How To Write The End of a Book (For Pantsers or Discovery Writers)

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“How to write the end of a book” is a phrase I’ve googled dozens of times. But most of the advice is for plotters. What if you’re a discovery writer or a pantser—what then?

This is also not about how to edit the ending of a book. A lot of advice out there is about perfecting your ending. But what if you’re 3/4 of the way through a rough draft, and you just … don’t … know?

I feel like I get to this place nearly every time I write a book. I’ve got thirty books under my belt and I still struggle. So I’m going to share a few strategies I use to get through that last 1/4 of a manuscript for the first time.

I am under no illusions that these will work for everyone. But if you’re just looking for ideas… maybe one of these will jog something in your brain.

The Sisyphus Method

Are you familiar with the myth of Sisyphus? This dude cheated death a bunch of times, and finally the gods condemned him to rolling a big rock up and down a hill for all eternity. This is sometimes how I think about putting words on the page—one at a time, one after another after another, over and over and over.

This strategy is the roughest, most brute force method I use. But it works, because I’m a pantser, and often I just need to start the work in order to get the words flowing. When I was a newer writer, sometimes I would use this method for hundreds or thousands of words before they started to flow more easily; now, it usually takes me only a few hundred furious words shoved up a hill before I realize where the story is headed.

Usually, to make this work, I begin with one of two things: a character name or a place descriptor.

This means that the first word might be “Askari…” (character name), and often the next word is either “was” or an action verb like “strode” or “ran.” Even in more emotional scene, it’s something like “hated” or distrusted” or “loved.”

In the case of a description, I might say something like “The sun” as the next thing, and again, an action.

• The sun rose

• The water lapped

• The skyscrapers towered

• The building exploded

Character name, action. Character name, action. Over and over and over.

Setting description, verb. Setting description verb. Over and over and over.

I didn’t say it had to be good—but that’s what revision is for. Sometimes, the goal is to simply get words on the page. And this method will do that for you.

Back-Plotting

But what if the goal isn’t to just get the words on the page? What if it’s to get the right words on the page? Or at least, close-ish to the right words?

The next method I regularly use, I call “back-plotting.”

I’m a pantser, so I don’t outline. But, sometimes sitting down and writing an outline of what I’ve already written is incredibly useful. I highlight things like the characters, where they’ve been, what they’ve done, why they’re doing those things—anything I know could play a role in the ending.

This does a couple of things for me:

• It reminds me of details I wrote that I might have forgotten

• It shows me the plot arc from a high-level perspective

• It helps me slow down and look for any threads to pull that might be the perfect one to lead me to the climactic moment

• It helps me review all the major characters, where they are and what their doing, and look for places character arcs need to be completed

• It gives me a birds-eye view of all the moving pieces

Sometimes, to go along with this method, I’ll draw a map. I’ll ask myself where each major player is and what they’re doing there, and then say, “Where do they need to be and how are they going to get there?”

Okay, so this is basically plotting. But I don’t write it down in an outline form. Instead, I might make one or two notes just to remind myself of something, and then I dive back into the drafting.

Re-Reading

People have different opinions on re-reading. Some say you should never, ever re-read anything you wrote until you’re completely done with it. Other people say you should re-read what you wrote yesterday and then continue forward once you’ve reached the end of what’s there. Some suggest starting from the beginning if you’re having writers block, some say not to worry about what you wrote before and just write what you think you should write now (and go back and fix any inconsistencies). Some people say that if you re-read something, you risk getting stuck editing when you should be drafting the end; other people say that doing some editing helps them re-immerse themselves in the story.

My philosophy is that if I need to re-read something, I do. If I don’t need to, I don’t.

If I’m really struggling to write, sometimes I’ll re-read what I wrote before and it’ll show me where I need to go… but sometimes, I just fix some stuff and end up not making any progress.

It’s so easy to attach “right” or “wrong” to these methods but the truth is they’re all valid, and what works will not only vary from writer to writer, but can also vary for a single writer based on their mood, where they are in the process, and what the best process works for them.

Sometimes, I’ll even go back and read something I wrote on an entirely different project.

My advice is that if you want to try this, go for it, but try to pay attention to what’s happening in your brain when you do it. Are you getting hung up on stuff? Do you feel like the drains are clearing? Are you bored? Are you antsy? Do you hate it all? Do you love it all?

Then, if it makes you feel like you’re moving in the right direction, it might be a good strategy for you. But if it makes you feel like you’re moving in the wrong direction… ABORT! ABORT!

Put It On Ice (Or Don’t)

Yes, I know Stephen King said we should all write every day. But like… nah, bro. Lol.

I don’t write every day. I can’t write every day. If I wrote every day, I’d never get anything done.

One thing I’ve learned about my process is that I operate in bursts. Which means, if I’m stuck at a spot, especially the end, one really effective strategy for me is to take a few days off. Sometimes I’ll keep it to one day; other times, I’ll wait months to come back. This is why I work on many projects at once, so while one project is aging, percolating, I have something else to focus on.

That said, I have dozens of books and a lot of experience actually finishing projects behind me. So if you’re still on your first book, I don’t necessarily recommend this.

But at the same time… I do! The point here is to learn your process.

If you need to write every single day, or at least, show up to the page every single day in order to make progress, do it!

The one thing I will advise when it comes to waiting, and letting your manuscript sit for a bit—do it with intention. Decide when you’re going to come back to it, and follow through on that. Intentionally think about the book and the plot while you’re doing other things like washing the dishes, exercising, or taking a shower, even if the thought is just to review the problem you’re having with the story.

But always come back. Because the book won’t get written if you don’t write it.

