Over the past few days I have been doing the planning necessary for worldbuilding as I create the world of Arenth in my head. The difference between this book and others is that I have done some plotting. I think you call it “plotter” who plots things out and has an outline to follow, and the other is “pantser” which is flying by the seat of your pants and let the writing take you where you are going to go.

Usually I am a “pantser” and just let it fly. This is how all the grydscaen books were done. grydscaen is cyberpunk scifi and some of the books are classified as hard scifi. “The Seer of Grace and Fire” is going to be a fantasy. Now the last time I read a fantasy book was a long time ago, back in college I think. So I have fallen out of what makes a good fantasy book. This might actually be a gift because whatever I write is going to be entirely new and will not be influenced by what is around me in the case I read a lot of fantasy. This can also be a detriment as well since I will not be all that familiar with fantasy tropes and may fall into one of them unwittingly.

The main thing is you have to be able to tell a story. For this project “The Seer…” I actually plotted out the entire novel. Now will I follow that outline? Maybe in a general sense but I find trying to write yourself down a track can get kind of boring and then you have to force the words into a specific box. With me words just come so I don’t want to really force the words to go somewhere they don’t want to go. That is the very definition of writer’s block I think. So since I have a general knowledge of what I want the story to do, this kind of frees me up to be able to write the plot as it comes.

I know that Ethesian and Timorn will be central characters. Now they are going to start out apart so there is going to have to be some plot device to get them together at court so that the story can really start. And I am going to have to create two armies. One for the Jahnae and the other for the evil Valkyris and her minion hordes. I was thinking about orcs a little bit but whatever minion I create I am not going to call it an orc that is too much Dungeons and Dragons. Now there will be Dalannin the mage so I am going to read some of the DragonLance books on the plane on my trip. This is just to equate me back to the fantasy realm and yes I know that is old school.

Now one of the things I have seen that sells is Fantasy Romance. I have said in a previous post that there is no way that you are going to get me to write a romance. No way. Even though that sells I personally think there is way too much of that. Romance, Erotica, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy Romance. There are enough writers who indulge in those genres that we do not need one more. So I stake my claim. “The Seer of Grace and Fire” is not a romance. Will there be some relationship tension in the story? Maybe something between Timorn and Ihel who is sent to flush out who he is and find the lost child. I don’t know. That might be too easy of a trope to have. Jahnae teenager gets emphatuated with beautiful high elf and runs away to the forest together. Cornball. No I am not writing that.

So far I have written one paragraph of the story at the very beginning. I need to write the hook into the first paragraph. I always have an issue with that. Some reviewer told me on grydscaen: utopia that the hook has to come in the first paragraph. So I re-released utopia with a hook in the first paragraph. Now the start of the story is in the library in Ekhrine, the human city where the Ecclesiastical University is. I want to start it out with Kabal the scribe since he is the one who is translating the “Legend of Arden” which is a prophetic story written in the Elven language and needs to be translated into Jahnae. This is a difficult translation so this will be a great work and hard for the cleric. I need to make it so Kabal is stressed about the translation and that there should be a deadline. This gives me an ability to put some initial stress. Now to make the deadline more important we might have to make something like a holiday show up. Maybe the anniversary of the day all the male children were killed. Maybe I should make the killing of the male children a yearly event. Things to think about. If I make the killing of the male children a yearly event there would be some ceremonious thing about the day and people would be frightened. This could be a reason for the Valkyris to invade Itheria on a yearly basis. That might work.

So, Winding up to write. In order for me to write a successful story I need to know the world. All the work that I have been doing to get the world under control is necessary so that I feel comfortable in the world. This will make it feel natural. I find I have the character’s names down but I hesitate a little bit on the city names. Laying out the cities on the map was helpful but I think I might need to move Amaralon where the Valkyris resides in the South because then she might have too much land under her control. The Tower of High Summoning is there so that will also be a focus point for the mage Dalannin. Now, I need to determine what my “enter orc character variation here” characters are supposed to act like. Are they stupid? Can they think autonomously or must they take orders? Did the Valkyris conjure them up from the deep darkness or are they somehow creatures that exist in the dark places of the forest? This still needs to be decided.

The winding up process has started. I am itching to start writing. I know that I want to do this on the plane for my trip. Hopefully I will be able to read my own handwriting. I really didn’t want to take my tablet with me on the plane which might make writing easier a little so I will have to think about that. The tablet is old and it might die too quickly. If I write in a notebook I am not a slave to technology. I don’t think the tablet will last two 8 hour flights to the destination without being recharged.

So I am excited. A little nervous for my trip but once I get started on the journey we should be good. This is a big milestone for me from a work standpoint. Hopefully we can get a lot done. Now I wrote grydscaen: tribute by hand and then typed the individual stories into the computer so I know that the medium of writing the story will not be an issue. Hopefully I will be able to read my handwriting which will mean I will need to slow down and write legibly and not race through it. I even have one of those fancy moleskin notebooks that I will be using to start the story.

Now grydscaen has a prologue. I don’t know if I want to write a prologue for this book, I might just drop you right into it without the forward exposition. If I do put a prologue it might just be the Elven legend that I write in some flowery language but the potential problem with that is that it might be the only thing people read and they think the rest of the book will read like that. Maybe just a paragraph for the legend, that way I can drop you into the story immediately giving you some background so readers don’t start cold.

I also have to think about Timorn. So he is 17 and a Ranger. I can’t make him too old but I am going to have to explain what guild he comes from if he is associated with a guild. And if he is, I know Ishika is associated with a thieves guild then I will need to explain the guild system. Is it underground or legitimate.  How did he become a ranger? What exactly does a ranger do? Is he just a guide, does he steal things, take people to others, go places? Since he has not been in Kannon for his entire life I think he is going to be a lower caste. How was he raised? Did Eanna give him to a lower caste family who raised him. Does he even know of his birthright? Now I think he does not so that is a possible plot device him learning about what and who he is.

So much still to flush out.

I have the rest of this week to get the world straight so that everything is in place by the time we go on the trip. I need to also make the map a little better. Right now it suits me because it is just where things are it doesn’t need to be fancy but if you are going to put a map in a fantasy book well it better look like something completely real with the genre and it better look nice. The map in grydscaen is a rudimentary subway map that puts things where they need to be. A fantasy map needs to be high art. So the map I have will not suffice for publication. Maybe I also need to think about hiring a cover artist as well. There is one that I am considering at the moment but this person actually reads the book so we are not there yet. More planning is needed. Since I have always done my own cover art departing and using an artist might put this book into another level. I might be a writer but I don’t call myself an artist usually.

So far the worldbuilding process has been going smoothly. There are just a few more things that I need to flush out and plan. You just have to get syched up to start the thing that will bring a lot of excitement. With the definition or rudimentary definition of the magic system we are on our way and in a good place. Just a little bit more and we can get started. Wish me luck as we start on this journey.