Good Morning Adventures,
I hope that whoever reads this can be lenient and understand that I have begun to write this without any coffee. It’s being brewed at this moment, but I wanted to get started writing out this post. Anyways, here’s the list of what will be covered in today’s post:
- Project: Dancing Knight Update
- Character Updates – Grim
- What Am I Reading?
Update – Project: Dancing Knight
This Weeks Word Count: 1,000—2,000
First off, this week’s word count is a decent jump compared to the last few weeks combined(not including the short story that was written a week ago). I guess I didn’t realize how much I actually enjoyed writing on paper. With that said, I can (hopefully) increase my pacing writing this story. I’ve worked out how the inciting incident pushes the story, now I need to get my two main characters pushed in the right direction.
I’ll honestly admit that I struggled in getting the opening chapter just right. The challenge being how I wanted to introduce both the characters. Partially due to the fact that I wanted to write out one specific scene that my wife(the romance expert) and I talked about. This scene would then allow my characters to naturally observe each other without getting in the way of pacing in the story(so it was kinda important to have). That way I’ll be able to show off their qualities and give them the spotlight for a brief moment before sending them down the path of adventure.
I’ve also started to put more world building into the area that the characters will be riding around in. Specifically the cultures and clans of people that are roaming the area. The primary vibe that I want to go for is a nomadic-steppe culture. So think Mongolia, but before the time of the Great Khan. Wanting the clans waring and constantly vying for control and power in this area. They won’t be the primary focus in the story, but I do want them to have some presence. I mean, I do intend to use all of this world building to help me write more stories in the future.
Other items that have been worked on:
- A castle where majority of the climax of the story will take place.
- List of events that will help drive the story forward as well as establish the characters relationship throughout the book.
- Elements of culture that will be important to how the story ends.
- Finalized the key Plot Points & Ending.
- Expected Total Word Count: <75,000 (Will Update as I write and draw closer to the conclusion.)
- Outlined the plot for the second book in this series.
Character Updates – Grim
Man, I am writing very much distracted this morning. Anyways, onto character updates.
So if you haven’t seen it yet, back on march 18th I shared the main character for Project: Dancing Night. Just to play catch up and not rewrite the whole bit, I have shared that post here for your convenience.
Everyone, meet Grim. Grim is essentially the warrior from a time long forgotten. What is he doing in this part of the world and why is he always putting his life on the life for a mission that was completed a millenia ago. What does he look like? What are his abilities? How can this character make my story interesting? How do I write a character that is supposed to be ancient? These are the kind of fun questions that I asked myself as I was developing this guy. Well, that was before he started moving and taking control of the story. Initially, I was going to write this story in third person, but his character kept on fighting the flow of words. It wasn’t until I put it into his perspective did I actually start to get into the rhythm of the story.
Without going into to much detail, I want to use him to obviously set the tone for the rest of the series that I want to write about this group of brothers and sisters. I also want to use him to set the standard for these romance novels. Who are they being written for? Are they going to have “spice?” Why am I writing these? Well to answer those questions, lets keep it simple. My target audience would be men who want to read something fantasy but also have that romance subplot. Kinda like an action movie from the 80’s where the hero gets the girl kind of story. Except, I want to my females to have just as much agency and not be a damsel in distress. So the idea is that these romances are going to be (hopefully)written in a way where the two characters are more than just love interests. I want them to be partners, who respect, learn, and grow through each others actions. Sure, there may be tropey stuff or someone may end up in distress, but the ultimate goal to show off good relationships. These characters will have flaws yes, but since they are going to be self contained stories, it will(should) be easy to show that off and then resolve it.
So I hope that whoever stumbles upon my character gets a tiny bit interested in the story that this character is apart of. Interesting enough to make a reader want to stick around and find out what happens to him. That’s all I’ll share about him for now. I know that I am saying a lot without saying much, but that’s partially because I am still waiting to receive commissioned art for this character. Basically, I am stalling, if you haven’t picked up on that already. However, I do have one more character that is still waiting to be revealed. I’ll be posting her real soon, as well as stalling for time until I can get her commissioned art back as well.
Here’s a little teaser for the next post on my social media.
What Am I Reading?
Alright, so I’ve been meaning to do something like this for a while now, but I just haven’t gotten around to doing it. In part, this is a social media move in an (small)attempt to attract other people to my work, but also as a means to simply share what I currently reading. I don’t read enough, honestly, but what every book that I do pick up, I tend to thoroughly enjoy. So to kick it off, the book that I am literally about to finish is:
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne.
Normally, I don’t enjoy books with more than two point of views. So I consider this one an outlier when I got sucked into this books world. The three main characters—Orka, Varg, and Elvar—have three different stories that run in tandem to the other. At first, I was only invested in Vargs story, simply because Orka’s story took some time to develop, and Elvar’s did not make sense to me. At least it did not make sense in the beginning.
I like how Gwynne approached this in his book; starting off each of the characters at different points in their journey, yet at the same time starting them all at the beginning. Without any spoilers, Varg is my favorite of the three main characters. I absolutely love it when a character ends up doing something incredible in order to overcome their challenges. From the beginning, Varg was that character, entering a new world of danger, adventure, and a new understanding of who he is becoming. That sort of development just excites me and makes me want to keep on reading. A good character comparison for him is Kaladin Stormblessed from Brandon Sanderson’s, “Stormlight Archives” series. Or at least how Kaladin was at the beginning of the series anyways.
Orka and Elvar are right now still developing their stories, especially with how the book seems to be ending. Orka, who clearly knows what’s what with her swordcraft and experience, is on her journey while slowly building a warband that follows her. At least that is my expectation on where her story is heading. Who knows though, there are many possibilities to see how she grows and changes in Gwynnes Trilogy. Elvar on the other hand only truly begins her journey at the end of the story. Not saying that she doesn’t grow within the story, but that her story truly begins at the end when we see how all three of the stories are intertwined with each other.
So it’s safe to say that I have really enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. I’ll finish the book today and most likely start the second one by tomorrow at the latest.
A.G. Flowers 
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