How I’ve Been Writing Razormouth: A Decade‑Long Epic in the Making

Why Writing Razormouth Took a Decade

Writing Razormouth began as a simple outline in 2012 and slowly expanded into a sprawling epic fantasy.  Over the years, Writing Razormouth grew through bursts of focused effort, long pauses, and countless real‑life interruptions.  Balancing paid work, business obligations, and other creative experiments meant Writing Razormouth could never dominate twelve straight hours of a day.  Instead, Writing Razormouth advanced in concentrated sessions, two or three hours at a time, several days a week, whenever momentum allowed.​

From Outline to Multi‑Book Saga

At first, Writing Razormouth was just a framework of conflicts, characters, and desired destinations for the main arc.  That skeleton expanded until Writing Razormouth held enough words for roughly two and a half to three full books.  The first volume of Writing Razormouth reached near‑final edits years ago, yet still waited on the digital shelf, unpublished.  One reason was ambition: Writing Razormouth was originally meant to be drafted as an entire trilogy, or even four or five books, before any installment launched.​

Life, Research, and Slow Progress

The decade‑long pace of Writing Razormouth also reflects the weight of research and realism.  To make longships, forges, battles, and raids feel authentic, Writing Razormouth demanded studying skills like sailing and sword‑forging instead of faking details.  At the same time, Writing Razormouth competed with other parallel manuscripts, including additional fantasy and science‑fiction series that absorbed creative energy.  That constant juggling turned Writing Razormouth into a marathon rather than a sprint, stretching one writer’s determination across an entire creative decade.

From Outline to Epic: Chronicle the Long Development

From the very beginning, Writing Razormouth grew far beyond a simple idea scratched into a notebook. It started life as a detailed outline, mapping conflicts, characters, and long‑term destinations before a single polished chapter emerged.  Over time, that outline for Writing Razormouth expanded into a full main‑character story arc, with room left for post‑arc adventures that still simmer in the background, waiting for focus and refinement.

From outline to multi‑book draft

As years passed, Writing Razormouth accumulated enough words to comfortably fill two and a half to three full books.  The tricky part has never been raw volume; instead, Writing Razormouth has wrestled with natural breakpoints, endings, and conclusion beats that divide the saga cleanly into publishable installments.  At this stage, the first book of Writing Razormouth is effectively complete, while most of the second book exists in draft form, surrounded by side‑quest threads that grow the world and deepen character journeys.

An epic still taking shape

Those “side‑questy” sections are not filler; they are how Writing Razormouth stretches into a true multi‑year epic for two human leads and the dragon harassing them.  Each pass through the manuscript adds connective tissue, new conflicts, and better transitions, slowly transforming Razormouth from a structured outline into a living, breathing saga.  Yet the story still resists being carved neatly into tidy book boundaries, reminding the author that epic fantasy rarely cooperates with rigid project plans.

Why Some Projects Take Years

Some creative projects stretch across years because they demand depth, research, and a life that keeps moving alongside them.  Writing Razormouth is one of those sprawling commitments, growing slowly as its world, cast, and creator evolve together.

Life, Bills, And Limited Bandwidth

Writing Razormouth has always competed with real‑world obligations like client work, business projects, and the basic need to keep the lights on.  The writing is a passion, but it is not yet the thing that pays for everything else, so it cannot dominate every day.  Instead of twelve‑hour marathons, Razormouth advances in focused two‑to‑three‑hour sessions a few days each week.  That rhythm slows visible progress, yet it keeps Razormouth alive without burning out the author or jeopardizing income.

Research, Credibility, And World‑Building

Epic fantasy demands more than imagination; it demands credibility, and Writing Razormouth leans heavily into that requirement. Longships, forged swords, raiding practices, and skirmish tactics all need to feel right on the page, not like guesses.  When the author does not yet know how something truly works, Razormouth must pause while research fills in those gaps with authentic detail.  That careful approach prevents immersion‑breaking nonsense and keeps knowledgeable readers from bouncing out of the story in frustration.

Ambition, Scope, And Moving Targets

From the beginning, Writing Razormouth was envisioned as a multi‑book saga, not a quick standalone experiment.  The initial plan was to push through three, four, or even five books before releasing anything, avoiding the famous trap of unfinished epics.  That decision added years because Writing Razormouth is not just one plot; it is interlocking storylines spanning Alburn, the farmer, and the dragon.  Each new idea, side quest, or battle sequence expands the scope and forces structural decisions about where one book ends and the next begins.

Parallel Projects And Creative Momentum

The author does not work on Writing Razormouth in isolation, which is both a blessing and a delay.  Other series, including science‑fiction adventures and additional fantasy manuscripts, move in parallel, sometimes absorbing months of focused drafting energy.  Razormouth gains momentum in big bursts of ten to forty thousand words, then rests while another world takes the spotlight.  That rotation keeps the process fun and prevents slogging through chapters just to finish, even if it means the journey of Razormouth stretches across an entire decade.

