As I suspected, this week wasn’t fantastic in terms of writing. Lots of stuff to do, what with it being Holy Week and all.
Part of that is also because I did some brainstorming on a new book idea. That took a bit of the time I would have spent writing. Basically I was fleshing out a magic system that might pop up in a book someday. It was inspired by an experience I had recently. On Good Friday, I wore my clerical collar to the store and I had the interesting experience of having most people I walked past look away from me quickly, almost like they were embarrassed to see me. One person did smile at me, but that was balanced out by another person who glared at me with open hostility.
That got my wheels turning a little and, after a few hours of head-scratching and a lot of aha moments, I came up with a system that can sort of be summed up by this chart:
I know that’s not a lot, but that’s all I’m willing to share right now. I have a few threads of an idea for a story and characters, but right now, all I have is a magic system and a few notes about an attending religion that would go with it. It’s not much, but it’s a start.
I think part of what got me going was the fact that this past Saturday, I got the chance to see Brandon Sanderson at a book signing. He’s by far one of my favorite authors right now. So it was cool to chat with him for a moment or two.
One of the things that I really like about Sanderson’s books is the amount of detail he puts into his magic systems. I mean, I’m still recovering from the awe I felt when I was reading the Mistborn trilogy for the first time. Working out my “ideals” magic system is my pathetic attempt at creating a cohesive school of magic. I don’t think I’ll come anywhere near the coolness of what Sanderson routinely does, but it was still a fun exercise.
But you’re not here to read my ramblings about half-formed ideas or listen to me gush about an author that I really like. Wordcount Wednesday is all about how I’m doing with my current work-in-progress, the first book in the Iron Staff trilogy.
Like I said, I didn’t get a lot of writing done. Right now, the manuscript is at 32,592 words, which means I was only able to add…289 words.
Ahem.
Hopefully, now that we’re past Easter, I’ll be able to free up a little more time to do some writing. As much fun as it was to brainstorm a magic system, I’m still having a lot of fun with this book.
So there we go.