Andrew Zabriskie's Blog: The Cyfandir Project

4/18 - I think this will be my last blog post, because let's face it, no one cares about my blog. Despite the random spike in readership, it appears that i'm really only writing for two people (or perhaps one person who reads the same post twice for some reason). And since no one feels the need to post a comment or question to generate a dialogue, it's become tedious to simple post an online diary.

Can't say i blame 'em; my blog is not really that interesting. I guess i never got the hang of it. The social media paradigm dictates that people must be constantly entertained and informed, and quite frankly, i don't have the time or the desire to meet that demand. In other words, I'd rather be writing my book than writing about my book. Feel free to check it out; I can assure you that it's far better than this blog.

And if it's horrible, please let me know. I'm serious - email me at worldofzabrion@gmail.com and tell me how it can be improved. It's hard to change and grow if no one cares enough to point stuff out. Life is about relationships. Coincidentally, so is my book.

4/21 EDIT: so in 3 three days this post has been viewed 13 times, making it the 6th highest viewed post of my blog, which is either ironic, since my reason for stopping was the lack of views, or its really sad, since after 40 posts, 13 views is huge. Yeah, probably best if i stopped.

But i also wanted to add that book 2 is finished and is now in peer edit, which is significant, since the whole point of the blog was to chronicle the progress of this book. I anticipate that it will be for sale as an ebook in the next 4 to 6 months.

4/4 - So it's been a while. I've been busy trying to sync up the different chapters of each story arc with my timeline to create one fluid master chapter list. Wow. Much harder than i thought it would be, and quite revealing.

I realized quickly where i can add new chapters (mostly filler, but good to expand on the story and/or character involved), and in some cases, why i needed to add them.

I'm currently up to 89 total chapters. Interestingly enough, Book 1 had only 67 chapters, yet it had 284 pages (of story), and this book currently has 247 pages. Fighting to resist my OCD that wants to make them match has been a battle, let me tell you. Letting go is easier said than done.

So it looks like I have some more writing to do, but that's always a good thing, except for those waiting patiently to peer edit. Yeah, sorry - wanna make this as good as possible.

Oh, and i haven't yet written the prologue and epilogue, but I have a pretty good idea of what they'll be.

I'm proud of this book. It's definitely better than the first for several reasons, but I suppose that's to be expected. If you liked volume 1, you'll love this one. And if you didn't, well, you'll still like this one more.

Of course, now i'm seriously considering a re-write of the first. The big hang-ups are the time and the money for a re-release. Ugh.

3/17 - Today was Bring Your Cheez-Its to Work Day, so naturally Colby was by my side. Good thing too, 'cause we crushed it. Four chapters later, the main hero story arc is done!

It's such a crazy experience watching thoughts materialize on the page in front of you, then looking back and thinking, "Hey! I just wrote that!"

Now begins the compiling - taking each arc and shuffling them together like a deck of cards according to the time line. And then it's on to peer editing. Wanna be a part of it? Email me or respond to the blog.

Gotta run. Colby and I are going out to celebrate.

3/7 - So the rewrite is going well. I'm excited about how much better it is, and what it sets up for later in the series.....

In the meantime, I started reading Auralia's Colors by Jeff Overstreet. It caught my eye one day on the discount rack at Wal-Mart, so i bought it, and since I have to wait until November for the next installment of Brent Week's Lightbringer series, I decided to dive in.

Loving it so far; the story itself is intriguing, but I really like his writing style. It has a kind of poetry along the lines of Patrick Rothfuss. Looking forward to seeing where it goes.

Hoping to be done writing book 2 by the end of march. What's it gonna take? A couple of days off work and couple of boxes of cheez-its. Ah, the sacrifices we make for our craft.

2/25 - Ah, the bittersweet sensation of an impending rewrite.

For a while I've been stuck on the ending of my main story arc involving my heroes. In addition, I had come to be less than thrilled with how one of the secondary driving elements had unfolded.

And then it hit me like a large atlantic salmon across my face.

