Progress!
I’ve reached the halfway point in my journey to 50k and the completion of my first draft! I might be moving at the blinding pace of an out-of-shape snail but I’m proud to be moving forward all the same. I’ve written for 10 of the past 11 days and don’t intend to miss another day for the rest of the month. Making sure to write before settling in and winding down at night has been critical. It’s incredibly hard (though not impossible) to find the energy and self-discipline if I wait till just before bed. (The train to sleepy time junction don’t stop once it gets a rollin’!)
So this is probably as good a time as any to talk a little about what I’m actually working on. My working title is Shadow & Brimstone and it’s a dark fantasy about a mortal woman among monsters and magic. My main character, Sheriden Krieger, is a hunter of The Order- an assemblage of talented operatives tasked with the protection of Dystoria and the management of supernatural forces and figures therein. I’m trying to combine classic horror elements and beings such as vampires, werewolves, and witches with more fast-paced, adventure-based storytelling. I pull heavy inspiration from the Night Watch series with a touch of Harry Potter, but most of all, Diablo.
In fact, the idea began as sort of a Diablo III fanfiction. For all the non-gaming readers who might not be familiar with the Diablo franchise, it’s a dark, medieval, macabre world inhabited by monsters and humans, warriors and wielders of magic, all sandwiched between the warring factions of heaven and hell. I loved loved loved DIII when it came out and I played in excess, primarily as the demon hunter class. I got rather attached to my hunter and used her adventures as inspiration for writing exercises. I sketched out a few characters, scribbled a few scenes and…not much else. I wasn’t heavily committed to writing at the time and let life get in the way of any further development. I’d almost forgotten the idea completely until last November, when I decided to get back into writing by giving NaNoWriMo a try. I stumbled upon it by accident while looking through old notebooks. I built on what was there, planning out a rough skeleton of a plot and departing from Diablo’s world of Sanctuary to create my own unique world, while leaning heavily on the influence.
Of course NaNoWriMo wasn’t exactly the best way to ease back into writing and I failed miserably (I think I might have come up with about 12k of the required 50) but the fire to write was reignited! Now I’m bound and determined to finish this novel, no matter how long it takes. (And…it could be a while. But I’ll keep at it!)
S. Willis 