Eeeeeeep! It's that time of the year guys! All of us Aussies are inside with the air con on full blast or getting scorched in the pool. Not to mention the carols, fairy lights, cooking, presents, and endless music and skit practices.
Christmas.
People who know my family and I, would know that we go slightly crazy around Christmas. Carols 24/7. Tree chopping and decorating at the start of December. House decorating and our lovely nativity set is begun in November. Carols start in October. It's a time full of love, prayers, and light.
We all love Christmas, and the meaning.
When I was about five, I remember asking my mum what made Christmas so special. Since then, I've read so much more of the Bible, and the AWESOMNESS of it all revealed itself. There are over 300 messianic prophecies in the Old Testement. And they started clearly in Genesis 3, when God tells Satan that from Eve will come a man who would crush Satan with his feet. So yeah, God is awesome.
But my favourite thing about Christmas is probably best described as this: the Light of the World Dwelling with Us.
His light in our world of darkness, evil, brokenness and chaos. The ultimate light.
Well, as it is around Christmas, I will admit that this post is short. But anyways! Happy Christmas everyone!
As I am Australian, I figured I should toss this in. (Apologies for the bad spelling.)
Sorry guys for me failing at posting last Thursday! And I'm really sorry, as my pretty images aren't working, so you will have to live until I can update this on something more advanced than an iPod.
Christmas is coming now that NaNo is over! Not sure about everyone else, but our family are very Christmasy at the moment, and are loving the excuse to be listening to music about The Light coming into the world.
Aside from all of the awesome Christmas things, I have been doing more of the history of Miritain and the Mythology.
Since there is a prophecy, there must have been a story behind it, and so I have been working on that.
One of the things I had been worrying about when I started doing it, was that I wouldn't be able to make it connected and realistic to the actual story. But the more I have written, the more perfectly it fits together; from names to events.
Not only that, but I have had more of a chance to look more into the Remnants and other awesome creatures like a Rehtora which is an eagle that can turn into a deer. My main figure in the history of Miritain is Glayde, and he has a pet Rehtora called Travier. (Also important to the story).
The main thing I want to tell you guys is that the myths can be woven into a story later without feeling tacked on. Make sure that it is realistic, and, often it is cool to have people named after some of the prominent figures like they are today. I have one of my characters in Chosen by Fire called Travier, named after Glayde’s pet Rehtora.
Now, I feel in an excerpty mood, so, I will toss in a few snippets!
I'm not the real villain. The newspaper crunches in my tightening fist and I fling it at the stone wall opposite to the one I lean on. Maybe I am no villain, but the community certainly feels like painting it that way. My fingers creep up to my neck to rub the stone that hangs there on its fine chain. My last memory of her, and the most condemning evidence against my case. Her tears fill my vision, soon morphing into the desperation on Hazac’s face. “I’m sorry Daria.” My mouth moves and still no words escape. They never can.
***
Travier swoops down to my shoulder with a piercing cry, as my feet thud over the pavement. She can't get us now. We're so close. The Rehtora leaps to the ground and his features alter as he hops along; each jerking hop turning into a graceful bound. Soon a fully grown stag runs along beside me. I plant my hands on his back and vault up. “Good boy Travier, let’s get out of here.” He tosses his head and gallops faster. I crane my head to look over my shoulder. No one can catch me. No one can find the Remnant Hunter, Eagle Archer, Magic Tamer. I am Glayde.
There you are! Some of the excerpts from the legends of Miritain’s past.
And now for the Inspiration.
"I am Real."
You got any cool myths and stories? I love to chat!
Don’t get side tracked now guys! Smash out those words! *recalls guiltily the amount of times that I have been distracted during NaNo* Hmmm… Well, maybe being distracted isn’t too bad…
Congrats for making it through NaNovember alive! At least… I hope you all survived it. Even if you characters didn’t.
As you may have gathered, often NaNo comes with a loooot of lovely little distractions. I mean, who doesn’t love to procrastinate? And what better time to do so than when you have a time limit? And, I mean, sometimes you can procrastinate on task! At least, that’s what I keep telling myself.
So, for your amusement as an end of NaNo reward I figured I’d give you a list of great distractions that are on task—complete with examples!
