Spec Fiction Author SETH HADDON on Writing REFORGED

 

It's been a long time since I was genuinely excited about the release of a spec fiction novel. I can count my all-time favorite spec fiction writers on two hands--and Ginn Hale takes up one of those hands. :-D But from the minute I read the description of Seth Haddon's Reforged, I was hooked. And that was even before I saw the gorgeous cover art! 

Granted, the book is coming out from Blind Eye Books, so you KNOW it's going to be good. Anyway, when BEB editor extraordinaire Nicole Kimberling asked if I'd like to host Seth on my blog during his launch week, I said, "You know it, milady!" 

Okay, no. I didn't say that. But I was delighted. 

Anyway, here's the blurb for Reforged:

Since time immemorial the warriors of the Paladin Order have harnessed arcane powers to protect their rulers. For Balen, who has given up his chance at love and fought his way to the top of the Paladin Order, there can be no greater honor than to serve his king. But when assassins annihilate the royal family, Balen suddenly finds himself sworn to serve the very man he abandoned.

Now with their nation threatened by enemies both within and outside the kingdom, Balen must fight hidden traitors and unnatural assassins, while also contending with the biting wit and dangerous charm of young King Zavrius. To save themselves and their nation they will have to put aside their past and reforge that trust they lost so long ago.

Available October 4th 

AND here's Seth himself on learning that magic known as PLOTTING. 

Why Writing My Debut Novel Turned Me Off Pantsing

Seth Haddon

 

 

Anyone who knows me knows I am really driven by aesthetics and vibes.

Sadly, these are not enough to write a novel. But that never stopped me from trying.

 

All of my writing is inspired by a scene or aesthetic before I get to any plotting. For Reforged, there were two images that kickstarted the story. The first was an image of the Maximilian I gauntlets–these beautifully articulated gauntlets on a red velvet cushion–and the second was an Edward Light lute-harp from 1815. My initial pitch centered on magical armor and a tournament to be the king’s protector. But anything resembling a solid plot was non-existent.

 

I was still only working part time, so I had the leisure of a few days a week to formulate something plot-wise. I spent a lot of time walking down at the piers trying to conjure ideas. This wasn’t really like me–I had always pantsed my way through a plot before. But I knew I needed something solid here. Why? Reforged was initially pitched as a 20k word novella.

 

Short form writing is a whole other ball game. Before Reforged, I’d written a necromancer manuscript, and then edited it, and edited it some more. It was 100k, then 112k, and at one point it had ballooned to 150k. I tried pitching it to agents, but all my full requests fell through.

 

I realise now the result of my edits and credits was this amalgamated mess of a novel that is still sitting on my shelf waiting to be rewritten. But in the moment, it was really all I’d known. I wrote what came to me in the moment.

 

So knowing I’d have to contain my usual rambling self to 20k words, I researched and poked around the internet until I found a good spreadsheet template to flesh out. I had one that tracked the words in every scene, and I was determined to keep it under the word limit.

 

As you might have guessed, I failed. The first chapter of Reforged was 6k, and I’d barely gotten through the first two scenes. A novella wasn’t happening, but a tightly plotted story could be. But if I’m going to be honest, that didn’t happen either.

 

When I say I was turned off pantsing, I’m not saying I completely ignored flexibility and stuck to a rigid plot. I really don’t believe adaptability is something to be ignored. There’s great value in letting go of a rigid structure when the story wants to change. And that is what ended up happening in Reforged.

 

I was consistently getting feedback from Blind Eye Book’s editor, Nicole Kimberling. That meant, on a weekly basis, I was having plot holes and inconsistencies pointed out to me. Things were pushed in different directions. Some of the scenes I’d initially imagined never came to fruition. Half of that was because the characters were very different from how I’d first envisioned them. Zavrius in particular was less villainous, and far more witty. He really had a mind of his own half the time.

 

The point here is that a properly rigid plot structure was impossible. But so was pantsing. By the end of Reforged, I felt I had a firm grasp on what novel writing should be. I’d still consider vibes and aesthetics a crucial part of the process, but I’m no longer willing to rely on them and nothing more solid. In order for the novel to have a truly meaningful climax, all elements of it have to build in some specific direction. For me, a balanced pace wasn’t possible without clear markers, which were achievable with a more structured plot.

 

But every writer has a different way of working, and if you can do all that with only vibes and aesthetics, I take my hat off to you!

 

That’s all from me! Feel free to reach out with your thoughts on this!

 

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