Today I am really proud to be presenting you with a blog piece by Chris Husberg on writing Duskfall. I have just finished this amazing fantasy book and I can't rave about it enough. I will post my review soon but I hope you all enjoy reading this post...
The Magic of the Mundane
When I first started writing seriously, I was enthralled by the mysticism of it all. The idea of the muse, of inspiration striking at just the right moment, was intoxicating to me. In creative writing classes I’d purposefully procrastinate writing short stories until the night before they were due, when in a frenzy of caffeine and tempestuous typing I’d eventually produce something presentable. That’s what I thought writing was; something mystical, out of my control, with long bouts of procrastination interrupted by flashes of inspiration.
I’d tried writing novels under that old way, the way of the mystic writer. And, while I’d begun a half dozen of them at least, even made significant progress on a few, I had not finished any of them. I’d heard professional writers talk about writing every day and hitting specific word counts before, but had dismissed that advice because it didn’t seem to apply to me (I freely admit that my pretentiousness knew no bounds back then). It sounded boring and mundane, first of all. And what use did I have for structure, anyway? I had the muse! …but while the muse had a decent track record of showing up when I wanted to start a project, it was always suspiciously absent whenever the time came to wrap things up and bring a novel home.
So, with the first draft of Duskfall, I knew something had to change. Defeated and humbled, I decided I might as well try the boring, mundane approach to writing. At least 2000 words/day, five to six days/week. I discovered that what I’d feared was more or less happening: the mysticism was disappearing.
But—and here’s the miracle—somehow, the magic remained. And six months later, I had a full, finished draft of Duskfall.
Here’s what happened. Instead of waiting, twiddling my thumbs, hoping for the muse to make an appearance, I went to work. Every day I wrote, I was giving the muse an opportunity to show up. The more I wrote, the higher that probability became, until I started experiencing days, sometimes weeks at a time where the words seemed to pour out of me. This wasn’t the cheap mysticism to which I’d aspired before; this was real magic. (Or at least it felt that way—give me a break, I’m a fantasy writer, after all.)
The same is true today. No matter what part in the process, no matter what else is going on in my life, if I hit the page consistently, I see results.
To be clear, my writing life still has its share of excitement. We just welcomed a baby girl into the world, and as amazing as that has been, it’s thrown my writing into a whole new spectrum of crazy. Procrastination still has a role in my process too, believe it or not. I’ve realized it’s important for me to sometimes let things percolate, marinate, and slow-cook in the back of my mind while I do other things. The difference, of course, is that instead of procrastinating for months or years at a time, it’s now only for days or weeks. So, yeah, my process isn’t perfect. But the mystic veil over my eyes has been shed, and I see writing for what it is. An art, yes, but a profession, too, and those things are not mutually exclusive.
I’d tried writing novels under that old way, the way of the mystic writer. And, while I’d begun a half dozen of them at least, even made significant progress on a few, I had not finished any of them. I’d heard professional writers talk about writing every day and hitting specific word counts before, but had dismissed that advice because it didn’t seem to apply to me (I freely admit that my pretentiousness knew no bounds back then). It sounded boring and mundane, first of all. And what use did I have for structure, anyway? I had the muse! …but while the muse had a decent track record of showing up when I wanted to start a project, it was always suspiciously absent whenever the time came to wrap things up and bring a novel home.
So, with the first draft of Duskfall, I knew something had to change. Defeated and humbled, I decided I might as well try the boring, mundane approach to writing. At least 2000 words/day, five to six days/week. I discovered that what I’d feared was more or less happening: the mysticism was disappearing.
But—and here’s the miracle—somehow, the magic remained. And six months later, I had a full, finished draft of Duskfall.
Here’s what happened. Instead of waiting, twiddling my thumbs, hoping for the muse to make an appearance, I went to work. Every day I wrote, I was giving the muse an opportunity to show up. The more I wrote, the higher that probability became, until I started experiencing days, sometimes weeks at a time where the words seemed to pour out of me. This wasn’t the cheap mysticism to which I’d aspired before; this was real magic. (Or at least it felt that way—give me a break, I’m a fantasy writer, after all.)
The same is true today. No matter what part in the process, no matter what else is going on in my life, if I hit the page consistently, I see results.
To be clear, my writing life still has its share of excitement. We just welcomed a baby girl into the world, and as amazing as that has been, it’s thrown my writing into a whole new spectrum of crazy. Procrastination still has a role in my process too, believe it or not. I’ve realized it’s important for me to sometimes let things percolate, marinate, and slow-cook in the back of my mind while I do other things. The difference, of course, is that instead of procrastinating for months or years at a time, it’s now only for days or weeks. So, yeah, my process isn’t perfect. But the mystic veil over my eyes has been shed, and I see writing for what it is. An art, yes, but a profession, too, and those things are not mutually exclusive.
Duskfall by Christopher Husberg (Chaos Queen #1)
Stuck with arrows and close to death, a man is pulled from the icy waters of the Gulf of Nahl. Winter, a seemingly quiet young fisherman’s daughter, harbours a secret addiction that threatens to destroy her. A young priestess, Cinzia, must face a long journey home to protect her church from rebellion. A rebellion sparked by her sister.
Three characters on different paths will be brought together by fate on one thrilling and perilous adventure.
Three characters on different paths will be brought together by fate on one thrilling and perilous adventure.
Duskfall will be published 21st of June by Titan Books.
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