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Writing a book
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Chapter 1. I want to showcase what life is like as a warrior. To do this I'm going to have my character wake up and begin his day at home to show how the family play fights/practices constantly. From the moment the MC wakes to when he goes to bed, how does this family maintain readiness, preparation, and discipline.
I also wish to show the mistreatment of the indentured servants in the home so that the MC has a change of heart later on that is noticeable when he treats them with kindness.
My next chapter is going to be a coming out/sweet 16/ Quinceanera type party in the warrior society. So I want the ending of this chapter to reflect preparation for that one. I'll have the MC a little amped to be going at the end.
Okay. Chapter 1 is written. I went a little over at 4100 words and I wanted the next chapter to be the party however, I'm going to cut almost 900 words out and move them over to chapter 2. This will place chapter 1 at 3200 and give me 900 words towards completing chapter two already. So then my idea for the party will be moved over to chapter 3 and chapter two will be extended since I really enjoyed those last 900 words. I'll have it lead up to the starting of the party.
Now I'm going to shoot for a chapter per week. That's seven days to think about what the chapter is going to say and I only need to write around 500 words per day. Of course, somedays I might catch a fire and write out an entire chapter while other days I might find myself struggling to complete a paragraph.
What's important is that you allow yourself at least 15 minutes to sit down and try to write. We spend more time than that playing on our phones relaxing on the toilet. Don't set a deadline to complete the book, just set aside some time every day to work on it.
Now once the book is completed, I'll read it over aloud to catch spelling errors before attempting to pass it on to a beta reader. I'm not looking for grammar coaches but rather someone to judge my story and provide feedback on making it stronger. So, till then I'm done. I've completed a chapter for the week. I can start thinking about what's going to happen at the party and where I'm going after that.
Alright new week. Starting chapter 2 I'm 900 words in so I'm going to continue this part of the story knowing that I want to end at the party. I left off after training in my characters home and the ending of the chapter sends him off to finish that training where he now goes for a run. The run in itself is important because it is my world building. As my character moves around he is going to describe/think about his environment.
My first chapter was character building, creating a background for my character and this will be creating a background for my world. Important and instrumental in every book. You want to pair your reader with your character so when traumatic events or drama happens the reader feels a tie towards the character. They understand where they come from, why they may be feeling or acting a certain way to obstacles in their life.
Too keep my characters from bleeding into each other, which can be hard as they are all being written by the same individual so establishing characteristics can be tough, I am using this zodiac guide to build my characters.https://screenrant.com/which-dungeons...
I chose this particular one because first, I am a fantasy writer, second because it didn't label classes with the zodiac but rather focus on the traits. The others I read already listed taurus as a druid or ranger etc. I just wanted to know specifically where their personality aligned. So now, my MC will be an Aries, barbaric and full of passion, irrational when his emotions take over, a fire sign. His best friend is a taurus who will be loyal and keep him grounded with his stubbornness.
When writing your characters it may be easier to keep a quick link to a zodiac like this close for reference. Then when wondering how your character might respond, you can check their personality to keep them individual from other characters.
Okay chapter 2 is finished. I wrote 4800 words so it took me a little longer but I was able to sit down yesterday and write like a blogger on a rant. Now because my limit was set between 3-3500, I had to find somewhere to make my split. I was able to break it at 3100 and write 300 words to finish the chapter.
Now I have chapter 3 half way written. So next week I'll go over it, add what I need for more detail, emphasis and see if it will extend me into the 2k area, then create the ending. The funny thing is, I still haven't reached the party but I'm finally getting to it. I just got caught up world building but obviously had a really good time writing it.
So chapter 3 completes my world building and has my character preparing to attend the party. What should have been two chapters turned into 4. Which is okay. I got caught up in some comical dialogue. Remember we're not stopping, so a beta reader (in a few months) might say to trim it down but for now, we're happy and continuing onward. No stopping, no editing until we hit the finish line.
I had training last week. But here we go. On to chapter 4. I was able to handwrite some thoughts down on paper so now I just have to convert them into the story.
Okay, that took me longer than I had wanted but either way it was accomplished. Originally I had only 2600 words so I had to extend it. I went back to the beginning and did some world building. Setting the scene/stage like entrance. Place the mood.This light a nice fire but it burned too quickly taking me to 4k words so now I wanted to cut a bit. I highlighted and deleted paragraphs finding where my 3k point of reference was. Then I started there reading along until I found a spot where I could alter the paragraph creating a good hook for the next chapter. This left me at 3700 words. Close enough that cutting more would take some of the flavor out. I'm happy with it.
On to chapter 5. Now at this party some feeling were offended. So my next chapter, I'm going to have the MC targeted some how. Maybe kidnapped? Beaten or tortured... That works, then he could get away while spitting in their face so to speak.
