Five Questions for Christopher Paolini

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Did you always know you wanted to be a writer, or was it more of a hobby when you started?

It was definitely a hobby. I loved reading, and I loved the feelings and images that a good story would create within me, but I never imagined that I could pursue writing (or storytelling in general) as a career. In fact, my main desire back then was for adventure. In an earlier era, I think I would have gone to sea or some such. Failing that, I decided to write about the sorts of adventures that I wanted to have, most of which involved riding a dragon.

What inspired you to return to the world of Eragon?

A deep affection for the world and the characters. No matter how many books I write in my life, the World of Eragon will always be my first love. I worked on the series from the age of fifteen all the way until twenty-seven. It’s imprinted on my brain and personality to a degree that’s hard to overstate.

I’ve always intended to write more books in the setting. However, I was specifically inspired by, of all things, a tweet. (Or should I say, an Xing?) A number of years ago, when I was in the midst of rewriting To Sleep in a Sea of Stars, a fan asked me what Murtagh was up to at that moment. It was way past my bedtime, and I was feeling a bit punchy, and as a result, I replied as follows:

At one point (after Inheritance), Murtagh enchanted a fork to be as deadly as any sword. He called it Mr. Stabby. Thorn was not amused.

Absurd though it was, the idea stuck with me, and in 2018, when I decided to finish a collection of short stories set in Alagaësia, I thought back to that tweet. With some adaptation, it formed the basis for the first story in what became The Fork, the Witch, and the Worm, the first volume in Tales from Alagaësia. (Will there be a second volume? Indubitably.)

That story, as many readers will recall, was written from the point of view of a young girl named Essie, not Murtagh, but even so, I could feel the outline of a larger tale coalescing around that core, one that might serve as a proper, full-sized return to Alagaësia.

And so it proved.

You started writing the Inheritance Cycle series as a teenager. What was it like returning to the magic of that world as an adult?

Like coming home after a long journey. It doesn’t matter how long I live: writing about these characters and this setting will always be second nature to me. That’s not to say writing Murtagh didn’t have certain challenges. But I found it an incredibly joyful and rewarding experience to delve back into this world. It makes me want to write a lot more books in the World of Eragon.

How has your writing routine changed between writing Eragon and today?

I suppose the biggest difference is discipline. When I started, I allowed myself to write whenever I felt like it. These days I don’t have that luxury, especially with small children in the house. So I work during fixed hours every day, and I make sure to really, really put in the prep work with regard to plot, characters, and world-building before I write so much as a single word. I don’t ever want to write a first draft that has to be pretty much completely rewritten (which was the case with To Sleep in a Sea of Stars).

Did anything surprise you while you were writing Murtagh?

Lots of things! But the biggest one was how much more there was to Murtagh as a character. I thought I already understood him. And I did. But he and his dragon, Thorn, were so much richer than I anticipated, and that richness added to every scene. Writing them was incredibly rewarding and educational . . . and I can’t wait for folks to read this book.