I have officially completed about 1\/5th of my targeted word count for my first full length fantasy novel–the first of an anticipated trilogy. Considering the pacing of the story, where I am now, and where I want to be, I will surely surpass the 100k word count goal that I posed to myself. Early feedback of my first story arch (comprised of my first three chapters) has been favorable, and I am now typing my sixth chapter. I am still getting to know the amazing characters that have found their way into my story. They all have compelling back stories that I am well aware of, but the time has to be right for these stories to be presented to the grand narrative. In the meantime I have been focusing on illuminating their unique personalities and character traits. Only when I feel the reader is properly invested in each character shall I introduce the experiences that helps craft such vibrantly flawed, scarred, and hopeful characters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have officially completed about 1\/5th of my targeted word count for my first full length fantasy novel–the first of an anticipated trilogy. Considering the pacing of the story, where I am now, and where I want to be, I will surely surpass the 100k … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6aT9B-33","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":867,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=867","url_meta":{"origin":189,"position":0},"title":"Eff it! Why I (Sometimes) Write with Bad Words #Amwriting","date":"June 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently a conversation sparked up in the Fantasy Writers and Readers group. As with any such group, many people hold strong personal convictions about swearing and the use of bad words when writing fiction. Suffice it to say, as I am a writer who tends to get a little naughty\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1032,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1032","url_meta":{"origin":189,"position":1},"title":"5 Questions with Fantasy Author Heather Love Fitzgerald","date":"August 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a chance to have a chat with Heather Fitzgerald, author of The Tethered World and the upcoming The Flaming Sword. I have always been impressed with\u00a0her writing and the amount of effort she puts into the outreach to her readers. We talk about Facebook promotion, what it means\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Author Interviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":384,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=384","url_meta":{"origin":189,"position":2},"title":"Reviews of the Ravens in the Sky excerpt on Inkitt.com","date":"July 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Submitting the first three chapters of Ravens in the Sky to Inkitt.com has been a blessing. The feedback has been nothing short of amazing and I appreciate any constructive criticism offered. What they are saying \"I think the setting feels much like a character in itself and gives the story\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Books, Novellas, and Stories"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":550,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=550","url_meta":{"origin":189,"position":3},"title":"Goals for 2016","date":"January 4, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Publish \"Torrent\", a 40,000 word Sci-fi novella. Publish the sequel to \"Ravens in the Sky\". Publish \"The God Rule\", a dystopian sci-fi short story, as part of an anthology. By the end of 2016 I hope to have these things done and to continue working on my YA Fantasy novel,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1211,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1211","url_meta":{"origin":189,"position":4},"title":"Five Questions with Anthony Black, co-author of Social Distancing.","date":"June 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Just recently, I shared some of my thoughts regarding Social Distancing, a collaborative project with Anthony Black. As we make this short story available on Amazon, I ask Anthony some questions to gain a little insight in regards to this story. Anthony's creative approach adds depth and uniqueness to this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1342,"url":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/?p=1342","url_meta":{"origin":189,"position":5},"title":"Yeah, That Third Dark Compass Novel..","date":"April 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I just took a word count of where I am at. The manuscript is sitting at around 23,000 words. To give reference Ravens In the Sky and Raven's Bane are between 80,000-90,000 words each. I have about 13 chapters mapped out, and many notes. I'm fairly certain I can finish\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=189"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189\/revisions\/215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willbly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}