1. The Insane Story Researching
Yup. This is often a form of procrastination. But… isn’t it just so much fun to look into something with so much depth that you have the knowledge on the topic as a surgeon? Or as a victim to knifing? Or as a murderer? Isn’t just so cool to know all of these things to such an extent that you can fully relate? And describe it to perfection?
My main case of this during the month was in my research on running about with a guitar, burns and forest fires. A quick glance through my search history makes me look like I am a musical pyromaniac. (Although… I think that may not be too inaccurate… )
I am willing to take a guess that I spent about 4 hours researching different degrees of burns in a day, and my brother also happened to be a research tool. Please note: the burn on his hand and arm were NOT caused by me, I merely figured I would question him on what the type of pain felt like and examine all of the pictures of it with what was apparently a morbid fascination.
I learnt from this that the pain of second degree burns—I hope you have that notebook of random story research facts out all of you NaNo procrastinators who are reading this instead of frantically writing words—is late in coming. The instant effect is shock and a feeling of near separation of your mind to your body. After a few minutes a stinging and tearing pain (Also known as a burning pain) comes in. It causeses your muscles to seize up and rates high on the pain scale (on someone with high pain tolerance about a 7-8.) Appearance-wise, it is little more than red skin. Red angry skin. Depending on the area and the severity, it could release a pus, or bleed.
The heat also does not tend to vanish straight away as some people believe, but can last for days. The particular case that involved my brother was a burn caused by oil which meant it clung to his skin in a way that I would imagine magical flames would.
After a few weeks, a second degree burn will go down to a less noticeable pink scarring that mostly would be permanent. Burns can do damage to tissue and any weak tissues or thin muscles could be destroyed completely.
But yes, that is some of what I learnt and spent time procrastinating on.
2. Pretty Collages
Okay guys. This is the main one I have a tendency to get caught up on. I mean, it’s on topic, just not on task, and, and, and, it’s fun! To quote Jane Maree when I mentioned that I was distracted but on taks by collages, she described this as an example of the exchange I am sure most of us go through…
Person: What are you doing?
Writer: I’m writing.
Person: With pictures?
Writer: Uhmm…Yeah?
I completely cracked up when that was how it was described, ‘writing with pictures’ But it really is like that. You get to form more about your characters through a pretty collage, and they are useful just to have around when you need a certain mood.
And they look pretty.
That’s always a bonus.
So, I figured I would give you guys a chance to look at some of the fun collages I did during this NaNo!
So yeah, I enjoyed doing all of the pretty collages. And getting very distracted while doing them. But it was a good kinda distracted. And I did look back on all of those during my writing to get ideas and to get into the mood. (Shhh, I know that you’re meant to get these things prepared before you do NaNo, to do it in the planning time, but oh well! xP)
3. After the End Stories
Don’t bother denying this. We have all at least thought of some sweet scenes that just make us all happy in the inside while we are being horrible to our characters. I may or may not have written these ideas done.
In the form of stories.
I have hunted through my pile of little snippets of what happens after it is all over to see if tere are any with no spoilers in case any of you guys do happen to read this one day. *Mind explodes at the thought of perhaps publishing it* Anyways. All of the scary thoughts aside, here is a spoiler-free (in other words, I have changed a few names, but you may still be able to take a guess) snippet: Life. I breathe it in as the wind buffets my face gently. The world is full of it. My eyelids slide lazily open and I gaze out over the plains. The blackened ground is almost fully covered in the green gasses that come so lushly after a fire. A smile spreads across my face and I turn back to the small cottages. Never before had the gardens in Miritain grown as they do now. Vines clamber over the house and flowers the size of my hand laugh with me. My feet carry me down to the door of the first, smaller, cottage. Home. Anna and Travis’s voices are quiet in the next house as I turn the handle, stepping into the simple two room cottage. We made it, and we are alive. 4. Music Playlists
My other pet love in procrastination has to be making these fun little playlists. I mean, it’s like a collage, but with music! And you can listen to them while writing! What more could anyone want? I’m going to keep my list pretty small, just the one I listened to while writing in general… Not the ones for each characters… Or for different scenes. Or just about any of the other ones.
