KENJI: a project profile
Project Profile: KENJI
I feel like books and people are the same. Some are good, some are bad, some are in-between, and they all have their own story of how they came to be. This is the short version of what it took to bring one book, KENJI, to life. Kenji is the first book I ever wrote. It will be the third I publish.
KENJI began as a completely different story than what it became. Now it is a story of gods and demons in another dimension. It originally began as an underground sword fighting drama. I wanted to do an adventure about secret societies among us that harbor duels to the death, more or less. Kenji was to be the long lost son of the greatest swordsman ever. That is a cool story idea to me, and probably took influence from the Jademan comics I used to read in the 90’s. I’d say back when comics were cool, but they are still cool. So back when they were cooler (**some of you are saying “they couldn’t possibly be cooler than they already are because they are the coolest thing in the world” and I will silently nod in agreement…fanboys**).
I started this project with storyboards; thick, construction paper ones, to match the intensity of how I felt about this inspiration. I felt this was a great and professional sounding idea, though I had never really done them before. This was six years ago...and I have an app that tells me the year was 2008. The storyboards were really something, mostly because I can’t draw. I still have them, though they look like my first-grade son did them with crayons. They are now kind of a personal joke that I like to laugh at. But the story magic obviously lies between the ears, and I saw some cool elements taking shape. In the first 10 pages I had Kenji journey to an island for a duel and lose (without dying, which is hard to do in a sword fight but I have the power of ‘scriptonite’ which has saved many heroes to date). Kenji then finds a mentor, which most likely teaches him the secrets he needs to know. Then there is a montage to cover the actual time necessary for Kenji to master his skills without making you bored with 20 chapters of repetitive stair running and fly catching. That part was definitely influenced by movies from the 80’s, but Rocky proved the montage’s worth. So did Karate Kid. And Best of the Best. And all montage utilizing movies. Even Team America: World Police, which is quite clear about its position on montages. Where was I?
Oh yes. At some point, though I liked the rough storyboard and my stick-figures so far, I had the brilliant idea to challenge myself (pst…if you fell asleep, this part is important). I held my forefinger and thumb to my chin (with coffee in my other hand completely aglow with laptop radiation) and asked: what is so cool about this that someone will WANT to read it?
And I couldn’t answer that question.
The bubble of excitement this project once possessed now slowly evaporated, like air from a balloon. I knew it was cool, but I couldn’t see how I could convince anyone else of it. I was really bummed all of a sudden. But there was no going back. I asked the question, and I came up short. So I thought about what I could do to spice it up, and Lady Inspiration sat on my lap wearing a red silk dress. If I’m doing an Asian fantasy about sword-fighting and martial arts, why not add the fantasy elements to make it awesome. The Oni is a trademark, demon of the battlefield. I was licking my lips again. But that led to more and more changes, and Kenji was no longer just a swordsman. He had to be more, much more, and that led my story into something so different that it wasn’t recognizable from its original idea.
I always try to follow where my inspiration takes me, rather than stay cemented to my first idea. But it’s a balance, because sometimes you have to stick to that idea to keep from getting lost. Suddenly Kenji was the son of an ‘other dimensional’ Japanese god of war. I did new storyboards, jotted an outline, and now I liked it again. It was better, because I could answer that question now. The project now felt right, and that’s a very non-specific feeling that artists need. We can’t act on a project if it doesn’t feel right. You see in the beginning, the sky is the limit, but eventually you have to chisel into that stone, and you don’t always like what you start to see. That’s when writer’s block tries to smother you with shamefully open weeping.
At this great moment in my life, and also the life of this project, I was set to turn the Dirty Thirty in three days. But there was a need, something that burned inside of me; I just had to write this book first! I don’t know what kind of badge of honor I desired, but I needed to say that I had written my first book before turning 30. I had up to that point been writing casually for about six months, all of them short stories, just learning the ropes. So in 3 days, with my ass molded perfectly to the kitchen chair, I wrote 25,000 words of KENJI. It started, went to a huge battle, and ended at a length that qualifies as a book. It sucked too, like really bad. But I did it. Then I didn’t touch it for two years.
