Category Archives: Plots

Escape Velocity Has Been Achieved and Craft Holding (Another Chapter in a Very Irregular Series About One Person’s Approach to Writing)

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A while back I took the step of announcing the start of a new writing project

On Outlining A New Writing Venture (A post with no reason other than I was having fun with it)

The exercise was conducted to make sure that having ‘gone public’ I had better well carry on with this venture, there having been numerous other attempts which had faded away. The announcement was a boost to ensure my momentum kept moving to escape velocity. This is problem A Panster will often encounter. The process of not working from a true outline, or several pages of notes, but instead relying on ‘something’ popping into the imagination, or being inspired by the last few hundred words while only having maybe the vaguest of ideas as to where ‘this’ is going. Such an outlook can lead to falling prey to Life’s Daily Distraction or an attack of the Existentialist ‘What Is The Point Of It All’, or worse ‘Oh Heck…I’ve done all this before with different names and locations‘   (More about that problem a little later on)

My dependable notion of ‘Never Waste A Good World Build’ once more came to my aid. The Narrative would be set in the world of my previous trilogy. The fact that I could not decide whether in the Past, Present or Future of the previous trilogy’s setting was at the onset of little consequence at least there was a backdrop. As the narrative progress ‘The Future’ seemed the most suitable, this was made easier by the fact that in this ‘world’ of mine, Time was a flexible quality anyway, and there was the good old dependable ‘Ethereal’ an elemental force which is all things to all folk but woe to those who took it for granted or tried to control or expunge it. In this environment Continuity was not really a problem; and as a bonus enabled me to possibly sneak in the spice of a Hidden or Forbidden History factor. I kept the same Empire, Religion and some of the more powerful agencies as this would be useful for later on as to who was keeping what History from who and naturally for some stalwart characters to uncover ‘Stuff’.   

Maybe it’s because of having strong stalwart women in my life; my wife of 51 years, two daughters, a granddaughter and daughter-in-law that I have always tended to place women at the forefront of my stories (also because it will annoy the heck out of those lesser males who object to strong women). Thus, as I started off, there were another three women being drawn into very unexpected situations, and meeting and bonding, even the rather same types as before; trouble? Not really; at the onset this suggested a link between the previous three books. Descendants? That might be stretching things a bit and requiring a lot of explanations out of character with the previous three central figures. No, what was required here was an element explored in the previous works- The Ethereal as a reactive force drawing certain types of folks together; this gave some of the more dogged lesser characters cause to explore into what was taking place and delve into that ‘Forbidden History’ and of course all reach different conclusions. That could be interesting, all manner of possibilities.

Now what was missing? Oh yes….

As usual I had forgotten a central plot. Yes, my BIG failing, getting so much wound up with the characters that their day to day events become the whole story, and whereas it is fun to write you can’t really expect folk to read an entire book’s worth, not in a fantasy background anyway.

Thus far though plenty of material to weave in….

1.One heir to a throne has to get married soon, two rival houses intending their daughters to be his bride. He is very agitated with the politics and takes a ‘gap’ to clear his head he goes out with a military border patrol; lots more politics there. Suddenly ambushed! Escapes! How will this work out? Will he survive and how will his character develop? (By the way there is an Ethereal link between him and the three central women characters- one that none of them really know about, him least of all. What kind of relationships?) 
2.Somewhere else in the empire a very determined fundamentalist branch of the state religion are working up to a crusade. One fellow in particular. Note, don’t make him a pantomime villain. Give his side of things. Also they HATE the Ethereal. And let us not forget that no group is free from the whimsy of factionalism.
3. Where most of the characters live. Lots of local politics between two princedoms and one independent Dukedom, the latter favoured by the Empire. Also folk lurking in the wings there either barely seen or only thus far mentioned in name.
4. Also there’s The Empire, well a writer can certainly work with An Empire’s shenanigans. 
5. AND – Of course The Ethereal and those forbidden / unknown histories.
6. AND EVEN MORESO – All the ‘stuff’ I mentioned above with the central characters.
7. Not to mention several lesser characters with promise to develop.  And a few loose threads that need tightening.
Also
8, 9 & 10 – As write I don’t know what they are, but they are bound to be lurking around somewhere.

Plenty to work with. In fact so much I detect another trilogy. Too much colour and potential to spoil with a planned layout. In real life Wars and Politics never go to plan. One theme I am using again, the three central characters being swept up in events. Like real Life.  

Also this is a first draft and a writer will know that’s a terrible version. There is plenty to be re-written, replaced, downright ditched. Onward- ever onward. To where I know not.

Gosh, this is fun….
Advice for Writers starting off and New Writers struggling……Keep all those scraps you have written or have buzzing around in your head, you never know when they will come in handy, get it down on paper or ‘doc’ and worry about the finer points later on. 

