Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 309

where do story ideas come from?

Quite often, people will email to ask where I get ideas for stories. The implication is that coming up with the idea for the story is hard, while writing it down will be easy, once you have the proper idea.

I argue that the reverse is true – coming up with ideas is easy, but writing them down and executing them well is the hard part. You can see this in other areas of life as well. Apple was not the first company to come up with the idea of an MP3 player or a smartphone – I believe Rio and BlackBerry were the first companies (at least in the US) to try an MP3 player and a smartphone commercially. The Apple iPod and the iPhone were not the first MP3 players and smartphones, but they were a lot better executed than their predecessors.

But all that said, I think it is easy to artificially come up with story ideas, rather than waiting for inspiration to strike. You basically need four things – 1.) a main character who 2.) has a problem, 3.) who has an external conflict preventing him from solving his problem, and 4.) who also has an internal conflict.

Let’s use one of the oldest fantasy tropes as an example – a farm boy who gets caught up in quest. The farm boy – let’s call him Luke – comes home from hunting to find that his village has been burned by orcs and the women and children carried off as slaves. Luke’s also in love with a farm girl – let’s call her Juliette – who has been carried off by the orcs (not to mention his mother and sisters). Right away we have a main character who has a problem – his love interest and family have been taken as slaves – and an external conflict preventing him from solving the problem, namely the orcs will kill him if he tries to save his family.

Now, you might think this sounds flat and boring, and you would be right. The key to make it interesting is to give Luke an internal conflict as well – in other words, he wants contradictory things, and he can’t actually have both. This happens in real life all the time. To choose a minor example, you could want to spend Labor Day visiting family, or sitting on your couch drinking whiskey and playing SKYRIM, but you can’t actually do both. More seriously, this could mean choosing to stay with your girlfriend, or moving to take a job in another state. You want to do both, but you have to choose.

For Luke, this could mean he could help the local knight rescue Juliette…but Juliette is also engaged to the knight. Which means if he helps the knight rescue Juliette, he loses her to the knight. Or the orcs split into two groups, and Juliette is in one group and his sister is with another. Luke has to choose…and then live with the consequences of his choice.

This can go to darker places as well. Let’s say Luke was spying for the orcs, taking their money, but he didn’t think they would actually attack. If he rescues Juliette and his family, the truth will come out, and he’ll be an outcast. Or the warlock commanding the orcs, impressed by Luke’s grit, offers to teach Luke magic…and Luke really wants to learn magic. Having a morally dubious internal conflict can add a tremendous amount of tension to a story.

And it’s also a good idea to throw a few twists in to reflect the perversity of life in general. Think of all the times you were say, late for work, and your car broke down, or your computer crashed just as your taxes were due, or you finally summoned the nerve to ask out a girl just as she gets a call from her landlord that someone ran over her cat. Think of all the times a serious problem got worse just because. In Luke’s case, this could mean that he realizes the orcs intend to eat their captives, so he had better hurry up before Juliette becomes McNuggets. Or Luke finally catches up to the orcs, only to find that the orcs sold their captives to infinitely more dangerous dark elves.

Finally, you want to apply the external/internal conflict to every character in your story. A good rule of thumb is that every significant secondary character should have his own plot arc and his own challenges to overcome.

This technique doesn’t just apply to fantasy fiction – you can use it for contemporary fiction as well, whether thrillers or mysteries or anything. Let’s say we have a 25-year-old woman named Jeanette who works at a gas station. One day she sees a mob crime, and the mob threatens her with violence if she goes to the police. The external conflict is the crime, and the unfolding police investigation at the gas station. The internal conflict could come from a number of ways – she wants to speak out, but she’s afraid to do so. Or she has a massive student loan debt (which is why she’s at the gas station), and the mob bribes her with money to pay down the debt. Or she wants to go to the police, but her father works for a mob-controlled company, and if she does, he’ll lose his job and his health insurance.

To sum up, a good story idea is a character with external and internal conflicts, and what he does to resolve those conflicts.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT now available on iTunes

FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT is now available for iBooks users. Get it at the link!

-JM

Reader Question Day #71 – how long does it take to write a book?

Several people asked how long it takes to write a book.

I will give you a straight answer, and say that it depends.

Basically, it depends on how long the book is. Before I start, I outline thoroughly, so I know exactly where I’m going. I’ll usually rewrite the outline three or four times before I’m happy.

Once it’s done, I’ll write the book as fast as I can. I’ve found that writing a rough draft is a bit like pouring molten bronze – it’s best to do it quickly, else it might cool into a funny shape. I’ll try to do a minimum of 3,000 words a day when writing a rough draft, and usually try to push myself to do more. It doesn’t always work, since responsibilities In Real Life often take precedence, but that is the goal.

