Another update on IoO

Where are things with Instrument of Omens right now? How are things going? Good questions. When I started book 5 of Instrument of Omens, I was honestly worried about whether I could actually write the book. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Seminal, and I had a lot of internal doubts and questions for myself.

Would I remember the plot? Largely yes, but the details escaped me. What about the characters. Um. I forgot a lot of their names, but in all fairness, I sometimes forget the names of my sons. Did I at least remember how the magic system works? Not really. In fact, not at all. Oops.

Thankfully, I kept copious notes on EVERYTHING, and I also re-read the first four books with more notes taken. Things came back to me pretty quickly after that, which was an absolute relief, but honestly, I was never too worried about relearning the characters, the world, and everything else. I knew that part would likely be easy.

What actually had me concerned was the writing itself, especially the initial process. And for the first month, things were ragged. I was getting words down, but it felt so disjointed. Even though I had a plan on where to take the story and an outline on how to make it happen, the act of creating the scenes started out as a boggy mess. Or at least it felt that way. The doubts crept in.

Sigh. I should have had more faith in myself. In truth, this has always happened whenever I start a new book. Those initial scenes and chapters—generally the first 10-20%—have always been a tough slog, but then things start to roll. I pick up steam and excitement, and the book flows. And that’s what is happening here. I’m finally starting to roll, and I’m very happy about that.

The book will still take a long time before it’s out in the world since I intend on writing books 5 and 6 back-to-back with no break for editing. I’m not moving off that plan since I’m convinced that it’s the best way to bring the series to its best conclusion.

Davis