Random Lute Music
Scarlet (Brooke Fraser)
Broken (Steven Curtis Chapman)
Pandora
Wishing Well (Oh Hellos)
Burn Like a Star (Rend Collective)
Skyrim Theme (Peter Hollens)
Wilderness (Taylor Davis)
Awakening (Taylor Davis)
Starfire (Taylor Davis)
Hidden Falls (Taylor Davis)
Highland Spirit (Taylor Davis)
Tales of the Wind (Taylor Davis)
Gateway (Taylor Davis)
Morning Star (Taylor Davis)
Bishop of Burrill (Colin Buchanan)
House #163 (Colin Buchanan)
So, there’s a reasonably short playlist. And if you didn’t recognise any of those titles, YOU SHOULD GO AND WATCH THEM!!!
5. Talking to Friends
Yes. I have a life during NaNo.
I often talk to friends when I am ‘writing’ and often it’s about my annoying characters, or cool scenes, or sharing story research. But it really can be good to actually have a social life—even when you are writing madly. You need to have friends, and you need people who can keep you sane and writing for God.
So, there are all of my confessions, so, I suppose after all of this you probably still want Inspiration. Well, do not fear, it is just here!
Well, there you go! What are your favorite ways of procrastinating?
Sooooo, as some of you maaaaaaay know… *Takes a deep breath to calm down* *Epically fails and leaps about in excitement*
I DIIIIIIIIIID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAH!
*After a year or two of flailing and screaming…*
Okay, okay. I completed NaNoWriMo. 50k by day 20. Eeep!
As you can imagine, I have been veeeery excited about this, and therefore figured I’d let you, privileged readers of Inspiration, look at a few cool things and snippets from my WIP.
At 50k, I am at the climax of my fantasy novel, Chosen by Fire and figured I’d give you all an update of what has been happening in the book, and what has been happening in NaNoWriMo.
So, first off, this NaNoWriMo was unusually chaotic. Mainly because my sister is having a wedding in a few days, so, that meant a lot of excited business, and not tons of time for writing. Plus, there were exams, music nights, excursions and school in general, so, yeah. That drains a fair amount of time available to write in. But it was still a whole heap of fun, and, I would love to do it next year. *Tries to ignore the fact the I will be in year 12 for that.* I can totally do it.
Now, onwards to the novel.
I found that writing Chosen by Fire was a really cool experience. Mainly because I had a few unusual twists planned, and I wrote it in a totally different style. This was my first ever case of trying for First Person Present Tense, and I loved it. Every now and then it was hard, particularly at the start as it was my first ever time, but eventually I got into the flow of it.
I ended up learning a lot more about my characters as I wrote, particularly Caeden, my epic street musician whose instrument changed halfway through the book. Mainly as I realised that it must be quite a challenge to run through streets and jump onto roofs with a guitar… so, it swapped to a lute.
Here’s a snippet of me realising that I seriously needed to change the instrument for this to work…
‘ I’ve given this town all I have and it has given nothing back to me. I glare up at the snowing clouds as I hug my guitar closer to my body. Snow is certainly a successful way of ruining business. The only people who are stupid enough to walk along the streets are Callers, and most of the store tenders hadn’t even come. Oh yes. And then there is the random street guitarist who thinks that snow is fine to play in. I shift the position of my guitar slightly and tuck a hand under my arm. So cold. Pickles race over my skin and I shiver—glancing behind me. My muscles pull tighter than my guitar strings. He’s still following me. Why is he following me? With a low growl I push my aching bones into a jog. I need to get away. I can’t let them keep sticking onto me like this. Snow cushions my shoes so that they only release a soft thud and the running warms me up. Maybe this isn’t such a bad thing to do anyway. I duck behind a house and jump, sliding my guitar onto a low shed roof before climbing up to the main house’s rooftop with it. Please don’t let him find me now. It vaguely crosses my mind that running away may not be the best idea if I’m trying to look completely innocent. My back presses into the mud roof and I try to force my breathing to still. My limbs start to shiver again. So cold. Why does it have to be this cold? Footstep thud past where I lie, powdery snow dulling them to a soft, muffled sound. A sigh escapes my chest as they move past the house. Rolling, I move to the edge and peer over. No one. I drop to the ground, bending my knees at the impact and instantly straightening, with the guitar still clutched in my hand. Maybe doing stunts like that is not such a brilliant idea with a guitar. Why a guitar? Couldn’t I have picked a more practical instrument? ’
So yes. After a few incidences of Caeden jumping on roofs and running through markets with a guitar, I figured I should swap it for something more manageable. So, a lute it was.