Ounce of Prevention

This is a less helpful strategy for in the moment. But the thing is, so often we want a quick fix, when the best fix… is to do it right the first time.

But what does this look like? Especially for something like plotting a single book?

The thing is, unless you only ever plan to write one book, it’s important to remember that writing is a practice. The same way that learning to play an instrument involves listening to music, taking lessons, and practicing scales, learning to write—and subsequently to write the end of a book—involves learning new things about writing, reading other people’s work, and practice.

It’s not always possible to write every day, or even as often as you like. But there are other writing-related things you can build into your life. Things like:

• Listen to writing podcasts at the gym

• Follow other writers or teachers on social media

• Listen to audio books when you’re driving to work

• Think about plot, characters, and conflict when you’re watching TV

• Notice the ways you tell stories about life or your day to your spouse or kids

• Plan to attend writers conferences or workshops

• Go to library events

• Take classes on random things that interest you

• Identify what you’re good at and see if you can use those strengths in your writing life

• Tell your kids bedtime stories

• Notice endings around you—marriages ending, lives ending, events ending, people transitioning from one stage of life to another—and try to pinpoint what makes those endings interesting, unique, or really boring

Writing doesn’t have to be all-consuming if you don’t want it to. And I’m not trying to suggest that your entire life should be devoted to writing (unless you want it to). But writing is a subconscious art, and the more conscious fuel we give our subconscious, the stronger and more effective it becomes.

Ultimately, the key is to find strategies that work for you—whether we’re talking about how often you write, what kinds of books on writing you read (or don’t read), whether or not you go to writing workshops, or what your writing process looks like.

This means, that if there is something that you know works for you, but someone else told you that you’re doing it wrong—ignore them. If it works for you, it works! So go do that thing.

But if you are looking for a new idea because what was working isn’t anymore, I hope this article gave you some ideas. Good luck, and keep writing!

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What I Learned About Character Development From My Cheating Ex

When I was 18, my boyfriend cheated on me. He told me that we were meant to be together, and then he hooked up with another woman at a party he went to his swim team.

I didn’t break up with him for three full weeks after I found out. Because after all, we were meant to be together. But I kept getting fixated on this single question: how was it possible that I was meant to be with someone I now knew I couldn’t trust?

Eventually, I decided I was mistaken. We weren’t meant to be together. And if somehow, this relationship was actually pre-ordained by god or the universe or whatever, then god or the universe or whatever sucked. So I broke up with him.

This experience shaped all of my future relationships. It was trust or nothing.

This is me around the age this happened.

And not just my dating relationships. If I felt betrayed by someone, I just left. It was a pretty simple and straightforward boundary. I expected that friends, significant others, people I worked with, and family to keep their promises. And if they couldn’t for some reason, I expected them to communicate about it—talk to me, and give me the opportunity to adjust my expectations.

It also impacted how I thought about religion and philosophy, how I approached making decisions, and my willingness to change my mind about things—in that it set the foundation for me to be confident in the idea that I’m allowed to change. I’m allowed to change direction. And I’m allowed to be wrong.

As part of my fake master’s degree, I’ve been binge-reading romance novels. Romance is a wonderful genre, full of diversity and complexity. I don’t really enjoy romance plots that much overall, but I have been consistently impressed with nearly everything I’ve read.

My goal was to better understand how to write a romantic subplot, and who better to learn from than the experts?

Lately, I’ve been noticing the “singular past experience” trope appearing repeatedly in the work I’ve read.

• The woman who was bullied in high school.

• The man who had a specific experience during his time in the military.

• The person whose father left when they were young.

• The woman who grew up grifting and stealing because she had no other options.

• The man experimented on by his scientist parents (yes, this is a very sci-fi trope lol).

• The person whose parents were arrested right in front of them.

When I first started noticing this trope, I sort of rolled my eyes and thought to myself, “People are way too complex. There’s no way one single experience would have this much of an impact on a person, especially so much later in life.”

Then I started looking at myself.

On one hand, yeah. People are complex. All of our experiences blend together to create whatever version of ourselves we are at right now. Innumerable experiences matter to our current reality. We wouldn’t be where we are if those things hadn’t happened.

But at the same time, that doesn’t mean that one specific experience hasn’t had a more significant impact than most other experiences.

It’s been fifteen or more years since my ex cheated on me. And if he hadn’t cheated (or I hadn’t found out about it), I might have married him. And if I’m going to be honest with you, we’d probably be divorced by now. Because, if he hadn’t cheated then, he probably would have cheated later.

If he hadn’t cheated on me, I might have been less distrustful of others—on one hand, this might have allowed me to have closer, more intimate relationships with more people. On the other hand, it could have led to me not having healthy boundaries and repeatedly getting into toxic relationships.

It certainly impacted how I communicate in relationships—setting expectations up front. Being open about what I need or want. Making my boundaries clear.

If he hadn’t cheated on me, I might not have ever learned that it is okay to change my mind.

Okay, well, I probably would have learned that. But I might not have learned it so early, or quite so profoundly.

I know, hypotheticals are kind of pointless. We can’t possibly know what might have happened. But I can still see what did happen.

So yeah. That singular experience trope that’s so often used in storytelling? I don’t think it’s just a plot device anymore.

Of course I’ve always known that backstory is an important part of character development. But how important, exactly?

I don’t think I need to know every little detail about my characters. It doesn’t matter what they wore on their first day of third grade. It doesn’t matter that they scraped their knee on the playground in fifth grade. It doesn’t matter that they went through a reggae phase when they were sixteen.

But the car accident? Their parent leaving? Failing at something important to them? A person close to them dying?

