I'm willing to take credit for it nonetheless.

Technology is pretty medieval with a few exceptions, although constructs have changed things in more civilized areas. I explore that more in Blackflame, where you get to see what a more advanced civilization is like.

For instance, there are mechanisms for audio communication, but they're expensive and they can be blocked by natural phenomena. Likewise, they have aerial transportation, but any number of crazy aura-fueled weather patterns or terrifying flying monsters can make travel impossible, so they tend to stay within very controlled routes.

Also, this is a world where a single individual can become so strong as to be untouchable, so that tends to create a situation in which personal advancement is far more reliable than technological.

Instead of inventing and perfecting a device so that everyone can have an ability, you can just develop that ability yourself.

Will

Here's a more commonplace example of "treasure-hunting" than what we saw in 'A Sword Unclean':

--There's an abandoned temple at the top of a mountain. It's broken and ruined, but you suspect Cloudgrass will grow in the cracks; Cloudgrass grows wherever the wind is strong, and contains within it vital aura condensed from the wind and clouds.--It can be used to create a Thousand-Mile Cloud, to further someone's advancement in cloud or wind sacred arts, or even drained and purified to make scales. You don't care; you just need to grab some so that you can sell it.--Nobody else has taken it yet because the winds are very strong up there, a cloud covers the mountain 24/7, and packs of Blood Eagles (sacred beasts nourished by the pure wind aura of the area) circle the peak, looking for prey.--They don't watch for an approach through the earth. You're part of a mining clan, and you use your techniques to excavate a tunnel right up and into the ruins of the temple. There's plenty of Cloudgrass, a few ruined lines of ancient script that you make casts of in case a scriptor will pay you for them, and a Blood Eagle sitting on its nest. You kill the bird and its Remnant, taking both bodies back with you--you can sell the Remnant to a Soulsmith and the body to a medicinal refinery.

That sort of thing. The people who go around looking for naturally forming treasure typically have a reliable source of leads, a skill-set that allows them to go where no one else can, and a way to turn those leads into cash.

If you make a career out of it, you typically know where you can go, you find out which of those places have valuable resources there, and you spend your time making a circuit between those locations.

And if someone else with similar skills starts taking your stuff, well, it depends on how strong they are. If they're more advanced than you, that's how life works. Suck it up. If you're more advanced than they are, you threaten them until they leave or you just kill them.

Cradle life!

the questioner

Will, you said in the previous thread that if Lindon were to fight against an elder of his clan he MIGHT win.His biggest problem would be their illusions.Does it mean, though, that physically they are more or less on the same level.I remember the scene in the 1st book, when he was attacked by an iron of the, I think, Mon family, because he shamed that iron by winning against him. Before he could hit Lindon,though, his attack was blocked by an elder, which seemed to lindon, as though the elder teleported in front of him. Would lindon accomplish similar feats..

Will Wight

The elder didn't seem to teleport because he was moving so fast (although he WAS fast, just not that fast). It was because of his mastery over illusion.

That's exactly what Lindon would have to deal with.

Physically, he'd be on a similar level to the Jades of Sacred Valley. His Iron body is of a higher quality, but it's specialized for recovery, not pure strength.

Will.2

Will, the Sword Sage praised the chief of the Heaven Glory school(not sure the name is correct). Does this mean that he has a perfect jade body, or whatever it is called.Or did he simply mean that his foundation is better than the ones of the other elders?

Will

Curses. If I'd known you were going to ask this on two different threads, I've responded here instead of on the other one.

Bottom line: the Sword Sage didn't mean anything by it. He was being minimally polite to a bunch of primitive savages. "That's a very nice sharpened stick you have there; it's almost as good as my attack helicopter."

AbnormalAverage

I have a mini-series I’m writing on the connection between making a private wiki and worldbuilding, and how it can better help me organize my writing and world so I don’t run into plothole issues later on,  What organizational system do you use to write your book, and has tracking all of the information held within your series been difficult?

Will Wight

You know, a private wiki has always seemed like the best solution to me, but I don’t use anything like that.

I have piles and piles of notes. I just write everything down in a note file and save it in the folder with the main book manuscript.

It’s like having to shovel through a small mountain of notebooks every time I want to look up a character’s age. Not efficient; do not recommend.

AbnormalAverage

If you had a sentence to describe your next book within the Cradle series, what would you say?

Will Wight

Lindon goes back home.

