This time around we’ll be interviewing Ivan Kal, with his recent Infinite Realm release, Shirtaloon with He Who Fights with Monsters, and Jacevamor a relatively recent author who is making waves.

The interview questions were formed by me because it’s what I wanted to ask them at that moment, yet I still hope others enjoy their answers nonetheless. The questions and answers were received through email only. The text is transcribed word for word (and spelling/grammar issues) with no alterations.

Second up, we have JaceVAmor and his unchosen champion series!

Comparatively, JaceVAmor is a new author, first hitting Royal Road 7 months ago with his LitRPG hit. Royal Road’s statistics show he has a little over 2k followers, and is quickly approaching 750k total views of his work, not counting his Patreon. His series is known for its settlement-building system, grinding monster of a protagonist, and interesting take on universal factions in a system apocalypse setting.

JaceVAmor’s about me: Unavailable. Author asked for just his name and link to his RR page.

RR page: Link

Your novel is a part of the LitRPG genre, and your protagonist focuses on grinding monsters to gain levels. If I recall correctly, he needed to kill thousands of the same monster type in order to gain a level and title. What made you want to create a grinder, and are you worried it will one day phase out in interest?

That’s right! 16,391 kills of each monster variant to achieve a corresponding Slayer title. A title that rewards a quantity of stats that most reasonable people in the story’s universe would say is not worth the effort, but it’s worth it for the protagonist due to other choices that increase the value of raw stats for his personal build. It’s my attempt to give the protagonist a path to gain power that isn’t particularly special as he isn’t supposed to be the ‘chosen one.’

I am absolutely sure that there are readers who get fed up with the grinding because they tell me! Personally, I consider the grind sessions as a sort of miniature progression arc where the individual monster variants present a small, more granular, challenge. The protagonist has to find a way to overcome them with some tactical trial and error. Once he finds a solution he pushes the efficiency further and further until he is mowing down the same monsters that presented an initial challenge while adding some skills to his future toolkit. I think the idea is fun.

As for why I decided to create a grinder, there are actually several reasons: there is a lot of influence on the story from ARPG games which are notoriously grindy, I didn’t want there to be any question as to why the main character gets as strong as he does or whether or not he earned it, the relentless combat felt like an appropriate personification of the Revenant class, and I think there’s a kind of meditative quality in grinding that I find appealing as a gamer myself. Most importantly, I didn’t want the story to be constantly escalating in intensity in order to drive the progression. Instead of a struggle of life and death, sometimes the struggle is more of a monster-based puzzle. I might have traded exhausting for boring, but I’m sure there’s a balance to be found somewhere in between. I’ll do my best to find it.

Your protagonist is already very powerful for the world he finds himself in, are you worried about running into issues with finding him a challenge? What are some ideas you’ve come up with? 

It was certainly a concern, but one of the very first things that I nailed down was the protagonist’s build, including all of his skills. I think that helped establish what would be required for a challenge at each point in the story, which in turn helped set them up in advance.

The main idea is that monster power is determined by mana concentrations and passive accumulation. Using that as the baseline, I can establish that there are locations with higher concentrations which can create dungeon-like environments, random wild powerhouses, or have special monsters that actively accumulate instead of passively.

I think being overpowered is part of the fun, so I’m not really scared of letting the protagonist’s power escalate when compared to others in the story, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t threats looming around the corner. It also doesn’t mean that every challenge has to be directed at him. He has a settlement and companions that are progressing at various rates for him to worry about as well.

Why LitRPG? Why not just go high or epic fantasy? 

I really like it when the stats go up. When I first started thinking about the story I had two things locked in: the premise and the main character’s build. The original premise was basically aliens putting Earth into a box and running a battle royale, which could have fallen under several genres, but I think the protagonist’s build absolutely needs stats to justify its snowballing power. The whole foundation of his build is based on his overwhelming escalation of stats.

It is hard to make it in writing nowadays, as the market is completely flooded, and you’re a fairly new act on the scene. What are your plans for obtaining staying power, and what are your expectations moving forward as an author in a genre filled to the brim with new books?

I believe that persistence is key for someone in my position as an unestablished, fresh author, so my plans revolve around maintaining a consistent schedule, building good habits, and gaining experience. It’s still a real long shot for me to turn this into a career, but I’m taking everything one step at a time. For now, I’m committed to finishing my first story. I’ll keep writing as long as I can, I’ll just dedicate more or less time depending on financial realities when it comes to future projects.

Your writing is already stated to be in Book 4 on Patreon, and you have written quite quickly. What would you say is your secret to really sitting down and punching the keys?

I think the only reason I’ve been so prolific is that I outlined the story before I started writing. I always know exactly where the story is going next, and that really helps keep everything moving.

Other than that, the truth is, compared to what I’ve read about other writers, I am extremely slow. I just put some music on and do my best everyday. Writing has been fun and no one is more excited about my story than I am. If there’s a secret I’ve stumbled upon, it’s probably that I planned a story that I’m personally enthusiastic about and that I can’t wait to finish.

There’s the finale! I’ve personally followed JaceVAmor’s story since its inception and have greatly enjoyed his progress. Thank you to the author for doing this, and I hope you continue writing for many years to come.

Categories: Discovery and Writing Tips Interview Reviews and Interviews

Tagged as: abnormalvaverage jacevamor litrpg writing tips

abnormalvaverage

I'm a high school English teacher in Texas. I also hold degrees in radiography and radio and television broadcasting. Though I obtained certain knowledge and skills from my prior degrees, I do not currently use them.