June 13, 2020 - Update

Hi Everybody!

Another week has flown by. They feel as short to me now as Ruwen and Sift's attention span. Added to that, I am still dealing with the consequences of an entire book's worth of notifications. What was I thinking?

Speaking of thinking, I spent some time thinking and talking about story structure this week. So much advice centers around outlining your book first to maximize productivity. When I first started writing I followed this method, but my stories were very plot-driven. As if I was moving from bullet point to bullet point...which of course was exactly what was happening.

I sense this in many of the stories I read, and the characters tend to be flatter and the world less rich. I think this is because the author doesn't need to spend any extra time in the scene. They already have a bullet point listing what needs to happen. So you lose some richness that happens when you linger a bit.

I am sure there are tons of authors who outline and still spend time on character and world-building, and maybe if I gave it another try, it would turn out better. Certainly, it is a better option than pure seat-of-your-pants writing, which I also tried, and lead to excruciating writer's block.

Now, I start each book with beats, ten to twenty of the signposts I need to hit as I journey through the story. It is a nice compromise between writer's block and a lifeless story for me. The problem is, it is hard for me to judge exactly how long a scene will take me to write.

That is what happened this week. I'd hoped to get through all the aftermath of the story so far, but managed only half of it. And even then, I doubt we will be through it all. In addition, to make you even madder (since you have to wait a week), Ruwen figured something out in next week's chapters that I didn't think would be revealed for a couple of more books. But, that's what happens when your characters are real, and they have all the information they need to figure something out. Of course, that secret might not make it through my future edits, but you all will still know. Deservedly so.

I have opened up chapters 40, 41, and 42 to Root.

I have opened up chapters 43, 44, and 45 to Harvester.

I have added chapters 46, 47, and 48 for Step Master, Blapy's Favorite, and Divine.

I hope you enjoy them.

Thank you again for supporting this story. It is only this far along because of all of you.

Take care and be safe.

AFK