AbnormalAverage

If I were to ask you what scenes would you feel are obligatory in detective stories, you’d likely respond with a death, a detective on the chase, red herrings, and a showdown at the end. What would you say are the obligatory scenes found within progression fantasy, or are we not there yet?

Will Wight

A scene showing how weak the main character is starting off, some scenes with them figuring out the magic system, a bunch of magic fights, and the infamous Clown in a Bottle scene.

Not sure how many more scenes I can write with clowns in bottles, but it’s tradition at this point.

AbnormalAverage

In your Cradle series, Lindon is a weaker character who consistently pushes himself to grow stronger, even when he’s one of the strongest to be found within the region. What made you want to write a character this way, and how do you deal with the “power rangers” problem (the progressively stronger character has to constantly gain strength to fight progressively stronger antagonists)? 

Will Wight

I know that part of what draws people to this series is their desire to see the character grow more powerful, so I wanted my main character to be someone who would actively want the same thing the audience does.

As for the Power Ranger problem, I don’t really see it as a problem.

If I want to see a character gain more power, I want to see them fight a more powerful antagonist too.

AbnormalAverage

There are stories that abound within Dragoncon as well as those who state, having met you, that you’re one of the nicest authors they’ve met. What kind of reaction does this bring from you, and have you met any authors that inspire a similar reaction? 

Will Wight

That’s actually just part of the contract I make everyone sign. You’ll notice that when people talk about how nice I am, their jaws are clenched and they’re intensely sweating.

The penalties for violating the contract are…severe.

AbnormalAverage

The website interviewed Mr. Andrew K. Rowe earlier, and he stated that you helped him pick out the term “Progression Fantasy” to better describe your sub-genre. How did the conversation happen and what insights did it bring to your own authorial abilities?

Will Wight

Andrew and I were sitting on the hood of his space helicopter, sipping cocktails made of distilled dreams, when he mentioned to me that none of our readers really knew what to call the sub-genre we were writing in.

It’s next door to LitRPG, but isn’t really that, and yet it has a distinctly different flavor from a lot of traditional fantasy.

I agreed with him, but I said it was an impossible task to come up with a new term for a whole sub-genre of fantasy. He called me a coward, smashed his cocktail glass against my face, and marched off into the Dream Realm on a quest to prove me wrong.

Naturally, I assumed he was dead. But a week later, he came back with “Progression Fantasy” tucked under his arm, so it’s a label we’ve been using ever since.

AbnormalAverage

In reviews found on reddit and other websites, it is commonly stated that the beginning of unsouled is hard to get through, but the rest of the series is quite worth it. Why would you say they think this, and how has your writing changed since that first book? 

Will Wight

The beginning of Unsouled is very different from the rest of the series, and I made that decision intentionally at the time.

I knew I needed to ground Lindon’s character in the world he came from, and that I was going to kick the story into gear for the reader at the same time that Lindon’s normal life was upended. And that happens about halfway through the book.

Since then, I’ve gotten better at virtually everything, so if I were to do it over again I’m sure I’d execute the story differently at the beginning. But I think I’d go in with a similar strategy!

acog

There's just no way [Ekeri]'s not going to be significant somehow. It's Chekhov's Gun -- Will wouldn't have carefully arranged for Ekeri's remnant to be in Sophara's void key if he didn't have future plans.

Will Wight

Well, I’m not saying that’s NOT the case, but I absolutely put details in that I don’t have future plans for.

I don’t particularly believe in using every part of the buffalo, story-wise. Like Naru Jing, Cassias’ wife. She gets a lot of description and clearly has her own story going on, but is she important to the plot? No, not really.

But if I have to have a side character, she might as well be a cool one.

Godspeedhero

As a long-time reader of Light Novels, I still don't feel like "progression fantasy" is a new or unique sub-genre.

Will Wight

It wasn’t intended to be something new or unique, but rather to provide a name for this category. Because we were both regularly asked about stories in this action-y progression-y corner of fantasy and no one had any terms for it.

Now, people tend to quibble over definitions a lot. Is X progression fantasy? Is Y? Did we even need a new label at all?

My answer to that last question is a definitive “Yes” because of how often people asked for it. As for the other two questions, I think strict genre definitions don’t ever work well.

Is Star Wars sci-fi because it’s set in space? Is everything in space always sci-fi? Or is it fantasy because of its content and structure?

It doesn’t matter.

