novels

Cup of Dcaf: Writing a Second-World Fantasy Series

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The fantasy genre is famous for long series, and many of the highest-profile authors have received their share of criticism for how long the series went. Whether it was Robert Jordan when The Wheel of Time bogged down in the late middle of the series, or George R. R. Martin for the Meereenese Knot, or whoever the author du jour happens to be, the fact is that lots of fantasy series slow down at points. Why this happens is a subject of debate, where many people accuse authors of moneygrubbing and others think the writers just wrote themselves into corners, there is a certain solidarity that I have discovered as I move into writing more seriously.

When you create a world, and put hours and hours and days and days into building it, fleshing it out, making it rich, you become proud of it. Continue reading

Drew’s State of Writing – April 2015

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It’s that time again. Six months ago, I posted about Drew’s State of Writing, and talked a lot about the new things with Dcaf Copy, All Flames Cast, and updated writing schedules. Of course, for those who have been following along, you know that that schedule ended up being wildly optimistic.

As things stand right now, I’m closing in on the end of All Flames Cast. Harael’s chapters were finished in January; Eritan’s are nearly done right now, though I may need to add in another one, depending on how the timeline ends up working out with Tymun’s chapters. I’m still working on reconciling events across character arcs. Tymun has a start already, but will be getting the majority of work during the last half of April. It’s my goal to finish the first draft of this book by the end of April/early May, and get it through alpha reads by this summer so I can start revising. Continue reading

Cup of Dcaf: Juggling Viewpoint Characters

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As I undertake my Wheel of Time Reread, the topic of viewpoint characters has been on my mind. In The Eye of the World, there are only a few POV characters: Rand has by far most of the book, with a few chapters from Perrin and a few from Nynaeve. It’s a rather startling contrast to…well, to the whole rest of the series, which sees an astounding 2700+ named characters, with hundreds of them getting viewpoints at one place or another.

And that brings me to my own experiences with the phenomenon. Continue reading

Guest Post! Lessons Learned with D. Emery Bunn

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Today I’m happy to post a first on Dcafwriting: a guest post with another author!

First, the background: Last fall I attended a concert in Denver (Within Temptaton; they’re awesome, and everyone should check them out). While waiting in line at the merch table after the show, I became engaged in a conversation with a gentleman about writing—and found out he had just published his first novel. We had a great conversation, exchanged emails, and have kept in touch. Recently, the idea surfaced to do a little cooperation between our blogs. He interviewed me over at demerybunn.com, and I asked him to do a Lessons Learned post here, about his writing process and his experiences with his exciting first novel, Darkness Concealed.

And now, the post, by D. Emery Bunn!
Continue reading

Cup of Dcaf: The Other Side of the Coin

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My last post was a big rant about the lack of respect given to genre fiction, especially science fiction and fantasy. I stand by what I wrote in that post: genre fiction can absolutely have literary value.

But over the last couple of days,  I’ve given more thought to the issue, mostly in the context of academia. I was a creative writing major; I dealt with the stigma of genre fiction during my years of writing workshops and literature courses. I chafed against those strictures, pushing the lines whenever I could, because I love science fiction and fantasy. I love the things that those genres can do.

But I can honestly say that I would not be the writer I am today without the boundaries placed on me in my advanced writing workshops. Continue reading