Tag: #WIP

My #NaNoWriMo project is finished, so now what?

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I realize this may not qualify as a National Novel Writing Month (#NaNoWriMo) project, but it was mine. This past year, I wrote a monster of a fantasy novel called The Last Magus. It was 189,000 words… Like I said, a monster. I just writing and writing until I put a pin in it and thought it was done. Boy, was I wrong.

I realized that it was just too big, so I decide I needed to turn one novel into two. That became my #NaNoWriMo project… Taking one gigantic read and cutting into two. This meant finding a good halfway point, a new epilogue for the first novel to help transition to the new second book, then a new prologue to keep readers in tuned to the storyline and introduce the second novel. Plus, fill in where needed to make them each make sense as two books instead of one. It was a lot to contend with.

So now, my work is finally complete. Instead of one 189,000 word monster, I have one novel at 110,000 words and another at 82,000 words. As a writer, it makes it a little easier that I now have two books to market to publishers and literary agents, not just one. I mean, I’ve been told that 189,000 words is just to much for a single book, but tell that to Gone with the Wind or War and Peace, right? I don’t know which is easier, but what’s done is done. The Last Magus: A Clockwork Heart and The Last Magus: Dragonfire and Steel are their own stories.

Now comes the hard part of trying to get someone to pick them up to publish. I will go the self-publishing route on Amazon Publishing, if necessary, to get my stories out there but I want to take the time and see if someone will take a chance on me. In the meantime, I will continue to send out submission after submission to whomever is open for submissions. For now, here’s a brief glimpse into the world of The Last Magus.

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The Kingdom of Attlain was a strange world of magic and miracles of modern invention. Humans and Demi-Humans—Alfs, Dwarves, Catsei, and many other unique races—built cities on the technological might of modern marvels called “Magius Engines.” These engines, powered by magic, light the darkness through electric lamps, connected the cities, villages, and towns in all directions by a network of Magius-powered trains and iron-hulled ships. It was a world of endless wonders, as well as many dangers.

Everyone knew Attlain as “the land of eternal magic” and rightfully deserved the distinction. Magic was at the heart of Attlain society, with nearly a third of the population able to use it somehow. Laws governed the use, and misuse, of magic under the watchful eye of the Helios Arcanum. The Arcanum researched and protected the secrets of magic, ensuring no one abused it within the four corners of Attlain.

Across the landscape—Solara and the Iron Wasteland, along the Skjem-Tur Mountains, to Celestrium by the sea—lived monsters of all types. These were creatures of all manner and breadth, vicious and evil, threatening to everyone in Attlain. To that end, the people utilized professional adventurers to root out these creatures and keep them safe. These fighters, magic casters, clerics, and the like kept the ever-changing population at bay. Among these adventurers was a unique group of men and women known as the Magus.

Since time immemorial, the Magus were the protectors of magic, armed with a magic caster’s power and a warrior’s strength. They were able to summon various magical weapons from specialized caches they wore known as an Armory of Attlain. They were legendary among the people of Attlain until the Magus Rebellion. When a few Magus decided they should lead the people instead of protecting them, they rebelled; but the insurrection ended from within the Magus ranks. However, the rebellion already did the damage. The remaining Magus were cast out, feared, and outlawed by all accounts except those few who remained loyal to the crown and lived as adventurers. For generations, they had all but disappeared from Attlain.

After decades of unknown absence from the landscape, a new Magus emerged to reclaim the banner and restore the Magus’s dignity. His name was Marcus Gideon, the Last Magus of Attlain.

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon fantasy book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides: Book 2 of the Forever Avalon Series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from iUniverse Publishing and at Amazon, and other booksellers. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from Austin Macauley Publishing, and at Amazon and other booksellers.

Changing your novel after its done is crazy, right?

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So, I woke up the other night at 3 o’clock in the morning thinking about my current #WIP (work in progress) The Last Magus. Something has been bugging me, so much so that I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it (a common problem with writers). Anyway, this book topped off at 189,000 words. A monster, right? So, I’ve been having issues with the excessive length, but to me it’s a complete book. What do I do?

I had a similar issue with the second novel in the Forever Avalon series, The Dark Tides. I originally started to write this book as a prequel to my first novel, but the more I wrote, the more I didn’t like the approach. I wanted the story to go forward, not backwards, so then the idea came to me. I took the sections I already wrote and decided to use them as flashbacks instead. When I finished The Dark Tides, it was nearly 200,000 words. In the end, I cut it back to around 165,000, but that’s how I wanted it to be. To me, it was a finished novel.

So now I’m having the same issue with The Last Magus. It’s a brute but I love the way it is. What do I do? The answer is simple… Cut it in half. I think if I can find a good point, I can split the story in two and have two novels instead of one big one. So now that I know what to do, the question is how to do it?

I have a prologue, 21 chapters, and an epilogue. Splitting it in half also means writing a new epilogue for the first book and a new prologue for the second book, so they both are connected. I have my work cut out for me on a project I thought was finished with just editing work in progress.

This is a hard decision for any writer. You think you’ve written this great novel, until you start editing and realize… “What the hell was I thinking?” It’s not easy to be so critical of ones own work. I spent a good part of six months writing it in the first place and the next six editing. Now, having to split one novel into two, I have more writing and editing to do. This also puts a damper on other writing projects I had started.

It’s also a development issue. I laid out this story and never expected this issue to come up like it did. I mean, my novel just grew and grew exponentially. It had a life unto itself at times. I now have to go back and rethink my original concept. That’s hard for me because I thought I had it down. To be honest, I’m not very good at changing things on the fly. Usually, I write and the story develops as I write.

It’s like having to start the process all over again, which extends out every other project I had going on. It’s difficult to explain but I know other writers can attest to this frustration. I’ve said many times before how my mind is like a Broadway play running nightly shows. My stories play themselves out daily, two extra shows on the weekends. So now, it’s like the lead actor and the understudy have fallen ill, closing the show while another one quickly jumps in to fill the gap; but I can’t stop thinking about getting the other one back on stage. Do you get what I mean?

I think this is why many great authors drank, used drugs, and caroused. If you don’t have something on the side, the sheer madness of it all will overwhelm you. I’ll end this with a great quote from Alain de Botton…

“Writing isn’t a career choice. It’s self-medication that over time precipitates the madness it was meant to ward off.”

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon fantasy book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides: Book 2 of the Forever Avalon Series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from iUniverse Publishing and at Amazon, and other booksellers. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is available for purchase as a paperback/ebook from Austin Macauley Publishing, and at Amazon and other booksellers.