Explanation of Current Events
Okay everyone, here is an explanation of what I've been up to lately and why there have been no recent releases. I'm very sorry about that but I've just been very busy.
I have in fact been working on the story but not on writing new chapters. Instead, I'v been trying to improve the first half of the story. Your feedback would be much appreciated.
I really feel that I've improved as a writer since I started and thus I've been editing the first few arcs. On top of just general improvents I've also been trying to bring it up to e-book quality and format.
Below is a tiline for the story as it stands now. I had a much rougher tiline I was working from but as I actually wrote the story a lot changed. This is my first big writing project and I had no idea how to pace everything as I wrote. The Iron Teeth has turned out to be much longer and slower paced than I initially planned so so things need shifting around.
Current Tiline: Warning Spoilers
The Road North
rchant caravan in cage, thinking back to sewer lifeBandit attack, freed by SaeterTraining to do choresets Vorscha and Garalhd
Goes out to get rabbits and sees harpiesets Herad, reason for stayingOut hunting for deer and spidersSneaks into party and gets drunk
Honor Among Thieves
Wakes up with hangoverRides Wagon and practices tying cordStop for the nightDoes a lot of chores, skinning, smoking, gets knife and leatherHunts with trap and slingBullying followed by Gerlahd and Herad fightsGoes out to get snares and sli fightSearch for cave and Mimic attack, goblinsrchants arrive and trade, Blacknail steals keyHerad goes out to raid weapon shipntBoar attack and disappearancesRaid returns with casultiesGhoul infestation and battleBlacknail sniffs out infection
Written in Blood
Becos a hobgoblinBeat up by Saeter and given a swordKills bandit at latrineKhita is recruitedTraining by VorschaRed Dog and Saeter attack desertersThey end up in tight spotBlacknail sneak into deserters, kills leaderThey recruit deserters, mage, prisoner womanTroll AttackFollow Troll back to it's lair and kill itReturns to camp, see goblin
Along Twisted Paths
Herad and Saeter go North to DaggerpointRed Dog left in charge of camp for winterBlacknail follows SaeterDrake and Ogre StampedeRuns into travellersRun into goblins and fights harpiesTeaches goblins stuff and improves lairGets lost, uses human trap, and asks for directionsArrives at Daggerpoint and scales wall
Den of Beasts
Stalks through alleys and explores.ets Luphera and gets informationKhita is ambushed and he intervenesFollows her back to base and overhears HeradDecides to kill her enemiesVisits Luphera and gets infoSneaks into Fang's base and kills him
Runs back to his tribe and presents Herad with Fang's headVisits Avorlus with Mahedium and they return with dealFailed attack on them by thugs
A Tradesman's Tools
Wakes up in roomTraining with HeradElixir from AvorlusUnder bed next morningGoes out shopping and finds maskSent to kill Galive with SaeterKills him and avoids MalthusHears footsteps on roof while sleepingAssassins and Malthus attack Herad at nightBlacknail kills so and chases rest back to Luphera'sSneaks in, kills man, and ets LupheraAlarm is raised and he is convinced to kill man for LupheraFights guards and assassins then duels with MalthusFlees through window but has to climb back insideHides in closet until Luphera kicks assassins outStuff
Queen of Swords
Goes out with Saeter to recruitRun in with street childrenHears about ghouls but it turns out ot be Avorlus' nHe is a bloodmageSaeter confronts Herad and MahediumPreperations for war and construction of barricadesZelena summons rcs and starts attackHired thugs fail to take barricade after Mahedium blasts themrcs advance and blow hole in barricade with mageHead falls back and sets wall alightrcenaries are pushed into flas and defeatedAssassins start targeting Herad's archersBlacknail is sent out to stop themLures Malthus into overgrown land.Uses traps and ambush to kill assassinsBlacknail goes back to battle.Sees Saeter fighting and dives in to save himeting of remaining bandit chiefs
On top of a lot of editing to speed up the pace of the first few arcs I've been thinking about adding a new arc in after Written in Blood. The point of this would be too make the first half story more self contained and like a novel; so it has a clear beginning, middle, and end that gives readers more of a sense of progression. Again, this is also to fix the really slow pacing of the story at the start.
So ideas I've been throwing around for this are:
Finding the cave and a battle with a powerful mutant, such as a giant snake.Build up the world more naturally with resorting to interludes.An attack by the knights from the beginning of Written in Blood to show more about nobles and society.Very action heavy arc with lots of chaos.Shows Blacknail's character and social status growth.Sets up the war in DaggerpointEarlier introduction of unique Elixir powers
Tell what you think and about any ideas you have!
Another big thing I've been thinking about is rewriting the prologue to make it more relevant and have a bigger hook. A good story needs to get people's attention in just the first paragraph and I'm not sure my current one does that. So readers have also complained about it being so long and the shift in perspective, and they have a point.
New/Changed Prologue: The Shattering of Ways
Blood poured from the mans wounds onto the cold ground beneath him. He was dying and beyond help now. He choked and gasped as bitter blood clogged his throat but he fought to hold still and at least die with dignity. In his last monts, and in front of all these witnesses, he wasnt going to go out thrashing around like a fish out water. Burn that!
He refused to have regrets, even though he had never gotten what hed wanted out of life. He had done the best he could and died for what hed believed in! His would be the last laugh anyway.
He could still feel the inhuman eyes that watched and blazed with hate. The dying man tried to chuckle but all that ca out was a weak gargling cough. The fools had no idea what theyd unleashed! They couldnt see how the world had changed and turned against them.
As the mans vision grew dark, scenes from his past began to play out before him. His last breath rattled through his teeth and he couldnt help but think back to how it had all began
The point here is to shorten the really huge and not completely relevant prologue I have now and really get it to grab peoples' attention in only a few sentences. The story is just so long now that keeping the sa prologue wouldn't make much sense. I'll probably re-add it as an interlude.
If you have any ideas or criticisms for any part of the story I would love to hear from you. It would be really helpful to hear from all my readers about what they think makes my story strong and what makes it weak.
The more input I get the faster I can get this out of the way and get back to new chapters!
-ClearMadness
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