Maintaining Passion for Long‑Term Manuscripts

Long‑term projects survive when excitement stays higher than frustration, and that balance rarely happens by accident.  Writing Razormouth shows how a massive fantasy manuscript can keep moving even when life, bills, and other work constantly compete for attention.​

Rotate, Don’t Grind

Instead of grinding the same pages daily, the author alternates between this epic and several parallel projects.  Writing Razormouth shares headspace with a classic Captain Kirk–style science‑fiction series and other fantasy manuscripts, each receiving focused bursts of 10,000–40,000 words at a time.  That rotating pattern keeps Razormouth fresh, preventing burnout while still pushing the saga forward in meaningful chunks.​

Chase Quality, Not Just Word Count

Momentum comes from believing the work is good enough to deserve more time, not from forcing pages.  When scenes for Writing Razormouth “pop” into mind, the author sits down and drives hard, writing fast because the material feels exciting, not obligatory.  This approach keeps Razormouth emotionally engaging, turning each return to the manuscript into something to anticipate rather than dread.​

Use Systems to Remember the Spark

Lists and scattered notes help capture ideas between busy stretches so enthusiasm has somewhere to land later.  Writing Razormouth benefits from these quick jottings, which become prompts to revisit a character, battle, or destiny twist when time opens up.  Even with nine open projects, this simple method lets Razormouth stay present in the creative queue instead of fading into the background.

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Creative Evolution: First Draft to Current Version

The first book of Writing Razormouth reached a nearly final edit three to four years ago, essentially publication‑ready by traditional standards.  Writing Razormouth could have gone out the door then, but the decision was made to hold it back until more of the larger saga existed in draft.  That choice let Writing Razormouth grow beyond a single volume and become a foundation for a multi‑book epic rather than a one‑off experiment.​

Letting the World Outgrow the First Book

During that pause, the focus of Writing Razormouth shifted from polishing the opening novel to expanding everything around it.  New raids on enemy camps, additional skirmishes, and follow‑on adventures pushed Razormouth beyond the original outline and into later arcs.  The first book of Razormouth has changed very little, but the surrounding narrative has become denser, sharper, and more tactically complex.  Those extended conflicts demand careful choreography so every large fight in Writing Razormouth feels distinct instead of repetitive.

Progress in Focused Sprints, Not Endless Rewrites

Today, the evolution of Writing Razormouth happens in focused, time‑boxed sprints rather than full‑time drafting marathons.  A few hours on several afternoons each week move Razormouth forward while the rest of the day goes to paying work.  That limited schedule slows the process, yet it also prevents burnout and preserves enthusiasm for Razormouth as a long‑term creative investment.  The plan now is to finally release the first book of Razormouth and let public commitment push the remaining volumes toward completion.

Tolkien‑Inspired Single‑Perspective Structure

Writing Razormouth uses a Tolkien‑inspired, single‑perspective structure that follows one primary viewpoint through the epic.  This choice keeps readers deeply anchored inside one evolving consciousness while Razormouth explores dragons, raiders, and destiny‑driven conflicts.

Why a Single Perspective Fits an Epic

The story in Razormouth tracks a central character across years of raiding, survival, and world‑shaping decisions.  The narrative rarely jumps heads, so the reader experiences each battle, setback, and revelation through one lens.  That focus mirrors the immersive feel of classic Tolkien‑style quests, where the journey matters as much as the destination.  Razormouth leans into that tradition by letting the character’s perceptions, biases, and limited knowledge shape tension.

Risks and Rewards of Limited View

A single perspective in Writing Razormouth creates built‑in risks for pacing and clarity because scenes cannot simply shift elsewhere.  Off‑screen events must echo indirectly through rumors, consequences, and delayed revelations, demanding careful structural planning.  The payoff is emotional intensity; when Razormouth puts the protagonist in danger, the reader never escapes to a safer vantage.  Every choice, injury, or moral compromise lands harder because the story never abandons that interiority.

Weaving Complex Plots Through One Lens

Despite its limited viewpoint, Razormouth juggles multiple threads: Alburn’s rise, the dragon’s destiny, and the captured farmer’s struggle.  Instead of switching POVs, the book lets those threads collide around the protagonist so the plot feels like converging currents.  World‑building details, longship voyages, and forged steel appear only as the viewpoint character encounters or understands them.  That constraint forces Razormouth to reveal lore through action, dialogue, and consequence rather than detached exposition.

