[This post is part of the Writing Process blog series, but it is not part of the normal line. It is a stand-alone article.]
I had an experience in preparing the supplement books for Champion Bold that made me take a step back. It reinforced how important the PBRG process is and will be for future projects. And made me realize I need to draw (or model) more during the PBRG process.
The Incident
There were two bits of artwork I wanted to get done that I didn’t want to do myself. I wasn’t sure of my skill, and one of the characters represented as too important to be done by my hand. This had to be a good quality image. The character was that important.
I went on Fiverr and found an artist who did some work I thought looked good. I contacted him and discussed the project; he expressed interest and sent me a quote. It was higher than I expected, but that’s not uncommon on Fiverr. Custom quote for a custom project.
Things started going wrong pretty quickly. the artist kept requesting reference images and details. More and more. He provided basic sketches, which weren’t bad from a technical standpoint, but he was ignoring much of my input. The process was slow, and I was starting to get frustrated.
Then we hit the deadline…and I had nothing. Instead, he requested more reference images. I sent them. He went silent. I heard nothing. I asked for an update. He did not respond. A full day after the deadline, with no word from him, I cancelled the order and got my money back. Fiverr, at least, made this part easy.
What went wrong?
The artist was technically proficient, but I did not like working with him. He did not listen to much of my feedback. He did not communicate well. The deadline passed by, and he did not come close to meeting it.
But I can’t lay all the blame at his feet. During the process, I realized that I didn’t know what I wanted. Yes, I wrote these aliens, but my description wasn’t good enough for an artist to create an image from. The artist needed reference images from my because I gave him so little to work with.
The problems across the board was communication. I don’t know why he was bad at it, but I know why I was.
I didn’t know what I needed.
It’s hard to tell an artist what an alien’s ears look like when you don’t know. The same with lips, or skin texture. I wrote the character, but when you’re trusting a reader to build the alien in their mind, you don’t consider all those details that an artist needs.
Is this a new issue?
No. I’ve run into this issue before. I’ve had to do some pretty big re-writes when I finally settled on a map and realized it didn’t match what I’d written. And in some of the previous artwork I’d commissioned, I’ve had problems with the artist not paying attention to some of the details of my requests.
A picture is worth a thousand words. But I don’t want to have to write a thousand words to get the picture I want.
How is this going to influence things in the future?
As part of future projects, I’m going to be sketching out a lot more than just maps ahead of time. Alien races, spaceships, uniforms. Anything that might need a description, I’m going to have a visual representation prepared.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to be great artwork. I’m getting more proficient at Krita (digital art) and Blender (3D modeling), but I’m not professional level. But what I can do is make sure I as a write know enough to describe the person, place or thing accurately and consistently.
And I can ensure that the next time I commission artwork on Fiverr, I give the artist enough information they can get to work right away.
September was a busy month, working on the Champion Bold project. Specifically, working a lot on my Blender (3d modelling) and Krita (drawing) skills to develop aliens and spaceships. My editor got sidetracked by some personal issues (hey, it happens; my book is a side-project, which I understand). I found an artist to do the last bit of artwork I didn’t trust myself to do, and I’m knocking off the ones I think I can do one by one. And I ended the month having finished my active shows and most of my active books, meaning I start October getting to chose what I start.
Writing Projects
I’m only a few chapters away from finishing editing Champion Bold. Then there’s a list of book-wide edits to check: things like spelling consistency, ensuring the math works, the page counts match, stuff like that. A lot of things I don’t want to work on until I can go through the book and do them all at once.
I’m also working through the supplement books, processing the artwork and articles. My Blender and Krita work is getting better, which is nice. I’m glad to be knocking this items off my to-do list, but it’s not the writing I like to do.
I got some good feedback for Book 3, which I’m folding into a revision plan for NANOWRIMO. Some of the feedback was what I expected; some of it was a surprise. But, it’s good to get feedback.
I’ve done some prepwork on other projects. Nice to just stretch the creative mind.
October Goals
Start formatting Champion Bold for publishing
Get supplement books to 80%+ complete
Knock 10 Items off Minor to-do list
Two non-book report Blog Posts
Books
Fool Moon (Dresden Files, Book 2, Audiobook, Fiction, Started)
The Rook (Fiction)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind (Non-Fiction, Started)
Red Storm Rising (eBook, Fiction, Started)
I read a few good books this month. Sapiens I started (and got about 1/4 way through before my Libby rental expired). It’s about the development of culture and civilization. It reminds me a lot of ‘Guns, Germs and Steel’, except it doesn’t sound like it’s lecturing me.
Once that expired, I switched over to re-reading Red Storm Rising as my ebook, which was one of the most influential books of my youth. Re-reading it, it made me consider some story ideas I’d been thinking about,
The book of the month has to be The Rook, a supernatural thriller that really takes the cake. A cross between X-files and X-men, it was an excellent book that has several sequels I’m looking forward to reading.
October Goals
Finish audiobook
Finish two fiction books
Finish one non-fiction book
Movies and Shows
The Expanse (Season 3)
Star Trek Prodigy (Season 2)
Wonder Woman 1984
I finished both my active seasons this month: the Expanse Season 3 and Prodigy Season 2. Expanse continues to be a good show I just don’t resonate with. I like it, but I can’t binge it like I can other shows. Prodigy is fun Star Trek. I wish it got better support from its networks. I’m not sure we’ll get a Season 3, but I’ll watch it if we do.
The last weekend of September I watched Wonder Woman 1984, mostly because it was on my fit-it podcast. It was…so bad. I wanted to like it, but I can’t. My only fond memory was a personal response to them stealing a medium-ranged jet to travel across continents. Otherwise, it was a terrible movie. Still, only the third-worst sequel in my opinion.