Writers: On The Risk of, Maybe Packing Too Much Into A Project

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After the sixteenth (or was it the seventeenth?) attempt at launching a new project there was a great temptation to indulge in the traditional Indy / Indie writer’s angst of episodic lamentations and cries of ‘ What is the point of it all’ and thence gloomy introspection.

Hamlet 1

However, it is also the curse / blessing within the Indy / Indie writer to be a’fix(ed) with the urge and need to keep on writing, and seek ever beyond the horizon fulfilment of that next, and in my case evasive big project. There’s six of the efforts marking up to roughly 100,000 words which are still archived in case there’s a need to ‘Copy & Paste’ useful chunks. And there is a new one which is tottering on the launch pad. You would think that with a pretty strong World Build there would be no shortage of material, inspiration and plot lines, so how come just ‘Might Have Beens’?

win_20210522_11_00_43_pro…Ponder….ponder…..ponder

On referring back to the previous trilogy….

It occurred to me amongst the total of 660,000 + words, aside from the traditional World Build, adventurous quests or tasks, conflicts and challenges set to three strong characters, the array of minor and not so minor characters with their own tales to tell there were a great deal of other themes and sub-plots which had found their ways in. Out of this grew the comic interludes, satires on common themes in fantasy novels, whole commentaries on various cultures and locations, parodies on traditional villain types, parallel realities, romances, personal sacrifices, allegories with various historical military blunders, the construction of an imperial administration and its agencies, threads which went in various directions and managed to tie up, entire family lives, one rather massive risk of a plot twist and a small tough ragged horse which travelled through realities without any explanation given. Along with some other stuff to do with lesser characters just put in because I felt like it suited the whole canvas, like my predilection to weave in John LeCarre style machinations of various government agencies simply for atmosphere.    

 And dear reader one has to ask ones’ self as you might. Was all of that necessary? In my defence, at the time it seemed so. When reading / listening to my favourite subject of military history as must be the case with other historical studies, there is encountered the factor of the importance of the small folk, not the Great and Influential, for without the small folk what would the Great and Influential achieve? Then there is the ‘Grit In The Machine’ factor which in the way of many a Grand Strategy, the overlooked seemingly inconsequential yet important item, the events of the second book hinged on such a quantity. These had, I reckoned, to be taken into account. And also how the events affected folks’ lives, motivations and own plans. Of course all and everything was necessary and fitted.

The problem with ‘Of Course’s being one might fit one type of book, ie factual history but might not work in a fictional setting, and that most important of persons, the reader could lose interest and particularly in Heroic Fantasy be looking for more dramatic interludes linking into one magnificent conclusion. Maybe.

I could of course cite the works of David Gemmel who would take minor and sometimes grimy characters and through the narrative elevate them, often against their will to major players. Brandon Sanderson and Joe Abercrombie are of the type of writer who populate their books with large lists of lesser characters who come and go through the narrative, sometimes returning when you least expect them and playing for maybe only a short while a vital role. They, Abercrombie in particular do not go in for Happy or Cleanly Ethical endings, which can be argued are most realistic. Me, I do veer towards clean, just and tidy endings, and the intention to do so without a Deux Machina (or several) might, just might have had an effect upon the whole narrative, for whereas I only had the haziest of ideas about the rest of the narrative that sort of ending  was a given. 

I could stand by all those decisions and maintain them by the dogged outlook beloved of a more stubborn sort of Indy / Indie writer summed up as ‘So what? If you don’t like It…Tough. It’s My Book’ . Somehow that might be avoiding the issue.

Is the reason why a new project is not taking off, because I have used up all my good ideas, scenarios, situations, themes and sub-plots? And will anything else be just repetition? There is an ‘Of Course’ there too. Since my work to date has had little to no success and in consequence a double edged truth would be; ‘Who would notice? Or care?’ . Now where that ties in with or contradicts the previous ‘So what? If you don’t like It…Tough. It’s My Book’ is another topic for debate. 

Thus having paused to muse over the whole business while doing my turn at the washing up and washing loading duties, I was left to conclude…… Was I taking ‘pantsing’ too far? Should I have laid out all of the ideas which came to mind and put some to one side for another day? Should I have edited the books into shorter volumes and instead of three weighty tomes have had six, or seven, or eight smaller volumes and attracted an audience who prefer shorter books with cliff-hangers? Did I cram far too much in. Truth be known from time to time the thought of dismantling all three, starting from scratch and taking that approach has occured….But…Ah me, the effort, seemed too much were I say thirty years younger…..

My advice then for anyone starting out, is by all means dive in and rattle away, letting your ideas flow like rivers, and the first drafts (there are always several) be a hodge-podges of all sorts of stuff, but then maybe step back and consider whether there is more than one book there, or maybe there should be more than one book there, which in turn will lead to more books.   

