One of my problems with Warbreaker was trying to overcome my initial bias. I had already read the first six chapters or so, and it didn’t grab me. I probably would have still finished it back then, but I was reading it in a Word document downloaded for free from Sanderson’s Web site, and I really didn’t enjoy reading on the computer. With a book that felt mediocre to me, it wasn’t worth it. Having already given up once, on my second try I found myself continually being more negative and critical than I probably would have otherwise. I’m usually pretty forgiving once I’ve decided to give a book a try, but it was harder this time.

Warbreaker was still worth reading. Sanderson always finds a way to surprise and delight, and this book was no exception. He created a number of likable and sympathetic characters, notably Lightsong and Vasher. It’s interesting to me that online fans seem to like those two characters more than the two primary protagonists, Siri and Vivenna. I think the problem with those two characters is that they were just a little too bland, where Lightsong and Vasher were much more dynamic and conflicted. In the end, they really stole the show, and considering the small amount of screen time Vasher gets, that’s really saying something.

I do have a number of things I didn’t like about the book. Sanderson made a big deal about how controlled and calm Vivenna was, but she never really acted that way. Of course we find out later why, but for a long time I couldn’t get over the supposed contradiction. And then when it finally started to make sense, her turnaround felt flat to me. The banter of Denth and Tonk Fah, the mercenaries, also grated on my nerves—but unlike Vivenna’s character arc, theirs really worked for me late in the book. This was one of the good surprises.

I was not fond of the magic system. Although it was enjoyable to watch it develop and see the characters use it in interesting ways—as it always is with Sanderson—something about it rang hollow for me. Magical power coming from color? In order to animate objects? It just doesn’t make sense. It feels too contrived. I suppose it’s not that much different from the magic system in Mistborn—metabolizing metals to gain strength, attract or repel metals, or control emotion. But it still seems different to me. Sorry if I can’t articulate why. Maybe it has to do with the name Sanderson gave the system: BioChroma. The capitalization is way too anachronistic for me.

In the end, the best part of the story was Lightsong’s character arc, and that’s what finally made it worthwhile for me. So despite some problems and reservations, I’m still glad I ready it. There’s only one more book of Sanderson’s I haven’t read (Elantris), so maybe it will be the same. I’ll have to pick it up sometime.

Oh, wait. There’s also The Way of Kings, which just came out. It’ll probably take me months to read that monster, if I even get around to it at all.

The Eye of the World e-book cover by David Grove

The Great Hunt e-book cover by Kekai Kotaki

The Dragon Reborn e-book cover by Donato Giancola

The Shadow Rising e-book cover by Sam Weber

The Fires of Heaven e-book cover by Dan Dos Santos

Lord of Chaos e-book cover by Greg Manchess

A Crown of Swords e-book cover by Mélanie Delon

Path of Daggers e-book cover by Julie Bell

Winter’s Heart e-book cover by Scott M. Fischer

Crossroads of Twilight e-book cover by Greg Ruth

Knife of Dreams e-book cover by Michael Komarck

My favorites are Knife of Dreams, The Shadow Rising, and The Fires of Heaven—in that order. Path of Daggers, Winter’s Heart, and Crossroads of Twilight are all a bit too cartoony or comic-booky for my taste. What do you think?

I’m not trying to say the “voices in your head” method is bad, or doesn’t produce good stories, because I know it works for an awful lot of people. It just doesn’t make sense to me. It sounds like superstitious mumbo-jumbo. So when I see a blog post or listen to an interview, and an author starts talking like that, I just move on. Deleted. Stop/Eject. Alt-F4.

I know of a few authors who aren’t like that. Their characters do not surprise them, because their characters are carefully designed exactly how they need to be for the story. If they have an idea that seems surprising with regard to a character, that idea is carefully considered to see whether it fits the story. If not, it’s discarded. The only two authors I know who work like this are very good: Connie Willis and Brandon Sanderson.

Maybe it’s just a choice of language. Maybe when people say their characters talk to them, it’s just a way of describing them using their imagination or having a daydream. Or maybe authors just like to romanticize the idea of the characters being something separate from them, of the story having a life of its own.

Or maybe it’s a kind of altered level of consciousness, where your creative side takes more control. I know for a fact that I’m a left-brainer, an analytical thinker. All of those little tests say so, and all of my family members would definitely agree. Maybe that’s why I don’t understand.

Do your characters talk to you or surprise you? Have you ever really, truly felt like your characters were alive, separate? Am I really missing out? How does it work for you?

Knife of Dreams E-book Cover

Michael Komarck is the painter, and coincidentally I just discovered him earlier this week from his incredible depictions of scenes from George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series. He has done some illustrations for the 2009 Song of Ice and Fire calendar, but I can’t find the link anymore. Do a Google search and you’ll find something. It’s worth it. Amazing art.

