Fractured - a free sci-fi and fantasy novel
I have two writing projects for January 2013. One is to commence editing work on Chamber of Ghosts, which I've started and have already completed five chapters. The second project is to start writing Fractured. I'm a little ahead in that respect because I cheated and started a week ago!
Fractured is my first collaborative novel, written with author Brian Clopper. We've been discussing it since October via email and phone, and have slowly been putting together a chapter summary to use as a fairly rigid guide.
I've read a few collaborations over the years, but although the books may be conceived, planned and edited by two authors, it seems to me that they're actually written by just one. For instance, Piers Anthony and Robert E. Margroff wrote the Dragon's Gold series, but who wrote the initial draft? I always wondered how two authors can claim equal status with the actual writing of the novel. The Tunnels series is written by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams, but it looks to me like Gordon wrote it and Williams did the illustrations, while both most likely planned the series and edited it.
Just to be different, Brian and I came up with a truly level playing field. We would write a novel that follows two distinct characters on a journey that culminates in them crossing paths. Each journey would parallel the other. So we would create our own individual stories and alternate the chapters throughout the novel. This means the authorship is truly equal.
I won't give away the plot, but we have two different worlds -- one a futuristic sci-fi setting and the other a fantasy land full of spirits and creatures. I'm writing the sci-fi world, and my character is thrown into a situation that mirrors what's happening to Brian's. So while they're ultimately trying to achieve the same thing, their obstacles are wildly different.
The cover you see here is a mockup only. The finished cover will be different in the details but overall something along these lines. Our characters won't be bald. It's not two men but two 14-year-old boys. The mention of "one soul" is irrelevant. So there are things to change, but the finished version will look roughly like this.
The reader will see this as a traditional novel with Chapters 1-31 or thereabouts. My story will start at Chapter 1, Brian's at Chapter 2, and then I'll continue mine with Chapter 3, and so on, and Brian will end with Chapter 31. (The mathematically inclined among you will spot a flaw here. This is because there's a special chapter near the end where our characters cross paths, and that chapter is actually a joint effort where we alternate scenes, thereby tightening the to and fro between characters.)
I'll be really interested to learn whether readers will notice the difference in writing styles, and whether the difference will be interesting or off-putting. And whether one story will be more interesting than the other! There's no competitiveness here; we both want a single, solid novel with each thread working equally well, and of course we'll be proofreading and editing each other's work, which will help blend our styles.
As the month goes on, we'll both be blogging about our progress, especially as we intend to finish our halves by the end of January. This is a fairly short novel, and we're splitting the workload, so the first draft is going to fly by!
Look for publication around May, if not sooner. And this book will be available TOTALLY FREE for anyone who wants it. Apart from the complexities involved with splitting profits for sales, we just decided that this would be an interesting experiment and a good way to get both our names out there. There will be links to our other books in the afterword, so maybe readers of this free sci-fi/fantasy novel will want to pay a few bucks for some of our others.
More soon.