Maybe it is the genre…Fantasy…. Maybe we all would like to be a Tolkien and feel we have out own private Lord of The Rings simmering away. Maybe we should not give way to that lure. I can’t comment on Martin’s Ice and Fire series, they never appealed to me, but I would guess the same sort of conclusion would apply.

Anyway, the muses are tugging, the collection of characters might well have the inclination to nag at me to get going and shove a whole lot of their own ideas onto my table. Who knows, maybe this time I will get past the 75,000 word barrier and start to really once more have fun writing, and perhaps a bit of restraint?

Who can tell what lies beyond the next paragraph? 

Firstly A Cautionary Dry Heading – ‘This Narrative Might Be Developing’. (Another Episode In The Life of a Writer of Fantasy Fiction)

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Uplifting

Forewyrd  : This is one of those posts which new writers might be able to take ‘something’ from: either take heart or ‘Gosh I must not do that‘ or something in between the two. It is also one that writers of some experience but little practical evidence of Reader Enthusiasm can ponder over and experience an  ‘Ah. Not Just Me Then’ interlude That said, there is an element of optimism,    enthusiastic 2

which is vital to an new writer or the dogged Indy adherent.

OK. Brutal Reality first. Harsh Facts. Simple report. No ‘Oh woe is me. Alas Alack’. Just events. Those of  who having following my blog for a while will know for a few years I worked on a Fantasy Trilogy.

It seemed reasonable. It was ‘Kindled’,  subjected to edits and a couple of those free promotions. Yet, as is the common danger of any indy-writer who takes the self-publishing path. Overall response. Minimal. I take responsibility for less than proper marketing and networking. A parody advertising type series of blogs was great fun, maybe too much and was a distraction. Much thanks to those who supported me.

Still. No matter how much of a realist you might be, you still kinda, sorta,….Hope.

Annnyyyyyyyyy-way!!

While waiting for some kind of indication there might be a wider interest in these works I naturally put my mind to new projects.

A lot of writers will know how it goes. No matter what, you still cannot help but give into the whisperings of whatever Muse of writing calls. Sometimes they are not gentle; whisperings as a sharp tug on the ear ‘ole and a harsh ‘Are you going to sit there just dithering about web surfing or just footling about with ‘Stuff,’ Write, write.

Those Muses would not leave me be, be they

Calliope Calliope (epic poetry fantasy)

ThaliaThalia (comedy- displaying something of the understated approach here)

Melpomene Melpomene (Tragedy – another fine example of understatement)

(Actually it can be a real nuisance with those three all elbowing their way into a narrative. Particularly with Thalia and Melpomene ganging up and insisting you must have both elements to reflect a real narrative, then arguing who gets the bigger cut. All the while Calliope being of the Epic outlook is encouraging you to not use a sentence when a paragraph looks so much better.)

And supportin the call there was my own adage ‘Never Waste a Good World-Build,’ (Professionals and successful Indy Writers don’t!- so there!). My first mistake (which was naturally repeated) was to try and carry on from my trilogy or adapt into novel form a series of comically quirky parodies of the the fairy-tale style posts back in very early 2020, which ended just before Covid hit. The reason why the first didn’t work was probably because I had crammed all my good ideas on that narrative into the trilogy, and truth be known didn’t have much else to write, not without repeating myself. Brandon Sanderson or Joe Abercrombie I an’t. The reason why the second didn’t work was because you don’t easily turn quirky posts into solid books, the narrative collapses quite early on and the characters wandering about looking for funny things to do. A lesson learned.

Another lesson learned was. ‘Don’t footle around with other genres’. I did invest some time in an SF project in which the interstellar travel problem had been solved by an quantum approach using the theoretical ten / eleven dimension approach. It didn’t take, firstly because my science wasn’t all that deep and more importantly the characters simply were not enthusiastic about the project and didn’t seem to have much idea what they wanted to do after the first couple of chapters and there was more wandering about only in this case folk talking to each other.

Going through a period of ‘Not Bothering’ was a bad move. The Muses and the Characters from my previous trilogy descended on me. They nagged, cajoled, and even threatened, the latter in an existentialist sort of way.

It was obvious there would be no peace until another epic was undertaken.

On a sober note. I had been spend a great deal of time on the political side of my writing, and essentially looking for trouble from those I wanted to offend, but since I was not diving into FaceBook that didn’t happen. Which was just as well, a swim in that pool looking for targets can leave you as polluted as them; there’s no glory there. Put the hound back in the kennel. Far better to use the time to support those on WP whose views I agree with.