I decided to rewrite the secondary element completely. Sadly, this resulted in the loss of ten pages or so of material, but that's part of the process. I'll admit it was tempting to stop and say "y'know, maybe this element ain't so bad after all", but I decided to push through ad make the hard sacrifice.

Sometimes that's necessary to make it better, because sometimes, one of our arms is gangrenous, and though we like the arm, it's killing us to keep it. It's not fun to lose an arm, but in this metaphor, a better, healthier arm can now grow its place.

The result, though not yet fully fleshed out, is a much better, longer use of a secondary character and a great improvement to the coherence of the story arc. More writing that pushes back my deadline to finish? Minor setback in the grand scheme. Thanks, atlantic salmon.

I'm Andrew Zabriskie, and I approve this message.

2/17 - So I had President's Day off, which was great in the sense of having two consecutive mondays off, and another writing day, though I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. Colby failed to help me through writer's block, leaving me a sad, sad panda.

But then I realized, I'm working on my book all the time...on the drive to and from work, in the shower, mowing the grass, etc. I'm beginning to believe that more time is spent thinking than writing while creating a novel, so in that case, I've been crankin'.

The good news is that I've now got my ending to this installment - I just need the chapter or two that leads up to it. Harder than it may seem, but not to fret; my imagination is on the job!

This ending won't be as abrupt as the last one, partly due to a single but rather loud protest, but mostly because I don't want that to become repetitive, lest it lose its punch.

I'd love some (other) feedback concerning book one's cliffhanger. Too abrupt? Just right? Doesn't even taste like porridge? Lemme know.

2/9 - I took the day off yesterday to write. It wasn't the "write so fast i can barely get it all down, totally killed it, ready to publish" kind of day I was hoping for, but I did get a few key chapters done, and outlined the rest, so it was a good day. Stayed in my pajamas the whole day and ate truffle mac n' cheese for lunch, so yeah.

I recently came to the realization and acceptance that this series won't be fantastic. This isn't self-pity or a vain attempt to garner encouragement, it's the understanding that this is my first series, and by no means my last. But like everyone else, I have to start somewhere, and this is it for me.

This doesn't mean I won't do everything I can to write the best story I possibly can, but even that is limited by my current experience. In some ways, I've already learned a lot between this book and the last, and I can already seen the difference in quality.

Future novels and/or series may quite possibly be epic, but only because I've grown as a writer and a person, and I've put in the time and paid my dues, etc. Like most things in life - including life itself - this is a learning experience.

Right now I may be a nobody, with a handful of friends reading my books to be nice and one person following this blog, either due to sheer boredom or morbid curiosity (either way thanks, You), but some day I may be slightly more popular. I may even get invited to a reindeer game or two.

Fortunately for me, that's not the goal I'm chasing, so I've spared myself a lot of anxiety and depression. I writes it because I likes it. I'm thrilled when someone else genuinely enjoys the story I'm telling, and I truly hope that my art inspires or encourages someone someday, but even if that never happens, it's not a loss. If we don't enjoy our hobbies, why waste our preciously short time doing them?

I'm excited about my writing getting better, and I'm excited about the cool stories I'll write someday, knowing that one day my best idea will coincide with the height of my talent.

I recently received an amazing gift from an amazing friend, a book about all things Firefly. Wow. The best part is, I finally get to see what they said in Mandarin. Let's face it folks: that show really was the best thing humanity has ever accomplished.

2/2 - Haven't been able to write much this past week, but I'm taking next monday off to do just that...and some yard work.

I haven't yet put any thought into the third book, and I probably should, since I'm close to wrapping this one up. I don't want to paint myself in a corner like I did with the first one. While I know now that outlining is the key, it's still hard to outline far in advance, especially since this is an ongoing series.

I'm still hesitant about facebook, especially since I've heard that once I create a page, it's super difficult to get rid of. That's a bit unsettling. Kinda wish I could do a test run. Still getting lots of advice.

There are two kinds of people in this world: the ones who group everyone in the world into two groups of people, and those who don't.