After the rough draft is done, I’ll revise and edit the book chapter by chapter. Usually I’ll cut anywhere from 200 to a thousand words per chapter, since I tend to overwrite.

So in the end, it boils down to how long the book is. GHOST IN THE ASHES took about five weeks, while SOUL OF SWORDS took two and a half months.

-JM

followers in Skyrim

I have to admit, I am surprised by how useful followers are in SKYRIM. This is a marked contrast from the previous ELDER SCROLLS games, where the followers either blew you up with their spells (MORROWIND), constantly got in the way of your attacks (OBLIVION), or died at the first hint of trouble (MORROWIND & OBLIVION).

They’re especially useful if you’re a mage and the follower is a warrior. That way the follower can charge into battle and soak up damage while you hang back and and hurl flame and lightning into the battle.

The kill-shot animation for dual-wield Destruction is particularly cool.

-JM

writing schedule for the rest of the year

A few people have asked if I plan to do another THE THIRD SOUL story before the end of the year. I am planning on one – it will be called either CRYPTS OF THE OLD EMPIRE or BLOOD OF THE ELDER KING.

This is my writing plan for the rest of 2013:

-Finish GHOST IN THE MASK.

-Write the second FROSTBORN book, FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE.

-Write a short THE THIRD SOUL novel.

I’m pretty sure I should be able to finish FROSTBORN: THE EIGHTFOLD KNIFE by the end of the year, and if all goes well I should be able to at least start the new THE THIRD SOUL story before 2014.

-JM

Ghost in the Mask excerpt

I am pleased to report that I started writing GHOST IN THE MASK on August 9th, and am now on Chapter 4 of 29. Let’s have a short excerpt from Chapter 1!:

“You will see his glory,” said Jorius. “Whether you will it or not. For his power is certain, and his prophet has spoken! The Empire shall fall, and a new power will supplant it. The Kingdom of the Rising Sun shall rise anew!”

And that made Caina sit bolt upright, her hand flying to the curved ghostsilver dagger at her belt.

She knew what the Kingdom of the Rising Sun was, or at least what it had been. The empire of the Maatish nation had been ruled by its god-pharaohs and necromancer-priests, sorcerers without equal. The Kingdom of the Rising Sun had fallen long ago, but its relics remained.

The necromantic knowledge contained in one scroll of ancient Maat, just one, had cost her father his life…and had almost killed every last man, woman, and child in Malarae.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT is now available!

I am pleased to report that FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT is now available at Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. (It should be available on iTunes in a few weeks.)

Click here to read an excerpt from FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT.

And here is the official book description:

From the author of DEMONSOULED and THE GHOSTS, here is a new epic fantasy of high adventure, heroism, and daring deeds.

A thousand years ago, the last grandson of Arthur Pendragon led the survivors of Britain through a magical gate to a new world, a world of magic and high elves, of orcs and kobolds and stranger, darker creatures. Now the descendants of the exiles rule a mighty kingdom, peaceful and prosperous under the rule of the High King. 

But a shadow threatens to devour the kingdom. 

RIDMARK ARBAN was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor. 

But he alone sees the danger to come.

CALLIANDE awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her. 

For she alone holds the secret that can save the world…or destroy it utterly. 

The secret of the Frostborn.

-JM

sign up for my newsletter and get a free story

The release of my new epic fantasy novel FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT is imminent, and this makes it an excellent time to sign up for my new release newsletter.

Why? Because I will very often give away a free story when I release a novel, but only to newsletter subscribers. The newsletter announcing the new book comes with a time-sensitive coupon code for a free short story, a code that newsletter subscribers only see. And all I ever use the newsletter for is announcing new book releases, so you needn’t worry about spam.

Sign up for my newsletter here. It’s pretty simple – just enter your email address, click a link in a confirmation email, and you are subscribed.

-JM

the one hundred thousandth book

God has been good to me. I am pleased and excited to report that in July of 2013, I sold my 100,000th ebook since setting out upon self-publishing in April of 2011. Additionally, SOUL OF TYRANTS sold its 10,000th copy.

Those two figures happening at the same time could very well constitute a Milestone.

So I would like to take a moment to thank two groups of people – first, all the people who bought 100,000 of those ebooks. It is very much appreciated.

Second, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review for one of my books. In the end, time is the most valuable commodity of all, and a review means someone sacrificed time to share what they thought about one of the books. So thank you for that.

And now, onward! If you keep reading ‘em, I’ll keep writing ‘em, though that means I need to buckle down and get writing.

-JM

a sample chapter from FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT

I’m far enough along editing FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT that I can share a sample chapter. So follow the link to read the first chapter of the book!

-JM