Kenji aged strangely in that time. I wrote two other books. One was a rock and roll fantasy tentatively called Cash and Rock. I wasn’t ready and I knew it, so I wrote this just for the experience and with no desire to publish it. I wanted to learn without the pressure of…pressure. No you cannot see it.
Then came a real killer idea, and it turned into Cargo Lock 5. It is a masterpiece, by the way, with one critical issue (I can’t call it a flaw, because it isn’t, but it is). The main character is a dick. I thought it’d be fun to write someone who was a throw-away, expendable, someone who you could do anything to and you’d be glad. It is fun, but it isn’t mainstream, you can’t have a main character like Detective Taylor and appear on Oprah’s Book Club. Damn it.
After Cargo Lock 5 I came back to Kenji. I knew it was there the whole time, but I hadn’t been ready to tackle it yet, like a chore you put off. But I got to work, and in about twelve months I had my first draft part two (no really, it was a first draft, after the first draft). It landed around 77,000 words and the story was absolutely incredible. I gave it a second draft to polish the writing, and I wish someone had been my mentor at that time. You see as indie author, you are on your own. And when people read Kenji, they said, “oh it’s great”. These people were all friends and family, and I could never get more out of them than that. So yeah, I published KENJI and CARGO LOCK 5 in 2010. I did a fairly decent promotion for the launch and sold a few hundred copies each. Then I needed a new project, something even better, and it became Paphos Books 1-5.
Something about writing four books, and writing every day for a few years, makes you improve as a writer and storyteller. I had great stories, but the writing was woefully inadequate. I didn’t know it in 2010, but in 2012 I had finished Paphos and took a look at my books currently for sale. I was a much better writer, and I was ashamed at what I had published. The writing was rough. Great story, bad writing, plain and simple. I couldn’t let someone read them, they were so poorly written. I was embarrassed, but not defeated. I quickly pulled KENJI and CARGO LOCK 5 off the market. I re-edited Cargo Lock 5. It took a long time, somehow I added 20k words to the story, and republished it. It’s a hit now. Unless you hate Detective Taylor. Then it’s the worst book ever (side note, he’s written that way for a very crucial reason you pansies). Do you see where this is going? Yes, once again, I came back to KENJI. It was next.
It had breathed its first breath and then sat in a closet, then like an awkward teen I dressed it and abandoned it at prom. Now we were in our prime, and I started the painful process of another coat of polish. Great story, horrible writing. This final (and it is the very final ever edit **note to me in thirty years, I don’t care if you are somehow an even better writer now, stay back!!**) re-edit of KENJI has cost another 9 months of editing, and added over 30,000 words.
It’s finally the book I set out to create. Six years ago, to now, with many projects in-between, it has matured. And it wasn’t easy. Going back, opening that vault in my mind, it’s like a thousand mile jog that you thought you had already finished. It’s been painful, but it was worth it. At least it better be! Because after all of this work, all that happens is a reader picks it up to look at it. Some will love it, but regardless of the toil involved to create it, some won’t care at all.
Such is art.
Thank you for reading.
Cargo Lock 5
PAPHOS 1 is free, if you like free
Paphos 1
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or share. It helps me continue writing, and I need all the help I can get.
Also by N.R. Burnette:
Cargo Lock 5
Paphos Books 1-5
(Download Paphos 1 free on Nook, Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, etc)
Kenji
Visit www.nrburnette.com for info about his books and videogames, such as Maneki’s Curse on STEAM Greenlight
Twitter @nrburnette
Facebook @AuthorNRBurnette
I feel like books and people are the same. Some are good, some are bad, some are in-between, and they all have their own story of how they came to be. This is the short version of what it took to bring one book, KENJI, to life. Kenji is the first book I ever wrote. It will be the third I publish.
