Recent entries

    Will's Life ()
    #1243 Copy

    Decadakon

    Thoughts on smash?

    Will Wight

    My thoughts are: "Why am I not playing Smash right now?"

     

    For real though, I feel like they should have done this concept last time around. Putting everyone on the roster just makes sense; Smash doesn't have to be balanced, as long as there are a few competitively viable people. Why NOT have a massive roster?

     

    I'm excited. Smash Bros is one of my secret joys.

    (Jk, it's not secret.)

    Will's Life ()
    #1244 Copy

    Lil' Blue

    Are you happy for the slow hurricane season?

    Will Wight

    I'm always happy when I don't have to clean debris out of my yard, but I do wish it wasn't eighty degrees here today. In mid-November.

    September 2018 - December 2018 ()
    #1248 Copy

    Kandra

    So, I've been basing the sacred artist robes on the Hanfu (and a mix of other traditional clothing in ancient East Asia), is this more or less the correct? Should I be basing them off something more modern?

    Will Wight

    Nope, that's the right direction. I intentionally don't give too much detail because I don't want people to get hung up on whether they're belted from the left or from the right or whatever, but I did research on all sorts of traditional Chinese, Korean, and Taoist martial arts clothing before writing.

    September 2018 - December 2018 ()
    #1250 Copy

    Lil' Blue

    Oh, here's a legit one. In Sword Unclean, you mentioned pure aura, is that a typo or is that a retcon?

    Will Wight

    It's not a retcon, so it was probably a typo. Without looking it up, I suspect I meant "pure __ aura," with the blank filled in by whatever type of aura he was talking about.

    September 2018 - December 2018 ()
    #1251 Copy

    MountainKing

    Do cores convert a Sacred Artist's physical mass into madra, to create more madra?

    Will Wight

    Pure madra is actually generated by the way the human body processes life aura and blood aura. It really is the interaction of body, mind, and spirit, in a sense.

    MountainKing

    So a sacred artist's body is naturally consuming blood, dream, and life aura? 

    Will Wight

    Basically, yeah.

    MountainKing

    What kind of benefits do Cradlites get for doing that?

    Will Wight

    The ability to use madra.

    September 2018 - December 2018 ()
    #1255 Copy

    Nighgaler

    Ok so after rereading Elder Empire (since the finale is coming out) I decided to cave in and read my first xanxia (A will Eternal). So I read 10 chapters and holycrap I realized how much better Will's work is. Jesus, it doesn't even feel like I'm the main character nor does it feel like a story. Zero character development and zero world-building. I can't even picture the scenes that I'm reading properly! Someone please tell me it gets better. Its only saving grace is the fact that it is kinda funny. I guess maybe my expectations were just too high.

    P.S. I definitely took Will's work for granted

    Will Wight

    This is a long con just to make people appreciate my work more by contrast.

     

    ...to be serious, though, I love A Will Eternal. I think it’s a great example of the genre, and it incorporates parody organically without becoming an out-and-out comedy.

     

    Having said that, a few years ago I had a very hard time getting into Chinese web novels. A very hard time.

     

    I really enjoyed Japanese light novels, because they’re basically just anime on paper, and I was familiar enough with the basic tropes and with the source language that I could mentally fill in some of the gaps that were lost in translation and catch some of the cultural references and jokes.

     

    From there, I moved into Korean novels, which were similar but had a different cultural basis and some tropes that caught me off guard (why is the defining characteristic of so many Korean MCs their greed?), but by and large it wasn’t too much of a jump from Japanese light novels.

     

    When I tried to go from there into Chinese cultivation novels, I hit a brick wall.

     

    Why do these stories all have the EXACT same plot, with only the names changed? Why do they assume the reader already knows how the magic system works? Why do they use the same cliches over and over, and why do so many DIFFERENT authors use the same phrases? Why is the main character always the most handsome, smartest, AND most morally upright guy in every room, all the time, and his only mistakes are the ones that make the situation better? Why, when he butchers an entire enemy clan as revenge for the equivalent of taking his lunch money, do the survivors wail and blame their own hubris, rather than blaming the guy who just killed their family? Why do people swear eternal revenge on him for doing something perfectly understandable, like competing honorably in a competition? Why are women treated so poorly in so many of these series, even though the magic system has no distinction between female and male practitioners, so there should be no cultural hierarchy between genders in this world

     

    And that’s barely touching on the sentence-level writing, which was often straight-up difficult to read.

     

    I pushed through because I read some manga adaptations and liked them, and especially liked the concept of a whole world designed around a progression-based magic system.

    And in doing so, you know what? I learned to read completely past all that stuff I listed above and to enjoy the stories for the other things they brought to the table.

     

    It was a good lesson for me. I’m normally pretty picky, so it took some sheer discipline to push through at first. I thought I would just be tolerating these stories for the few elements I liked. But along the way, I realized I wasn’t just tolerating them, I was genuinely enjoying them. There’s a lot of value that wasn’t apparent to me at first, until I acclimated myself to the differences caused by language, culture, and medium (i.e. being published a chapter a day).

     

    Now, I have a much easier time reading translated web novels than most English self-published novels.

     

    Having gone through that whole journey, I wanted a story in the same genre that could skip over the hurdles, so that other people could enjoy stories similar to the ones I enjoy. A series written in English, for an audience with primarily Western sensibilities, and told with a more structured and organized plot rather than released as a daily serial.

     

    Thus, Cradle was born.

     

    Looking back, I’d have tweaked some things about Cradle’s basic formula in order to suit that purpose better, but long story short: the experience you describe is exactly why I wanted to write Cradle in the first place!

    September 2018 - December 2018 ()
    #1256 Copy

    Mexpedip

    Will, Has sales volume from r the audio book been as expected, better than expected r lower than expected? Just curious.

    Will Wight

    From the first book, about as expected. It pays for itself very quickly. Audiobook sales in general are much better than I initially expected.

    I fully predict that as the series comes out, the audiobooks will only perform better and better.

    government-owned

    any chance that future books will be available as audiobook on launch?

    Will Wight

    Maybe. Depends on a lot of factors, but that would require me to delay the book for at least a month after it was ready for release, so...

    Will's Life ()
    #1257 Copy

    Encouragement…hopefully.

    For some strange reason, I want to say ‘thank you’ to all the commenters who write encouraging messages. Discouragement does not help people to write…or to do anything, really.Thanks for your books, Will! They’re great!

    Will Wight

    Thanks! And fortunately, I get a lot more encouragement than discouragement from fans.

    Will's Life ()
    #1258 Copy

    Bear among men

    Will you don’t fail to disappoint, even in a cryptic sort of update blog post! Can’t wait for the next book to be out, no matter the series! I’m sure everyone else feels the same way as me and appreciate all of your hard work!

    Will Wight

    When I set out to disappoint, I always succeed!

    Will's Life ()
    #1259 Copy

    Zach

    This. This right here. See this is just... exactly what I come here for. Well, I mean, and books. But mostly this.I will read all the new books you see fit to publish and I don't even care what order. Thanks, Will, for being you.

    Will Wight

    I like having fun with blog posts. Sometimes I don't get to or don't have the energy, but these are way more fun for me.

    Will's Life ()
    #1260 Copy

    Saucy1990

    When is the Rithmatist 2 coming out!?!?

    Generally entitled and agitated fantasy reader

    Yea Will, I really feel like you're not putting enough work in Doors of Stone. Don't you understand how hard this is for ME?

    Will Wight

    If I was writing Doors of Stone, it would have been out years ago, but it also would have been much shorter and less polished. I suggest waiting.The Rithmatist, though, that I'm almost finished with.