Just when you think you’re done…

I had thought my first draft of The Novice of Thanatos was complete, so I embarked on my first read-through and light edit. I finished that step on July 6th. For the most part, I was pleased with how the story developed. There was plenty of action, and Mishal, my main character, showed real growth through the trials and tribulations I set before him.

However, I wasn’t feeling it when I reached the end. It was a sufficient stopping point, with Mishal facing an open road to Thanatos, but it wasn’t the ending I envisioned. It seemed rushed, and I felt I was cheating my reader. In the interim, my wife and I took my inlaws on a little trip to Cape Cod, and I had a few days to mull it over (we had a lovely time). Ultimately, I realized where I ended the story wouldn’t do. I got stuck in the moment and mistakened a small plot resolution as the book’s completion. Taking a step back and seeing it as a whole, I realized I was very wrong.

The first book aims to show the struggles during my main character’s formative years, from joining the Order of Thanatos as a novice and embarking on a long journey from humble beginnings to the great temple city of Thanatos, where he will complete his training. Thus, the book needs to end in Thanatos. It will complete this leg of Mishal’s journey and give me a fresh place to start for book two, showing his schooling and quest to take his vows as a monk. The problem was I was still about a hundred miles short of Thanatos at the western gate of the great mountain pass city of Skelside. Between here and there was the crossroad inn called the Dead Jester, Shadowrock, and the great prison cemeteries around Thanatos, three prime locations. Hence, I needed to get back to work.

In the ensuing weeks, I added considerably to chapter twenty-one, my original last chapter, wrote two additional chapters, and am starting on the third. There will probably be one more chapter after that, rounding out the book at twenty-five chapters (maybe 26, depending on what happens in the prison cemeteries). I have already added seven thousand words; the book will be around 100,000 when complete. As I mentioned before, this book would be shorter than I was used to, and I felt unnerved. One hundred thousand words is still far shorter than my other fantasy books, but it’s a more comfortable place for me, consistent with the genre, and a more marketable word count.

I really want to finish this book by the end of the summer so I can complete the first draft of Destiny of the Daystar by the end of the year, but I can’t let my impatience affect my integrity. Patience is the lesson my writing journey is trying to teach me, and I need to listen to this wisdom. I’ve made far too many mistakes because of my eagerness to share my stories, but sometimes, they need to sit, stew, and settle so that I put my best work forward. I’m almost there… just fifty miles more before the mysterious temples of Thanatos and their Council of Ancients rise upon the horizon. Oh, and I decided to go with some new cover ideas for the series (above).

Cheers!