Inspiration

There's some merit to blatantly stealing ideas that you see written in already published works.   Well, not quite blatantly, but certainly taking inspiration.   I'm reading George R.R. Martin's latest book in the Song of Ice and Fire series right now, A Dance with Dragons.   And I've gotta say, whenever I read more of this book, it makes me think 'My book will never be this good.'   It's crazy how much detail and depth he gets into these books, and how unrelentingly surprising it is.   He always manages to throw in countless twists and turns, and he really, truly captures the actions of characters who truly hate each other.   You can't imagine it until you've read it.   The Game of Thrones TV series is a decent substitute, but the books are where it's really at.

But George R.R. Martin's brilliance aside, my own work on Songlord benefits greatly from reading such amazing work.   A writer is inevitably affected by what he reads, even if not taking any direct cues from events in the book; so when I start reading a new series, or change from one series to another, I always wonder what affect it will have on the voice in my own written work.   I planned to read Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss after A Dance with Dragons, but it's difficult to import books here in the Bahamas, so I'm going to read the first book in the Icemark series next.   It looks interesting, and also has a female protagonist, like Songlord.

I don't know how, but I haven't written any of Songlord since my previous blog post.   I'm at an epic part of the story, so it should be driving me on, but my time is divided by programming as well.   I should definitely be able to pick up Songlord again soon though.   Soon, as in the ephemeral tomorrow, or maybe the day after.   My reticence, though nonspecific, may be because I can feel the end of Songlord coming on.   It's certainly the first book in a series, but finishing the first draft means going back and editing Kosmos.   Good fun, that. ;)