1/21 - I think I finally nailed the essence of who Jaxin is, which is good, since I've got an entire story arc about him. Now we get to see if he overcomes his moral dilemmas, or if he caves - don't look at me; I'm just the writer. It's entirely up to him, being non-sentient figment of my imagination and all.

Ok, I suppose it is up to me, but I like to leave it open to see where the story goes naturally. I want my characters to reflect real people as much as possible, and often times real people make illogical or foolish choices that bear consequences and regret. Sometimes they get the chance to make it right, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes their efforts to make it right actually make it worse.

The struggle for me as a writer is balance - how to create an enjoyable, relatable story without being predictable and stereotypical. For example, can the villain win and people still say "What a great book!" or does that concept simply turn people off, because at the end of the day, despite the eye rolls and "I saw that coming" criticism, people really do want a hero who saves the world and gets the girl?

Have you ever read a book that has a character whom you love to hate, mostly because he/she is written to be hated, and you just know they're gonna get theirs in the end, and when they do, you cheer? Yeah, but has a small part of you ever wanted to see that person get away with it, or the hero not get out of a tight spot at the last possible minute because, hey, sometimes that's life? That's where I'm at - totally conflicted because like everyone else, I want the happy ending reward of escapism, while at the same time being so jaded and cynical that escapism disappoints because "that would so never happen in real life". I probably need therapy.

In other news, the ball is now rolling regarding the cover art, and that's exciting - for me, at least. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Same artist as before, love his work!

I'm also seriously considering starting a facebook page for my world Cyfandir in order to drastically increase exposure for my books (mmm...plural). I've been hesitant due to my inherent insecurity and laziness. The former with regard to being "out there" for the world to see and scrutinize and dissect and bash, and the latter with regard to the idea of constantly updating and maintenance. I mean, let's be honest - I can barely get out a weekly blog post with any measure of consistency.

While "get over yourself" is accurately applicable advice (bonus points for triple alliteration!) despite it's complete lack of empathy, it's not that easily implemented. Nevertheless, I'll be striving to get over the challenging hurdle that is myself. Prayers are appreciated.

People say I exaggerate a ton; like all day long, every day, year-round, nonstop without pausing for air, about the most outrageous, unbelievable things.....I guess I just don't see it.

1/12 - First post of the new year! Does it get more exciting than this? Oh yeah, by a lot.

Decent week of writing, though in truth it was more polishing stuff already written, but that's important too. It's good to buff your book to a streak-free high mirror finish. Shiny.

57 pages to go, and this book will match the first in size. It's a loose goal, but it helps me to gauge size.

Speaking of segues, another phenomenal book series is Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles. Wow. I mean, wow. The story, the characters, the depth of detail, and the almost poetic nature with which he writes, laden with the most amazing imagery.....wow. When I read him I'm awed to the point of profound insecurity about my own writing.

I love the alternating between first-person and third-person perspectives of the main character Kvothe as he retells his life story to Chronicler, a scribe who's more than willing to record this legendary man's exploits. Very unique.

Not only is the story riveting, but there's a poignant commentary woven throughout on the power and peril of rumor and gossip. Instantly one of my favorite series.

The first two novels are currently available (there's a novella about one of the side characters, too), and now I'm patiently waiting/drooling for the third.

This series is so good, some people are actually upset with Mr. Rothfuss, complaining that he's taking too long to produce the next installment. I was struck by this, probably because I'm a writer myself.

While I have to agree that waiting for the next amazing book in an amazing series is torture, I know it will be well worth the wait. I hope Mr. Rothfuss takes his sweet time, because then I'll know that it's the best work he could produce. Never rush an artist, sonny; you get rotten art. Writing a novel is not like baking a cake - you don't just whip one up 'cause you felt like it.

The thing is, if you hold everything back and release it all at one time when its complete, you've missed all those years - yes, years - of not getting your work out there, developing a fan base, and for some, earning a paycheck. I can only assume the same is true for music and painting, etc.

I was going to end this post with a clever joke about a man losing all sensitivity in his tongue but I decided against it when I realized it was completely tasteless.....