October Goals
Finish one started TV Show
Start one new TV Show
Watch one new Best Picture Winner
Watch one new Movie
Games
Red Dead Redemption 2
Assassin’s Creed: Odessey
Warhammer 40K: Armageddon
Command and Conquer
Stellaris
Did not play a lot of games this month. I played some Stellaris for nostalgia’s sake, and played through some missions in the Command and Conquer remaster I hadn’t beaten before. But most of the time I was at my computer, I was working on modelling projects.
The RPGs continue to go well. My new character in Frozen Flame survived his first session. My players in the Atonement game gave me a lot of sudden praise for the story, which I appreciated. And the Delta Green game continued to be weird but fulfilling.
October Goals
Play something
Enjoy it
What’s Next
October will be filled with finishing up Champion Bold and the supplement books. I’ll also be doing Inktober ( a month-long drawing challenge), preparing for a NANOWRIMO project, and knocking off other minor writing bits. I did apply for some 2025 conventions, but I haven’t heard back from some of them.
Wow, August past quickly. I made an effort this month to knock some things off my to-watch list, and to enjoy my time more. But I still got stuff done.
Writing Projects
Making good progress on Champion Bold and the supplement books. My work from hereon in will be as much about pictures as it will be about text. I need to focus on getting little bits done. I want to publish sooner rather than later, and that means focusing.
When I wasn’t focused on my main project, I’ve done some planning and prepwork for other projects, particulalty The Colonel Lieutenant. I have some idas how to revise that story. And I nibbled at other projects over the course of the month.
September Goals
Get draft copy of Champion Bold
Finish one Supplement Book
Knock five things off my Story Bit List
Two non-review blog posts
Reading
Wisconsin Vampire (Fiction)
Northwoods Wolfman (Fiction)
Undead Cheesehead (Fiction)
Storm Front (Dresden Files, Book 1, Audiobook, Fiction)
Fool Moon (Dresden Files, Book 2, Audiobook, Fiction, Started)
The Rook (Fiction, Started)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind (Non-Fiction, Started)
I finally started and ran through Scott Burtness’s Monsters in the Midwest Series: Wisconsin Vampire, Northwoods Wolfman, and Undead Cheesehead. These books involve citizens of a rural Wisconsin town becoming the monsters they’d only seen in movies. They are horror-comedy, with enough amusing bits to make you chuckle, and enough horror to keep your wary. I liked them, though they’re not my usual read.
Finished the first Dresden Files book, Storm Front. I have to say I’m surprised. I have listened to this book before, but I had forgotten the last two-thirds of it. Finishing it for a second time, I’m unclear how I could have forgotten it. It was really good. I immediately rolled over into book two (Fool Moon). I have six or seven of them on audiobook, so I’ve got my work cut out for me.
September Goals
Finish one fiction book
Finish one non-fiction book
Finish one research book
Movies and Shows
Star Trek Prodigy (Season 2)
Expanse (Season 3)
Echo
The Mummy (2017)
Hellboy (2019)
Warcraft
I didn’t expect to watch three movies in a weekend, but I have a ‘fix the plot’ podcast I listen to and I’d listened to most of the movies I’d seen already, so I knocked a few bad movies off the list. The Mummy was a big let down (overpowered villain and deus ex ending). Hellboy was better, but not by much, which sucked because David Harbour did a good job as the character. Warcraft wasn’t great, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d heard. I actually like it, though it could be a lot better.
I did start and finish Echo, the Marvel show with the deaf character. That was a lot of fun. It did a few things I’m still not sold on, but the action scenes were fun to watch. And it was nice to see a story told not from a western perspective.
September Goals
Finish either Expanse Season 3 or Prodigy Season 2
Finish the other one
Watch one Best Picture Winner
Watch one other movie
Finish one started TV show
Games
Red Dead Redemption 2
Assassin’s Creed Odessey
Warhammer 40K: Armageddon
I played a lot in the first week or two of the month, then fell off towards the end. I advanced all three games, but didn’t make a large amount of progress. Which is okay. I got a lot of other things done.
In RPG news, I lost a character in Frozen Flame. It was sad because she was fun to play. but, she also wasn’t very effective. I didn’t do a lot the last few games, and her utility in combat was pretty limited. I’m working to build a better replacement character who can add something to the party.
September Goals
Advance RDR2 to next chapter
Ten hours of Assassin’s Creed Odessey
Ten missions of 40K Armageddon
What’s Next?
I’m focused on book right now. There may be an event in December, and I’m signing up for conventions next year. But for now, it’s all book.
The Virgin’s Lover is book 14 of Philippa Gregory’s historical fiction series. It takes place between Summer of 1557 and Autumn of 1560. It follows Queen Elizabeth, Robert and Amy Dudley, and William Cecil. This book has a number of firsts for the series. It is the first book to have Queen Elizabeth as a main character, and it is the first book to have many scenes from a male viewpoint (Robert Dudley and William Cecil).
This book is a mix of genres. In many ways it’s a romance novel between Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth. It is a book of court politics. But most importantly, it is a murder mystery. Combined, it makes for a book I really enjoyed reading. Really, I liked this one.
I’m going to talk about this mystery without spoilers, but I want to talk about it. Because if you read this book knowing it’s a murder mystery, it’ll make a lot more sense.
This book is a ‘Who Will Do It’ murder mystery.
What does that mean?
Glad you asked.
This book ends in 1560, which is 13 years before the previous book, The Last Tudor, ended. Which means we, as readers of the entire series, know how the romance between Robert and Elizabeth concludes: Robert’s wife, Amy, dies under mysterious circumstances. The nature of her death tarnishes Robert’s reputation, and he is no longer considered a suitable partner for Elizabeth. They part ways, in love but unable to be together.
So, we know that Amy is going to die. The question of this book is: who is going to kill her? All four characters have motives, and you spend the book wondering who is going to be the bad guy.
Let’s take a look at the suspects.