Genres and subgenres like this one are just terms to help people find stories with the characteristics they want.

And in that sense, “progression fantasy” has value as a label.

SqrlyGrly

So when Charity is talking to Lindon, she tells him that Mercy isn't an option for marriage because Mercy needs to get to peak archlord and then she can do what she wants.

But Mercy was engaged to Harmony while gold.

So what changed? Or did Charity lie? And why?

Will Wight

Mercy can’t do what she wants before peak Archlord. She has to listen to the family, like when the family engaged her to Harmony.

Skeletickles

Are Icons present on all Iterations, or are they specific to Cradle?

Will Wight

They are present in all Iterations, but they can have different names or expressions in other worlds. Also, some of them have more influence on some worlds than others.

Skeletickles

Do the Abidan or other ascended beings use them?

Will Wight

Yeah, they use authority, but Icons just kind of define what area you have authority over

Skeletickles

Huh. I thought they got authority from other sources. The "authority of Suriel" sounds like it comes from Suriel herself or her mantle.

Will Wight

It does.

Icons are just reflections of authority you’ve earned. There is no greater authority of restoration and healing than Suriel.

Willow-o-Wispily

Firstly, I wanted to thank /u/Will_Wight for writing the blogs on the new writing technique he undertook for Wintersteel. I found the process very fascinating and eased the wait anxiety between books. I agree with his conclusion that perhaps he was over-cutting.

I do not think that he came to the complete solution to the problem of Uncrowned.

The problem with Uncrowned was what was missing, not what was cut.

Uncrowned was only missing two scenes, but those two scenes were deeply unsatisfying blank spots.[Read full post for entire question]

Will Wight

First of all, let me say in all sincerity that I appreciate the level of thought and care that you've put both into evaluating these issues and into writing them up. You clearly put consideration into this, and it shows.

Second, I very much appreciate the constructive spirit in which this is posted. I absolutely take this for the constructive criticism that it is, and I respect that.

It is because of that respect, in fact--and because you tagged me directly, implying to me that you want my thoughts--that I will give you an honest response.

More honest a response than I perhaps usually give, though I always try to be as real with you guys as I can.

Here goes:

You're putting together a picture with more than half the puzzle pieces missing.

The lesson learned from Uncrowned should be to add one more step to the editing process.

I really don't mean any offense, I mean this as a very literal observation, but you don't know what steps are currently in my editing process.

I know, from your perspective, that it must seem self-evident. A.) There were scenes you felt were missing, therefore B.) the beta readers weren't looking for gaps, because if they had been, they would have made that note and C.) I would have written the scenes. A-B-C.

That is not at all how it works.

The beta readers are virtually never looking for scenes to cut. Hilariously enough, Wintersteel is the first time where we've had that as a beta reader step. They're only ever looking for what they feel is missing or broken.

The notes I get from beta readers overwhelmingly fall into one of three categories. Here they are, from most common to least:

1.) Things they felt were bad. Out of character, poorly phrased, confusing, whatever.

2.) Things they felt were missing or that they wanted to see that weren't there.

3.) Typos and minor sentence-level corrections.

Since I know you were primarily looking out for #2 on this list, I'll address that one specifically: that's the one where I could always add more. There's no end to it. I always, always, even with Wintersteel, cut that off early.

We have a couple of weeks after the beta reading phase, during which I'll add whatever scenes I can write in that time. But when I run out of time, that's it. That's the number of scenes you get.

"But Will, you sterling stallion, why the arbitrary cutoff?" There has to be an arbitrary cutoff. I could keep going on that step for years, but each addition of a scene means more material to read through, and there's no outside force giving me a firm deadline so it has to be arbitrary to some degree.

I say all this just to illustrate that there's a lot going on under the surface that isn't necessarily evident to the post-mortem analysis of a story.

Most times, when people are unhappy with an ending, it's because the author did not put in an emotional climax.

I don't want to put words in your mouth (or keys under your fingers), but I suspect you're talking about the emotional resolution.

The climax of a story is the point of greatest conflict, and in Uncrowned in particular (this isn't true for all my stories, but it is for this one) the emotional climax and plot climax are the same moment.

The point of greatest emotional conflict with the highest stakes is between Lindon and Yerin as they clash in the tournament. The resolution is when the fallout of that climax is resolved and we get to see how things turned out for those involved, which (in terms of the emotional arc) occurs at the beginning of Wintersteel.