I also realised that the world building ended up coming a lot more into my novel than I thought it would. My characters were constantly bombarded by strange creatures, explosive flowers, and last minute travelling. I realised pretty quickly that I did not have any names for the structuring of the towns and country… so, that became rather confusing rather quickly.
‘ “We need to go to the Ninth Sector.” My breath fogs up in front of me and my lute swings gently by it’s strap—tapping on my thigh. “We are already in the Ninth Sector.” I turn to Jade with a slight frown on my face. Has she never studied Miritain’s town structure? My frown deepens. I guess I haven’t either. “Like...” I wave my hands about vaguely, “The Ninth Ninth Sector.” Jade’s steady pace comes to a halt and she turns to face me, her eyebrows shooting into her reddish hair, “The ‘Ninth Ninth Sector?’ Honestly?” With a casual finger she flicks some hair from her eyes. “What in Miritain is that meant to be?” Why does she always have to turn everything I say into an argument? Maybe it’s because of the fire stuff. “The middle big circle sector in the middle of the big circle town in the middle of the big circle country.” She blinks. ’
… Maybe in my second draft I can come up with a better system of ordering my country, sectors and towns… *shrugs* Let’s leave that for another time.
One of the things I was most excited about though, was getting up to the climax. It was cool to finally get up to the most dramatic point.
Now, in case you don’t know about this already, my main character, Jade DeArchet, is the Chosen One of an ancient prophecy, and the only one with fire magic (Or any magic for that case) left in Miritain. She is the only one who can possibly save her world from this danger that lies in their government—the corrupt Callers.
So, she sounds like a pretty cliche main character. The biggest stereotype of all time.
What I’ve done to ammend this is to make her not want to save the world. She is a coward. Her sidekick who has dragged her along on this mission the whole time is a courageous musician with no sign of any magic.
So when at the climax, does Jade actually follow through to fulfil the prophecy? Or will she run away and fail yet again? (Mwahahaha, I feel so evil now.)
Here are some snippets of the general area for you to look at and torment yourself more with! (Hopefully…)
‘ I’m here. My eyes drift up to gaze at the massive pillar. Caeden urges me forwards with a slight nod of his head. ‘All you need to do is burn the pole. Bring magic back into the fiery heart of Miritain.’ I bite my lips as Travier’s words writhe through my mind. Light it on fire Jade. My trembling hand drifts upwards—palm out towards the massive pillar. You can do this. … I whip my head around—gaping at the quickly disappearing figure down the tunnel. Dakried steps closer again, a smirk playing with the corners of his mouth. “You can’t win. Not anymore.” … Staggering blindly backwards and falling to the ground with his body on top of me, I fling my arm out towards the pillar. Fire roars and billows up. Dakried’s body freezes above me—his grip on my throat loosening briefly. That’s all I need to roll away, coughing and rubbing my neck. “You did it.” His voice rings through the room despite the crackling of the fire. “You…” … The scorching heat of fire overwhelms me. Why can’t I control it? A scream rips from my throat and I stagger forwards, trying to fend my way through the blur of agony and flames. How could this happen? ’
Well, there you go. A few little snippets from the climax area for you to read. Sorry that it is rather first draftish, that was a busy day.
Well, I reckon I have talked enough. Now, I must give some Inspiration to get you through this last stretch of NaNoWriMo-ing
Eeep! I still can’t get over all of this! Yay! How are you going with NaNo? Have you had any interesting discoveries about your characters?
The week has been interesting. Let’s just say that.
I mean, it isn’t everyday that you can say you have painted mosquitoes getting married.
Or poured out the blood of your enemies upon the ground.
Or had a friend escort your dying self back from a hayshed.
