One book becoming two, Part 2 of the tale

I've spent several days now working on the beginning of what will now be the third book in the series. It does feel like a beginning and sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that it is the start of a new book. It's weird because I'm so use to thinking of it as one story arc. But as I've said before, it's all a matter of working the story harder.

Speaking of which, I suppose I ought to explain why I decided to break it into two.

As readers may guess after reading The Three Books (aka book 1), the second story arc is about the life of St. Steigan. There is so much to set up, more of the magical world to build, new characters, etc. Overall, there is a lot! I do work to develop my stories, so there's work to do to make sure you, my fabulous reader, has lots of paths to explore. What is truth and what is a lie? Is this character a friend or a betrayer? What really lies beneath the Temple in the catacombs? I'm sitting here with a wicked grin on my face. Already I'm ready to go get back to work on the story. I love diving into this world! Really, this story is not meant to be read only once. There is enough here to read multiple times and deeper levels of meaning found each time. Wonderful parallels are cropping up between book 1 and 2. I am delighted and surprised each time I discover something new.

Just today, in fact, I started writing about Laurient (see previous posts) and St. Steigan going out to fight the gargaxes and St. Steigan comes up with this brilliant idea to transfer magic to Laurient. I hadn't seen this coming, didn't have it planned, it just popped in there. But it adds so many dimensions to the story. Because of this one thought, I can now spider several more things (like some foreshadowing for events in what will now be book 5) into the story. I love it!

Some of you may be wondering what will happen to the release date of the second book now that the preliminary draft is done. That's coming soon, I promise. The good thing is that I actually finished the draft by the date that I had set as my deadline so right now the story is still on track. As for my working title, I've had to change it because it no longer works. The Saint and the Betrayer, when split into to becomes The Saint (first title) and The Betrayer (second title). Somehow this just doesn't inspire me in the same way. Sigh. However, I have a new plan for the titles. I'm giving it a settling period to make sure I like it, but I'll probably make the title known at the same time I announce the release date for the second book.

So wait eagerly for more to come!

Happy reading!

A Little Word Known as "Was"

I'll tell you now, I have a hatred for the word "was." Such a little word, get every time it crops up its tiny head, I want to scream.

Here's a challenge. Pick up any fiction book you have by you. Go to the beginning, regardless of where you're currently at in the book and start reading. How long until you find a "was" in the text?

I'm better you encountered at least one in the first paragraph. Go on, tell me I'm right!

Here's a secret about "was" -- nearly every time you see it, it's a red flag that the story is being told not shown.

"Was" is the the linking of hands between the reader and the writer where the writer takes over and guides the reader down the path. "Oh gentle reader, take my hand, and let me tell you a tale of murder most foul." Worse, it assumes that the reader is too ignorant to figure out the story if the reader wasn't being told.

So I set up a challenge to myself in The Three Books. I swore that I wasn't going to use the word "was" in the narrative. You'll find it in the dialog - mostly because I wasn't going to change how these people speak just to get rid of my pet peeve -- that would be another crime. So, as you're reading, just see how long it takes you to find the word "was" in the narrative. Here's a hint. You won't find it until the very last sentence. Oh, and yes, that was me being a little spiteful.

I challenge writers to kill the word "was" from their manuscripts as I have in The Three Books. I'll tell you, it wasn't always easy and there were a couple times I thought about breaking my rule -- "Oh, just this once because I can't figure out what to write." There are still a couple spots I find shaky because it probably does need the inconspicuous little beast. I admit my surprise at how often it crept in even when trying hard to write without it to begin with.

Strangely enough, it doesn't bother me as much in nonfiction. I do cringe when I read my own blog posts and see every "was" in there. But nonfiction is more meant to be told -- it's a passing along of information and since you and I are separated by space and time, I'm not there to actually show you the information I'm trying to pass on. Still, I do try to get rid of it whenever I can.

So, here we stand with just over a day left until the release of The Three Books and I'm here to tell you that it's a book with only a single narrative "was" to it. I've taken my challenge and I've succeeded at least on that scale. I won't say the writing's perfect. Oh, heck no. I even thought about delaying the release when I found issues in my proof copy. But I decided to get the story out there -- the story is more important than the writing specifics anyway. So, go enjoy the story.

As for me killing "was" in the second book just to see if I can repeat this success, I'm not sure if it's a challenge I want to rise to or not. To do it once seems like enough. But... have I set a standard now? What do you think?

What about the graphic novel?

If you've been following along on my other blog, or on my Sacred Knight facebook page, or have been one of my friends on this long path of developing the story, you might now be wondering what's happening to the graphic novel.

If you're new to the Sacred Knight world, then here's a bit of backstory. I had a long battle with myself about whether to do continue writing the novel or not when I changed it to a graphic novel. I finally decided to do both. Of course, that meant time. It does take awhile to write and to draw a comic (especially one that's an undertaking of this magnitude). I also didn't feel my art skills were where I wanted them to be to draw this story how I want to. In order to do my passion justice, I needed time to learn more and gain confidence.

I did release the first chapter as a segment, but after some distance from the story, I realized it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. I still needed more time.

So, I decided to work on the book. Even though I had it all scripted out for the graphic novel, I knew it might change when I wrote the book. So, again, another battle with myself. Did I just need to write the book first when I so badly wanted to do it as a graphic novel?

At long last, I decided to just write it. I had the dialogue and basic actions. I knew where I was going with the story. Really all that was left was to add some narrative and setting to it.

Well, that's all fine and dandy. It worked well until I started editing the manuscript. Then I realized dialogue needed changed for clarity. So I've been going back and forth between my manuscript and the script making sure that the dialogue is the same between the two.

Even the dialogue in chapter 1 changed. This means that the first issued segment will need redone (not that I'm shocked, surprised, or even disappointed by this). In fact, I'm rather glad. I'd already decided to use the first part as a storyboard and redo it. With Manga Studios 4, I'll be able to color the graphic novel (which has been another thing to learn).

What does this mean overall? Well, I have a few physical copies of my first chapter of Sacred Knight left. If you want a copy of the original black and white with the hopes that it becomes a collector's issue, head on over to Morning Sky Studios to purchase a copy. I believe I only printed 50 copies. Imagine if you could go back and get a first edition Harry Potter Year 1, or a rough draft of Twilight! This might be your last chance.

You can also check it out on webcomicsnation. Starting this weekend, I'll be uploading the remaining pages to the first chapter.

So, I'll keep writing the books for now and working on the graphic novel revamp. I hope you'll go out and share this story with your friends. Together, we can make this grow together.