Charging into the Fray

“At the tip of the steel wedge Conan roared his heathen battle-cry and swung his great sword in glittering arcs that made naught of steel burgonet or mail habergeon.  Straight through a thundering waste of foes he rode, and the knights of Koth closed in behind him, cutting him off from his warriors.  As a thunderbolt strikes, Conan struck, hurling through the ranks by sheer power and velocity, until he came to Strabonus, livid among his palace troops.  Now here the battle hung in balance, for with his superior numbers, Strabonus still had opportunity to pluck victory from the knees of the gods.  But he screamed when he saw his arch-foe within arm’s length at last, and lashed out wildly with his axe.  It clanged on Conan’s helmet, striking fire, and the Cimmerian reeled and struck back.  The five-foot blade crushed Strabonus’ casque and skull, and the king’s charger reared screaming, hurling a limp and sprawling corpse from the saddle.”
— (Excerpt from The Scarlet Citadel, by Robert E. Howard)

Charging into the Fray
Having taken a couple of weeks off from work to vacation with family, I’ve had to step-up my pace in order to get caught up on all the work that has been piling up in my absence.  This was to be expected, but it has left me mentally drained by the time I get home from work.  Normally, this would be a good-enough excuse for me to justify not writing, but my Muse wasn’t having any of it this week.  Like an internal drill-sergeant barking commands, she would shout out her best impersonation of  “On your feet, soldier”, and I would snap to attention with notebook in hand, ready to transcribe her dictation.  You see, I have over twenty main characters that I’ve developed for my “sword & sorcery” story-world, each with rudimentary character sheets and basic personality profiles (some with sketches I've drawn of them).  Many of these characters are slotted to have their very own individual stories someday.  In other words, these characters are becoming more and more "real" each day.  So, having this many characters developed has kept my Muse working overtime.  Like an unruly crowd, all of my characters are petitioning my Muse at once, demanding that their story be told first.  In order to keep herself from being overwhelmed by the din of the mob, she has released the creativity valves on me, flooding my mind with wave-after-wave of unrelated story-ideas.  I'm awash in story.  Oh yeah, and to top it off, I have twelve villains that are itching to wreck havoc on my story-world as well (I know, having an abundance of story-ideas is a good problem to have).  I’m just trying hard to keep up with my Muse's pace (sometimes just jotting down key-words just so I don’t forget).   I’ve been doing most of my note-taking on graph paper, quickly penciling in the ideas as they come to me (thanks to my beautiful, overworked Muse).  I appreciate all she does for me, so I’m trying hard not to disappoint her with a lackluster effort on my part.  Besides, what would my characters think of me if I just gave into my excuses, day after day?  After all, my characters are strong and driven and have unstoppable motivation.  So it must be with me as well, right?  I must be the hero of my own life-story and must “soldier on”, even when I’m fatigued and beaten down.  If my heroes can pick themselves up off the battlefield, swinging and slashing, well so can I.  No excuses!  My Muse and my characters are counting on me to succeed.  So, even as I stumble, wounded and weary, I must grab my pencil and paper, and charge forward into the chaotic fray of my story-world.  (Okay, overly dramatic, I know, but hey — what do you expect from a fantasy writer, huh?)

That’s all for now.  One more month left in this round of ROW80.  Keep the Fire Burning!
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