Thursday, July 7, 2011

Where Things Are Going

Well, folks, I've come to a fork in the road.  And I'm turning soon.  Actually, that's more of a catchphrase than anything else, and an excuse to post that picture you see.  I already know where things are going. :)

I still have a lot of revising to do.  And that's pretty much a "Duh" for any writer; good books are not written, they're REwritten, right?

However, as I was rereading and formatting The Book of Shaldu this week, I began thinking about book two in the Prophecies Series.  That's the more-or-less official name of the series, by the way.

I really have no idea what is going to happen in that book.  It's a mystery.  I only have a couple of vague ideas and a prophecy.  But events are happening fast, and I'll fill you in.

Yesterday afternoon, I spoke to a friend briefly about Book Two.  That got my imagination juices running, and I realized (not for the first time) that I have no idea what I'm going to do in Book Two.  And since The Book of Shaldu was beginning to shape up, I thought it might be time to begin thinking about it.

That's what I do instead of outlining, see.  I ponder it.  I think about my characters.  I think about the plot.  And I say, "What could go wrong?"  (Which, by the way, is a fantastic question.  Find out what could go wrong, and then do it.)

Well, I didn't sleep very well last night.  That's what these things do to you.  In fact, in "sleeping on it", I might have awoken poor Inspiration again.  He always tunes into thoughts, not actions.  And since my mind was a boiling pot of imagination last night...

Long story short, he threw a bar of soap at me in the shower this morning.  And I realized that the back-story for one of my characters was a LOT more complex than I thought.

The character in question was Elene Silversword, the mother of my main character.   She was a strong character with a sharp wit and a sharp tongue, and she loved the High Lord.  For the longest time I couldn't understand why she was such a strong character.

But anyway, after Inspiration threw the soap at me, he told me all about Elene Silversword.  It was kinda creepy, actually, finding out all I didn't know about my own character.  Apparently she had fled to Kr'ark and married a guy named Jactwo Silversword.  'Course, I had to find out why she fled.  I'm her writer.

I found out a lot about this character called Elene.  For one, Elene isn't her real name.  Major shock there.  And for two, her story has betrayal and death and conspiracy wound up in it.

If you expect me to tell you what exactly her story IS, I won't.  It's my secret.  I promised Inspiration I wouldn't tell.

However, let it be known that her back-story will have a large impact on the course of the Prophecies series. This got me thinking for the rest of the day.  And, besides this, I figured out what this new prophecy means.

Now, if you're wondering what in the world all this has to do with where things are going, let me tell you; because of this rather painful smack from Inspiration, I now have a tentative plot for Book Two simmering in my mind pot.  I have a lot of foreshadowing to rewrite into TBOS, but it's beginning to come together.

To tie it all up, I have a feeling that Book Two is very close to getting to the point where I can begin writing.

And, of course, revising my other novels.  *sigh*  It gets tiring after a while...

Two more quick notes: first, the prophecy's name is also the name of a novel.  I actually "doodled" the prophecy, believe it or not.  I drew a tree, an orb, and a stylized moon, and then wrote a poem above the tree in runes.  This became the prophecy.

So, you want to know the name of the book?

Tentatively, Book Two of the Prophecies is called, "The Prophecy of Terrainian".

The name "Terrainian" is also tentative.  I may need a name-change.  Do you think I should change the name?  If so, what name would you recommend? (It's easily done; I haven't written anything about book two down anywhere but here.)

That's all for now.  Let me know what you think. :)

18 comments:

Mackenzie A. Lockhart said...

This is great, Jake! I love how you express everything :) Book 2 sounds fantastic! Mind you, I don't know all that much about Book 1, but it sounds like you're having a fantastic time :P What's the WC of book 1, by the way?

Elene sounds like a cool character. I don't normally deal with older people (aside from Aarty in TARM) because I find them hard to write. Married & mother is bound to be even harder...at least in my opinion :P Anywho, her story sounds intriguing :P even though I don't know what it is lol

Squeaks.

Jake said...

Book Two isn't near fantastic yet. xD I have a lot of plot to add before it gets to that level.

The word count (I assume that's what you mean?) is usually on the sidebar. :) However, it's not all that accurate sometimes...the current wordcount (and this is including acknowledgements and such) is 52,638. I cut some stuff, so it's not as much as it used to be.