Queen Elizabeth I
From Wikipedia
Elizabeth has not had a happy life. Her father spent much of her childhood claiming she was illegitimate. Her mother was executed for adultery and incest. She was disinherited by her Protestant brother, then forced to assume a religion she didn’t agree with for her Catholic sister. She was a pawn in many, many games.
Finally becoming queen, Elizabeth is expected to marry an advantageous male who will become king. Over the book, many kings and archdukes and princes are brought forward, and Elizabeth makes and breaks promises on a whim. But she develops true feelings for Robert Dudley, a courtier who she bestows gifts and affections on. The two of them fall in love.
Elizabeth is a suspect because she loves Robert Dudley, but he is married. If she were to get rid of Amy, she may be free to marry Robert and find some happiness. As the head of the Church of England, she could declare a divorce, but that would come at too high of a price. But if Amy was to die, then Robert would be free.
I liked the Elizabeth of this book. She was not perfect: she was a person, trying to balance the expectations of her throne with her desires as a person. She wanted to be loved, and for a time had that love with Robert. I found it entirely believable that she could order the death, hoping it would go one way and finding it going against her.
Robert Dudley
Robert Dudley starts the book in disgrace. His father tried to put Jane Grey on the throne, and was executed for treason. Robert himself barely survived, rehabilitating the family name through service to Queen Mary and King Philip, then continuing his service to Queen Elizabeth. He endears himself to her by using his knowledge of court etiquette to prepare her processions and her court.
Robert is a schemer. He wants power and influence. He may or may not love Elizabeth — I found the book to be pretty vague on his true feelings — but he works to advance himself. At the height of their romance, he considers himself all but king, acting in unofficial capacities that he was not authorized to act in.
Robert demands a divorce from Amy, which she rejects. He wants to marry Elizabeth and cement his position in the court, but she stands in his way. If she dies, then he is free. And Robert is just self-centered enough to not understand why such an act might tarnish his reputation and keep him from Elizabeth.
I did not like Robert as a character, though that’s only because the author writes him so well. He is constantly scheming, grabbing power for himself. Which, given his history, I can understand. But I detest how much he doesn’t think of Amy. And, quite frankly, when he’s strutting about the palace and the height of their romance, he seems to completely forget how quickly anyone can fall in a Tudor court.
Fun Fact: When Robert returns from Calais early in the book, he returns with Hannah Green, the main character of The Queen's Fool, book 12 of the series.
William Cecil
William Cecil is the adult of the story. An experienced Protestant statesman, he is the voice of reason in Elizabeth’s court. It is he who explains to Elizabeth — and to the reader — the working of diplomacy and politics.
William constantly finds himself butting heads with Robert. He has England’s best interests at heart but finds Elizabeth to be indecisive and Robert to be an impediment. William is a true friend to Elizabeth, but he isn’t the sort of relationship she’s desperate for.
William is a suspect because he actually understands what the murder of Amy Dudley would mean: the fall of Robert Dudley. He is no stranger to assassination; he mentions it several times as an option and it is heavily implied he is responsible for the death of a Scottish queen. He is definitely capable of it.
William is my favorite character of the book. He is objective and thinking only of England, without any of the personal desires of Robert or the indecisiveness of Elizabeth. He is a good advisor. My only issue with him as he’s portrayed is the number of times he thinks or says that a woman could never be queen by herself, and they must get a king on the throne.
Amy Dudley
Amy Dudley is the tragic character of the book. She married Robert Dudley when they were young, and stood beside him when he was imprisoned, fell from grace, and fought his way back up. She was a loving and devoted wife.
From Wikipedia
But Amy does not want the court life. She wants a house and farmlands. She wants to maintain the fields and grow a family. Amy has no interest in anything else. Which is why she spends most of the book largely forgotten by Robert, hopping from friend to family member, few of whom are glad to see her. When Robert does see her, it is not as a husband, except to demand she give him a divorce, which she refused.
Amy spends much of the book in a terrible depression, always excited when she sees her husband, and let down by how little he cares. The idea of suicide is one she actively rejects (being a Catholic), but there’s always the chance she could simply give in during a darker moment.
I found Amy to a be a frustrating character. On one hand, she has my sympathy. She has done nothing to deserve the insults she is given on a daily basis, and she has no agency over her life. On the other hand, she rarely stands up for herself, actively apologizing in confession for her actions when she does. Maddening.
Historically
Well, obviously I’m not going to tell you what the book does. That’d be a spoiler.
Historically, an inquest determined it was an accident and no one was to blame. The event was used by Robert’s political enemies to tarnish his reputation, and he never married Queen Elizabeth. Accusations of his involvement occurred over the next few years, but none of them had any substance.
There is actually a theory that arose in the 1950’s, that Amy died because of breast cancer. The cancer could have weakened her bones, so that even a short fall could have been fatal. There’s no way to verify this, but the book does make reference to this theory by having Amy complain of chest pains, which she claims are due to a broken heart.
Conclusion
This book was one I couldn’t put down. I was excited to read it. And much of that was the mystery of who will kill Amy Dudley. My only disappointment was that I didn’t realize what the book was until halfway through. If I had known the whole time, perhaps I could have enjoyed it even more.
The book has a lot of other things to officer a reader. Court politics, international diplomacy, romance. It’s a great book, full of vivid characters.
If you decided to read this book, I hope the mystery pulls you in as much as it did me. I promise, it’s worth the read.
Hello. July was a good month. I knocked a lot of things off my list, got my book to 80% edited, and made progress on the shows and games I hadn’t gotten to in a while. That’s a good month.
Writing
My focus was on Champion Bold and the supplemental books. Writing, drawing, hiring artists. It’s a large beast I bit into, but it’s progressing nicely. The Book is 80% edited, and the supplemental books are in the 40’s.
Not much advancement on other projects, but that’s okay. I want to get my primary project done and published, and that has to be my primary goal right now.
August Goals
Finish editing Champion Bold, get published proof prepped
Get Supplement books to 75% complete.
