Ensemble Storytelling
Multi-layered stories woven on the loom of parallel timelines and multiple perspectives are not the easiest to follow, I admit. But I’ve always found it a richer storytelling style than following one main protagonist through a single point of view.
Write the story you want to read, they say.
That’s why I state it plainly, up front, with no caveats. Rootstock Saga is not a light read. You kinda have to pay attention. And it probably helps to be of above average intelligence. And able to walk and chew gum at the same time.
There’s a lot going on in Rootstock Saga. That phrase or its near derivations regularly appear in reviews. And yes, there is a lot going on. Intentionally and unapologetically.
Many times, before committing to publishing the series, I second-guessed myself. Was the story too complex? Too layered? Should I try to “dumb it down” somehow? Should I tell the whole saga from one or two perspectives instead? Would anyone in this short-attention-span world give this story more than a cursory flip through the first few chapters?
Valid questions.
Some readers just don’t want to keep track of more characters than they can count on their fingers. And follow more than one plot line? Forget it. Shelved. Too confusing.
But, how is that like real life? Do you have more than a dozen people in your life? Do each of them have experiences and timelines outside your own perception? Yes, of course.
Still, I doubted what had once seemed so obvious to me. Tempted to change Rootstock Saga to appeal to the masses, I experimented with a first-person Seth version. Hated it. First-person annoys me. Those are the books I set aside after the first few chapters. First-person characters strike me as narcissistic somehow. No, the universe does not revolve around you.
I tried cutting three Storm Hawks down to two. Giving Jenna fewer daughters and Isobel fewer sons. Eliminating back stories like Tobias and Thea and Palomar, Glyneth and Brynmohr and Nigel. Erasing Mouse and Redan entirely. Not venturing beyond Rhynn and Tallu for settings. Keeping Deighton as the one and only, the ultimate antagonist.
But the mass-market version just wasn’t as interesting. The trimmed-down alternatives seemed like lukewarm, watered-down beer by comparison. Bland. Run-of-the-mill. Yawn.
So I went back to the advice that started me on the series to begin with.
Write the story you want to read.
Humbly and thankfully, I’m discovering it’s the story many of you wanted to read, too.
Thanks for giving Rootstock Saga the time and thought it asks of you, even in this too-fast, sensory-overload world we live in today.
If Mouse and Redan stay with you long after reading their threads woven into the greater saga, I’m glad I kept them.