I didn't even know she was a cool character until now. O_o I had no idea. I just thought she would do for a mother and a strong leader-like character. Guess I was wrong.

momma said...

now i know why your showers are so long...

Hannah Joy said...

Ya know what, Jake, you are one lucky fellow. I have yet to finish a book, though I have started quite a few. 14,200 is not nearly as much as it sounds... *Sigh* To work on book two sounds...intriguing, although my book will probably not have a sequel the way it's going.

Ah well. Plug away! And don't be worrying about titles yet...:-)

Vrenith said...

Ooh... you were 'telling' me about this a little earlier. :)

OH... I remember that tree... I can't remember how you came up with the drawing, but I do remember it turned out really epic. :D

*gasp* Yes, mother, you now know Jake's little secret... ;) Its also why he doesn't fall asleep for a long while. :)

Hannah Joy, 14,200 still is really good. :) I've tried way to many times to count (most of the time without telling anyone) and never got that far. ONE novel so far has succeeded, the beginning of a series. :) Don't worry, sometime soon, whether its the book you're working on now or another, the perfect idea will literally smack you across the face, and you'll get a novel--MORE than one novel--done. :)

--Vrenith

Christopher said...

Sounds fascinating. I too don't know the full extent of my plot for the second book in my series yet. However, I have an unfair advantage. My book 1 plot gave me an idea of my plot for book 2, since they are connected extensively. Terrainian, hmmmm... Well, it works, but I find it a bit long, and not horribly catchy. The Prophecy, or prophecies of, so and so always catches my eye. I enjoy books including prophecies, since I like to unravel what they might mean. I don't have any other ideas for names, I'll try and think of some, but its really hard since I don't know what type of fellow this Terrainian guy is going to be. I'll try though.

Christopher

Hannah Joy said...

Vrenith: Thank you very much! :-)I really hope I can get this one done, since I love my characters so much!

Christopher said...

Instead of Terrainian, you could do something like Terra (the Latin word for earth), or maybe just shorten it. I have no idea where this name is coming from, but Frestum might be good.

Pathfinder said...

Jake: I wouldn't worry about a title yet. I know (from experience) that titling a piee before it's finished can play a part in controlling where the story goes. (not always a good thing, depending on how you look at it) If you feel you need a title, try something vague. For example: I titled mine 'Take Two' since it's my second try at a novel.

Star-Dreamer said...

That's what I do instead of outlining, see. I ponder it. I think about my characters. I think about the plot. And I say, "What could go wrong?" (Which, by the way, is a fantastic question. Find out what could go wrong, and then do it.)

This is exactly what I do. Only you explained it much better than I have in the past. And that question is most definitely and amazing question... I love to torture my character's that way. :)

What you did with your character Elene, is exactly what I did with my MC Curron (in SOTD) and his supporting character Caellahn. And you know what happened? I learned way more about them than I ever thought I could! For instance, Curron is rather psychologically messed up (sadly) and Caellahn was never who I thought he was in the first place. It was freaky and wonderful all at the same time! Perhaps I should follow your example and post about it on my blog. I seem to be in a blogging slum lately, and that might give me something fun to contemplate.

Can't wait to see what you do with your new ideas! Best of luck.

Nichole

Jake said...

@Momma
Yup.

@Hannah Joy
Vren took the words out of my mouth. :) Novels aren't written like *snaps* that, y'know! I once heard a quote that went like this: "Writing is easy. All you need to do is get a blank piece of paper and open a vein."

Basically, you pour sweat and blood into this thing. Writing isn't easy, but as long as you keep doing it, you'll get done. If not with this one, then with another! I can relate over a dozen novel fails to you, if you'd like. :) The main point is, keep writing, and you'll get there. Even if it seems like it's so far away.

@Christopher
I actually did end up changing his name. I'll write a blog post soon informing you all of the updates. :)

But thank you for your suggestions!

@Pathfinder
Usually the title fits the book, yes. I don't usually name the book before it's written, but it seems that the Prophecies series is an exception. Both The Book of Shaldu and Book Two have been named. And both fit. :) The only trouble I had was changing Terrainian's name in the title, and I've fixed it. More in my new blog post...once I write it...

Jake said...

Oops! You posted a comment as I posted mine! *scribbles a reply*

Thank you for your thoughts! Indeed, it is a wonderful thing when your characters come to life and take off the masks. They do things on their own.

Go for it! I'd love to read it. :D

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