Now I've wanted a close friend of the MC to die in a way that helps the MC grow a bit emotionally. This will reflect my feelings of loss for some internal stuff I have, therapy if you will. Which works great, when he gets away that will fuel their anger and lead the death of the MC's close friend.
So, with the idea for the next chapter, the set up, or the bait, or the trap... I'm ready for next week.
Chapter 5 is complete. The MC was seduced into a trap. He was tortured a little but then rescued. Now at the academy he will attend while having a target on his back, a bounty if you will, on his head. So chapter 6, the MC is going to involve his entourage. They will understand the importance of watching his back, the seriousness of it. We'll add in some funny dialog at his expense and prepare him for the academy.
Alright, I wasn't able to finish this week with work but I got started. I'll try to finish chapter 6 next week.
Chapter 6 is complete and we are going into our next month, June.It wasn't going in any direction. I probably started the chapter three different times. Finally on the fourth effort, it started to make something. Rough.
Okay, so now for something fun, I want a chapter similar to Harry potter's quiddich. I'm going to create a gladiator type game. If you have a suggestion im all ears.
On to chapter 7.
Chapter 7 done. Now when we go back through, we will adjust all our titles etc. Right now I'm using the default title font on MSWord with 11 Garamond font. This is my standard. Indent on each new paragraph or dialogue. Makes for an easier read and less alterations when your ready to publish.As for the chapter headers, I like to name my chapter based upon a word that sets the theme for the chapter. Say for example, if my character succumbs to terrible grief, I might name the chapter 'broken'. This can all change later when you do a read through. Right now, we are simply putting story on paper. Lets make the pants before we press them with starch.
Chapter 8 right now is not happening. I got around 1200 words. Then I'll be on vacation so hopefully I will be able to generate another 2k words next week. Have a good weekend.
Well, another week and I'm only at 2300 words. 700 to go. We made progress, not as much as I would have liked but it is still going forwards. Have a great weekend.
Finally. Chapter 8 is complete. Onto 9. I'm building towards an academy/school setting. My world is well defined by now, my characters are becoming familiar. Now when I build the academy world I'll also introduce characters that push the MC in positive or negative ways.
Remember, in the background, I know that someone is going to parish changing my characters perspective. Drastic, traumatic stress change. More value for life less value for petty things, a maturity increase.
Nine is done, I was on fire. Much easier to write this chapter than the last one. We started in April and it is now the end of June. Ten chapters in 3 months.You can see how this could be a long process, don't get frustrated with trying to write a book. Dedicate some time to it, to yourself and it will continue to grow.
Onward we go.
Hurray. Chapter 10 is complete. Now, i've noticed that some of the chapters were in Garamond while others were in times. Its not a big deal now. The only thing that matters is we continue to hit our chapter goals of so many words.
Afterwards we will go back and begin formatting. Title font for your chapter titles and I like to use Garamond 11 font for the body. 1.5 spacing, make sure all the paragraphs are properly tabbed in, quotations etc.
Okay, I didn't get anything done this week because I joined Scribophile.com. I was critiquing work there but now that I am more familiar with the site, i'll be able to jump back into work.
Chapter 11 finished. Another 3 or four chapters and I should be able to end this link to the beginning of my academy experience. Things are flowing well once again. We're already well over 35k words. Because this groups isn't very active, I've been posting the beginning chapters up on Scribophile. Things are going well there. I do not have a group per say, still finding my way there and hoping to meet someone or something like GODS. However, because of its platform set up, I am finding feedback on my chapters which is great.
On to 12.
Well, I don't think posting satire full of nerd lore is the best post for scribophile. So I'll be posting one of my other works on there instead. I have 12 done but I'll be training for the next two weeks so nothing with get done again until August. Keep writing everyone.
It's been a while since I've written. Keeping this going, however, reminds me of the need to continue. Hopefully next Monday, routine will begin once kids have been in school. Also, I've been posting on Scribophile and just found Critique Circle. Two very good sites if you ever feel like posting your work for others to see.
Wow how time flies. Just finished chapter 12 through 14. Hopefully I'll get some more time towards the summer.
Basically, in my mind I know only how I want the ending of the book to happen. In this case, one of my main characters is going to be banned from the group because of his actions. I'm hoping to publish this book by the end of the year.
Because I write fantasy, I like for my chapters to be longer so I'm going to keep my chapters between 3k and 3500 words. This will keep them consistent so that my reader is debating on reading another chapter they have an idea of how long that will take.
This is basically an Isekai novel. I'll keep my font at 11 Garamond. Paragraph settings Justified / Body text. No indentation, spacing is 0 and line spacing is 1.5.