Process feedback on The Colonel Lieutenant
Knock 10 items of Minor To-Do List
Reading
Last of the Mohican Graphic Novel, Marvel Illustrated (Fiction; Finished)
Gettysburg by MacKinley Kantor (Non-Fiction; Finished)
The Virgin’s Lover by Philippa Gregory (Fiction; Finished)
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Fiction; Audiobook; Started)
Wisconsin Vamp by Scott Burtness (Fiction; Started)
Complete Idiot’s Guide to Game Theory (Research; Started)
I read a lot over the course of the month. Reading a graphic novel of Last of the Mohicans actually made me understand the story a little better, though it’s still not great. Also finished the next Philippa Gregory novel The Virgin’s Lover, which I will have a blog post for up soon.
The fun one was a book my dad read when he was young on the Battle of Gettysburg. Oddly enough, it was titled Gettysburg. It was fascinating to see how books of that time (1952) portrayed the battle; what they emphasized and what they ignored. As a bonus, it did four pages on the 1st Minnesota and what it did there.
August Goals
Finish one fiction book
Finish one non-fiction book
Finish one research book
Movies and Shows
Witcher – Season 3 (Finished)
The Expanse (Continued)
House of the Dragon – Season 2 (Started)
As I said in the intro, I actually sat down to watch new things this month. I got halfway through Season 2 of House of the Dragonwith my sister. So far, so good. And I knocked another episode off of the Expanse. I really wish I could get into that show as much as other people. It’s good, but it usually isn’t grabbing my attention.
Finished the current season of The Witcher, and while I enjoy the show — especially the over-the-top fight sequences — I feel it doesn’t do a great job of explaining the world. I have so many question that just don’t get answered. Maybe if I read the books or play the games, I’ll find out more.
August goals
Finish current season of the Expanse.
Watch two movies.
Knock Tv show off my ‘started and not finished’ list
Start new TV show
Games
Warhammer 40K: Armageddon (Started)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (Continued)
I advanced a little bit in RDR2. Played through a story mission that actually left me really angry. I had to free a member of our criminal party who had been captured, and there was no way to do it without killing a lot of people, including at least one innocent woman. I texted my sister (who loves this game) and asked her if I am able to kill the guy I rescued later on in the game. Apparently, it depends on my choices. Which is cool from a game design perspective, but I need to avoid looking up how to do it, lest I get spoilers.
Started a new computer game, Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon. It’s a hex-based wargame that uses the Panzer General engine to play as an Imperial Guard commander during the Second War of Armageddon. I like this game so far for two reasons. First, it is a simple and fun game with short missions. And two, the Second War of Armageddon was largely my first introduction to the 40K universe. So, it’s a bit of nostalgia in it for me.
The RPG games go well. My characters are still alive, which is good. The game I’m running only had one session this month, but it set up a nice battle for next session. Knights, evil wizards, and lots of goblin friends…and perhaps foes.
August Goals
Advance RDR2 into next chapter
Start Assassin’s Ceed Odessey
Finish Armageddon
What’s Next
I have on public appearances planned right now. But I want to change that this month. I hope to find some conventions and events I can sign up for, before I hear about them too late.
**This is blog post number 4 on my revised writing process.**
Last post I went over the first step of PBRG, the Planning and Plotting step. I discussed the process I’m trying to use. Now, I’m going to show how that process works by applying it to a creative project.
The project is called ‘The General of the Pen.’ It’s a working title, and we’ll see how long that sticks.
Process 1: The Idea
What is ‘The General of the Pen’?
It is a story about a mid-level general, Gerhard van Rumm, in a mid-19th century world. He is caught up in an independence movement and becomes a leader in their army. This army is fighting an initial campaign to buy time for outside support to come in.
First, I consider what’s unique about this story.
The technology level is mostly new, with cannon and muskets instead of machine guns. (American Civil War instead of World War 1).
Gerhard is a mid-level commander of an army, who gets to make strategic and operational decisions for the story.
There is a much larger, world-wide movement that impacts the story; they’re buying time for other factors to come into play.
It’s a new world I haven’t fleshed out yet. There’s a lot of unknowns I can play with.
Those all sound good, but what’s not new? What’s similar to what I’ve done before.
Gerhard is a bookworm, like Sasha Small (Renaissance Army series)
He’s also level-headed in battle, like both Sasha and Augustine de Zama (Champion Bold).
The scope of the story shares a lot of similarities with the Renaissance Army story, as it is about an uprising against a superior government force.
The similarities are something to be wary of, but they’re not story-breakers. I’ll give Gerhard some unique traits for my characters: he wants to be loved and have a family, or maybe he already does. I can keep the story focused on the campaign and not the social movement, so it’s not the Renaissance Army redux.
Remember, a lot of the differences will be fleshed out during preparation and writing, so I can accept a larger ‘This is similar’ list and trust I will fix it later.
Process 2: The Five W’s (and that H)
The next process is to work out the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of the story. After several passes through the first process, I should have a good idea of each of the answers.
Who
*Gerhard van Rumm, a mid-level general who is shanghaied into fighting in an independence movement. *A friendly general who wants van Rumm there. *An influential character who doesn’t want van Rumm there. *Minor generals. *A love interest.
What
*The army begins to assemble. *Training and teething issues. *An enemy formation comes up; a fight occurs. *Protagonists lose the first fights, win the last ones through work and determination.
When
*The story takes place late spring/early summer. *It will take place over several weeks, maybe even months.
Where
*This story takes place around a city on the border of the independent region and their overlords. *Must of the action occurs in a mountain valley, covering several hundred square miles.
Why
*The region is trying to declare independence. *The main character gets involved and wants to win.
How
*The independence movement will fight against long odds. *van Rumm will have to make difficult choices. *they will buy enough time to finish the narrative.
‘The General of the Pen.’
