Okay, so I started writing Lord of the Black Mountain before I started working on the setting. (Though I should note, this story had a few variations before I actually started working on writing it.) I am very much a “by the seat of my pants” writer, so I got a lot of the story written with some implied, “make it up as we go along” worldbuilding. (This is something I am pretty good at, though I eventually need to make notes.)
I have hit the point where I need to make notes and do some actual worldbuilding for the setting. I also need to come up with “naming languages” for four or more distinct language/ethnic groups. As one does when one’s setting is not Earth and therefore, no one is named John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. (Or they better not be.) I also need to come up with history and political systems and religions. As one does.
Therefore, most of the week has been spent backfilling history and creating story ideas. (I don’t really write outlines. This is because I never end up following them.) This is the hard, frustrating part of writing: creating the setting and making sure it follows along with what I’ve already written. (Don’t ask, “why didn’t you work on the setting first?” The reason is if I had worked on the setting first, I wouldn’t have been able to write the story. Or at least, that’s what usually happens. I can create the setting and then not be able to come up with a story, or write bits of the story and have to backfill the setting.)
Anyway, once I get more of the background written, I should be able to get back to the main story. (It will probably mostly feature Caris getting annoyed by the Chaos Gremlins otherwise known as Joris’ apprentices, and his adventures in school. And then, Things Happen. (I really, really want to talk about the worldbuilding for this story. I really really do.)
I would like to work on other stories, but so far it’s mostly Lord of the Black Mountain and a lot of fan fiction. I am horribly behind on my reading list. (I keep getting distracted by fan fic, instead of reading the science fiction and fantasy I was supposed to be reading.) I need to catch up, and hopefully make more tik tok book reviews. (I’ve only done one so far.)
Concerning books and my sadly growing reading list, I am extremely excited over the latest Chronicles of the Kencyrath book, Deathless Gods. I also want to get Martha Wells’ Witch King and Steven Brust’s Tsalmoth. I have also been reading The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Heaven Official’s Blessing, and Scumvillain Self-Saving System. (I am reading them all at different rates. Grandmaster, I’ve barely started because I’ve seen the live-action. I’ve read two volumes of Heaven Official’s Blessing and I’ve been working on the first volume of Scumvillain, though again, I keep getting distracted by damned fan fiction. And I keep getting recced new xianxia/danmei novels) Also on the list is The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison which I am somewhat afraid to read because it honestly sounds like it’s going to be Very Bad. (In a sad, depressing way, not a badly written way.)
Leave a comment