If only for what is probably the best headline I’ve ever written in my life, I hope you’ll click the link and read this: requested by my editors at Chalcedon, here’s me telling you all about what goes into the writing of my Bell Mountain books.
https://chalcedon.edu/resources/articles/when-you-hear-the-bell-come-out-writing
Somewhere we also have a brief interview with cover artist Kirk DouPonce, complete with photos of the models he used to create the covers of my books–mostly local kids from around his neighborhood. Must be a kick for them!
Anyway, the article above is a must–if you like my books and this blog.
That was an interesting read, in and of itself. I would imagine that maintaining internal continuity as being the greatest challenge when writing anything of length. The fact that you can do this without resorting to a system for managing story continuity suggest to me that you’ve fleshed out an entire imaginary world in Obann which functions within your consciousness. Another way of expressing this is that you’ve internalized Obann and it’s like a landscape you can navigate at will.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier comments, the only analog I can find in my experience is music. I know that I can write a song, or even create an arrangement of an existing song, and at some point, it exists in my psyche as a complete work. I can go to any point in the song and be completely oriented to the flow, the logic, if you will, of the entire song. The beauty of this is that once this is entirely internalized, then you can instantly understand the ramifications of any changes made to the arrangement. I can only surmise that something similar happens when writing a work of fiction.
In any event, your internal continuity is exemplary.
You get to know a place pretty well after writing nine or ten books about it.
But I would be remiss if I didn’t tip the hat to Cathy, my copy editor, who spots inconsistencies with an eagle eye and gives me the opportunity to correct them. She does a spectacular job of this.
That’s doubly impressive because it means she has to have a very complete mental picture of Obann as well, entirely conveyed by what you have written.
I like to think some of my readers have that, too.
Indeed, I have a mental picture that is fairly consistent.
Checking it out!
That article was wonderful. When I read the Bell mountain books, I can’t stop! I half believe the characters to be real in the subconscience. Duigon is a genius, definetly. I became interested in writing stories but had become frustrated and dropped it. Probably since I wasn’t really passionate about it. I liked writing Movie and book reviews though, but Fiction? my Fantasy would simply sound ridiculous. Or so I thought. Of course all that was before discovering this blog. So I began to tell stories, but not write them. The inspiration could come from anywhere, from a movie or real life family experience, to a simple 4seconds of a dream. I’m not kidding. Later on, I thought about writing it down, since usually, I don’t remember all that I said. I noticed at once that it was harder than I thought, because you can’t have changes of voice hand gestures, or anything theatrical. But I still think it’s not impossible. So I would really appreciate it, If you could publish some advice on writing Fantasy in God’s kingdom.
Well, Bassas, you’ll find a lot of articles about writing fantasy, if you check this blog’s archives. Search “the art of writing,” and you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Are you somebody I know already?