I’m keeping this process down to a few pullet points per question, but ideally, I’d write up a paragraph or two. Just looking back at this list, I know I’ll want to expand on Gerhard’s motivations to win and detail the independence movement to give it a unique flavor.
Again, this is a series of processes that don’t stop until it’s published. A lot of these aspects will change as the story progresses.
Just a character, standing in a setting, ready to go.
Process 3: The Acts
Okay, now I’m dividing my narrative into acts, segments of the narrative.
I know I’ll have an introduction act: the reader will meet the characters, learn about the area, and discover why the story is happening. It won’t be long, but all stories start with it.
The conclusion act will see the heroes victorious, tie up any plot strings that need tying, and prep the next story (if there is one).
Those are the two easy ones. Now let’s build the middle.
I want this story to be short, but also full of action. And I want the characters to suffer before they win. So I’m going to have three Major Event acts. I’ll put a development act right after the introduction, and then two Recovery Acts between the three Major Events.
But wait! Is there a better way to do this? Something more exciting?
What if I removed the development act, and consolidate the information into the introduction? The crisis starts early, and we see the characters in action before they’re ready.
I consider this option. I’d need to be wary of making the introduction too long to make up for sudden event act, but maybe I can do it.
You know what? I’ll do that. The worst that happens is after a few passes, I add in the development scene. It’ll be easy as pie.
Now, I’ve got my seven-act plan. It looks like this.
Act List
Act
Type
Story flow
Act I
Introduction
Introduce characters, setting and conflict
Act II
Event
Battle; minor, but influential because of inexperience. Enemy wins.
Act III
Recovery
Characters react, make plans, train
Act IV
Event
Battle; another minor battle, good guys do better, draw, but have to retreat.
Act V
Recovery
Characters plan for final battle
Act VI
Event
Final battle, major battle; good guys win, but it’s rough. Enemy withdraws.
Act VII
Conclusion
Characters take stock, rewards, plan for next phase of the war.
Part of me is already twitching at having no development act. But I want to give this a shot.
Process 4: The Important Scenes
Now I get to plan out some scenes. Not writing scenes (though some of them I’ll be writing in my head) but identifying what scenes I need for each act. Reminder: I’m aiming for three scenes minimum.
Act I is the introduction. The first scene I’ll introduce the character, Gerhard van Rumm; he’s approached by his friend to join the army at a critical moment. The second scene, they arrive in their area of operations and Gerhard (and the reader) learns the terrain. Third scene, he meets some other key players, and the reader learns about the politics of the movement.
Act II is an event scene; the enemy is advancing into the mountain valley and wins a small battle. Okay, so I have one scene where the characters learn the attack is coming. They rush forward to find the battle underway (second scene), and a scene where they get their troops to retreat (third).
Act III is recovery. The characters discuss the events, and by discuss they yell and shout (first scene). The leader makes decisions and prepares for the next battle (second scene). And Gerhard has some time to reflect on the situation (third scene).
I’ll skip over writing the scenes for Acts IV through VI, though they’ll be listed on the chart below. Let’s look at Act VII, the conclusion.
In the conclusion, I need to reference the status of the movement as a whole, the situation in this valley, and Gerhard’s personal journey. I’ll first write a scene where the situation in the valley is confirmed, and a second where the national situation is addressed. Finally, I’ll had a scene with Gehard considering his part in past events, and look to the future.
Scene List
Act
Type
Scenes
Act I
Introduction
1: Introduce Gerhard van Rumm and his friend 2: Introduce the mountain valley, geography 3: Introduce minor characters, and political situation.
Act II
Event
1: Characters learn of a battle up the valley. 2: Characters arrive at battle, try to influence victory. 3: Victory not possible; army withdraws / flees.
Act III
Recovery
1. Leaders yell accusations, refuse responsibility. 2. General makes decisions, not all of them correct, to prepare for next battle. 3. Gerhard considers what he’s done, how he can do better, and what their odds are.
Act IV
Event
1. An opportunity to fight from a superior position arises. 2. Army moves into position, anticipation. 3. Enemy comes into view, attacks hard. 4. Army forced to withdraw but does so in good order. Tactical victory.
Act V
Recovery
1. Bad officers removed from duty 2. Learn of outside developments; importance of their victory 3. Officers learn of enemy movements, make a plan.
Act VI
Event
1. Enemy force moves into area. 2. Army counters; fight develops 3. Army wins
Act VII
Conclusion
1: Situation in the valley is established, reported up the chain of command. 2: National / international situation and what that means. 3: Gerhard considers his place in things.
Process 5: The B, R and G lists
As I’ve been building this story, I’ve also been making lists of what I need to build, to research, and to game out.
As I’m writing, all of these lists will change as inspiration and the story’s course have an impact.
World Build
I stated above that as this is a new world, there is a lot I need to build. this can be intimidating (a world is a huge place), so it helps to make a list of what I need to build for this story.
The geography of the continent, the nation, and the region the story takes place.
The culture of the people fighting for independence, their overlords, and the allies who might be coming to help.
The technology available to all sides.
The timeline of the past: how long ago was the conquest?
Research
Research can be a hard one to plan ahead on, so this list looks pretty large scale at the moment.
1860’s train speeds; construction of railways; ease of transporting goods and people.
Telegraph operations.
Development of battlefield medicine over the 19th Century.
I know how I want the battles to go, but I’m more concerned with how fast units and information are moving about the valley. Here, I want to prepare a map of the valley, figure out roads, railways and telegraph lines, and create rules for movement of units and information. Then I’ll spend a couple of evolutions gaming out the campaign.
Will I game out the battles? I certainly could. I have a couple of tabletop systems that could work, and one or two video games where I could custom build levels on, just to see how they would work. But I would do that to see how things could progress. The final writing would not be dictated by the game.
Conclusion
Okay, so I just ran General of the Pen through the Plotting step of the process. What do I have now?
I’ve got a list of scenes to write.
I’ve got a list of topics to research and world build.
I’ve got some sequences I want to game out.