These are the kind of moments that profoundly shape the way we grow and form, that impact who we become as people and adults. And it’s not just that they happened—it’s how they felt about it and responded to the moment.

Everybody has a cheating ex. Maybe not literally, lol, but figuratively speaking. There is something which had more impact on us than most other experiences in our life.

We might not know it about ourselves. And that’s okay.

But it’s definitely worth knowing about our characters.

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Tentacles and Teeth Deleted Scene: The Capa

It always hurts a little when you (aka me, the writer) have to delete a scene from a book. And the one I’m about to share with you is almost 5k words long. That’s a lot of words. It probably took me between 5 - 10 hours to write.

That said, it ultimately ended up not fitting in with the structure of the story (Tentacles and Teeth), and so had to be eliminated. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have some fun moments in it.

I originally shared this cut scene on Patreon, so if you’re interested in more fun stuff that no one else gets, click here to join.

This scene was originally supposed to be after the scene at the house with the fulek, and before Askari, Shujaa, and Harcos made it back to the Baratok. There aren’t any huge spoilers in this as far as I remember, so enjoy!

The Capa

They walked for hours, sometimes talking about the camp, where they were, or the landscape around them, and sometimes walking in silence. They stopped for lunch when the sun hit its zenith, but didn’t stop for long as they wanted to get to the lake as early as possible. Polly chattered and clicked for miles at a time, and then would just leap off of Askari’s backpack into a tree and disappear for a while, before returning to be carried again.

The sun was just over the tree line when they arrived at the lake. The trail Minda had drawn on the map was clearly marked in real life by beaten down bushes and stretches of dirt trail, and in some places, someone had put down pieces of wood to create small bridges over muddy areas and creeks. About two miles out from the lake, they arrived at a sign that read, “Sea Monster Lake, 2 miles ahead.” It was painted onto a piece of scrap wood that had been nailed to a tree.

They followed the trail, now mostly uphill and quite rocky, until they reached the crest of a hill. The landscape spread out beneath them, displaying a crystal blue lake with the sky and clouds reflected in the waters. It was quite round with sandy beaches on one end and swampy shallows on the other. The trees around it were deep summer green, and white and yellow flowers created a wash of color along the banks.

“Don’t get too close to the water,” Harcos said. “That’s what Minda told us.”

“Only at night, though, right?” Shujaa asked. “That’s when the capa is awake?”

“Where should we set up camp?” Askari asked, surveying the scenery around her. She thought, if there weren’t a monster living here, she might stay for a while.

“See that beach over there?” Harcos pointed to their left. “I think that looks like a good spot. It’s pretty flat, good for starting a fire, plus there is a nice giant piece of rock that we can put our backs against. It should provide a little protection from the weather and other monsters.”

“Works for me,” Askari said.

They carefully picked their way down the steep, narrow path into the valley. About halfway down, Shujaa paused. She crouched low in the bushes and pointed to their right.

“Look!” she whispered.

Askari peered into the weeds. A nest of eggs sat, right out in the open, waiting to be taken.

“What kind of eggs are they?” Askari asked. “Something that will come after us?”

“No,” Shujaa said, shrugging. “They look like duck eggs.” She pointed down towards the water, where sure enough, a flock of ducks swam in circles.

“Shouldn’t one of them be sitting on this?” Harcos asked.

At that moment, an angry duck appeared through the grass, quacking and flapping its wings angrily. Shujaa ducked as it went right for her face.

Polly jumped up in the air and swiped at the duck with its claws. The duck squawked and took off down the valley towards the water. Shujaa leaned forward and picked up five beautiful warm duck eggs.

“Dinner’s going to be good tonight!” Harcos exclaimed. 

They made their way the rest of the way down the hill onto the beach, careful to stay away from the water. Askari noticed how nice it was to have others helping with setting up the camp. Shujaa went and collected dry wood for a fire, and Harcos had brought along a tarp which they suspended from trees to create a shelter of sorts. They set it up with their back to the rock, so they only had to keep watch in three directions.

“The advantage to setting up near a lake monster,” Harcos said, “is that the other monsters stay away, so all you really have to do is avoid one.”

“We hope,” Askari said, securing the last rope on the tarp.

Shujaa dumped a pile of sticks just outside the tent. “There’s a ton of dead wood around here,” she said. “We won’t have any trouble making a fire.”

“How are we going to cook the eggs?” Harcos asked.

“I thought boiling,” Shujaa said. “But maybe we can scramble instead, so we won’t need water.”

“If we boil,” Askari said, “we can save three for breakfast more easily.”

“True,” Shujaa said. “Well, we have to get a fire going first, so let’s think on it. See if we can come up with any better ideas.”

Askari began to put together the fire while Harcos lounged against the rock.

“Can I look at the book?” he asked.

“Sure.” Askari gestured towards her backpack.

Harcos pulled out Monsters of the New World, Book One and began to flip through the pages.

“Ah, here it is,” he said. “The capa.”

“What’s it say?”

“A relatively peaceful monster,” he read out loud, “the capa feeds mostly on fish and algae in the lake. It seems to have made friends with the birds local to the region such as ducks or coot, sometimes even using them as an alarm system. Tip number one: don’t bother the ducks.”

“Oops,” Askari said. “Too late for that.”

Harcos continued reading. “The capa is much larger than it first appears. While it may peek its head above the surface of the water, it has a long snake-like body with one fin, two arms, and a feathered tail. As far as I know, the creatures can grow over a hundred feet long if the lake is big enough.”

Askari whistled. “That’s as big as a nagy!”

