Book 2 Progress! - May 1st 2022

First and foremost: Book 2 is still underway.

It's hard to post any substantive updates because I have no idea what's going to be kept or deleted forever. I learned a lot writing book 1. I had never written anything before and I was so excited to get it out into the world that I released a bit early (the infamous bracket will never be forgotten). I know how much can change from draft to draft and I'd really hate to write progress posts on unedited scenes or even word counts. There are so many moving pieces when you’re creating a world this large.

I will say that we're not QUITE where I would have hoped to be by now. The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was the huge differences between book 1 and book 2. Book 1 was this epic journey across the Five Kingdoms and, while I had trouble writing at the time, most scenes flowed from me so freely. That’s in large part due to it being all brand new, every scene was something I could create from scratch. Now, book 2 certainly has it’s fair share of adventures and traveling, but the beginning (at least for now) is more structured. Basically, while book 1 was adding depth and breadth to the world, book 2 is aiming to do something similar but on an individual level. That means the lives, decisions and personalities of everyone - even if the reader will never know any of it - need to be fully formed and fleshed out. They all need to be real.

I love the characters I’ve created. I feel like they’re all unique and special, even the lesser roles. They’re all memorable. It’s easy to have a character feel like they’re deep when all we see is a few scenes. Having them truly be distinct and relatable throughout multiple chapters is like making everyone a main character. And that, my lovely readers, can feel insurmountable. A hundred or more lives, all unique, all with a life’s worth of history.

But, we’re on our way.