Kenn Ghannon: Blog

One of the reasons I've stopped posting stories before they are complete is because I often find, after I've written a part/scene/chapter/etc., a new perspective for it jumps out at me - a way to make it better, to make all of the bits and pieces I've thrown onto paper make more sense. Occasionally, it's just the turn of a word or a change of a phrase - I usually catch those in my pre-upload re-read ritual. Sometimes, though, it's a way to promote better understanding of what the characters are doing - or even to tighten a few of the different threads of a story together.

I found myself doing that overnight in those moments before, after or between sleep; honestly, it's when I do my best work for some reason. As I mentioned, the story is finished - I even finished Chapter 24 yesterday. It is complete - not postable, I still have to 'prettify' it (add descriptions where I missed them on the first few passes, add character emotion and motivation in areas where I didn't convey them properly), but it is intrinsically finished. However, last night I found a way to change Chapter 29 to make it better - and a little longer but I don't really care about length. The same with a few items in Chapter - oh, I don't know, I'll have to look up the chapters. Thankfully, it had a tie into chapter 14, which I haven't posted yet.

Anyway, I think in the future I might actually go a bit further afield and wait as much as a week or two after the story is finished before posting; kind of let my mind percolate on it a bit and make sure there's no part of the story I can 'make better'. I made the edits to chapter 14 early this morning (I couldn't wait) and am going to re-work some pieces of later chapters today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, Chapter 14 is queued. I hope you enjoy it - and it answers some of the questions I've been getting about 'the fourteen swords'. :)

I won't be around much Wednesday, so I stayed up late to make sure Chapter 13 was in the queue awaiting posting; I have it delayed to release into the queue at 0800 and, depending on how busy the queue is and the reviewers are, it may take a bit before it actually gets released.

In other news, I was also up late because I was writing. I managed to pull Yren out of the corner I boxed him in and also write a ton more. In fact, I finished the story - sort of. After a quick review, I realized I was missing something which I need to give the story clarity - so, after writing 28 chapters, I had to go back and insert a new one after Chapter 23; it's getting late and I have a ton of things to do tomorrow, so I didn't get a chance to finish the new Chapter 24 but it's about half finished.

As usual, the story needs to be 'prettified' and fleshed in in a ton of places - but it's pretty good as it is and I think adding color will make it much better. I've also sketched out some of the story arcs that will go through the second story and, if I don't resolve them all, into the third story - I'm thinking long term here.

Anyway, have a great Wednesday and I hope you enjoy Chapter 13.

I've spent 52+ years on this earth, reading and writing English through most of them. In all this time, I've NEVER been able to use homonyms 100% correctly. I've a paper from an 11th grade creative writing course which is liberally sprinkled with red marks for using the wrong homonyms - so now you know that beyond being homonymically challenged, I'm also a bit of a pack rat.

It's so bad, I'm considering giving up English for Lent - or forever - if I can find a language where there are no stinking homonyms for me to trip over.

In other news, I have finally broken the log-jam which assaulted me on Chapter 23 and re-sketched my plan for the conclusion of this part of the story. It resulted in me changing some things and adding a new chapter or 2 that I didn't really want but needed. It also made me re-think a few minor plot details - but I think it's going to work better this way.

I've used a weird but effective method for writing this story. I always outline the plot beforehand, so I know roughly where I'm at and where I'm trying to go. Much like a battleplan in a war, the outline never truly survives contact with the written page - but it keeps me honest. Usually, I try to write every niggling detail in one pass, then modify it as time goes on to fit in new key points and so on.

I didn't do that this time. I wrote the outline, of course, but then I just put 'the bare bones' on the page - no overt color, no overt 'pretty' stuff...just the facts, ma'am; which is to say, I didn't consciously avoid description, I just didn't make it a priority. I then firmed up the plot lines, introducing things as I needed for future arcs and so on. Finally, on my last draft pass, I put in the 'color' stuff - such as how a person looks, sounds, views, etc. It worked surprisingly well in keeping me on my toes.

Now, when I prepare a chapter for posting, I read through it (hopefully catching any glaring errors). I find there are sentences, paragraphs and whole sections I have to re-write sometimes - but it actually helps to keep me honest. For example, Arlade's hair was short in one part of the tale but I'd made it longer in another. I probably won't catch every discrepancy (and I haven't; a reader pointed out I had the princess eating in her carriage at one point then magically out of her carriage a little later so I had to clean that mess up) but it seems to help me make more sense of the story while keeping everyone true to their nature.

I know I missed posting Chapter 09 yesterday. Unfortunately, I was ill. I've been ill for a few days, actually, but it was pretty bad yesterday.

Anyway, I've posted chapters 09 and 10 this morning. Chapter 10 is kind of a bonus, though not because the story is late. Chapter 10 is pretty short so it didn't really make sense to post it on its own. I reserve the right, however, to post any future 'short chapters' on its own day (though, honestly, I can't think of any short chapters through the end of this part of the story).

I honestly did try to change the 'Worded' titles for numeric titles (moving from 'One' to 'Chapter 01', 'Two' to 'Chapter 02' and so on). However, it looks like - since I started this story with worded titles - they're going to continue. I hope I'm not causing issues with whoever is reviewing the posts...

I'm still stuck on Chapter 23 - but it's because I didn't even try to write yesterday. Problems with my diet (cravings...oi). I ended up just sitting and re-reading Jay Cantrell's 'Unending Night' - a true masterpiece. I'm following it with the sequel - but the name eludes me.

Reading is another escape of mine. I love to read. I actually like it more than television or movies (but please don't tell anyone). As a matter of fact, reading often leads to writing - for some reason, when I read I tend to get ideas for new stories even when I'm reading things which are more 'mainstream'.

I'm re-thinking moving on after finishing up 'Runesward: Hasp'; there is just so much more story to tell and it's grabbed me in a very weird way. I'm stuck, though. On the one hand, I'll get tired of the story eventually and move on before part 2 is completed. I know me. On the other, I've several other stories I want to finish and share. On the other hand, I sometimes have a problem getting back into the characters when leaving them for a significant period of time. That's three hands - far too many.

I apologize for this rambling, self-serving, pointless blog. It's what happens when you give me a forum to purge thoughts from my head. You pays your money, you takes your chances.