KENJI began as a completely different story than what it became. Now it is a story of gods and demons in another dimension. It originally began as an underground sword fighting drama. I wanted to do an adventure about secret societies among us that harbor duels to the death, more or less. Kenji was to be the long lost son of the greatest swordsman ever. That is a cool story idea to me, and probably took influence from the Jademan comics I used to read in the 90’s. I’d say back when comics were cool, but they are still cool. So back when they were cooler (**some of you are saying “they couldn’t possibly be cooler than they already are because they are the coolest thing in the world” and I will silently nod in agreement…fanboys**).
I started this project with storyboards; thick, construction paper ones, to match the intensity of how I felt about this inspiration. I felt this was a great and professional sounding idea, though I had never really done them before. This was six years ago...and I have an app that tells me the year was 2008. The storyboards were really something, mostly because I can’t draw. I still have them, though they look like my first-grade son did them with crayons. They are now kind of a personal joke that I like to laugh at. But the story magic obviously lies between the ears, and I saw some cool elements taking shape. In the first 10 pages I had Kenji journey to an island for a duel and lose (without dying, which is hard to do in a sword fight but I have the power of ‘scriptonite’ which has saved many heroes to date). Kenji then finds a mentor, which most likely teaches him the secrets he needs to know. Then there is a montage to cover the actual time necessary for Kenji to master his skills without making you bored with 20 chapters of repetitive stair running and fly catching. That part was definitely influenced by movies from the 80’s, but Rocky proved the montage’s worth. So did Karate Kid. And Best of the Best. And all montage utilizing movies. Even Team America: World Police, which is quite clear about its position on montages. Where was I?
Oh yes. At some point, though I liked the rough storyboard and my stick-figures so far, I had the brilliant idea to challenge myself (pst…if you fell asleep, this part is important). I held my forefinger and thumb to my chin (with coffee in my other hand completely aglow with laptop radiation) and asked: what is so cool about this that someone will WANT to read it?
And I couldn’t answer that question.
The bubble of excitement this project once possessed now slowly evaporated, like air from a balloon. I knew it was cool, but I couldn’t see how I could convince anyone else of it. I was really bummed all of a sudden. But there was no going back. I asked the question, and I came up short. So I thought about what I could do to spice it up, and Lady Inspiration sat on my lap wearing a red silk dress. If I’m doing an Asian fantasy about sword-fighting and martial arts, why not add the fantasy elements to make it awesome. The Oni is a trademark, demon of the battlefield. I was licking my lips again. But that led to more and more changes, and Kenji was no longer just a swordsman. He had to be more, much more, and that led my story into something so different that it wasn’t recognizable from its original idea.
I always try to follow where my inspiration takes me, rather than stay cemented to my first idea. But it’s a balance, because sometimes you have to stick to that idea to keep from getting lost. Suddenly Kenji was the son of an ‘other dimensional’ Japanese god of war. I did new storyboards, jotted an outline, and now I liked it again. It was better, because I could answer that question now. The project now felt right, and that’s a very non-specific feeling that artists need. We can’t act on a project if it doesn’t feel right. You see in the beginning, the sky is the limit, but eventually you have to chisel into that stone, and you don’t always like what you start to see. That’s when writer’s block tries to smother you with shamefully open weeping.
At this great moment in my life, and also the life of this project, I was set to turn the Dirty Thirty in three days. But there was a need, something that burned inside of me; I just had to write this book first! I don’t know what kind of badge of honor I desired, but I needed to say that I had written my first book before turning 30. I had up to that point been writing casually for about six months, all of them short stories, just learning the ropes. So in 3 days, with my ass molded perfectly to the kitchen chair, I wrote 25,000 words of KENJI. It started, went to a huge battle, and ended at a length that qualifies as a book. It sucked too, like really bad. But I did it. Then I didn’t touch it for two years.