“They have two eyes, one below water and one above, and hundreds of sharp teeth. Their body is mostly covered in scales, but they have a long feathery tail that looks like weeds, and appears to be used to lure larger mammals in to the lake’s shallows, where the capa can pick up a slightly heartier meal.”

“Sounds like Minda’s advice was sound,” Askari said. “Just stay away from the lake.”

“And even that is mostly just at night, I think,” Harcos replied. “It says that they are primarily nighttime creatures, and prefer to hunt in the moonlight because the sunlight makes them too easy to spot across the flat top of the water or underneath the clear water.”

“Makes sense,” Askari said.

“The most interesting thing about a capa,” Harcos continued, “is that they are thieves.”

“What?” Askari exclaimed.

“They steal things—interestingly shaped rocks, shiny things, or anything they perceive might belong to someone or something else. Then they hide it somewhere in the lake or a nearby island.”

“That’s crazy!” Askari exclaimed. “I’ve never heard of a monster doing something like that. So weird!”

Polly scampered into the tent, carrying a large dead animal. It was not a duck.

“What is that?” Harcos set the book down and got to his feet. He walked over and carefully rolled the animal over onto its back. “Look at its tail!”

“It’s a beaver,” Shujaa said, walking in with another bundle of sticks. “How’s that fire coming?”

“Lit,” Askari said, leaning down to blow on the tiny flames. “Just need to build it up a bit.”

“Why don’t you skin that beaver?” Shujaa suggested to Harcos.

“Sure,” Harcos said, grimacing. He had always hated skinning and tanning, as long as Askari could remember. That said, he sure didn’t have a problem with cutting up a monster if it meant he got a chance to figure out how it was put together.

Polly turned and scampered back out of the tent and disappeared into the brush.

“Since we have meat,” Shujaa said, bending down to start unloading a few supplies from her bag, “I think we should boil the eggs. That way we can save the leftovers for tomorrow. These are pretty big eggs too, so we might even be able to share and have four leftover tomorrow.”

“Why don’t I go get water?” Harcos suggested, immediately abandoning the beaver corpse.

“We aren’t supposed to go near the water,” Shujaa said.

“It’s a nocturnal monster,” Harcos said. “And I’ll only be a minute.” He picked up Shujaa’s cooking pot and headed down towards the lake front.

Askari blew on the flames one last time, and turned to skin the beaver. She’d never had beaver before, hadn’t even seen one, so she was looking forward to trying it.

“He’s going to get himself killed one of these days,” Shujaa muttered.

“We’re all going to get ourselves killed,” Askari said. “We live in a world inhabited by monsters that are nearly impossible to kill, and somehow have to feed, clothe, and heal ourselves while also having babies and building a society. Talk about ridiculous.”

“I suppose,” Shujaa said, “but directly ignoring advice doesn’t seem like the best idea either. We could have packed up scrambled eggs just as easily as boiled.”

“Not quite as easily,” Askari said, “and they’ll last longer boiled anyway.”

Shujaa shook her head. “If you say so. I’m going to pick some herbs for the meat. Be back in a minute.”

“Okay,” Askari said, pausing on skinning the beaver to add some more sticks into the fire.

“Here you go!” Harcos said, setting down the pot full of water beside the flames. “See? I didn’t die. We’re all good. And now we have a pot of water.”

“Good,” Askari replied. “Could you separate some of that out into another pot so I can wash my hands when I’m done. And grab me something to put this meat in. There are some dishes in my backpack.”

Harcos went rifling through her bag. “Hey!” he said. “I didn’t know you had a second book of monsters!”

“Oh yeah, Minda gave it to me this morning before we left,” Askari replied. “But you’re supposed to be getting me a pot, not reading.”

Harcos pulled out two bowls, handed one to Askari and poured some water into the other. Askari carefully pulled the intestines out of the beaver and removed the castor glands and oil sacks. It was a fat beaver with plenty of meat, which would last more than just this meal.

When she finished skinning it, Askari fashioned a spit from some of the sticks that Shujaa had dragged over, and began a slow roast of the meat over the fire.

“This is fascinating,” Harcos said.

Askari turned to see him reading the book. She had been so focused on preparing dinner that she hadn’t even noticed that he was back to reading.

“You’re not much good for survival, are you?” she asked, dipping her hands in the water to clean of the blood and fluids from the beaver.

“Whatever,” Harcos said. “This book says that a nagy has a weak point on every single tentacle. Did you know that? It’s right at the tip, and if you can get it with a sword, just like cut it, it will freak out and try not to use that tentacle any more.”

“Well, next time I meet one,” Askari said, “which I hope is not ever, I will try to remember that.”

“How long has the meat been on?” Shujaa said, appearing just outside the tent. “I have a few herbs that might improve the flavor.”

“Not long,” Askari replied. “Do you need help?”

“Shujaa,” Harcos interrupted, “did you know that an alva has a thin layer of a very hard bone just underneath its skin that is flexible, to protect its fat and internal organs from sharp objects and teeth when its sleeping?”

“What’s an alva again?” Shujaa asked.

“One of those big fat monsters that sleeps most of the year, but basically eats everything in its path when its awake,” Askari offered.

“Oh right,” Shujaa said. “They kind of look like bears.”

Polly came back a little while later and curled up against Harcos’ leg.  He was still reading the monster books, and periodically commenting on the things he found interesting. Askari was carving new arrow shafts, because she knew if they ran into anything big, she would be in trouble. She only had a few extra tips with her, but she figured anything was better than nothing. Shujaa bustled around packing up herbs and rearranging her backpack, occasionally glancing nervously towards the lake.

