As I created Lura, I kept the story in mind. I even wrote my own creation story and could more or less visualize its geologic history.

So then comes plot. They say writing a plot for a novel is easier than for a short story. Heh. I don’t think the person that said that had high fantasy in mind. They say selling a novel is easier than selling a short story, too. But I digress.

The first thing to do was to figure out the beginning and the ending. I tried to play off the characters, their histories, and the world itself. I thought about how I’d like the characters to develop. I tried to make every character ’round’. (Bad, but simple example: If your main character is the ‘ultimate badass’, what kind of experiences could lead to that? After all, s/he probably wasn’t born one.) Thinking about all of those things should reveal some kind of theme, too. That theme should be the focus of the story, which should hopefully reveal some idea for a story arc.

The beginning of the story should effectively introduce a problem and/or the main character. This isn’t written in stone, but it can give a temporary launch pad to write from until you figure out what the ‘real’ beginning is supposed to be.

The ending should reveal truths and bring resolution. It should be emotional. It should be profound. It should tie up loose ends. It doesn’t have to be happy. In fact, many of the best endings that stick with the reader forever are the sad ones.

For the longest time, I knew what the ending of the entire trilogy would be, but couldn’t figure out where to begin. I didn’t know where exactly to end book one, either. But having an ending firmly in mind meant I could start from any scene and write towards it.

I didn’t want to start with any of the main characters as children because I felt I could do some effective flashback and revelations if I started them as adults.

So one option was to start with the ending and, through flashbacks, explain the events leading up to it. I didn’t want to do that either because I really enjoy building up tension before ‘revealing my hand’. The ending is supposed to be emotional and rewarding; hopefully a pay-off for getting through the story.

I kept writing and composting random scenes instead of worrying about where it was to begin. At first, I thought it would be okay to start the story with Cirellio in the desert on his way to Shiira. That scene still exists, but it has become the seventeenth scene. It took time, but I know my beginning.

For this story, the opening scene needed to have a dramatic backdrop. I was inspired by the prologue to Eye of the World, which had a great castle crumbling during the apocalypse. 1000 years before chapter one, an important character in history had just slain everyone who was dear to him. He was so insane, he didn’t understand what he had done. Then, an antagonist appears, mocks him, and magically grants the character clairvoyance, letting him understand exactly what he had done. It makes him feel so overwhelmed with grief, it drives him to suicide. Quite a powerful introduction.

Then chapter one really slowed things down. It was actually the incredibly cliché ‘young farmer boy with mysterious parentage in a small town about to have a Tolkien-esque celebration’ type of opening. Thankfully, it got more original from there.

But the book built up to this … immaculate ending. A very explosive, epic ending that left my heart pumping, left me emotionally drained, and made me want to start on book two right away. And the ending of the second book was, somehow, even more explosive. He was truly a master of building up suspense. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to pull off something similar.

So, true to form, Five Rings will begin with a prologue. Some people hate ‘em. But first and foremost, I’m writing this for me. And I love the allure of the prologue in a high fantasy. A well-written one can really draw you in to a story, and keep you reading out of curiosity—even if the beginning of chapter one turns out to be a slow read. Prologues are mysterious. They are like puzzles with many missing pieces depicting the end of the story. They let the reader see through forbidden eyes, granting some insight on what is to come.

Five Rings‘ prologue begins about fifteen years before chapter one. It has a dramatic backdrop comparable to the crumbling castle and showcases a few of the villains.

If done right, the ending for Five Rings is going to leave the reader wanting revenge, and leave them wanting to learn how the characters will overcome the even more impossible next step.

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