Kenji aged strangely in that time. I wrote two other books. One was a rock and roll fantasy tentatively called Cash and Rock. I wasn’t ready and I knew it, so I wrote this just for the experience and with no desire to publish it. I wanted to learn without the pressure of…pressure. No you cannot see it.
Then came a real killer idea, and it turned into Cargo Lock 5. It is a masterpiece, by the way, with one critical issue (I can’t call it a flaw, because it isn’t, but it is). The main character is a dick. I thought it’d be fun to write someone who was a throw-away, expendable, someone who you could do anything to and you’d be glad. It is fun, but it isn’t mainstream, you can’t have a main character like Detective Taylor and appear on Oprah’s Book Club. Damn it.
After Cargo Lock 5 I came back to Kenji. I knew it was there the whole time, but I hadn’t been ready to tackle it yet, like a chore you put off. But I got to work, and in about twelve months I had my first draft part two (no really, it was a first draft, after the first draft). It landed around 77,000 words and the story was absolutely incredible. I gave it a second draft to polish the writing, and I wish someone had been my mentor at that time. You see as indie author, you are on your own. And when people read Kenji, they said, “oh it’s great”. These people were all friends and family, and I could never get more out of them than that. So yeah, I published KENJI and CARGO LOCK 5 in 2010. I did a fairly decent promotion for the launch and sold a few hundred copies each. Then I needed a new project, something even better, and it became Paphos Books 1-5.
Something about writing four books, and writing every day for a few years, makes you improve as a writer and storyteller. I had great stories, but the writing was woefully inadequate. I didn’t know it in 2010, but in 2012 I had finished Paphos and took a look at my books currently for sale. I was a much better writer, and I was ashamed at what I had published. The writing was rough. Great story, bad writing, plain and simple. I couldn’t let someone read them, they were so poorly written. I was embarrassed, but not defeated. I quickly pulled KENJI and CARGO LOCK 5 off the market. I re-edited Cargo Lock 5. It took a long time, somehow I added 20k words to the story, and republished it. It’s a hit now. Unless you hate Detective Taylor. Then it’s the worst book ever (side note, he’s written that way for a very crucial reason you pansies). Do you see where this is going? Yes, once again, I came back to KENJI. It was next.
It had breathed its first breath and then sat in a closet, then like an awkward teen I dressed it and abandoned it at prom. Now we were in our prime, and I started the painful process of another coat of polish. Great story, horrible writing. This final (and it is the very final ever edit **note to me in thirty years, I don’t care if you are somehow an even better writer now, stay back!!**) re-edit of KENJI has cost another 9 months of editing, and added over 30,000 words.
It’s finally the book I set out to create. Six years ago, to now, with many projects in-between, it has matured. And it wasn’t easy. Going back, opening that vault in my mind, it’s like a thousand mile jog that you thought you had already finished. It’s been painful, but it was worth it. At least it better be! Because after all of this work, all that happens is a reader picks it up to look at it. Some will love it, but regardless of the toil involved to create it, some won’t care at all.
Such is art.
Thank you for reading.
Cargo Lock 5
PAPHOS 1 is free, if you like free
Paphos 1
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or share. It helps me continue writing, and I need all the help I can get.
Also by N.R. Burnette:
Cargo Lock 5
Paphos Books 1-5
(Download Paphos 1 free on Nook, Kindle, iBooks, Kobo, etc)
Kenji
Visit www.nrburnette.com for info about his books and videogames, such as Maneki’s Curse on STEAM Greenlight
Twitter @nrburnette
Facebook @AuthorNRBurnette
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Evan
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Sep 02, 2014 09:11PM
Absolutely wonderful backstory on the development of these books! I'm always interested in hearing about the evolution of stories - especially when they pull a 180 and end up as something else.
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Evan wrote: "Absolutely wonderful backstory on the development of these books! I'm always interested in hearing about the evolution of stories - especially when they pull a 180 and end up as something else."Me too Evan, after absorbing a story I love to read the documentaries and behind the scenes. Every story really does have a story behind it.
