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The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.

Confucius, Confucius: The Analects

It’s not that I’m running out of ideas that aren’t retreads (I am), but after last week’s NaNoWriMo update I figured why not keep these going for the month? It’s a once-a-year thing, after all, and NaNo is a natural offshoot of me starting this site which was the natural offshoot of trying to overcome some of my personal issues, so this is just another link in the chain.

So, how are things goin? Not bad. Not as well as I wanted, but certainly not as horribly as they could be. Burnout is starting to rear its ugly head after spending every weekday and most weekends of the past month and a half doing nothing but working and writing. To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long. That said, there are only two weeks left so I don’t intend to give in. December is going to be a month of celebration for victories well earned, just as it should be.

I haven’t done today’s session(s) yet, but as it stands I’m at 19,371 words. Yes, I did decide to give up on the whole spelling these out thing. That’s a little short of my target of 21,082 words – roughly a day short – but my goal is to fully recover that gap over the weekend. If all goes according to plan, I’ll end up at 24,563 by the end of Sunday. Maybe I’ll try and push it to 25,000 on the nose so that I’m a full day ahead.

Enough about numbers, how’s the story itself shaping up?

First and foremost, this is the first time I’ve focused on making longer chapters. Aside from the first, which is meant to be something of a prologue and may end up on the chopping block, the other chapters have all been a few hundred words over or under five grand. My previous book averaged somewhere around three grand if I had to guess. I did this out of a perceived necessity as, unlike the last book, I’m now perspective hopping and thought, especially with these characters being in different locations, I needed the extra time to get the reader to know them before they end up colliding. I think that aspect is going well, and the extra time allows me to go into a bit more detail on things than I’ve been able to before. All in all, I’ve liked this change. I don’t know if it’ll hold once these people come together, but I also don’t think it’ll matter as much then.

By the end of the day I should finish the first chapter of each POV character. The reader has had their first view of the world from the eyes of Yanis, Cameron, Jennen, and Lance, and experienced the difference of life across three cities and regions of the continent of Corisi.

From Yanis, we’ve seen what appears to be a privileged young man who catapulted to the heights of power in Vircilis, the most dominant nation of a foreign land and, possibly, the world. He arrives with the intent to bring Tiblin, Corisi’s largest nation and general protector, under the wing of Vircilis through diplomacy. He understands what this will require and is willing to invest those years of his life in the cause. Or, if necessary, resort to other means.

Cameron, a simple farmer and family man spends his days in southern Corisi mired in hard work and teaching his children the way of the world. He is seemingly oblivious to the happenings of the world, but there are moments here and there which tell of a life of secrets left behind and hidden from his loved ones.

Jennen, heir to the Mindchasm, thirty-second of her name, is suffering from a crisis of faith. From birth, she has known that she would inherit the church that dominates Tiblin and, by proxy, most of Corisi, but no matter how hard she tries she cannot believe in the church’s tenets. Her education has allowed her to mimic all that she needs for others to have faith in her, but her own duplicitousness has been a stain on her conscience for years. And, given the church’s premise of the holiness of division, there is no one she can go to for comfort as it would, in and of itself, be a breach of the faith.

Lance, Jennen’s twin brother, is a man living in two worlds. In one, he is a soldier and high-ranking official in Tiblin’s civil government. Part of Jennen’s personal guard, it is his responsibility to ensure her safety. For centuries, that role has been mainly inside Tiblin’s borders, but recent unrest has led to a more pressing need of security. In his other world, Lance is steeped in the faith of the Mindchasm. While the church only allows women in positions of leadership and therefore only requires their laws upon them, Lance follows each to the letter. He reviles that his position forces him to be close to others and keeps him from the holiness of division, but his sense of honor will not allow him to shirk his duties.

And there we have them, the main cast of Catalyst. Soon, Yanis will arrive in Tiblin and meet both Jennen and Lance, doing what he can to entrench himself in the lives of these two cornerstones of their nation. As for Cameron? Well, his role here is a little different. While he is a POV character, he’s only going to have four chapters over the entire novel. The goal here is to set him up for the reader, to make them question what exactly he’s doing as part of this story, and bring that in full circle by the end.

Catalyst is meant to be the first of a series, and the end will of course lead in to that, but I also want to be sure it concludes on a note that people will accept as a single story. The main threads will end, while others will only start to be revealed.

I’m enjoying writing it and hope you all enjoy reading it when the time comes. Have a fantastic week, my friends.