Now, I could start writing right away, but we’ve just finished one of four steps. And while I may not need to knock everyone off the B, R and G lists, there are things I will want to prepare ahead of time. So we move on to step two.
Join me next blog post, when we discuss the B-step, (World) Building.
“I was there,” he would say afterwards, until afterwards became a time quite devoid of laughter. “I was there, the day Horus slew the Emperor.” It was a delicious conceit, and his comrades would chuckle at the sheer treason of it.
-Opening line of “Horus Rising”, Book 1 of 54.
In spring of 2017, I found a Humble Bundle with eBooks of the first fifteen titles of the Horus Heresy series. I was intrigued; I knew the series was being written, but I hadn’t thought to read it. I’d read one book in the 40K setting, and I’d enjoyed it, but I thought that would be it. So, when this came up, I decided to grab it. I mean, it was a dollar an eBook. That’s a great deal.
The Horus Heresy Series Logo, courtesy of lexicanum.com
I didn’t realize I would be starting a journey that would take seven years and 54 books to finish. But in spring of 2024 I did so. And I want to share some thoughts.
This will be the first of several blog posts.
I’ve got a lot of thoughts.
What is the Horus Heresy Series?
The answer could be a whole blog post by itself, so I’ll try to be succinct.
There exists a tabletop wargame called Warhammer 40,000. This science fiction universe takes place in tens of thousands of years in the future. Humanity fights against wonderous aliens, monstrous gods, and their own fractious nature.
It is not a happy universe, but it’s based off a wargame, so what can you expect?
The Horus Hersey is an even that occurs around the year 30,000, (10,000 years before the wargame) when the resurgent Imperium of Mankind suffered a schism. Some followed the God-Emperor, while others followed his favorite son, Horus Lupercal. The war broke the golden age of humanity that could have been, and plunged mankind into millennia of darkness.
Though long referenced in 40K literature, it happened so far in the past that it was considered mythology. But in 2006, Games Workshop (the company that runs 40K) started the book series. It ended in 2019 with book 54. After that, the narrative shifts from the greater heresy to the massive fight in the Sol system.
But I haven’t started that series.
Yet.
What did I think about the series?
I’ve spent several passes at this blog post trying to figure out how to answer this question. I like most of it, I hated some of it. I liked some characters, hated others. Some events I was looking forward to reading about were worth it, others were disappointing.
It was worth reading. Some of the books I would read again. Some of them I wouldn’t.
In some cases, there were books that were mediocre in their story, but I hold in high regard because they involved POV’s from sub-sets of humans, and the author put in the effort to make those POV’s feel unique.
So…why do this blog post? Or a series?
This is an introduction blog post. I have a lot of miscellaneous thoughts I want to write up, but if I did them in one post, they’d either be over too quickly, or it’d be so long I should have it published.
I’ll be doing more blog posts on this series over the next few months. I’m planning a list of books I’d love to read again, some I didn’t enjoy, and some books it was fun to read for the POV reason stated above.
How many blog posts? I don’t know. I’ll write what I want to say, and that’ll be it.
One Scene to Remember
I didn’t want this post to just be ‘hey, I read some books, expect a flood of posts afterwards’, so here’s a scene from one of the books that I think about a lot. It’s a scene where, in the midst of giant war machines and great strategies, we see humanity.
Cover Art for ‘The Master of Mankind’, courtesy of lexicanum.com
The book is The Master of Mankind, book 41 in the series. It is set on Earth, and in the webway, a extra-dimensional network of transit hubs that allows people to move from one planet to another without going into space. The enemy is approaching through the webway, and there is a battle coming.
Two characters are walking through a crowd of refugees. One is a space marine, Zephon of Baal, a genetically modified human build for war, and the other is a custodes, Diocletian Coros, an even bigger and better genetically modified human build to protect the Emperor.
A young child approaches, a refugee from a world already burned. He looks up at the two enormous warriors, asking for his parents and seeking comfort. Zephon provides some comfort to the child, while Diocletian is dismissive. Leaving the refugees, Diocletian chides Zephon.
‘You are a creature of pointless sentiment,’ Diocletian voxed to his new companion.
He heard Zephon’s sigh as they walked onwards. ‘You said I disappointed you, Custodian. I assure you that the feeling is mutual. I had not imagined conversing with one of the Ten Thousand to be such an exercise in soulless discourse.’
Diocletian didn’t believe that deserved a reply.
I’ve thought a lot about why I like this exchange, and it is due to the humanity of Zephon. So many space marines we meet are focused only on the war, or on the rituals of their legion. So much of the game and its books are de-humanizing, and here’s a great warrior taking a moment to comfort a child. While everyone else is looking up the hierarchy, he’s taking a moment to look down.
This is not the only example of humanity in the series, but it is my favorite.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you for the next post in this series, where I will discuss my favorite books from the Horus Heresy.
June was filled with book work. Got a lot, and I mean a lot done. And there’s still more to do.
Writing Projects
I’m advancing Champion Bold and its companion books on towards completion. More than half the book has been edited. I’ve started work on most of the articles, and have commissioned much of the artwork. There’s still a good amount of work to do, but every day I move the spreadsheet closer to being completed.
I haven’t done much work on my other projects. I’m getting some feedback on Book 3 of my main series back. And I’ve picked at a few things here or there. But for the most part, it’s book work.
July Goals
Get total Champion Project to over 50% Completed (Currently 25%)
Two non-update blog posts
10 Things off the Minor List
Books
Version 1.0.0
Shogun Vol 2 (Re-Read; Finished)
Story of a Regiment (Research; Finished)
Robert E Lee and Me (Non-Fiction; Finished)
Don Quixote (Fiction; Audio-book; Finished)
Finally finished the audio-book of Don Quixote. Now, don’t get me wrong, there were several great stories about Don Quixote’s adventures in this book. But there were also long segments where he wasn’t even in the story, but characters were talking about him, or about the genre of knight errant stories. It made it for a long and rough read to get through. I know that this is how stories were back then, but still. I think I’ll chose a more modern story for my next audio-book.
