The Wizard Series Part III: Dusty Old Tomes

I'm writing a book.

I've had a living, breathing world bouncing around my head since 1994, and when I started dreaming about the characters I knew it was time to put the world to paper.

But unlike art, where my creativity was burnt to cinder for many years, I've always enjoyed writing and have never considered pursuit of the written world a continuous chase for baubles and accolades.  Basically, I look at writing as thus:  I have tales I want to tell, and no one else can write them. I certainly hope any future readers like what I have to say, but I'll never know if I don't write.

If I don't write, the worlds will die with me. 

I won't bore with the details behind my main project, except to say imagine if Lord of the Rings was written by a fellow with an International Relations background rather than linguistics.  In my world people don't all speak the same language, races don't get along, religion actually matters, "monsters" don't exist outside of ecological realities, and my unicorns are ill-tempered carnivores that use their horns to gut their prey.  Goals and moralities are ambiguous, violence-prone superstition is alive and well, and the heroic death may be balanced by the sudden, violent and closure-free death of a favorite side character.  As the commercial says, "life comes at you fast."

Sounds depressing?  Never fear:  I don't plan on dropping readers in a bleak and merciless landscape bereft of love, friendship, teamwork, and classic derring-do.  What I do want to build, though, is a world that's plausible.  A world that breathes, that readers can almost touch, see and smell.

To that end, I've spent years researching to build my world:  maps with troop patterns and weather overlays, learning the effects three moons would have on tides, and how far an army can march in a day.  I've conjuring up entire religions and cultures, trade patterns, and government systems.  I'm combining modern military applications with classical theory.  I've created three magic schools based on action/reaction physics.  Above all I'm trying to build systems that work, that may be fantastic but logical under observation.

Needless to say I have the opposite of writer's block:  preparing my source material's like stuffing a chicken into a straw.  I become like the proverbial mad sorcerer, surrounded by poorly organized scraps of parchment, smoking vials and leaking pens (with a pigeon familiar, no less). 

With that, I cannot begin to describe how much my professional background helps!  I've basically learned how worlds work at the systemic level, from global interaction all the way down to neighbors fighting neighbors in shatterbelt states.  The hard part, then, is the times when I come home from work and want to LEAVE my work at work!  Plus, I have to remind myself my fictional world can have that little extra "fun factor" the real world lacks.

So why I am sharing this with you?

I've considered stopping Diary of the Mad Pigeon to focus solely on my other writing interests.

Here's the conundrum:  I started the Diary back in February 2005 to get some nagging cultural/political issues off my chest, as well as to improve my writing through sheer volume.  I've got the volume alright:  I could probably publish a full-Length novel from my Diary archives!  But I actually think my writing's is worse on the Diary than in other mediums, primarily since I don't have time to write more than one draft.

And it's the time that's the kicker:  every hour I spend writing here is an hour less writing on other projects, and some days after work I ONLY have an hour to write, unless I want to neglect my family.  But if I don't post, even for a day, my readership drops.  The great appetite of the blogosphere requires continuous content.

But every time I think of scrapping the site, something comes along to keep me going:  emails from readers, a jump in RSS subscriptions, a fellow teacher telling me my site's become something of a cult phenomena on USAFA.  And on a professional level, it's arguably the only link to my primary research interest, the effects of computer-based communication on politics.  In addition, thanks to my readers I've helped out three charities with donations, I've maintained links to close friends, and share my platform with the distinctive voices of MOGS and Antitool. 

In just a few short years Diary of the Mad Pigeon's become party of my personal identity.

Thus on one hand I'm spending a considerable amount of time here to the potential detriment of my other wizardly pursuits, but on the other hand I've painstakingly built a little community I'm loathe to just throw away.

I don't have an answer, except knowing I have to tell my story. 

I think I'll go mull this question over a finger of whiskey.   ;-)

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Comments

[Tom]

I know what you mean about dropping readership. Traffic plunges if you don't post for a few days, and really dies if you don't visit the people on your blogroll.

When I was traveling real heavy a couple of years ago, blogging was the part that helped pass the time while in a dingy hotel (and may soon again). Now, it is a part of my life that I won't (or can't) let go. It provides a relief from the pigeon poo that drops out of nowhere into my life.

By all means, write your novel, but use this forum to vent the frustrations that a writer will inevitably have. Besides, reading your posts is definitely entertaining!!

Enjoy & Good Luck!