So there very much was a climax in Uncrowned. You might hate it with a burning passion, but structurally it is there.

I do agree, however, with your ultimate point that Wintersteel felt a lot more fleshed-out than Uncrowned, and I'm hoping to learn from that with Bloodline.

It's harder than it seems, though. There's a lot to juggle in Bloodline. But I'm doing my best!

Dyslexic Satan

The cthaeh from the king killer chronicles vs the entire world of Cradle

*cthaeh is given 500 years to prepare and sets events in motion but cannot start violence until 490*Cradle does not know Cthaeh is there to kill them until it has been in world for 500 years*Abidan are not involved

Will

Those are some harsh conditions.

The only advantage Cradle has at this point is that there ARE individuals capable of seeing and manipulating the future. I mean, Elder Whisper already demonstrated the capacity to catch glimpses of the future, and he's pretty low on the overall power scale.

This type of scenario is interesting enough that I was already considering it for the distant future, actually (not the cthaeh, obviously, but some other malicious oracle entity). But if I did, their objective wouldn't be to depopulate Cradle.

Because here's the problem: the cthaeh WOULD be detected before 500 years are up. Some of the people on the top end of the scale would go "Who's that messing with the future?" and go find it to blow it up.

And if it started depopulating Cradle, the Abidan WOULD get involved. I mean, heck, the Abidan are pretty spot-on about any foreign threat messing with Cradle's fate. There's a snake in the nursery; the adults aren't going to ignore it.

HOWEVER, given your conditions...

...it gets pretty interesting.

The first thing the cthaeh is going to realize is that it isn't the only fate-manipulating individual around, and that the others have much greater destructive power. So it's going to have multiple layers of misdirection around it: a proxy oracle to take the blame, a decoy tree, some way to mask its touch on fate, and it would probably limit itself to a very subtle, long-term influence to avoid getting caught.

Then it would make a list of these other precognitive threats and make sure that whatever it did destroyed them first. If it can be the only entity capable of manipulating fate, it wins.

The advantage there is that, while there are millions if not billions (population of Cradle is huge) of sacred artists in Cradle with the ability to see hints of fate, there are only a handful capable of manipulating it. And if the cthaeh can kill them, or even most of them, its chances of success increase significantly.

But it's still playing with fire, because while it is making its own preparations, the native oracles are laying their plans as well. Plus, due to the nature of Cradle's magic system, new threats to the cthaeh can pop up anytime, so it has to account for POTENTIAL precognitives as well.

I think it would probably, in order to mask its own influence and still have the most destructive impact possible, start leading psychotic and murderous individuals to sources of great power. It might even start its own cult around itself, dedicated to killing readers of fate. It would certainly provoke the Dreadgods, leading them to go on four separate destructive rampages, and probably wake as many of the other ancient threats as it could.

There are things buried in Cradle that can affect the global climate, swarms of monsters that multiply endlessly, weapons that detonate living beings directly, curses that make innocents into killers...

All that said, I have difficulty envisioning a scenario in which the cthaeh is able to FULLY destroy Cradle.

In the end, it can't act too directly or it risks discovery, and new threats to its existence can pop up any day. And it's an individual, while Cradle is a massive planet with trillions of people, each of whom are POTENTIALLY capable of growing to the degree that they can threaten the tree.

I think it could easily destroy all civilization and cause thousands of Paths to be forgotten, erasing hundreds of legacies and killing billions of sacred artists. It turns the whole planet into an inhospitable post-apocalyptic wasteland in which only the most hardy can eke out a living.

But eventually, someone is going to kill it.

Jono

However, that only works if you go with Kvothe's belief of the abilities of the Cthaeth. If you were to agree with Bast's opinions, Cradle has no chance as the Cthaeth will have already predicted all this and everything that may come of it, and all counters to its schemes, thus meaning that the Cradle inhabitants working to stop it are, in fact, furthering its goals.

Will

Sure, except that it's up against similar beings, so assuming that they're equal is a stalemate.

"It predicted you'd predict it, so it was prepared for your prediction, but you predicted that prediction and prepared a prediction of your own..."

Stalemate.

Like a lot of these matchups, you have to assume a reasonably equal scale.

Lightsyde

This is my favourite blog since 'Ancestors of Cradle'!! Fun reading!!!

How aboutGrom (The Archmage of Menzoberanzan) vs Elder Whisper

Ryu Hayabusa (from Ninja Gaiden 2) vs Yerin?