Thus being directed to get moving, I sat, mused, paced, pondered, ran through several possibilities, muttered a lot and ended up back with that parodies of the the fairy-tale style posts

Aureyborealice, A Fable in Several Parts…Part I

(Actually I – XIII)

Ah well, says I, let us not waste the bits and pieces of what might be a workable plot, because everything else is going nowhere.

The approach was to take all of the characters, in roughly the same locations, and work from the general premise of arranged marriages, particular gifts or powers and plans not going according to plan. Since a World Build was not to be wasted, I used roughly the same geographical setting and environment, but set a bit in The Past, before the empire of the other books. Opportunities for origins of various agencies from said books peeked over the horizon. As this is a Fantasy, which might be set in a far future of our own world, I didn’t have to worry too much about those problems which writers of fiction in history have to deal with, ensuring the mindset and day to day items belong to the era the book is set in. I could fool around as much as I liked, particularly as the plot in true Pantser style would develop as the narrative progressed.  All this process may be dreadful heresy to some anyway, but since there is an urge to write this and since the likelihood of many folk reading it could be low, so what? Not a jot care I, just so long that at the end of the day the whole thing hangs together and I enjoy what I am doing.

(Pause for Back-Story: I originally started this post back in late October 2023; image and opening paragraph only. Then held off, lest the narrative of the project went like the others; stale and faded. It’s quite embarrassing to announce to a readership all ‘Gee-Whiz. This is Flying’  enthusiastic 3  Only to end up a month later bereft of enthusiasm and material, like this ….

Hamlet 1  with not even a decent soliloquy lamenting on the capriciousness of The Muses)

So I carried on with the narrative, visited the post with a passage here, a passage there, and having found there was the urge to rattle off 400 words in one session, something only in recent past enjoyed in Gary’s BlogBattle –  https://bbprompt.com/    thanks mate!

Finally to be cosmological in the allegory it appears, the various dust particles of themes and scenarios are beginning to coalesce. There is an idea of where this all might go, the protagonists are stepping out of the murk and best of all the characters are starting to argue with me, talk about sub-texts, and even the villains normally created simply to take a fall are making guarded suggestions on character development. At the last general meeting with the ever growing but enthusiastic cast it was by consensus admitted that none of us had a clue exactly how it was all going to end up, but we were agreed that (A) There could be another trilogy in the making (B) It was going to be a lot of fun.

Of course this is the first draft; which is going to be a mess and will need to be revised, rationalised and resolved, for all pantsers have to accept that they will encounter several, if not dozens of ‘What Was I Thinking About, If At All. When I Wrote That!’  interludes, and that as much fun as they may have sounded at the time will simply have to go.

And thus to the keyboard I return, with a vague idea of just what will arise out of the next clutch of thoughts and notions. The only certainties will be whereas the going might be tough and there might be tragedies there will be no grimdark and the the endings will be upbeat. This is why I write; there is enough misery, injustice and evil prevailing in the real world, I am not going to add any more with my fiction.

There might be up-dates on the progress, or simple commentaries and observations on The Writing Process, or maybe just some announcement at another venture in the Kindle-verse.

Anyway:

Onwards:

Sailing Ship

Time Out From One Direction. Forge On In Another

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Foreword: Having spent a week thinking about this and two days writing, and re-writing (and probably still making grammatical errors) I am still uncertain as to the theme. It is either an announcement, a public apology for future shortcomings, or something of a rambling discourse on the motivations for writing up posts in the Blogverse (in the case of the latter there is a chance some readers who are also writers of fiction might say…’Oh yeah. Not just me then’).

Anyway…..

Several years ago when I started out on another launch of a writing career someone pointed me in the direction of Word Press as a way to get to know other writers and make my work known. That said, although there was a great deal of time, and keyboard tapping on the subject of writing, WP being a social site my attention was drawn to those bloggers whose interests were more social and above all political and before long, there I was also reading and engaging on the subject of politics. For a while there was a quite productive balance, switching and, using experiences and styles from one to the other. At times it was refreshing to do that.

After finishing up my trilogy

And having too much fun and not enough focus on marketing campaigns

Just for Marketing and Giggles – The Good Ol’ Hard Sell Approach.

Just for Marketing and Giggles II (The team conference)

It was good to have the political side to blogging while I threshed about trying to get a plot going for a second series.

But, ah me. One should always remember that Dynamics are prone to friction resulting in Wear & Tear.

