Forces of Power: 2019 Recap and 2020 Roadmap

December 21, 2019

For the past three years I’ve been working on writing a book, preemptively titled Forces of Power, about a young man who struggles to find his place in a world where everyone has special powers based on the forces of nature. Obviously I have it planned as a trilogy–like all good stories–and every day brings this project closer to completion. I can’t wait to share the whole thing!

While writing a book definitely has its ups and downs, this past year was full of very promising ups.

2019 Recap:

Book 1 started 2019 in its 7th revision, but throughout the year (especially in the most recent months), I was able to do a couple more revisions that greatly improved the quality of the book for readers and hopefully for prospective agents. The first few chapters received a complete overhaul–I started in a more exciting place diving right into the meat of the story while still retaining imperative background info and character relations that were present in the original few versions.

Additionally, I spent a good few months in the summer improving my agent query letter. I’d say I’m quite confident in it now, but get back to me after a few submissions and we’ll see how that confidence holds up.

I’m still full steam ahead on finding a traditional literary agent and publishing house. I’ve entertained the possibility of pursuing self-publishing, but my goals seem more aligned to the benefits of traditional publishing for the time being.

However, most of this year was dedicated to starting book 2 in its first draft form. While not imperative to getting the book 1 manuscript out there, writing book 2 was definitely for me. Getting it all out on the page has greatly improved my mental sanity. There are so many fantastic scenes, interactions, plot twists, and so much more in the story to come, so it has been great to make more of that come to life, at least in some form.

2020 Roadmap:

First and foremost, finish Book 2. This is also for me, as thinking of all three books at once basically feels like trying to knit a 100 sq. ft medieval tapestry with brainpower alone. Finishing book 2 will hopefully accomplish this.

After the first draft of book 2 is complete, I will be making another editing pass on book 1, this time reviewing every sentence–trimming every unnecessary word, ensuring that it conveys what I want it to, and analyzing whether or not its needed to begin with. In short, trimming everything down to the essentials and prepping it for prom.

Once that is complete, I plan on querying my ‘completed’ book 1 manuscript to every literary agent who might have potential interest, and don’t plan on stopping until an agent accepts, I learn something new that requires another editing pass, or I’ve submitted to every agent on the internet. Eventually the only option left will be agent acceptance, so it’s only a matter of time. And I’ve got plenty of time.

As a lifelong fan of fantasy and sci-fi, my entire purpose behind this story is to make it as entertaining as possible to satisfy my outrageously high expectations of awesome epic trilogies. I know my story can fill these needs when completed. I know it’s good. Even thinking of the ending gives me goosebumps. Hell, I even made myself cry after writing a particular scene it was so beautiful (the character interaction, not the writing). The goal now is simply to convince you all that the story is good, and that’s something I look forward to every single day.

And finally, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has supported my story so far. It’s your excitement and enthusiasm that keeps me going every single day, and I truly would not have progressed this far without knowing you are out there cheering me on. For that I am eternally grateful. When Forces of Power becomes published, you will be the first people I thank.

And don’t think Forces of Power is the only idea I’ve got brewing at the moment. I ain’t no one-trick pony, and there are several more ideas just waiting to break free. But I’ll get to those once FoP is ready to go. If only I didn’t have to work full time…

By the way, I’m always on the lookout for more beta readers 😉

Thanks y’all!

Ben Crow