Goku (ignoring anything past the Main Buu Saga) vs Northstrider?

Is there anyone in the Cradle world (not the universe itself but the planet) that can take one Majin-Buu or Majin-Vegeta?

Evangeline Kitty McDowell (from UQ Holder) vs Luminous Queen Sha Maria?

Touta Konoe (UQ Holder) vs Yerin

Esdeath (Akame ga kill) vs Li Markuth

More to come later =(^-^)=

Will Wight

This thread has gotten so long! It's been awesome, but now I'm having trouble keeping track of it all!

1.) Grom vs. Elder Whisper

I'd like to give it to Whisper because of the flexibility of madra vs. Vancian magic, which relies on prepared and memorized spells and material components. That said, I'd think it would depend on where they fought. Elder Whisper relies on light aura, and Menzoberranzan is in the Underdark. There is some bioluminescence for decoration, but the dark elves primarily rely on infravision to see. No light aura, and Elder Whisper's powers are more limited. Plus, Grom can attack directly, which Elder Whisper essentially can't. Grom gets it.

2.) Ninja Gaiden 2 Ryu Hayabusa vs. Yerin

I have to say I didn't play 2; I played 1, and I played Dead or Alive, but not 2. So if the specifics of what I say are wrong, forgive me.

I'd think Yerin would get it because she's from a magic system with more magic. Everything she does is infused with madra--she's strengthened by madra, throwing blades of madra, using the power of an opponent's blades against them.

Ryu has powers of his own, as well as a great deal of training, but for the most part he's swinging regular steel weapons. Yerin beats him.

3.) SS3 Goku vs. Northstrider

This is roughly the level of power I'm looking at for Northstrider. When he powers up, the world shakes for miles around. That sort of thing.

(Not blowing up planets, but they could do that in the Saiyan Saga, so I'm just kind of pretending DBZ characters can't do that.)

I'd think Goku would win, because Northstrider can't teleport or use ki blasts (unless between now and my introduction of the character I decide to give him that ability). In a straight punch-out, they'd be comparable.

4.) Majin Buu or Majin Vegeta

Yes.

5.) Evangeline vs. Sha Miara

UQ Holder Evangeline rather than Negima Evangeline, huh? Not that in her particular case it matters much, that's just interesting.

Evangeline has to win because she's immortal and Sha Miara isn't. In terms of magical firepower, I'd give it to Sha Miara, but I don't know that Evangeline has ever gone 100% all-out. Still a similar level.

6.) Touta Konoe vs. Yerin

Same thing: Touta wins because he can't be killed. So he basically can't lose a death match.

I'm also not fully clear on what his powers are, but the White Light of Mars can presumably disperse Yerin's Striker and Ruler techniques (though not her Enforcer techniques, which I'd guess would work more similar to chi in the Negima universe). Even if you say that dying once disqualifies him, Touta probably wins.

7.) Esdeath vs. Li Markuth

Esdeath can freeze *time itself,* which is pretty OP, but I think Li Markuth still wins. He's superhuman and has access to a broader variety of techniques.

PlaceboJesus

So, Will, you tried some new things in your writing method, how do you feel it worked out for you?

Will Wight

I plan on blogging about this soon, maybe this week. I wanted to wait until as many people as possible got to read the book before I commented on the writing process, so now that sales are starting to slow down (relatively speaking), that indicates to me that most fans have had a chance to read Wintersteel and form their opinion on it.

In short, I feel like it was the most efficiently I’ve ever written a book. I was therefore able to write more in less time without killing myself.

However, I try to improve my writing process in some way for every book, so this is really just another step in a long iterative process that most likely won’t ever end.

Also, while I’m pleased with how efficiently I wrote Wintersteel, not all books I write in the future will be this long. For instance, Bloodline probably won’t be. It is (or it should be) a much more focused story, so I don’t need things like two competing primary storylines.

I feel like the answer I’m supposed to give is “I loved this process so much because it gave the story the room it really needed to breathe, and I felt more free to explore and flesh out the world,” but I didn’t really feel that way.

I felt paralyzed with fear over what to cut and what to leave in, shipped it off full of dread, received the positive reviews with a massive sigh of relief, and retroactively look over it with a feeling of “Well, I’m going to write the next book in a similar way but tweaked based on what I learned last time, and I hope they like the next one just as much but there’s every chance they won’t.”

Same as usual!