In summary, I encourage everyone to read the prologues for what they are, a peek at the story’s overall arc. I think the difference in tone and content creates an interesting contrast to the rest of each book and sets the stage for something greater.
Now, let’s move on to the topic of writing methods. In many ways, this third installment in the Sentinels of Creation series was the most difficult to write. In other ways, it was the easiest. How both be true? Excellent question, and brings to mind a somewhat typical exchange in my household. Such an exchange consists of me making a brilliant statement of incontrovertible fact and my family immediately explaining why such a statement was neither factual nor brilliant.
I’ll start with this abbreviated familial exchanged and then tie it back to the hows and whys of writing difficulty. So, I popped out of my home office after writing the chapter, A Guest From Hell, and mentioned to my wife and daughter how surprised I was at the way the chapter turned out. They both stared at me, like they do, and my daughter asked how I could be surprised given that I was the one doing the writing. I remember telling her that I just hadn’t expected one of the characters to show up when and how he did. I doubt most people read author’s notes first, but just in case, *spoilers*. So, my outline for that chapter did not have Lucifer showing up in Shannon’s hot tub. He just did. I’ve learned over the years to just trust the Characters when they do such things and they’ve never steered me wrong. In this case, it was a very Lucifer thing to do which is probably why he did it.
The second situation occurred in, A Last Stand, when Ariel sacrifices her grace for Kellan. I generally do alpha reads with a select number of family and friends because they have no problem being downright brutal in their critiques. In this particular case it was my wife who really didn’t like the scene. Now, it’s important to point out how much I value this alpha-level feedback. I also incorporate the majority of it. However, sometimes I don’t and when I don’t it’s usually because the characters don’t let me. My wife didn’t like what happened to Ariel. Hell, I didn’t like what happened to Ariel, and I know Ariel didn’t like what happened to Ariel. I also know that I, as an author, didn’t make her do it. She did it herself.
Now, I know this might sound odd. I know that because as I explained it to my family, they told me it sounded odd. I’ve spoken to some other authors who also found it odd. But, and this is the important bit, I’ve also spoken to several authors who nodded with understanding and said of their own characters, “yeah, they do that…”
Which, of course, brings me back to the beginning of this topic where A Wizard’s Soul was both easy and difficult. It was easier than earlier books because the characters have become so well formed that, for the most part, I need only place them in a scene then watch. They do what they do, and I write it down. When things are really flowing, I feel a bit more like a journalist than an author, but there you have it.
Like many things in life, this can be a double-edged sword. As these characters become well formed, they sometimes rebel against the outlines which I have written without their input. That’s not much fun and really slows down the writing process. The worst, of course, is when one of these characters, or their loved one, is hurt or killed. As I mentioned once before, I’m not writing Game of Thrones here, but there were some tough times in A Wizard’s Soul when I thought we were going to lose one character and when we actually did lose a different one.
In that regard, A Power Renewed, was most difficult because all these characters were newborns who had yet to find their own voice. As such, they looked to me exclusively to tell them what to do and say. That certainly made things difficult. Now they sometimes ignore what I tell them to do, kind of like my kids. All things being equal, I think I prefer the latter.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this author’s note. Please feel free to let me know on either the Sentinels of Creation or Robert W. Ross Facebook page. I love hearing feedback from readers and if you have a topic you’d like explored in my next note, please don’t hesitate to make a suggestion.
Sentinels of Creation: A Wizard's Soul Page 34