Consider the following:

Brexit, MAGA, 2016 & 2020 US presidential Elections, the bungling of the UK Labour Party from 2015-2019, that year’s UK General Election, Boris Johnson as PM, That Vanity Project in the Whitehouse from 2016-2019, the slaughters around the world which gained no public interest, the Russian Invasion of Ukraine and inevitable Western Excuse Makers for The Kremlin, The Return of Cohesive Misogyny, The Proliferation of Racism, the Hypocrisy of the American Religious Right, Mass Killings, The Conspiracy Idiocy over Climate Change, its degenerate cousin claiming Covid was anything but a warning from Nature, The abuses of Social Media, Men displaying their Sexual Insecurities by ranting over a comedy film about a doll. And there were more. Then came the final tipping point with the sanctimonious outrage at Israel (while having been quite silent over the Rohingya genocide, the decades of abuses in Sudan, complete ignorance over the Sahel region (where’s that?) in Africa, and never mind about the Horn of Africa- and that was just a few the vast majority current paraderers seemed to not give a damn about- all the while playing into the hands of the extremist corrupt Israeli Government and its rent-a-thugs in some settler communities ).

I knew the tipping point was reached when writing up a series on the current round of Palestinian / Israeli conflict and coming to the essay on Palestine. The Palestinian case was quite easy to see and understand, the history had an inevitable tragic flow to it. My problem was,  writing about something which if seen on social numerous folk would point to in approval (apart from the few comments on Hamas) while those very people know nothing of the Big Picture or the nuances of the whole Histories and to those I would yell at saying ‘Read the other two essays will you!’ (Not quite the exact words, but let’s try and be all Age-Friendly here). Set against the back drop of thousands of deaths and countless tales of misery and anguish my reaction is rather ugly and not justifiable, and also sweepingly judgemental. But I have always had to write with the restraint of a leash on an attack dog.

While, finally thanks to taking part in a BlogBattle every month, the fantasy book narrative was starting to coalesce with the characters; a time every writer of fictions hopes will happen….soon, and I felt the need to put my efforts there. A place I had some control over (not total control- ask any writer about trying to rein in Characters)

Therefore, to restrain my vitriolic anger (you really don’t want to know what gets stopped by the internal censor) and concentrate upon creative fiction I am stepping back from a smidge from the political side of the Blogverse..

Now that does not mean I’ll be leaving all the good friends I have made through following politics or not caring about the good fights that they fight on various fronts. Now I will be there reading your posts, putting a ‘Like’ but in the comments there will probably be a short statement of support or maybe an emoji. So you should know this is nothing personal, nor apathy breaking out. It’s just a re-adjustment. I will be there, backing up you in thought, but the words will be slender.

Vitriol can be useful in very small doses but when you are drinking it like coffee, it’s time to stay away. And waking up at 5am with a tirade of a post going through your brain about hypocrisy or intolerance, or the slaughter of innocents is not conducive to good health.

I am better disposed to spend my creative time writing fictions

I wonder how long this resolve will last?

0001

Keep on keeping on all you bloggers I follow

Sailing Ship

Strive on with your own journeys

PS: The worse part of the writing of this being not knowing what inappropriate advert WP will include to mess up the narrative at some important juncture

 

From Unexpected Places (Something Concerning Odd Motivations)

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Inspiration and Themes

It’s another ‘You know how it goes’ . You’ve finished your latest work, truly finished. The end was reached the several re-writes, editings, and other associated efforts have been navigated. (Including the occasional episode when the book cover was being put in place, the artist adds a little something and you thought ‘Wow, I have to fit that into the narrative!! ‘ And under the spell of the image you unravel some little part……). All this attended to by one means or another your work is then made available to the public and belongs unto the Ages.

Thus, should follow an interlude of rest and repose. Working at a factory pace does not suit Creativity or Perspective. A writer should not find, one morning their writing has become a chore they feel they must do. Writing should either come from the joy or the restlessness to see ideas taking shape as words. A ‘Because’ not a ‘Have To’.

So time to look at a Fantasy idea. There might be promise there. I would attend. I started.

And stopped. Basically, although there were a couple of amusing bits, it was not working; the word ‘Re-hash’ kept cropping up whenever I read the day’s output. Ah well, something to be left for another day….

Time to revisit the Quantum Space Opera project. On to the opening chapter. There was that word ‘Re-hash’ again. Seems I had invested so much time and effort into my previous project my creativity was still running on the loop. BlogBattle challenges were welcome, making me move elsewhere, but left to my own devices I was running in that loop. The one hope I had was another word… ‘Screwball’ as in 1930s and 1940s Comedy Films, in short when stuck, look for something outside of Serious. There was inspiration here because when scrolling through the Audio Book selection of SF, and seeing the endless lists of Genocidal Aliens, Ancient Long Forgotten Evils, Another Colonial Marines / WH40K Space Marines series one phrase kept popping into my creative mind when relating to the evil protagonists…. ‘Their heads fell off’; it broke the monotony. Thinking there might be a start of a way out, I pondered on this phrase. Now obviously such a gem had to be used sparingly, or if the pace was very fast with mocking frequency. The plot still eluded me though. Even the great Robert Sheckley would not build an entire book around heads falling off, maybe a chapter or paragraph here or there but he was a master of his art / craft. No, the whole structure needed more thought. Still, it was a start.

