Alex.J.Cobalt

February has rushed away from me, taking with it the dregs of winter. We finally have sight of spring on the horizon, lighter mornings and the first new daffodils budding in the ground.

There is a simple joy in appreciating the world around you, and I cannot help but the last year of varying forms of lockdown and uncertainty has made me appreciate the birds singing in the morning even more. The world continues to turn, even if our lives feel like they do not. A living embodiment, perhaps, of the phrase “this too, shall pass”

Assassins 1 Update

My ongoing WIP novel, “Assassins 1” has both simultaneously not had much work and a lot of mental work at the same time. It’s at a point in the edit where I can see the threads of the story laid out, and now I’m trying to weave them in with one another. There are a few key scenes that hold up the backbone of the story, and now I’m working out how they all join together.

The journey of writing this novel has been one lesson after the next. If I went back to 2018, when I first took my short story The Book of Pattegon and decided to expand it out into a “novella” length triology for the purposes of Nanorwimo, I never thought I would be here almost 2 and a half years later, still plugging away at the story.

Before this point, my stories have always had a fanciful hobby feeling about them. My blog was for fun, my writing for the sheer joy of it, and my ideas spilling into little stories and ideas, too many to capture in one story.

But this novel, this ongoing work in progress, has changed that. I still write for the joy of it, but on the days I don’t feel like writing, I still want to tackle this story. This story has just something about it, my creative gut feeling is there is something special about this story. No matter what it’s future holds in the world of publishing, when this story is finished it will be one of the best things I’ve ever written.

I am sure that the books I write after Assassins 1 will be better than this novel, using the skills I’ve learnt during this telling on the next set of characters or plot ideas. And in some ways, that’s the And I think that’s the whole point of writing – it’s a challenge to go beyond your previous limitations. It’s telling a story that captures a reader’s imagination, writing something that goes beyond a few key scenes or good ideas.

It’s storytelling at it’s most natural – taking a world and then crafting a message amongst all the characters and plot twists and magic.

The message of Assassins 1?

“Sometimes, the only thing that makes things better, is revenge”.

Writing on Caffeine

This month I talked about all things Magic Systems on my monthly newsletter “Writing on Caffeine”. I really enjoyed writing this one – I love magic systems in fantasy and I really like using them as tools to help drive the narrative further. If you haven’t read Sanderson’s Laws of Magic, I highly recommend them – less for “rules” of how to write a system, but to give you the questions to ask about magic and how it interacts with your story.

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Missed any of my Posts this month?

Check out all of my months from February – including my personal favourite opinion post – comparing Sourdough baking to writing!

• New Love
  “So,” Iuen asked, “what do you think?” Ealia looked over at Iuen. Part of her wondered absently if he would ever get the grass stains out of his grey officers robes. Maybe he’d get ribbed for … More New Love
• Goodbye January
  January has come and gone in a blink of an eye it feels like. I’ve been improving my wordcounts on my novel, and had a few plot-based breakthroughs this month that I’ll talk about more in … More Goodbye January
• The Document
  “You got it?” Fethna asked as Nattali got into the car. “Ye of little faith,” Nattali said, pulling out the folder from under her jacket. It hadn’t been a particularly hard lift, just distract the guards … More The Document
• My thoughts on Ship of Magic – beginning the Liveship Traders Trilogy
  Having finished the Farseer Trilogy, I then had a decision whether I wanted to follow the rest of the Realm of the Elderlings storyline in chronological or published order. I decided to go with chronological, which … More My thoughts on Ship of Magic – beginning the Liveship Traders Trilogy
• Traits of a Turned
  “You don’t understand me” he said, head in his hands, “you can’t see inside my head.” Amily sighed at her brother. He was in a sorry state, not that she would tell him that. Bandaged up, … More Traits of a Turned
• Introducing your Characters – Writing on Caffeine
  This month in my newsletter, Writing on Caffeine, I’m looking at how to introduce your characters to your reader. Let’s think about what is your elevator pitch for your character, and what scenes you’re using to … More Introducing your Characters – Writing on Caffeine
• Using Minor Characters in your Writing
  When I talk about a minor character, I’m talking about those characters who doesn’t really have a purpose beyond adding colour to a particular Point of View character’s story. Perhaps it’s the person serving coffee to … More Using Minor Characters in your Writing
• Reclaiming Ara’banthe
  Fathie pulled her headphones over her ears. The noise of the city, the thrum of the cars and the rhythmic thudding of footfalls were drowned out in an instant. Breathe, she told herself. Everything would be … More Reclaiming Ara’banthe

What else have I been up to?

Given the continued state of Lockdown, husband and I have now started on The Expanse on Amazon. It’s the second attempt at this show, and I’ve been surprisingly engaged in the story – especially how they’ve built up the character’s backstorys and tells during the seasons.

Featured Image Credit: Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

Alex.J.Cobalt is a fantasy writer from the UK. When she’s not working away at her fantasy novel series, she posts free flash fictions on her website, along with regular blogs about writing.