And just like that, volume one was finished. Here, I'd like to take stock of what worked and what didn't.
From the very beginning, Crown of Chaos was conceived as a commercial work. As an author, I think that's a perfectly normal choice. We all start out writing out of interest, but once we can make money from it, we turn into soulless keyboard grinders, burying ourselves in typing just to mass-produce wish-fulfillment fiction.
I considered quite a few openings for this book, but after discussing them with my editor and the readers Gudako and One Bad Toad, I abandoned them one after another. In the end, I chose a fairly conventional opening, the sort I'm also a little better at writing.
Inevitably, though, I still wavered over the overall direction: should I go for lighthearted comedy and showing off, or serious, earnest storytelling? Yours truly, this hack Tianzi, never quite figured that out, which led to some back-and-forth in the writing style.
Let me talk about a few key points in volume one, along with the things I wasn't entirely satisfied with.
There actually wasn't all that much I wanted to convey in volume one. The main goals were to introduce the structure of the kingdom of Cormyr, its nobility, the protagonist's family life and relationships, the path he wanted to follow, and the changes in his personal outlook.
I think those parts turned out reasonably well. Overall, I managed to sketch out the broader picture.
The protagonist's thinking underwent a process of change after his awakening. When he first awakened, he was frightened, helpless, and at a loss. Only after Selûne healed him did he gain hope that he could live. That was the first stage.
Then, as he spent time with the young Cleric and returned home