The beaver was delicious. Harcos described it as rich, warm, and juicy, while Shujaa just said it tasted like beef, which Askari had never had. The eggs were good too, and they managed to only eat two, and put the other four away for the next day or two. There was also plenty of meat leftover, especially since Polly chose not to eat any. She was probably still full from the duck she had eaten earlier.

As night fell, Askari tamped out the fire, and curled up in her bedroll, asleep as soon as her head hit the ground.

She awoke in the middle of the night to a piercing scream.

“What’s happening?” she gasped, sitting straight up.

Shujaa leaned over and stirred the coals from the fire the night before, trying to get some light.

“Harcos?” Askari asked. “Harcos?”

He was gone.

“We have flashlights,” Shujaa said suddenly. She pulled out the bag of things they had taken from the post office and began to rifle through it.

“They’ve been in the bag all day, though,” Askari said. “Won’t they be dead?”

Shujaa pressed a button on the light and it flickered on.

“I charged them at the house yesterday for an hour or two,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll give us at least a little time.

They each took one and made their way down towards the water.

“Don’t get too close,” Shujaa whispered.

Askari pulled an arrow from her quiver and held it against the bow with one hand while she flashed her light around carefully, looking for Harcos.

Shujaa gasped. “There he is!” she exclaimed. She pointed her light out over the lake. Two great arms covered in sparkling scales glittered in the moonlight. One grasped Harcos tightly around the middle, waving him in the air over the water.

“Help—” he tried to call out, but the way it was wrapped around his chest made it difficult for him to breathe.

“What do we do?” Shujaa asked, eyes wide.

Askari drew the arrow back, keeping her eye on the flailing monster arm, and let an arrow fly. It thudded into the arm. The arm thrashed and dropped Harcos into the water.

“Garg’s blood!” Askari muttered.

Shujaa pointed her flashlight down towards the water. They could see Harcos flapping his arms and splashing. Askari was pretty sure he didn’t know how to swim. The next moment, the monster’s other arm reached down and pulled Harcos out of the water, and without hesitation swam over the island that was only a short distance out, where it plopped Harcos on the ground. Then it dove under the water and disappeared.

Askari and Shujaa stared at the water for a moment in horror before Askari realized they needed to get back away from the water—it was coming for them next.

“Run!” she exclaimed, turned and heading towards their tent. “Run!”

She grabbed Shujaa’s hand and they scrambled over the beach rocks as quickly as they could.

Without warning, the monster burst out of the water behind them, its long snake-like body curling and twining over their heads. One arm struck out, attempting to catch them, and crashed into the rocks a few feet away.

“Faster!” Askari exclaimed, pulling Shujaa as hard as she could. She knew she could run fast enough to get away from the monster, but wasn’t willing to leave Shujaa behind. “Faster!”

Another arm slammed down beside them. Askari dodged to the right, barely missing it, and dove underneath the tent, dragging Shujaa with her.

The tent was just out of reach of the monster. It swung its long neck and head down, blinking one eye at them and hissing at them, showing the long white teeth.

Shujaa and Askari huddled back against the giant rock while the monster glared at them, opening and closing its mouth.

Then Polly appeared and threw herself at its face, clicking and growling and hissing. She scratched and bit and yowled. The sea monster would have looked surprised, if they had the capability for emotion, and it pulled its head back towards the water. It let out one, loud, warning roar, and then slipped back under the surface of the water.

“What are we going to do?” Shujaa exclaimed, tears pooling. “Harcos is out there!”

“But he’s alive,” Askari said. “My guess is the monster just collected him. Like it said in the book.”

“But what do we do?” she asked again.

Askari shook her head. “Nothing. We can’t do anything until morning. If we don’t wait until the sun comes up, the monster will just kill us and then all three of us will be dead, instead of just Harcos—which might not happen if he can last the night.”

Shujaa nodded. “You’re right. I guess I didn’t expect coming after you to be so hard. I thought we would just catch up with you, help you on your mission, and go home. But this—this is not what I signed up for.”

“I’m sorry,” Askari said. She felt bad, and guilty that Shujaa had come after her, but also annoyed—it was their choice to do this, not hers. She would’ve been fine without them. Then she felt guilty again, because no—she wouldn’t have been fine. She never would have found the book and she would probably have been eaten by a kover or a pok or even hulla. She slid back into her bedroll, keeping one eye towards the water, and fell into a distracted sleep.

*****

Both Askari and Shujaa were up as soon as the light of the sun peeked over the horizon. Shujaa had already packed her bag and was working on food when Askari finished with hers, so she packed up Harcos’ bag too and left it sitting against the rock.

The sunlight glinted off of the water of the lake, and the birds and animals had begun their morning routines, chattering and calling and generally being alive. Polly had apparently already had breakfast, if the feathers stuck in her teeth were indicative of anything, and sat patiently just outside the tent, waiting.

“So what’s our plan?” Shujaa asked.

Askari shrugged. “I have no idea. We have to get Harcos off that island somehow. Does the book say anything?”

She pulled it out of her bag and handed it to Shujaa to look through.

“I’m going to go down to the water’s edge and look for any signs of the monster or Harcos.”

Shujaa nodded, flipping rapidly through the pages.

There was a great divot in the rocks along the water, where the capa had risen from the water the night before to chase them back to their tent. Askari was grateful that it wasn’t the type of monster that pursued you until you were dead. It clearly just wanted them out of its territory so it could get on with its normal life.

She looked and down the banks of the lake and then frowned. There were no ducks. Yesterday dozens of them had floated on the water, diving for food, preening themselves, just relaxing—or whatever it was that ducks do. But there weren’t any there. She was pretty sure Harcos had mentioned ducks when he was reading out of the book yesterday too, as being friendly with the capa.

