From Newb to Novelist
Since I was a child I always had the affinity for writing or telling stories. In previous blogs you can hear me rant about this a little more, but for this blog it is just a stepping stone to the self-titled Novelist. What makes a novelist and can anyone be a novelist? A novelist, by my definition, is a person with a passion for writing. Utilizing that passion to create, inspire, and/or entertain an audience through the telling of a story. Now I am sure Webster’s dictionary has a very clean cut definition, which I respect wholeheartedly, however, I prefer mine.
I have spent over 15 years honing my craft and 10 of those years were dedicated to a single project: The Tainted Blood Prophecy. In those 10 years I had made, God knows, so many mistakes that only a true newb could possibly make.
The first mistake was writing in first person. Yes I am guilty, I wrote the entire first book in 1st person, Darrious’s perspective, because I walked the journey before them all. Everything my dynamic duo did was paved by myself. I plunged myself into their shoes and felt their pain and sorrow every step of the way. Mind you, the world and the events are purely the birth of my imagination and in no way, shape or form are these events based on actual real events. But the emotions, struggles, rational thought, and character development as real as the eyes you are reading this with. I digress, I wrote the novel in first person to only realize later, much later, like a year after manuscript completion that 1st person narrows the journey to the perception of one. I wanted my audience to experience it all.
What it is like being the last of a dying race? The burden Darrious faces of his future considering his past? The struggle Belladonna endures to find her place. Most of all what it feels like to live in a world dying for a savior to step forward? These questions could not be answered with a tale only about one person. To further make my point, when I was a teenager I read the marvelous work of J K Rowling. Harry Potter and his friends tackling what dangers may come. I found myself Identifying with Hermione the most. It bothered me that I never knew her back story nor what she did with that time manipulator in the third book. Long story short, I wanted to dive more into the magical world that the author would allow me.
So I rewrote the novel in 3rd person and dug deep into my character psyche and the torments destiny has for them.
Interesting enough to mention, I wrote my novel in a linear fashion. For my first novel the sequence of events was very important and I felt like I had to stay in the present with them to really watch them grow from beginning to end. Oddly, the second book was a hodgepodge of writing. I would label large chunks of text by the event and then tied them all together for a final project. But I am jumping ahead even before the Tainted Blood Prophecy is released. I mention it for the fact that there is no one way solution to writing a novel, only that you should try to see the forest beyond the tree. Look at the bigger picture of your world in creation than the plot of your book one.
Many ask, “ 10 years? Why in the world did you wait so long?”
In all honesty, I lacked a feeling of completion or ‘done-ness’. I felt like there was something lacking each time I reread the manuscript and only with time and experience did I understand what my manuscript needed.
Telling 3 Stories
The fantasy genre has had such wonderful contributions over time that concepts and ideas get recycled and recreated
into masterpieces. What seems to be the variable is the equation are the characters that experience the journey. That is why 3 stories. Because deep down inside it is what the character feels, dreams, fears, and runs from is what makes experience a world of fantasy worth reading. A character that you can resonate with and assesses your moral compass with. To question right and wrong or good or bad. I just so happen to have three. Now many people have told me not to do this. The breaking away from a traditional one character perspective can confuse your audience or hurt the strength of the plot. Perhaps, but for those of you who told me not to, I really had to. To be fair, each character is like a piece of me.
Ithicca
If you could take all of your childhood fantasy worlds and put them together, that is Ithicca for me. Ithicca is my world that my characters are fighting for. Many nights I would sit on my couch with the light of the laptop pulling me into a world that I called my own, contemplating the fate of Ithicca and the landscape, and most of all the creatures that inhabit it. What it was like before the Dragons of Narcessa brought the seed of magic to the barren lands. How the Goddess of Light saved the dragons and shared her land with the entities from another world. Oh how this beautiful land gave birth to a world of magic, possibility, and fate.
Rambles of Waiting
I am so excited for the Tainted Blood Prophecy I can hardly wait. I look forward to taking this journey with you and hope that you enjoy these clues and hints about a world of my own design. To get to know me, check out my vlog and follow me and Twitter and Facebook. I am always interested in feedback and would live to hear from you.
