Enchanting the Alchemist Release
This certainly was a long time coming. Enchanting the Alchemist was a challenge that I put on myself to adhere to a tight schedule and write a novel in a month.
Well, I failed to hit the time limit I set myself and had a bit of a breakdown because of the aggressive editing schedule created by my pre-order date. The novel went through one rewrite and it failed to hit my 70,000-word goal! Dang, what a let-down! Not really, we learned a lot! Let's talk about it!
Finish the book before you make preorders
I'm not new to writing novels, I have a few under my belt under separate pen names. What I'm new at is writing novels like those crazy folks who release a novel per month. I can write really fast, so why can't I write a novel per month?
Because it's really freaking hard, that's why. Sometimes you get rolling on an idea and then the last quarter of the book comes up and bang, all your ideas evaporate. That HAE is hard to get to without being too simple, your romance is full of loose ends, and the enemy hasn't received what's coming to them.
The biggest thing I learned from this novel was to finish it before you commit to a pre-order. The stress created by falling behind is unreal, and sitting in the editing phase for a while is pretty nice.
Take it slow
A lot of what makes romance fun to read is the buildup. Not the sexual tension or leadups to sex scenes, but the relationships outside of our main pairing.
A lot happens in Enchanting the Alchemist. Maybe too much. There's the main plot with two romance plots and a few subplots. 55,000 words are not enough to really explore all of this stuff. The first point in this post informs this point.
The deadline ruined my pacing!
Take a break
I maintained a great word-per-day average on this novel, even with real-life commitments. The problem comes when you put a hard and fast rule on yourself to achieve as much as possible.
There was a point in this book when I had to scrap a few chapters because the plot was going off the rails. I couldn't clearly see the ending in my head, which is always a sign that I don't know what I'm doing. I took a break and managed to rewrite those sections and then the story unfolded in my mind easily.
Sometimes I get focused and tell myself that I need 3,000 words a day. Sometimes I finish at noon and feel like I gotta hit 6,000 that day. I think this mentality is good, as long as you know that when a 500-word day comes along, you can't beat yourself up about it.
Love your Characters
It's really hard to get into my love interests in this book until I was able to fall in love with them myself.
Decran Thorne, the main character in this novel, is a timid man who is looking for his place in the world. He's the kind of guy who is under his parent's thumb, eternally in their debt for whatever reason. He's not in a downward spiral, he's reserved to his fate as the clerk at the Corpsecrown Alchemy Shop.
Decran initially falls in love with a man who is apathetic and unloving, just like his father. Eventually, he meets his enemy who is so moved by the plight of the world around him that he's driven to great things (terrible, but great things ;) ;) ;) ).
Ayen, the half-elf who is our enemy in this story, was very easy for me to fall for. He wants to internalize all of his problems. He lashes out at Decran because they need each other.
Conclusion
Well, this was rambling. I just wanted to put my thoughts on the internet two days after the release. Two days and a bottle of brandy, anyway.
Well, I failed to hit the time limit I set myself and had a bit of a breakdown because of the aggressive editing schedule created by my pre-order date. The novel went through one rewrite and it failed to hit my 70,000-word goal! Dang, what a let-down! Not really, we learned a lot! Let's talk about it!
Finish the book before you make preorders
I'm not new to writing novels, I have a few under my belt under separate pen names. What I'm new at is writing novels like those crazy folks who release a novel per month. I can write really fast, so why can't I write a novel per month?
Because it's really freaking hard, that's why. Sometimes you get rolling on an idea and then the last quarter of the book comes up and bang, all your ideas evaporate. That HAE is hard to get to without being too simple, your romance is full of loose ends, and the enemy hasn't received what's coming to them.
The biggest thing I learned from this novel was to finish it before you commit to a pre-order. The stress created by falling behind is unreal, and sitting in the editing phase for a while is pretty nice.
Take it slow
A lot of what makes romance fun to read is the buildup. Not the sexual tension or leadups to sex scenes, but the relationships outside of our main pairing.
A lot happens in Enchanting the Alchemist. Maybe too much. There's the main plot with two romance plots and a few subplots. 55,000 words are not enough to really explore all of this stuff. The first point in this post informs this point.
The deadline ruined my pacing!
Take a break
I maintained a great word-per-day average on this novel, even with real-life commitments. The problem comes when you put a hard and fast rule on yourself to achieve as much as possible.
There was a point in this book when I had to scrap a few chapters because the plot was going off the rails. I couldn't clearly see the ending in my head, which is always a sign that I don't know what I'm doing. I took a break and managed to rewrite those sections and then the story unfolded in my mind easily.
Sometimes I get focused and tell myself that I need 3,000 words a day. Sometimes I finish at noon and feel like I gotta hit 6,000 that day. I think this mentality is good, as long as you know that when a 500-word day comes along, you can't beat yourself up about it.
Love your Characters
It's really hard to get into my love interests in this book until I was able to fall in love with them myself.
Decran Thorne, the main character in this novel, is a timid man who is looking for his place in the world. He's the kind of guy who is under his parent's thumb, eternally in their debt for whatever reason. He's not in a downward spiral, he's reserved to his fate as the clerk at the Corpsecrown Alchemy Shop.
Decran initially falls in love with a man who is apathetic and unloving, just like his father. Eventually, he meets his enemy who is so moved by the plight of the world around him that he's driven to great things (terrible, but great things ;) ;) ;) ).
Ayen, the half-elf who is our enemy in this story, was very easy for me to fall for. He wants to internalize all of his problems. He lashes out at Decran because they need each other.
Conclusion
Well, this was rambling. I just wanted to put my thoughts on the internet two days after the release. Two days and a bottle of brandy, anyway.
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