Buoyed by this slender hope, the musing phase started, as to what would prompt such a statement and where would the exclamation or discovery fit it. Musing on such an aspect does not require a serious frame of mind; irreverently speculative would be a better turn of phrase. Such a state is of course very volatile and unpredictable. In consequence it was with some delight, although not surprise, that bursting into the musing came a small scenario drenched with very inappropriate and excessively farcical humour based on a misunderstanding in verbal translation. There were inane sniggers, for it is a fact of Male Human Nature that no matter their age, life experience, social standing or professional achievements no man ever rids himself of that adolescent streak. However, this ‘situation’ arose, the attendant, events leading up to, social interactions, ramifications, motivations etc were causing the dust of musing to coalesce. The original slender thread of the plot began to take on shape, birthed by an urge to place both comic ideas into some context. They would only be additions of course to a deeper and wider narrative, but in doing so gave some basis and inspiration for getting there. ‘The plot became the thing, wherein the comedy I could bring’ (sorry about that Mr. Shakespeare- no apologies to you Hamlet, to me you always were a royal pain)

Now the words and the possibilities are forming with some ease. Being of the ‘Pantser’ school I have not much of an idea where this particular project is going to go. But if I did, where would the fun in that be?? No, I’m just going enjoy the whole uncertainty happy in the security of the knowledge someone, somewhere, will be involved in a humorously unfortunate incident and some group with suffer from sudden detachment of heads.

Oh, in case anyone was wondering. The Quantum aspect? In comparison with starting a plot for a book, simply no trouble at all to fit in.

Here’s to Inspiration, no matter where or how the dear muse should turn up.

And I do believe I have inadvertently created a template for a book cover.

Restless

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Sailing Ship

I must go back to a narrative again, to follow the Muse’s eternal cry

And all I ask is my laptop and an idea to guide me by

(Thank you John Masefield for Sea Fever)

You finish one project, it’s taken you quite a while, you’ve experienced all the varying emotions, you’ve fought through the ‘Why Am I Bothering’  fug, you’ve edited or negotiated editing, all typos etc have been sought out, a book cover was navigated you have striven with marketing  and finally the work is ‘Out There’ . Then you might think to yourself ‘ I deserve a rest,’

Of course you do

And yet to visit another nautical bit of plagiarism from a jolly yarn.

‘Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November* in my soul [a few more ‘whenevers’ have been omitted Melville being Melville ] …….. then, I account it high time to get to my paper and laptop as soon as I can’  

In short. Do writers ever rest? Did not one plot have away in its unused corners threads and motes which begged examination? Was there not a minor character whose shadow would dog your heels and whisper possibilities? On some journey, be it physical, of the imagination, or amongst the other tangles of human consciousness was there not a murmuring of creativity beginning to coalesce?  Or did something just come into a writer’s head, a modest literary version of The Big Bang?

Ever wonderous, and tortuous is Creativity, calling you on. Embrace the Restlessness, it requires you to fulfil.

Would we have these feelings any other way?   

*Actually those are qualities which make November my favourite month. It marks the finality of the Summer’s assault on my senses – I know, singular. Anyway it has set loose my own restlessness- two projects are beckoning. One SF which requires a dip in Quantum Physics and Mechanics and might take some time (Quantum and Time, now there’s a paradox in the making). The other, that’s a follow on from my previous work, a generation later, and I have not the faintest idea what the plot might be, but one of the Muses is insisting I get writing. Ah good ol’ stream of consciousness, what little nuggets might there be amongst all the silt which will come forth from the dredging. 

  

 

On Deciding Which Place To Be

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I suppose it may have been the Summer again. Or to be more objective my attitude to the summer season. The heat, the bright sunlight, long daylight, activity even muted by Covid; these do not suit me. Of course at 70 one should not wish life away, years, months even days should not be squandered and yet winter draws me ever on.

Summer brings out the worst in me, particularly this one had me in a very combative mood and willing to engage in arguments on social media, on all manner of topics, just because. All very undignified and not the least bit profitable  There was an effort not to smear this mood all over WP and keep it where it belonged – FaceBook. Hence my general absence from WP

Happily there was a smidge of constructive dignity still working within. This, of course being attention to my own writing project. If you have followed my blog you will know about my ragged progress and less than serious approach to marketing 

Another Launch (Persistence Doesn’t Always Pay, But It’s Satisfying)

Just for Marketing and Giggles- The British Approach

Just for Marketing and Giggles II (The team conference)

