Transmute the Light Inside to Illuminate the Pages of Your Story

There are conflicting philosophies in the world of writing. One of them says you must never touch your work again after getting it all out on paper. The other says to craft the gilded epic of the golden realm of true artistry meticulously after many passes.

I’m in the latter camp, if I’m being completely transparent about my processes. I developed these processes over years, which means it took much trial and error to get where I am today.

While I don’t believe in writer’s block, I believe in a writer taking a block and chiseling something wonderful out of it.

If you’re quick to the page, you can make something that is great for quick engagement and entertainment.

But if you take your skills and use them over the course of a year or two, the best results will follow.

Some of my favorite artists take three or four years between releases, whether in novels or the digital spaces of storytelling.

I saw today that they are remaking one of the greatest games of all time, which is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Some might argue it IS the best of all time, though that can be contested.

Looking at that made me think something. There’s no way they’re spending a few months on something like that. They’ve likely been working on that legendary piece of fiction for eight or nine years.

The meticulous care put into that game when I was a kid made the entire experience magical.

The same level of craftsmanship must go into novels. I’m talking hidden rhymes, prose that makes you stop and think while also keeping you in the story, and hidden secrets only visible on another read.

My first novel was a hybrid of the two approaches, using a far more window-pane prose approach than the lyrical, with some lyrical sections here and there.

I built that story over three years, beginning in February 2019 and ending in September 2022.

I feel as though my descriptive power was honed through multiple revisions.

The story starts intentionally slow to build the characters, as it is a character-driven work. You should always pick character over plot, except in shorter novellas that move quickly.

Most of the stories I love follow this format, with characters taking center stage and the plot moving out of the way so the characters can tell their story.

Releasing two novels a year (with some shadow drops) is the approach I’m aiming for, because my slapdash idea of releasing books a month was ridiculous. I want philosophical epics that make people think, not guys saving the gals and beating the bad guys before 7:00 pm.

My Orchestrylus Odyssey is my pet project, and my favorite of the stories I write. The novels are high-concept fantasy mixed with sci-fi.

One day, Lord willing, I’d love to have an anime adaptation, a live-action adaptation, or a game series from the novels.

This series will have casts so large that I need a bible to keep track of it all. The story is mapped out to the last book in most respects. There is some room for characters to change the tale without affecting the overall skeleton of the tale.

That type of scope cannot be done in just months. It needs a year or two to flesh it out.

The Symphonist original 2023 edition had been written in just under a year, and I love the prose in that book.

And I’ll admit I made some mistakes with it, not realizing AI art was becoming rampant. Now I hire artists and have an aesthetic for the novels that will remain for the duration.

Frankly speaking, it’s one series I would rewrite to death if a traditional publisher wanted it. Because I want that story to get out into the world. I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.

My current projects are a twin set of novels taking Persephone and Hades into the modern era, with some twists to the story in the Orphic tradition. I’ve also come up with a new twist to the story format that will involve the Daughters of Memory playing an integral role. That means Clio, Calliope, Melpomene, Urania, etc. will weave into the tale in unexpected ways.

I recently found the word locution and thought it was cool, so I’m weaving that into the tale using the Muses based on the seventy-sixth hymn.

The reason for this is that memories are a core aspect of this duology, with Seph and Hadrian coming to terms with their mortal sorrows and divine, uh, spice to put it nicely.

These types of stories might take longer to come to fruition. I’m fine with that. My purpose is to write what the characters experience and relay it to the audience.

If my stories are unique to me and use the personal flavor I give each book, they will succeed in time.

If Bryan Davis got through 200+ rejections before striking gold, I, too, shall try my hand at this until something breaks through.

Stephen King once said to get a bigger nail. I agree with him.

My philosophy has shifted much throughout my writing journey, finding that money comes from non-artistic writing well enough, but I’d love for one of my books to get there.

I am a patient man, though, meaning I will wait as long as it takes to get these stories into the hands of the right people.

After all, you can’t do something if you don’t believe in it.

I once heard someone say you have to be a little delusional to be in any of the creative arts, and sometimes that means trying multiple things, reworking everything, or just finding the right thing at the right time.

I’m pragmatic enough to find a living elsewhere, but fully capable of getting this going to the level I aspire to be at.

I’m going to take my time, work in other ways until something pushes through, and hopefully create a legacy that lasts when I find the “elixir” of my writing life. I must transmute my novels into a secret of flame that shines in the trenches of creation, so that it might set another’s soul alight with passion and the warmth that comes with finding something special after morphing the ideal story from the dim halls of true creation to the shining luster of the light of a future day.

Happy writing!