Also got through Robert E Lee and Me. This book is written by a retired US Army officer and former professor of military history at West Point. It’s about his journey as a raised southerner to identify and combat the Lost Cause narrative in his own life. It is a good, read, but it gets intense. He goes in depth into the slave trade and the history of lynchings. He even talks about how the statues and roads and base names were all in response to the growth of the civil rights movements. A good book to read, but it goes to dark places.
July Goals
Finish one Fiction title
Finish one Non-Fiction title
Finish one Research title
Movies and Shows
Godzilla Minus One
I can’t believe I only watched one new thing last month, but I guess that’s how it goes.
Godzilla Minus One is a good movie, surprisingly well done for it’s budget. I liked the characters, and the ending had just enough leeway for a sequel. And as a Japanese production, it wasn’t as ‘action packed’ as a Hollywood kaiju film would be. I’m glad I got a chance to see this movie.
July Goals
Finish one TV show I’m watching (Witcher or Expanse)
Start one new TV show
Finish one TV show on hiatus
Watch two movies
Games
Frost Punk (Main Campaign Finished)
Red Dead Redemption 2 (In Progress)
Continuing my trend of not playing many video games, I only sat down twice to pick at Frost Punk. To my surprise, I beat the main campaign. Considering the game afterwards, I realized my big flaw was that I wasn’t passing enough laws. Basically, it’s a mechanic in the game that lets you shape the society: do you put children to work or not? Do you enforce order through authoritarianism or through a church? I was only passing laws when I had to, and so did not have a flexible society I needed to beat the game. It was only because I changed tactics halfway through the last play through I beat it.
My RPG games are all going well. They’re fun to play, and the stories are intriguing. My Atonement game is into the next chapter, which is an investigation-heavy chapter in a massive city based somewhat on ancient Rome and Constantinople. I’ll need to be careful; between the party splitting up, and the research-heavy sections, the game could slow down too much. I’ll have to trust my players to let me know if that happens.
July Goals
Red Dead Redemption 2 to next chapter
New Computer Story Game
Finish Game in Hiatus
What’s next
Nothing exciting. Focused on book work. And readying myself to apply for conventions for next year.
**This is blog post number 3 on my revised writing process.**
Okay, I’ve so I’ve got an idea. Normally, I’d write the first scene and just start running with it, but I want to run it through this process. I was originally just going to go through the steps and explain it, but I decided that if I’m going to go through this process, I’m going to do it with an example project. So, this post will go over the step in detail, and then next post I’ll apply it to a project.
The goal is to end this step with an outline of the story, and a list of things to World Build, Research and Game out.
There are five processes to this step:
Flesh out the idea.
Answer the 5 W’s
Prepare act list
Work out scenes
Build the B, R and G lists.
These are not ‘finish one and then move on to two and you can’t go back to one.’ These are happening simultaneously. I’m making notes on BRG lists while I’m prepping the 5 W’s, and I’ve got scenes in mind as I’m processing the ideas. Back and forth, over and over again.
So, let’s go over the processes.
Process 1: The Idea
First, I think about the idea. Now, you may wonder if I’m starting too simple, but I’m serious. I take my idea, and I challenge it. Is this a good story? Is it unique, or is it too much like another story I’ve written?
These are serious questions I need to ask. Too often I’ve had to make changes to a story, or even abandon an idea, because I realized it was taking the same character from Story A and putting them in a different genre. Or that two narratives were too similar to each other, and they both lost their unique flavor.
This process can take a couple of rounds until I get the idea down to something I’m comfortable moving forward with. And I have to accept that no story will be 100% different from other things I’ve written. There will be some overlap. The challenge is to emphasize what’s new with each story.
Process 2: The Five W’s (and that pesky H)
If you’ve forgotten what these are, it’s the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of a story. At this point, I’m still looking at the broad strokes, without getting into the acts and scenes of the story.
Who
Who is the main character? Who are the other big players in the story?
What
What are the big events of the story? What are the personal events for the characters?
When
When does this story take place? How long will it cover?
Where
Where does this story take place? How much area will it cover? What sort of terrain should I plan for?
Why
Why is this story happening?
How
How will the story develop? How will the characters?
The basic questions.
There answers need to be as long as I need them to be. Some will be pretty simple. Others may be entire paragraphs. But I need good answers to the questions.
Here, I’m also taking several passes. What sounds good one day might sound poor the next. But ideas that pass through several iterations are good enough to keep.
Process 3: The Acts
Process four is to divide the narrative into Acts.
In my process, an Act is a distinct section of the story, designed to advance the narrative through one leg of its journey. I plan acts to either provide information to the reader, allow the characters to respond to the story, or cover a major event of the narrative.
Broadly speaking, I’ve found my acts can divide into five categories:
Introduction: Introduce the characters, location, story, challenges.
Development: The characters interact with the world, things change.
Major event: these acts could cover battles or political conflict.
Recovery: the characters react and respond to a major event.
Conclusion: the last act, which wraps everything up.
Most of my stories have between 8 and 12 acts total.
For this process, I take a look at where the story begins (the introduction act), decide where it ends (the conclusion act), and then I focus on the middle parts. I look at the five W’s, especially the events, and plug them in, trying to keep track in my head of the pacing of the story.
I usually take several passes at this part, playing with different combinations. It’s important to pay attention to the flow. Multiple event acts in a row may overwhelm the reader. Too many development acts and the story doesn’t go anywhere.
At the end of this process, I will have my act list. And then I move on to scenes.
Process 4: The Important Scenes
I say important scenes because I’m not going to know every scene I will add into the story. I’m aware that as I write, there will be inspiration and ideas that pop-up and get added. So, this isn’t a final list. It’s a guideline.