Although the last volume of the trilogy was in theory completed one year ago, the re-write process beckoned. This, personally is an enjoyable stage, aside from the obvious corrections, tinkerings and checking continuity in all its manifold ways, there is the joy of realising the overall intentions were surviving the necessities of a narrative. On this particular jaunt there was an urge within to re-visit the previous two volumes and work through them one last time to ensure they led in a sort of cohesive manner unto the third. Thus 2021 has been a year in which three large (If you are doing epic fantasy ‘large/long’ is something of a requirement) volumes were aligned. Yet another series of re-writes, I like to muse over the situation that should these books ever achieve noticeable sales status how early purchasers could brag they have ‘first editions’ and argue the case for the writing or narrative of those. A writer whose history does not contain even the words ‘some modest success’ should always keep an element of whimsey in their head (either that or take marketing and allied disciplines seriously)

On the whole the process has been yet another enjoyable and enlightening process. AS WE all know Word has many failings. Yet Read Aloud along with the ability to shift entire chapters around like chess pieces do carry their own particular appeals, also a sense of The Unexpected. In the case of the former this would be the sudden lurch into another gender’s voice, like some intrusive boor blundering into a conversation you are having with a friend, while Word throws up a frantic yellow bar warning in a woefully inadequate attempt to deny all culpability. When it comes to the latter shifting portions of the narrative might look fine at a particular juncture, but they could have a tectonic effect in The Continuity much further on down; by then the original revision is so embedded into the narrative it is necessary to give way to the impetus set in place back at at Chapter Fifteen and amend with much vigour to the events laid out in the first (or second) draft at Chapter Fifty-One. These are something of a melding of the Artistic, Imaginative and above all Inventive in the business. Some folk enjoy crosswords, siduko, chess or card game puzzles. for me the challenge of the re-write is the thing.   

The Third Volume nears final (only three re-writes) completion, the artist who did such stunning work on Volume Two’s cover is on the case.  Skirmishers  So maybe the final work will see the light of Kindle by the end of the year.

Ah me, this is where I should have been spending more time than was spent. Three volumes completed, a joy in itself. But soft, I have tarried long enough. Time to break camp and set forth on the final clime up the last 35,000 words.

Daughters of Circumstances. Arbiters of Consequences.   (Being Volume 3 of The Precipice Dominions)

I do love this happy burden.

You, The Writer. They, The Characters. And The Blurring Lines

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Blog posts, articles and entire books have been written about how a writer should approach the creation and maintenance of characters. Then there is the other industry where folk examine famous works of literature and the characters therein from all sorts of angles; along with the motivation(s) of the author.

So then.

When you have passed the toe-twiddling stage at the water’s edge of the sea that is your project and are now wading out, determined to swim to the other side…

Opinions please:

At some stage is there part of you in one or maybe a few of the characters, reflecting various personal moods, views and the rest of the complexity of the average person?

Or.

Is there a little secret part in which you indulge in living through the character’s life. A place you can go to to shake off the usual frustrations of the daily life? Be someone else

Or.

Are you The Supreme Being of the world, moving everyone around as you see fit on a Four-Dimensional chessboard?

Or.

Having introduced these folk  to a narration are you now running after them waving a document and crying after them ‘Plot! Don’t forget my plot!!’, only to have at least one of them turn around and smiling benignly say ‘But dear writer. Have you not read the sub-text? Do keep up,’  

Or.

Is it a case of a combination of all or some of the above?

A Brief Shift of Locations (The Precipice Dominions)

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The ‘Just for Marketing and Giggles’ sojourn was probably not the most responsible venture in the history of Book Marketing but it was a great deal of fun. Probably too much fun than is good for a very low profile and sales author to indulge in but there again a ‘smidge’ of fun does help the old writing processes. Footling around also opened up a whole new learning process in page layout and image usage.

Just for Marketing and Giggles- The Comic Tragedy Approach   

But there comes a time when the writer must put aside the frivolity and the set sight upon the content of the book (or books) in question so I’m going to be working on the site dedicated to the trilogy

The Precipice Dominions… (A Fantasy Trilogy) ‹ Reader — WordPress.com

Basically musings on writing fantasy and commentaries on the Hows and Whys of this trilogy, a place to go if you want to find out more about the books, the characters and the content.

And when anything springs to mind about writing in general or other subjects then that will turn up here. 

Such as in all that is the Muses why did  the enigmatic entry ‘4.4’ appear one-third of the way through on my hard copy of Of Patchwork Warriors, I do hope it was something which happened in the last week and not when I uploaded it on Kindle. Curse you ‘WORD’

Sometimes, We Characters Need to Explain The Position

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Hello everyone. Firstly I hope you are managing to cope as well as you can with all the trials and troubles in your world. They do seem to be very testing times.