Are You Writing, Or Talking About Writing?

Ouch. I suck.

Did I mention I get to work from home? Getting my home office set up is a bit of an undertaking. Our house is really too small to have a separate office, but with three kids under age 5 I really need a dedicated room where I can concentrate. So we’ve got some rearranging and minor remodeling to do (installing a door in the family room, putting shutters on the pass-through window, installing a new closet rod, etc.).

I also have some funner activities to do—like shopping for a new computer, new desk, and new chair. I’m planning on getting a 27″ quad-core iMac, the computer I’ve been lusting after for years—well, the latest incarnation of it, anyway. I just bought my new desk this morning, a large library-style desk with holes for computer cords and a drawer with a fold-out front for a keyboard. Most importantly, it has lots of space underneath for my ungainly lower limbs and plenty of room on the surface for spreading out papers and such. It also has a matching cabinet for a computer tower, which I won’t need for my sweet all-in-one iMac, but will be useful for other things, like a printer. The desk is actually used, but it’s in excellent shape, it’s solid wood so it’ll last forever, and I got it for a fraction of what a brand new one would cost. Long live Craigslist!

This is going to be a good move for me and my family. I get to spend more time with my wife and kids—I’m looking forward to eating all three meals with the family every day and having time to play with the kids before bedtime. No more commute also means more time for writing, something I desperately need.

And, once we manage to sell our house, we can live wherever the heck we want! Both of the pictures below were taken from my parents’ yard in Henrieville, Utah. The first one shows the rim of Bryce Canyon, visible from the back porch. We may or may not end up there—it’s a long way from my wife’s family—but it sure is beautiful.

• Sword tests
• Shield tests
• Lance tests

It’s called Chapter by Chapter. Maybe you Word writers will like it.

Anyway, onwards we go.

There are two specific brainstorming and plotting strategies I got from the seminar that I want to share with you.

The first is the List & Twist. This is a brainstorming activity. You begin with the most basic of story premises: a character, a setting, and a problem. They only need to be a single line. The premise we worked with in the seminar involved a rancher in rural Utah who has a missing worker. What you do now is start listing all the associations and cliches you can thing of relating to this basic premise. You might list things like rope, cattle, desert, kidnapping, money problems, Mormons, horses, and so forth. You’re doing this to get all the typical associations and cliches out of your system. When you feel like you’re starting to get a decent sized list, and most of the cliches are out, then you start twisting.

John Brown, the main presenter, gave his an example of his own using his novel. It turned out to have a similar basic story premise to the example we were working with, and I think he chose the example for that very reason. The basic novel for his idea came when he was talking a walk in rural Utah and came across a herd of cows with a big bull. He thought, what if humans were being ranched like cattle? That’s a decent “what if” kind of idea, but then he wanted to twist it. So he thought, OK, they’re being ranched, but not for their flesh—for their very souls. And, since humans would never submit to being ranched without a fight, the evil ranching overlord god has come up with a system that hides from them the fact that they’re even being ranched. That’s the premise for his novel. I have to admit that when I first heard this on the Writing Excuses podcast, I wasn’t terribly drawn to the idea. But after hearing him read from the book, it started to sound pretty cool, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

The other part of the seminar I found helpful was a plotting strategy. It’s not anything I haven’t heard before, so probably you’ve heard similar things before, too. But I’d never heard it put in such a helpful, memorable way. To explain this, I’m going to have to describe what they call a story cycle.

The story cycle begins with the inciting incident. The character(s) is presented with a problem that involves either a threat of unhappiness, a cause of actual unhappiness, or a mystery of some kind. It should involve a conflict and a surprise—in fact, every step of the cycle must have both conflict and surprise. The next step is the character’s reaction and decision. This should reveal his motives, desires, and goals. Then the character acts, and it results in some sort of disaster. Now this is the part that really made me go “Hmmmm.” An easy way to determine the outcome of the character’s action is to say either “Yes, he succeeded, but . . .” or “No, he failed, and furthermore . . .” The point being that something bad must continue to happen so that the character is continually posed with problems. The cycle then begins again, until you reach some kind of final resolution where you can finally say simply “Yes, she succeeded.”

Most of what I described wasn’t anything particularly new to me, but for some reason the “Yes, but” and “No, furthermore” part of that really stuck with me. It’s such a simple and pithy way to remember to continue challenging your character with problems.

More on LTUE sessions to come!

So this is all you get: Go visit Sirenia’s home page and listen to The Mind Maelstrom. Or go to their MySpace page and listen to Seventh Summer. I love this stuff.

Thanks, Ing, for posting about a band I didn’t really like, which prompted me to look for more.