Squinting, Askari stared at the island. It wasn’t very far out—she was pretty sure she could swim it if she needed to. But she wasn’t the problem—Harcos was. He couldn’t swim. They needed a way to get him back on shore.

It would make sense to take a close look at the woods around them. She turned, looking for any indication of vines or dead logs—maybe they could make a raft. It would take a while, but it might work.

She heard a ripple in the water. She turned to look. The monster rose out of the water, its strange eyes and teeth glaring down at her. It was no less terrifying during the day—the difference was that now she could count the teeth and see how big they really were, and make out the detail on each of the scales that covered its snaky body.

Then she felt some wet on her waist. She looked down. The monster’s arm had snaked out of the water and was now wrapped around her.

Askari screamed as loud and as long as she could. Shujaa couldn’t do anything, she knew, but she might be able to make it back to the community without them.

“Run!” Askari yelled when her scream was all but squeezed out of her by the monster. “Run!”

The next moment she was flying through the air, looking down on the lake from quite high up. It was beautiful, she noted in the back of her mind. The lake was clear and clean, and filled with fish. She found the ducks too—they had moved to the other side of the island and were quacking and swimming as they were meant to do. Then she was back on her feet and the sea monster slipped back into the water and disappeared.

She looked around. She was on the island, and Harcos was scrambling down the hill towards her.

“Askari!” he exclaimed. “I was hoping you’d rescue me, but if you don’t mind me saying so, this is a terrible plan.”

“I didn’t have a plan,” Askari said, annoyed. “I was trying to come up with one when the garg grabbed me right off the beach.”

“I guess when Minda said ‘stay away from the water’ she wasn’t kidding,” Harcos said.

“She didn’t say anything about the beach or indicate how far away from the water,” Askari argued. “And she also told us it only comes out at night!”

“So what are we going to do?” Harcos asked.

“I have no idea.”

They stood in silence for a minute, looking around them. It was a small island with a few trees and some big rocks. It looked to be a good half mile from the shore, meaning was probably not an option. In the center was a pile of stuff—clothes, bags, rocks, some jewelry.

“What’s all that?” Askari asked, striding towards the heap.

“Well,” Harcos said, “the book said that capas like to collect things like shiny rocks. I think this is its shiny rock pile.”

“What are we then?” Askari asked. “More shiny rocks? Or dinner?”

Harcos frowned. “I didn’t think of that. Most gargs would’ve eaten us right away. I guess we could be dessert.”

“Or shiny rocks.” Askari leaned down and picked up what looked like an old doorknob made from glass. She tossed it from one hand to the other. Then she picked up a hammer.

“What are you doing?” Harcos asked.

“I’m not sure,” Askari replied. Her mind was going a mile a minute. She had the beginnings of an idea, but wasn’t sure if it was brilliant or completely stupid. “Not all gargs are dumb, right?”

“Polly isn’t,” Harcos said, “but I think most are.”

“What if this one isn’t either?” Askari asked.

She took the doorknob and threw it as hard as she could. It landed with a splash and sank. Then she threw the hammer. It spiraled end over end and then disappeared below the surface of the lake.

“What are you doing?” Harcos exclaimed.

“Just messing around.” Askari picked up a toy doll and threw that into the water, followed by a sparkly necklace, a plastic horse, and a ceramic mug.

Then, the capa burst out of the water, looming over them angrily. It carefully dropped each one of the items Askari had thrown back into the pile and roared.

Harcos ducked, hands over his head.

“We want to go back!” Askari yelled. “Put us back on shore!” She picked up the now wet doll and threw it back in the water. The monster roared and dove to retrieve it, but by the time it came back up, Askari had already thrown the doorknob and the horse again.

The capa roared in frustration, shaking its ginormous head back and forth, spraying water all over them.

“This is hard to watch,” Harcos muttered. “I almost feel sorry for it.”

“Take us back!” Askari demanded. The capa dove again to retrieve the doorknob and the horse.

“What if we offer to trade?” Harcos suggested. “Like, if it takes us back, we’ll give it a new treasure for its collection.”

Askari paused and looked at him. If the creature could understand them, maybe that would work.

“Let’s try it,” she said. She bent down and picked up the ceramic mug and held it over her head, frozen, as the capa reappeared with the horse and doorknob.

“Stop!” she yelled. The capa froze, staring at her with first one eye, then the other. “I want to make an offer.”

The capa stared at her for a moment and then almost imperceptibly nodded.

“If you take us back to the shore,” Askari said, “we will give you new treasures for your pile, and we will stop throwing your stuff in the water.”

The capa tilted its head, staring at her. It sat that way for nearly five minutes. Finally, with one arm, it reached out and gently removed the mug from Askari’s hand. Then it picked her up in one arm and Harcos up in the other, and began to swim across the lake to the other side.

When they reached the rocky shore, it set Harcos down. Shujaa was there with all of their belongings, waiting back, way away from the water’s edge.

“Put me down!” Askari yelled. The monster shook its head.

“It’s keeping you as collateral!” Harcos called. “I’ll go get something to trade.”

He jogged up the beach towards Shujaa and although Askari couldn’t hear him, she could see him explaining the situation. Shujaa opened the bag filled with the things they had collected from the post office and they began to rifle through it. He returned to the water’s edge and carefully laid out a selection of items: a tube of chapstick, a solar-powered flashlight. a hammer, a bar of soap, and a bottle of hand sanitizer.

“You can pick two!” Harcos shouted to the monster. “One for me and one for her.”

