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Stop Creating a Minimum Viable Product
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I asked Pierce Brown at a book signing what it took to complete the fifth book in his Red Rising series, Dark Age. He answered, “cutting it down from about 1,100 pages in editing” At 800 pages published, the book is a massively dark and complex penultimate issue of his six-part series.
Recently, Pierce shared a similar story on Instagram. He’s currently writing the final book in the series and ran into a bit of a roadblock. He shared:
A little update on book #6. The chisel is at work and has been since the last update. Radical honesty: I initially set off on a path that led me deep into thistles and brambles. Hacked through them with sweat and toil only to find fearsome dead eyed beasts waiting just on the other side. All that to say: I chose the wrong damn path. I’m a stubborn shit who sometimes mistakes hard work for good work, and doesn’t enjoying being dead wrong. But the story did feel wrong. Eventually, I sacked up and tossed 200+ pages in the bin, and found the right and true path through to the saga’s conclusion. I’m well along that path now, but more moons must fall, more planets burn, and more heroes brood before this book’s ready to make you feel all the stuff. Thanks for your patience. Will have more info when…