With each act I have a series of questions and considerations I have to take into account. The overarching question is ‘does the scene advance the narrative?’
It may take several passes before I’ve got a good list on hand. To start, I aim for three scenes per act, minimum.
Introduction Act
This act includes a gimme; the first scene, which sets the tone for the book. Do I want this intro to be a prologue, or a first chapter?
I need to introduce the main character(s), the setting, and the plot elements. Are these different scenes? Usually, yes, because I need to be wary of dumping too much information onto the reader. But I’ll make that consideration here.
Development Act
A development act is simply an act where the characters progress and build themselves (or the narrative) up for the events of the story. Think of it as the downtime between big events.
These scenes will have a lot of little things that lead to the big things.
Event Act:
An event act centers around an important occurrence in the story. This could be a single action (the death of a character) or a longer process (a battle).
These scenes involved the immediate lead up, execution, and draw down of the event. Lots of action and excitement.
Recovery Act:
A recovery act is like a development act, but it has to do with the characters responding to the event. They’re learning and growing, making decisions and acting on what happened.
These scenes should include a lot of introspection and decision making.
Conclusion Act:
This is the second give me of the act process. Every story ends. This is where the consequences come clear and the loose ends get tied up. We say goodbye, and look to the future.
These scenes need to wrap things up, so more introspection and moving on.
Process 5: The B, R and G lists
This process I’m writing last, but in truth it’s been happening the entire time. I’m making lists of the World Building, Research, and Gaming I expect to need to finish before I write.
World Building items are background items that I will need to prepare beforehand. This list will include character biographies, maps of nations, cities and regions of the story, and organizational details. Science fiction stories will include technology and rules of physics. Fantasy stories will include rules of magic, mythology and races.
Research is a list of topics I cannot build but have to discover. In the past this list has included military trains, movements times for horses across various types of terrain, and lots of research into historical military and political organizations.
Gaming is not always going to be something I have to do, but I’ve learned from previous projects that it can be extremely helpful for sequences with a lot of moving parts. In the past, I’ve gamed out land campaigns and space battles. I’ve considered gaming out migrations, civil wars, and political maneuvers.
Conclusion
At the end of this process, I have an outline of the story I want to write. I have lists of items to world build, topics to research, and games to play.
Of course, this outline and these lists are not set in stone. The story will adjust as I review it. The lists will shrink as I cross things off and grow as new ideas reveal themselves. It’s a process that doesn’t end until the book is published.
So, that’s my Planning and Plotting process. Next blog post, I’ll take this process and apply it to a tertiary project I’ve had on my mind for a while.
May was busy. In addition to getting Champion Bold off the ground, I took a week-long trip to eastern theater Civil War battlefields, presidential mansions, and cultural sights of Virginia and DC. It was a fun trip, but I made a point of not bringing my laptop and taking a clean break from creativity for one week. Then I came back and hit the ground running.
Projects
I’m advancing through the editing process for Champion Bold. So far it’s been mostly commas and hyphens. There are a few minor section re-writes I have to do, but that’s to be expected. I’ve plotted out the supplement books and I’m getting into the writing bits. I keep reminding myself that the first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. It just needs to be done.
I did get a draft of The Colonel Lieutenant to some Alpha Readers. The initial feedback is good: the story is interesting, and the issues that I’ll need to address are so far minor and expected. I’m looking forward to knowing that out when I get done with Champion Bold.
And as expected, all other projects are on the back burner. I’ve done a few minor bits here for there, but most of my creativity is going to Champion Bold.
June Goals
Finish editing Champion Bold
Complete Alpha Drafts of Supplement Books
Knock 10 things of minor to-do list
Reading
The Buried Dagger by James Swallow (Finished)
Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Audiobook)
The Siege of Washington (Re-read)
Shogun Book 1 (Re-Read; Finished)
Shogun Book 2 (Re-Read; Started)
Story of a Regiment (Research; Started)
During my trip, I have a lot of time to read, which helped me add to my reading list. I re-read the Siege of Washington because we were in that area, and I have been itching to re-read it for some time. Started re-reading Shogun, as I’m watching through the series now. I haven’t read it since high school, so I’m re-learning so much that I had forgotten, or was too young to grasp the first times.
Also started Story of a Regiment, a non-fiction book about the 2nd Minnesota. Part of this is research for another writing project, and part of this is just fun.
June Goals
Finish two fiction books
Finish one re-search book
Finish one audiobook
Movies and Shows
Shogun (In Progress)
Witcher Season 3 (In Progress)
The Expanse (In Progress)
Morbius
Watched a few more episodes of each, but I did knock a movie off my list. Morbius, a MCU-adjacent movie that was….bad. I mean, I knew little about the character beforehand, and I have little reason to learn more now. I don’t know how this fits into the overall MCU story, or if its part of the Sony Venom-verse. And I kind of don’t care.
June Goals
Finish three seasons of TV shows
Watch two movies
Games
Red Dead Redemption 2 (In Progress)
Gears of War Tactics (Finished)
Frost Punk (In Progress)
Finally finished Gears of War Tactics. Other than just not playing many video games these days, the big problem with this game is that between the story missions, you have to play a bunch of minor missions just to level characters and find equipment. The story missions are great, but the forced slog didn’t do much for me.
I got into the Frost Punk game, which I’ve really enjoyed the few times I’ve played it. I’ve lost the main campaign twice now, but that’s to be expected. I’m still enjoying it, and that’s what counts.
RPG-wise, most of the games continue one. My Atonement game just finished chapter one, and the party got to choose where they’re going for chapter two. My characters are all still alive, though a new one in a short interim game seems to be trying to die. We’ll see what the dice say.
June Goals
Next chapter of Red Dead Redemption
Finish Frost Punk Main Campaign
What’s Next
No public appearances right now, though I should be sending out some more Books and Beer emails to see if I can get an event set up for August or September. And at some point, I’ll need to plan a launch party.