The monster bent down to examine the items, and then pointed to the chapstick and the hand sanitizer. Then it set Askari gently on the shore.

In one smooth motion, the capa reached out and grabbed all of the items on the shore and dove back into the lake.

“Well then,” Harcos said, scratching his head. “I guess… it stole from us?”

“I think we had better just count ourselves lucky,” Askari said, “and leave.”

Shujaa ran up to them. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” she exclaimed. “I had no idea what to do!”

“We didn’t either,” Harcos said. “I’m just glad that ridiculous idea of yours worked, Askari.”

“Me too,” Askari said, shaking her head. She had learned more about monsters in the last three days than she had ever known in her entire life. And she had a feeling things weren’t about to get any easier.

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Land of Szornyek: Maps

Maps! Everybody loves maps. Now, I know I don’t have an official map for Land of Szornyek (yet!) but I do draw my own to keep everything organized in my head. I am considering putting together an “official” map (not to scale!) for the final book of the series, but please stay tuned for updates on that lunacy.

The main reason I haven’t included a map in the books before now is because of my serial pantsing (or discovery writing for you politer people than I). I didn’t want to lock myself into a map that wouldn’t end up working for a future book. And I couldn’t make a major map, because I don’t decide anything up front, so I didn’t know what types of locations would be relevant, and again, didn’t want to lock myself in.

I thought, however, it might be interesting to some of you, to see the maps I’ve been using over the past few years. It’s very helpful to at least have an idea of where everything is located and how it is organized, especially when I’m describing where the sun is in the sky, what direction the characters are walking in, and how long it takes them to get from place to place. I use rough estimates, and figure that as long as it’s close enough, that’s good enough for me.

Note: if you’re partially through the series or haven’t read any of it, the following sections may contain spoilers!

Maps for Tentacles and Teeth

This map served as the primary basis for Book 1: Tentacles and Teeth. I added a few notes so you can see better all the different locations. At the top, you’ll see Capa Lake and the L-shaped rock, which were based on a chapter that ultimately got deleted from the final manuscript. This also won’t be entirely accurate for the final map version (if I do it), but it functioned well enough for drafting a manuscript.

The other map I have for Tentacles and Teeth is of the cave where they encounter the barlang. I struggled a bit with the cave because while I’ve been in a few, I haven’t been in that many, and I wanted to create something bigger than anything I’ve experienced. So, I googled a few pictures and YouTube videos, and then just went for it. It’s fiction, after all! I can create whatever caves I want to fulfill the needs of my narrative.

As you can see, this map also accounted for rough population numbers and the location of the other monsters during the final battle scenes. I even noted the time of day.

Fun fact: it’s easy to forget where the sun is when you’re in the middle of writing an action-packed battle. But that doesn’t stop time from moving forward, and the sun from rolling through the sky. Even in imaginary worlds (unless you’ve created an imaginary world without a sun, or a static sun, or…).

Maps for City of Dod

I made several maps for City of Dod. Because Askari has to travel relatively far away from her starting point, I struggled to keep all of the various locations straight in my head, and so I ended up drawing multiple maps to either keep myself sane or to inspire new chapters.

This first map doesn’t include the starting point of the book, which would be north, but if you look on the right side, you can see the location where they ended up camping after getting thoroughly beaten by the bogar, and almost killed by the nando.

You’ll also see some locations on this map which, again, did not make it into the final draft of the manuscript. The Underground Library (infested with a particularly awful swarm of monster bugs) was a plot point which ended up being a distraction and irrelevant, though. The Szall was a dragon-like monster that I decided was too similar to your regular mythical dragon, and Devor showing up turned out to be a much better plot arc anyway, so that became Devor’s barn. If you squint, you can see a reference to the gerinc queen—another weird monster where the queen was an exploding blob of acid. You can also see a scribbled reference to “Vadasok Camp.” Originally, the Rokkin were named Vadasok.

Fun fact: the word “Vadasok” is based on the word “vadászok” which means “hunter” in Hungarian. The word “Baratok” means “friends” in Hungarian. But I updated my naming conventions after Book 1. The Baratok might use their Hungarian-English dictionary to name everything they see, but everyone else does not. “Rokkin” is based after “the rok” and “kin” (meaning family), as in family to the great mythical Rok, bird of prey that could defeat massive creatures.

The next map is a close up of the Rokkin Camp (referred to as Vadasok on the map). Again, this is not entirely accurate—the City of Dod is south of the camp, the Bikak enounter north. In addition, Devor’s barn and the szamos field ended up being to the east of the camp. And the gerincs got d.e.l.e.t.e.d.

Also, Fane’s name used to be “Sven", so you can see his tent down there, and Rona (yes, I do regret naming her this), used to be Veleto. See? Aren’t you glad I updated my naming convention? Lol.

Also, if I were to do this again, I’d swap the water, wood, resources with the latrines—put them as far away from the dining area as possible lol.

The next couple maps are more for inspiration than anything. I was trying to put my brain inside Askari’s head—what would she be feeling? What would she be thinking?

Ultimately, the direction is off too. The dome is directly east of the city.

And in this second sketch, the arrow indicates the direction the Rokkin entered the city from, evading the Field of Screams.

Lamplighters Society Maps

My main focus for the Lamplighters Society was inside Greystone City, so I don’t even have a map that shows everything. All I really needed to know was that Ardilla Woods and Gota Field were south-ish, and Orange City was north-ish.

Inside, however, it was really important for me to keep everything straight.

I used a map of a real mall and taped together features of other malls I’ve been in to create a fake, but hopefully realistic-feeling mall. I started with Northshore in Boston, but wanted it much, much smaller than that, so I tried Fox Run in Newington, NH, but that was too small, so I did a bunch of Googling and hacked together my own.

