Thoughts on Dymos

Time to do another blog post. I think what I can do now is give you some ideas as to what I hope to do with book two of the Myths of Dymos. I won't give set-in-stone ideas yet. Whether or not I do will have to wait. What I plan to share here is some things I would like to try and accomplish with the sequel. 

While I did a good job story wise for the first book of the Myths of Dymos I didn't really show the world. There's so much to a world that we are often not told except in those guidebooks to the world. I didn't really share what Bylouthian culture is like. What forms of art do they celebrate? What are some of the festivities and holidays they have? What of their history? The people have lived in that land for over a thousand years and I'd like to show what has come as a result. 

I did show that Dymos has a great ecological diversity. Perhaps I did a little more telling than showing. I focused a little more on the amount of wildlife instead of the quality. I didn't show what the animals were like and how the people have learned to live with them other than they try to avoid the predators when they're hungry. Have they used some of the prehistoric animals as beasts of burden? What's the lifestyle of some of the mythological races like minotaurs and satyrs? Do some of the prehistoric animals make good meals?  Are there any magical plants at all? So much that could be done in a series that I hope to be able to do in the next book. 

One of the biggest things I hope to be able to improve on with the next book is to have the characters learn important lessons on how to better themselves. We all have areas that we need to improve on. Everyone has a challenge that they need to overcome. Writing a good story is good and all. However I think it should be a way to help us learn to be better. I'm not saying that the only way we can ever overcome our problems is to go on some mythical quest. Those are relatively scarce these days. However we can try to show people examples of overcoming challenges so they can have hope and try to overcome their problems. Some may say "But I'm not them. I'm me!" That's what makes you special. You can overcome anything you face if you try. You can write your own stories. If you fall, don't worry. Just pick yourself up and try again. Never give up. 

I did learn of a good story element that I would like to use more in book two: Plot twists. A story can sometimes do what life does and throw at you a sudden, unexpected twist and turn. I don't think I used that a lot in book one. Of course I was still relatively new to writing by then. Now it's something I can improve on with this sequel.

You are probably wondering when my next book will be available. Truth is that I don't know. I'll keep writing and let you know when it is done. Of course I may go back and work on the draft because it probably won't be ready first go. Some authors spend years perfecting their work. I'll do my best to not take that long. There will  be other events going on in my life that will also call for my time, like education. I'll just do my best to write when I can.