Tag: The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy

November Write Day: Small Goals

On By Steven D'AdamoIn FantasyLeave a comment

October has come, and gone and so has Halloween. I used to love Halloween, but I haven’t done much to celebrate it in recent years.

Our 4-year-old is now all in. He dressed as a bat this year, and he chose the 1-year-old’s costume as the Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar, which was just a top-notch suggestion.

I think I’ll have to get more into it next year.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish 9-section outlines for four POV characters in The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy.
  2. Read 3 books.
  3. Exercise 3 times per week.

Finish 9-part outlines?

Not quite. I finished two character outlines, made good progress on the third, and need to work on the fourth.

I definitely feel like these outlines will help me write more confidently once I return to my partial first draft for The Warden of Eveefeld: Legacy.

I just need to finish them.

Once that’s done, I might try to expand each character outline into a more detailed story outline. I’m not sure how I’ll go about that quite yet.

I’m not planning to participate in National Novel Writing Month this year. The timing just isn’t right for me, and I’d rather focus my attention on other story things.

Read three books?

Yes, and I came close to finishing four. I powered through two consecutive books in The Saxon Stories series. You can see a dual review of those here. Then I read The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami, which I reviewed here. I enjoyed all three.

I’m still working through A Memory of Light, the final tome in The Wheel of Time series. I’m going at a steady pace with this one, and I’m happy with it. I’ve been reading this series for too long to sprint through the ending.

Exercise three times per week?

Not really, at least not to the extent I wanted. I have definitely been a little more active day to day, which is progress. But I’d still like to add in a few solid routine days each week.

Goals for November

  1. Finish 9-section outlines. This shouldn’t take much if I can just sit and focus on it for a bit.
  2. Finish New Earth The Herb Witch Tales #2 draft. I just want to close this story out in its current form. I’m not sure what that word count will look like, and it’s not important. I want to put a pin in this story before returning to Legacy in earnest.
  3. Read three books. Same same. I already have one book nearly complete, and I’m eyeing my next choice.
  4. Exercise three times per week. On top of more general stretching, which should really be a daily routine for me at this point.

Steve D

October Write Day: Still Resetting

On By Steven D'AdamoIn FantasyLeave a comment

September was a strangely long month, but it went pretty well. A lot of my attention has been drawn towards watching House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power and listening to reaction and theory podcasts for each episode. I’m a couple episodes behind on Rings, but I’m really enjoying both of them, for quite different reasons.

I’m also a little miffed that those two shows, plus Andor, plus the start of football season all happened in the same month. So Andor will have to wait, although I’ve heard good things.

But in non-TV news…

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Progress my writing.
  2. Read 3 books.
  3. Exercise 3 times per week.

Let’s see how I fared.

Progress my writing?

Yes, in some small ways, which was really my goal. I transcribed notes from a beat-up journal into a larger, cleaner one. The beat-up journal went through a washing machine because I forgot it in the pocket of a pair of pants. So, many notes were lost to wear and ink-bleed, but I’m satisfied with those I was able to recover through the dried, stiff pages as I peeled them apart.

Lesson learned: don’t use journals that can fit in your pocket. It might sound nice and convenient, but they are too easily thrown in with dirty laundry, apparently.

Part of those notes included the beginnings of an outline for The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. I’m not good at sticking to outlines with my stories, but there are too many factors at play for me not to be a bit more organized with this story:

  • It has now been five years since I published The Warden of Everfeld: Memento, the predecessor to Legacy, which obviously raises a lot of continuity concerns I want to avoid.
  • I have 60,000+ words written already, but I last looked at them in 2019 — so I kind of have to start over anyway.
  • It’s a fairly complex story, with three broad plotlines that hover around each other but do not necessarily cross.
  • It’s based primarily on established characters, so in addition to getting the plot right, I want to get the voicing and the continued character development right.

So I’m building my outline using a few techniques, starting small and then expanding outward.

  1. First, I write a logline for each major point-of-view character, so I know who that character is and what they want.
  2. Then, I’m breaking that logline down into a three-act story — basically three mini-loglines for the beginning, middle, and end of that character’s arc.
  3. Then, I want to break that down further into 9 parts, 3 parts per “act” to identify how that character’s story progresses.
  4. Once I have a nine-section outline, I want to add general notes for each section to help drive the narrative details that will drive each plot point forward.

I’ve never used this method to outline an entire story before, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

So, while I didn’t do much writing in September, I definitely feel like I’m laying the groundwork for a project that has been screaming for my attention for… 3 years.

Read three books?

Checks Goodreads…

No! I finished one long audiobook that was really a lecture series about linguistics. It was John McWhorter’s series on Language Families of the World, one of the Great Courses offered on Audible. I enjoy linguistics, but this was a long listen. I had been picking away at it for a couple months and decided to just close it out in September.

I then powered through a short military sci-fi story that was pretty good.

Two books isn’t bad, but I’m trying for better in October. I already have one book down and another well on its way!

Exercise three times per week?

Vaguely. I don’t have a set routine so much as I have a nagging feeling that I need to move and do some kind of physical activity on most days. That generally takes the form of some basic stretching and yoga poses and some resistance training, and maybe an extra long walk with the dog.

I want to start interspersing those “lighter” days with power yoga videos again. I’ve gotten away from any set yoga routine and want to start it up again, even if it’s just a few times per week.

So, I’m exercising, just not as much as I’d like to, and with no real goals in mind except not feeling stiff, or lazy, or weak.