As with the other maps, this is not entirely accurate, and I’ve added a few details that are not included in this original images, such as multiple entrances, where medical is located, Askari’s room, etc. The drawing for this mall also makes it look much narrower than it truly is, but there’s a lot of room inside that you can’t see. And I didn’t include a food court on this map, but that’s where the food would be—not at the end of some random hallway outside Lord&Taylor lol.

Also, please don’t ask me why I wrote “hypno-bat” on the edge. It was probably an idea for a monster that never became anything, but I don’t really like the idea of imagining a “hypno-bat” and what it might want from me (blood, probably lol).

Next up is a real quick sketch of Hank’s laboratory room. Not included is the front room with the big table and chairs. I mostly used this for marking out the blocking, and even used random items I had around my office as characters (a small Lego figurine of a weeping angel, a cat figurine, and a roll of stamps—Hank was the weeping angel, obviously, Askari the cat, and Lilith, the stamps lol).

The last map I’m going to show is actually a map of the US, which you’re probably already familiar with, but I made it when I was plotting out all the locations of all the portals. Again, it’s not entirely accurate (there are portals all over the world, not just in the US), but it was helpful for ideating.

Maps for Vault of Bones

I only have one map for Vault of Bones and it’s inside the Vault. I have included the Marketplace and the Lake on future maps, but I can’t show those to you yet, because of spoilers for books 6 & 7.

I researched actual prepper bunkers for this map, and again, hacked together something I thought would work for the story, rather than using one specific design. The one difference here is that the map mentions a second hatch. I’m not actually sure there is any reference to that in the book, and I can’t remember if I took it out, or actually indicated that there was no second exit hatch. Either way, this map is probably the closest to what actually happened in the book out of all the maps in this post.

Voro’s Return Map

I had to examine this map closely before posting, to make sure it didn’t include any spoilers for Book 6, lol. Turns out, it DOES.

However, it’s still super useful for understand where things are in relation to each other. So I’m including it anyway. Don’t get too spoiled. I also included a few references to things that happened in previous books, so you can see how they’re related as well.

Anyway, that’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed my map-making adventure.

I do plan on having an “official” map at some point. Hopefully, I’ll be able to have it ready before the launch of the final book.

In the meantime, happy reading, and watch out for monsters!

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Land of Szornyek: Who Are The Lamplighters? (possible spoilers)

It’s a new year, and the Land of Szornyek series is coming to a close. I know for my readers there’s a bit of time left, as I still have two books left to publish, but for me, with both of the final books in the series full drafted and in major revisions, it’s starting to feel really different.

The beginning of the year often has me reflective and contemplative as well—about the past, where I’ve been and how I got to where I am, what I’ve learned along the way.

The Land of Szornyek series was a series of immense growth for me. My writing from beginning to end improved considerably, my understanding of story structure, setting, characterization, pacing, and all the wide variety of elements of story also significantly increased.

I’ve become more efficient in the craft, first of all, but I’ve also really started to pinpoint the process which works best for me. And by “best,” I mean both: the process that is easiest for me to traverse from initiation to completion, as well as the process that allows me to produce the best stories I am capable of in that moment.

I took a lot of notes for Land of Szornyek. I wrote down a lot things. Brainstormed characterization, plot arcs, monster traits, motivations, politics, world features (just to name a few), especially early on in the process. And as we move into this new year, I’d like to share some of the bits and bobbles with you, as well as thank you for supporting me on this journey.

Please bear in mind that if you have not read the series or are only partially through, there may be spoilers in the section below.

Who Are The Lamplighters?

This first detail I pulled out of my archive was this piece of lined paper (college-ruled, if you were wondering), in which I had drafted my first ideas for who the Lamplighters were. I did this all the way back in Book 1, though readers didn’t fully understand who the Lamplighters were until Book 3.

I’m going to type out what it says, and post the photos of the original source. I’m going to fix typos too, because I can’t help myself lol.

Who Are The Lamplighters?

Started as a social club for professional and amateur scientists. They had weekly/monthly meetings, networked, cocktail parties, etc.

Then they began to separate into groups—biologists, physicists, etc. which began to defeat the whole purpose of the organization anyway—they were supposed to interact to learn what their own disciplines might be lacking.

So, the great grandson of the founder had an idea: create a project that needed everyone to work on it. So he proposed they look for dimensional rifts and find out what was in other dimensions.

Everyone was game.

Turns out, the rifts weren’t so hard to find. The meteorologists pointed out pockets of weird weather phenomenon which corresponded with the paleontologists’ and meteorologists’ findings of strange phenomenon in their areas of study. Physicists jumped on board and began studying the fluctuations in gravitational pull and magnetic poles—then the engineers and inventors joined and began to look for a way to great a gate. They managed a window and saw, to their surprise, animals! Biologists joined. Everyone was studying it together.

Then there was another rift in the organization.

Some wanted to make doors and open the gates. Others wanted to wait, study.

The first group won.

The second group predicted the end of things.

They were right. They built homes, prepped, so to speak. They set up systems, resources, stockpiled. It wasn’t enough.

Then the end came, fast and furious. Those who opened the gate were dead. Everyone else was running for their lives.

A Couple Thoughts

I’m a serial pantser and/or discovery writer, if you prefer the more polite term, so most of what happened in the books I didn’t know until after I’d written it. Which means, I learned a few things after this, though, this provided the foundation for everything and I would say is still accurate… from a human perspective. The monsters would tell a very different story, if they had been the ones to write this.

Stay tuned for more monster-themed posts <3

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