Here we are, in August of the fourth year of The Hesitant Hero. I had no real expectations I’d ever spend as much time in this world as I have when I first started writing the initial ideas down on paper in late 2021. The only thing I really knew for this story was that I wanted Mana to be worried very anxious early on and then reveal at some point that it was because she knew that the kingdom that summoned her killed the previous hero. I wanted the tension in the first volume to come from the fact that Cobal – our main character – was completely unaware of that and really struggled with the hostility that he felt from his companion. As of this post, I’m working hard on polishing the first volume, revisiting many of the old chapters and improving upon them, as the concept I had of the story and the world were still very barebones that early on. There are things I barely touched – I kept most of Ravadier exactly as it is in the version you can read on the blog – but there are also things I changed up tremendously. Kimi’s prison in the Torii Gate feels much more fun and resolved in this version, and the road from Miranji at the edge of the forest to the elven city of Milinia feels much more grounded. I always found my original version of that a bit vague and boring. With this version I’ve sprinkled in some proper worldbuilding without wasting too much time. Still, where the original draft only took about 16 chapters to get to Milinia, the version I’m refining now takes an extra 7 chapters. Oops.
One major thing that has lengthened the story quite a bit is that I really wanted to give the reader a bit more insight into Cobal’s mind. Writing some of these later volumes, knowing that Cobal grows quite a lot as a person in a short time, I wanted to do more groundwork for it. He felt quite flat and boring, and he was only a tool to make the tension that Mana felt more grounded. In the newer version he’s much more his own person and although that tension is still there, it feels more earned. I think it makes his confrontation and subsequent conversation with Dionil that much more impactful. This story puts mental health at the forefront of a lot of story arcs. Eliana is still working through some of her PTSD, we’ve only scratched the surface of what plagues her, but I already know where we’ll explore more of that. Mana of course is a reflection of some of my own struggles with mental health and in both Navyr and Azuran there is a hint of imposter syndrome. We’ll open up the can of worms that is Sapher Blueyerd at a later point as well.
But that’s my progress on volume 1. Finishing it by August is not going to happen anymore, but the break I took from writing in June has definitely cleared my mind a little bit and allowed me to make a better story than if I had kept pushing through it. Let’s turn our attention to volume 4 for a little bit now. As you read last week. The ghost pirates arc is mostly resolved by now. Bartew ran off, escaping his final resting place for now, but we’ll see him again at some point. I’m not sure yet how I’m approaching him, as in the original NaNoWriMo draft he was subdued before he could get away, and I decided on this change a little bit last minute. Did you like Kenar’s tearful goodbye? I wasn’t sure how the others would react to essentially dying, but I think after spending all that time searching for something, bound for a crime you regret immensely, it would be such a relief to finally get some rest, would it not? It takes a special kind of grit and persistence to want another chance at changing things. Bartew figured out during this arc that with a body in his possession he was no longer bound to the island and could essentially live a new life. Him and Kenar are two sides of the same coin.
And then where do we go from here? That is a good question. I’m currently trying really hard to finish that fourth volume, while also planning a little bit for whatever comes next. I’m not yet certain if that is a fifth volume or something else. Part of me wants to take some time off from the “main” story to give myself some room to develop the first four volumes and adjust what needs to be adjusted. Now I worry that with how much I’m changing – in details and lore, not a lot in the greater story – I keep writing more and more mistakes into my original version and it will become more and more difficult and inconsistent. But I haven’t decided yet. I do like writing a volume a year, and I think quite a bit of the story that will likely take place in the fifth volume will be isolated from previous lore. It will build upon it for sure, but it’ll be separate enough that I can get it down accurately. I’m probably not making a lot of sense right now, am I?
Either way, the plan for now is to continue this volume until it’s done, maybe take an extra break here and there, but ultimately still deliver a volume a year. Then I will work on whatever will be in this weekly slot next year, while also finishing up the first volume. Next year I want to revise both volume 2 and 3, mainly because I don’t think I will be changing a whole lot on volume 3, I’m quite pleased with how that turned out. This series isn’t going anywhere for a while and I appreciate everyone who’s still reading it. Thanks!
Opal Kaharis 