Goals for October

  1. Finish 9-section outlines for four POV characters in The Warden of Everfeld: Legacy. Now we return to a more specific and quantifiable writing goal. If I can lay out the foundation of an outline for my four primary characters, then I’ll feel comfortable returning to my draft-in-progress to read through it and start building out my outline.
  2. Read 3 books. Like I said, I’m well on my way. This month’s focus is just reading for pure enjoyment, even if I end up reading three books in the same series in a row, which is a stark possibility. Usually I try to diversify my reading list, but nah. It’s time to just read anything that catches my eye.
  3. Exercise 3 times per week. What I want “exercise” to mean from this point forward is not just a few stretches or a long walk. I’d like to get in the habit of 15- or 20-minute sessions of stretching/yoga mixed with resistance training. I have a basic routine down pretty well that combines some yoga poses with deep squats and push-ups, but I also want to mix it up with guided yoga sessions focused on movement and strength. So I’ll just need to be a bit more deliberate about how much I exercise each day.

Seeing the Story Trees for the World-Building Forest

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment
Creativity Sessions writing process. Evening Satellite Publishing.

I already don’t like that strained analogy of a title, but we’re going with it unless I can think of something better. The writing part of my brain pretty reliably ebbs and flows between two points. Sometimes, all I can think about is the story in front of me and how I can bring it to fruition. Other times, all I can think of is all the stories except the one immediately in front of me.

I’ve been pretty heads-down on part 2 of The Herb Witch Tales the last few weeks, but recently, my mindset and thought process has started to shift. This is a natural phase for me, but it’s helped me come to a bigger realization about my writing. I need to focus more on the stories themselves. Continue reading “Seeing the Story Trees for the World-Building Forest” →

December Write Day: NaNo is Over, but I barely Noticed

On By Steven D'AdamoIn The Warden of Everfeld, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

I’m sensing a pattern here, in that each month seems to pass more quickly than the last.

This post is a week late because I wanted to finish “The Grand Mythos”, so we’re already almost halfway through December. Oh well.

November was solid. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and we had a nice time with family, but I’ve also taken some interesting steps on the writing front.

Not only did I finish publishing my mythic fantasy series, but I’ve also started writing my short story. Continue reading “December Write Day: NaNo is Over, but I barely Noticed” →

Don’t Be Afraid to Write the Story You Want

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

A lot of blogs and publishing websites will tell you to research your genre and see what concepts or ideas are currently trending in the market. If you can quickly develop a similar concept, write the story, and publish, you could ride the coattails of similar books and sub-genres to a better launch.

That’s a solid strategy for selling books, but I personally do not feel like it’s a great strategy for writing meaningful stories. If you’re writing a concept that is meaningful to you, and it also happens to be trending in the market, that’s great! You’re probably on your way to some good sales numbers.

But I would argue that telling the most meaningful story should come first; sales and marketing come second.

Tell the Story You Want to Tell

Beyond the sales side of it, it can be easy to get wrapped up in your own expectations for your ideal story. You have a great concept in your head, with your main characters and a good sense of where the plot will lead all lined up.

But you can’t start writing… you actually avoid trying to craft that first line. Why? Because the concept is so perfect in your head. Before it touches paper or a computer screen, it doesn’t require revisions or editing. No one can criticize it. You don’t have to worry about disappointing sales numbers or lack of readership. In your head, that story is exactly what you think it could be.

I realized I was doing this recently with a new concept for a two- or three-part short story. I’ve had a lot of ideas to diversify my writing projects and to get smaller things published while I work on WoEL, which will certainly not be ready to publish for at least another year.

One such concept is a multi-part short story that I can publish in parts on KDP, then as a single volume in print. I’ve outlined quite a bit, particularly for my protagonist, and I feel like the concept is solid enough to start writing.

But I have yet to actually start writing. Instead, I was getting ready to start another project, one with much lower stakes. This one would be a running travelogue-style series on Wattpad — just short entries every couple of weeks following one particular character.

I like both of these ideas, and I want to pursue each of them, but I haven’t had any movement on the short story.

Now, what are the key differences between these two ideas?

  • One, the Wattpad series, is very low commitment. I can casually write a new chapter every couple of weeks, publish on the interwebs, hope some people read it, and keep going.
  • The other is a story I want to publish professionally: cover art, revisions, book design… the whole nine yards. Then, I would try to sell these stories online and at conventions next year. That means I have to get it done in a reasonable amount of time.

See the difference?

This short story is the one I really want to write, but it comes with a much greater commitment of my time and energy, and it will be exposed to a wider audience (I hope).

I’ve neglected actually writing it because of the risk it involves. I can’t get it done in time, or people won’t like it, or it won’t sell. I’ve let the fear of those things keep me from writing, but I can’t control any of those things until I actually write the story.

So, it’s easy to get caught up in all the what-ifs involved with writing and publishing a story, but if that idea sticks with you, lingering in the back of your mind for months on end? Leave the fears behind. That’s the story you should be working on. Worry about the rest later.

Steve D

NaNoWriMo 2019 Update – Week 2

On By Steven D'AdamoIn The Warden of Everfeld, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

Halfway through November, National Novel Writing Month is going pretty well for me. I think I’ve started to figure out a real writing process in the limited writing time I actually have day to day.

And it’s only taken me five months to get here! Continue reading “NaNoWriMo 2019 Update – Week 2” →

October Write Day: Where Did September Go?

On By Steven D'AdamoIn The Warden of Everfeld, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

Wow, I had such high hopes for September, and it basically slipped through my fingers. We traveled each weekend but one, including our week-long beach vacation.

Rather than allowing me to refocus mentally and creatively, that time off flew by and dropped me right back into life like a rock. I didn’t take even one beach photo, and I always take pictures of the beach.

So September unwittingly became a break from writing. Continue reading “October Write Day: Where Did September Go?” →