Momentum and Immersion Across Volumes

Because this is a multi‑book saga, Razormouth must sustain immersion while the hero ages, learns, and hardens.  The single‑perspective structure makes growth measurable; every new battle or destiny twist is filtered through accumulated scars.  As the series expands, Razormouth uses continuity of voice to bind separate campaigns, raids, and quests into one life‑story.  This Tolkien‑inspired approach turns the saga into a continuous river rather than disconnected lakes of separate protagonists.

Alexandre Dumas–Style Chapters

Writing Razormouth uses a consciously Alexandre Dumas–inspired structure where every chapter exists for a specific narrative purpose.  Each section of Razormouth functions like a polished short story, a self‑contained “pearl” that advances character, conflict, or consequence.  Instead of meandering scenes, Razormouth pushes the reader from one purposeful moment to the next with deliberate pacing.  This keeps the sprawling epic manageable, because every chapter in Razormouth must justify its place in the larger necklace of the saga.​

Purposeful Setups, Traps, and Payoffs

Within Writing Razormouth, chapters often revolve around a single tactical or emotional objective, echoing Dumas’s focused installments.  One chapter in Razormouth might exist solely to lay a trap during pursuit, another to reveal only the distant consequences as characters race ahead.  The result is that Razormouth builds tension through staggered information, letting readers feel events unfolding just out of sight.  These deliberate gaps invite imagination, making Razormouth feel larger than the text on the page.​​

Momentum Through Linked “Pearls”

This approach means Razormouth rarely ends a chapter on a tidy, closed note; there’s usually a thread pulling forward.  A decision, ambush, or revelation in one chapter of Razormouth tends to echo in the next, creating a natural cliffhanger rhythm.  Readers move through Razormouth the way Dumas’s audience followed serialized adventures, always hungry for the next payoff.  By treating chapters as interconnected yet self‑contained units, Razormouth maintains clarity inside a multi‑book, destiny‑driven epic.

Core Characters and Thematic Destiny

At the heart of Razormouth stand three tightly bound figures whose destinies collide in brutal ways.  Their intertwined arcs turn Razormouth from a simple dragon tale into a meditation on power, fate, and survival.​

Adalbern: The Warrior Who Refused to Break

Adalbern, whose name echoes “bear,” begins Razormouth as an abused orphan enslaved within a raider clan.  He claws his way up from beaten property to valued crew member, earning his place with relentless courage and the sword.  That transformation makes Razormouth a story about self‑determined identity, forged in violence yet reaching for honor.​

Razormouth: Dragon of Greed and Destiny

The dragon in Writing Razormouth embodies lust, greed, and overwhelming power, towering over mortal concerns.  Bound to a goddess of destiny, Razormouth understands how choices ripple across eras and bloodlines.  This connection lets Razormouth explore fate not as background lore but as an active, shaping force.​

The Farmer: Caught Between Monsters

The unnamed farmer in Razormouth is raided, captured, and trapped between two tormentors.  Her farms suffer under Razormouth’s predations, while raiders led by warriors like Adalbern ravage her home.  That double victimhood pushes Writing Razormouth into darker moral territory, where “hero” and “villain” both devastate ordinary lives.​

Destiny as a Constant Complication

Throughout Writing Razormouth, destiny is less prophecy and more grinding pressure on every decision.  Adalbern and Razormouth each carry specific, conflicting requirements they must fulfill, turning every choice into a test of character.  The farmer’s struggle shows how Razormouth treats fate as something survivors navigate, not simply accept.

Publishing Strategy for Writing Razormouth

Writing Razormouth has always been shaped by a tension between artistic ambition and practical reality.  The original plan behind Razormouth was simple but brutal: finish the entire multi‑book saga, three, four, maybe even five volumes, before letting a single reader see it.  That meant years of outlining, drafting, and revising while no books from Razormouth actually reached the market. The downside became obvious.  Without external pressure or reader feedback, Razormouth risked endlessly simmering on the back burner while paid work claimed the best hours of every day.

Shifting from All‑at‑Once to Staged Release

Over time, the strategy for Razormouth evolved from “publish everything together” to “release the first book, then continue building.”  The first volume of Razormouth has been essentially ready for three or four years, fully edited and structurally solid, yet deliberately held back.  That delay came from wanting readers to move through Razormouth in quick succession, without multi‑year gaps between installments.  Eventually, it became clear that waiting for perfect conditions was holding Razormouth hostage.

Balancing Passion, Time, and Momentum

The current publishing strategy for Writing Razormouth is more pragmatic and momentum‑driven.  The focus is on releasing book one of Razormouth to create real‑world accountability and reader expectations that push the rest of the saga forward.  Practically, that means scheduling focused afternoon blocks for Razormouth several days a week, then spending the remaining hours on income‑producing work.  Razormouth no longer demands twelve‑hour marathons; instead, it advances steadily in well‑defined sessions that respect both creative energy and business constraints.