Anyway, allow me to introduce myself to those of you not familiar with The Precipice Dominions stories, those being Of Patchwork Warriors; Our Skirmishers of Lace, Steel, and Fire and the concluding work Daughters of Circumstances. Arbiters of Consequences. My name is Trelli, as I am an orphan of unknown parents the folk looking after me never did get around to giving me a surname and until recently it never bothered me much. However under the influence of adventure, consequential excitement and of course ever the present Ethereal, in a fit of exuberance I titled myself Trelyvana Waywanderer and folk did seem to find it easier to cope with. It must be one of those quirks, that people do like a bit of the grandiose, at least when you are expected to place your Sanity, Integrity and Life all at risk for the good of…. a lot of people.

I am here as representative of the three of us. That is myself and my very good friends Arketre Beritt and Karlyn Nahtinee . Although Karlyn says she should be known as Karlyn Beritt now, but Arketre says in view of the situation there is a case for her being named Arketre Nahtinee. And then the whole business gets very tangled, so I say folk should read the three books and decide for themselves. (I understand that last statement could be read as ‘Marketing’- which Merklin says……Oh dear now I am getting ahead of myself and digressing; bear with me and I’ll start again).

Due to the events subsequent to Daughters of Circumstances. Arbiters of Consequences Arketre and Karlyn are somewhat preoccupied with more pressing personal matters whereas since I am now in the heady world of politics it would seem to be a requirement to have (1) An Opinion on; (2) Advice to give about; and (3) The need to explain, everything you come across, which is where this, (I believe the term is) ‘Post’ originates.

I understand those of you who follow Roger’s blog will be aware the third volume is completed and awaiting a book cover. As I am very familiar with the frenetic pace at which he uses keyboards; which is very rarely in synchronicity with his thought processes and also his inclination to use very convoluted prose I thought it would be helpful to read back over the two previous volumes for errors in typing, transmissions, syntax and of course continuity, so I stole away a copy of each of the volumes and with feet up on my favourite sofa, a few small snacks and a large pot of herbal brew started off.

Oh dear, I thought. Although that maybe a bit of an exaggeration, more a case of ‘Hmmmm’. It’s not the errors in typing, apparently those seem to be something quite unavoidable unless you hire a team of at least five dedicated proof-readers and then there is the risk they can get into a fearful argument between themselves over punctuation and other rules of grammar, thus holding the whole business up.

No, the problem was, whereas he did get the general narrative correct, in a linear fashion, as it were, some of his details were quite incorrect.

For instance: When Arketre had her first conversation with Zweideutig and introduced us, while the discourse between the two went on Karlyn and I did not get into an undignified wrestling match which Arketre threatened to break up with a bucket of dirty water. We were simply having a spirited argument over my reading matter, how I had appropriated the said works and whether Karlyn had the right to go rummaging through my possessions, this was halted when Arketre in her best LifeGuard sergeant style required our opinions on a temporal displacement. I asked Roger how on The Good Lord God’s World he had decided his account was the correct version of events.

‘Well Karlyn told me-‘

‘Karlyn told you?’ I exclaimed ‘You’ll be believing one of those ridiculous YouTube or FaceBook accounts next!! I have told you before. Watch her eyes! If she blinks swiftly twice and her glance darts to the left, she’s up to mischief . Oh really Roger! You are a good sort, but you are too willing to listen to the words of the more lively folk,’

Then I had to take him to task about his assumption I had certain physical feelings for Wigran. He tried to defend himself by waffling about ‘subtext’ to which he was told in no uncertain terms to ask me about sub-texts as I had had to deal with them all, in the whole three volumes! Honestly, you would have thought someone of his age would have known better!!

Basically I have undertaken to guide him back through the account. For the reputations of everyone, be they good or bad, and to give full credit to those who played fleeting but important parts in the drama. As I understand it; historians in your world are doing this all the time; they write a book, new evidence turns up and every so often they write a new edition with some alteration or other. The basic story and the important elements, though, all remain the same.

I cannot comment on what he has written about the more private interludes Arketre and Karlyn shared. He has said they were written based on Arketre’s accounts and with her looming over his shoulder; he added this was most unnerving. She said he had left the best bits out, trying to type with his eyes shut was the most damn fool thing she had ever seen and if he had spent less time looking for references in a Thesaurus he would have got the thing done in half the time. Apparently there were other observations but he was not repeating them. And having found out what he had been writing Karlyn would not speak to him for days afterwards, which itself may have been to his advantage. In any case on this topic he has my sympathy. Personally I thought he has been most fayre in an adventurous wryly tasteful way on the subject of my own later experiences and so have forgiven him for being such a noddle over Wigran.

I am not very angry for it has been fun to read back over the adventures and he has been very sympathetic to us all but in matters of import, as these are to us, it is necessary to get the record straight.

I will keep you appraised of matters.

Best wishes to you all

Trelli (Silc)… or Trelyvana Waywanderer