Douglas Hulick: Five Things I Learned Writing Sworn In Steel

[Brian G Turner]

Douglas Hulick released a decent debut novel, Among Thieves. And then missed the publishing deadline for the sequel.

And then some.

Here's where he talks about how he managed to bring things back together again:

Douglas Hulick: Five Things I Learned Writing Sworn In Steel « terribleminds: chuck wendig

But to a post, e-mail, or response, every single reader who either asked or replied said something along the lines of, “That’s okay, take your time. I’d rather you write a good book than a fast one.”

I think I said the exact same thing to him.

BUT - here's the big difference (I think) - Hulick communicated about his problem in getting the sequel finished.

I learned the same running a business - if there's a problem, clients/customers don't mind anywhere as much as you'd imagine, so long as you keep them informed, and assure them that you're working hard on resolving it. Lack of communication is more likely to cause a crisis than bad news itself, IMO.

 

[Juliana]

Great interview. And I can completely understand him freezing under the pressure of suddenly changing his writing methods.

The transparency thing is interesting; its definitely reassuring to the reader (or client) when they have a tangible reason they can understand for things that happen. And it brings reader and writer closer, I think.

 

[Nerds_feather]

It hasn't even been that long. I mean, we're used to fantasy books coming out once a year, but is this really the best model? Some things take time.

 

[ratsy]

I really liked the first one and didn't even know that it'd been very long. I think I just picked it up last year so I didn't know. I do have the sequel already in my TBR pile and I'm looking forward to it.

I guess a side note, the story kind of ended with the expectation that it would be continued. It did have a fairly tight ending though so I wasn't on pins and needles wondering what was going to happen next, which I like.

 

[Rolynd]

I think with GRRM there's the issue of the tv series. I know it's become a cliche to discuss whether he will finish before the tv series but I do think readers have a legitimate grievance when we know a story we are heavily invested in will see it's ending in a different medium than the one we've been on board with since the beginning. That's different to the sense of entitlement that Hulick seems was wary of.