Or sat and smelt old books for about an hour while listening to Colin Buchanan and teaching Indonesian to a friend. (Nevermind, I do that every day. xP)
Anyways, I had a fun weekend with Larissa. She’s an awesome friend of mine who is an aspiring artist and writer, as well as having a passion for God and a heart for India. She came over on the weekend and we had a whole heap of fun.
Aaaaaand, there is something else veeeery exciting. *Nods* Nadine Brands has revealed her cover for her new book, Fawks. AND IT LOOKS SO EPIC! Look here at Jane's blog to see it for yourself if you haven't. (Look at it if you have as well, just cos it is so awesome!!!)
But anyways. Amidst all of this, I did get some writing done! Yay! So, onwards to the post!
Magical creatures and plants have played a large role in My NaNoWriMo Novel, Chosen by Fire, so far. I mean, I’ve had Anrail trees,(When burnt they release a gas that prevents pain and often induces sleep) Lieliten flowers,(They explode, fun times!) esorays (Similar to a goanna) and maltacs (Birds that are attracted to fire and could rip you into little pieces). So yes, I have been having some fun with these shreds of magic in nature.
Raise your hand if you have read the Wingfeather Saga? *raises hand* Keep your hand up if you loved the fact that it had Toothy Cows, Fangs of Dang and Rockroaches? *Keeps hand up* *Surveys the countless number of hands* Well. Fascinating. I think you guys actually like the fact that this fantasy had creatures in it that are not just dragons, fairies, and other normal mythical creatures. You actually seem to like these unique ones.
Maybe you should be writing them.
“But I don’t have any ideas!”
Nope. If you have no ideas, well, do you have little siblings? Or just any little kids in general?
A little while back, my little cousin, Ann, gave Jane beautiful artwork with a collection of “One Eyed Splooges.” She made them up. She drew them. And guess what? She made herself her own fantasy creature. Can you draw Inspiration off that? Or off some other hilarious thing that some little cute kiddo has created? Because ideas are so ready and exciting in a little kid’s mind. They are always imagining. *Realises that that hasn’t ended for me yet* Well, I guess I am still a little kid then.
Go fishing for that crazy imagination that you have. Create something aside from dragons and talking horses. (Don’t get me wrong though, I love dragons and talking horses.)
So, now onto my Inspiration for you guys…
Yay! You feel Inspired by the randomness? Anyone? I love to chat!
NaNo is a very hungry monster, and likes to eat lives. *Nods* Mhm. It eats our lives.
*Cue everyone running away screaming*
Do not fear! This is not necessarily a bad thing! You just need to control it a little bit.
Today I realised that it was Thursday and I had noooo clue what I should do for a blog post. I mentioned this to Jane and she said, “You could just do a blog post about how NaNo ate your blog post.” So, that is what I shall do!
When the calendars flipped over to November a deadly beast cracked open its eyes from a year long slumber. The NaNoWriMo Dragon has awoken.
Reports have been made that it has been sighted as far as Australia, and yet also circling around in America. Many countries are terrorised by the beast. Writers have ganged together online to fend off the monster, but some of our bravest warriors have fallen. The desperate battle to reach 50k is strongly underway now at day 9 for the Australians and less for the others.
We have thankfully been able to see our progress as we write, and mine for Chosen by Fire is on a steady course, despite having have been attacked by the dragon’s sly mid point attack—trying to slow down my writing by making the section seem boring.
How does one get past the evil dragon’s cunning attacks? Well, brace yourselves! Arm yourselves with word wars, character arcs, plot ideas, and a list of convenient names for those characters who you really should have thought of a name for.
Above all, ignore the evil dragon when he tells you that you are a cruel person when you kill that two year old adorable girl. *Sniffs, grabbing a handful of tissues* Don’t let his words get to you! Remember, it helps for character development!
Finally, your prompt to get you through these hard times. I wish all of you luck facing the beast of NaNoWriMo.
Yay! Good luck brave NaNo Warriors! Go forth and slay the dragon with this Inspiration!
Anyways, as you have gathered, NaNoWriMo has arrived! Yay! And my exams are over, so, hopefully I will have some time to write!
I haven’t actually written much so far this NaNo. Normally I am much further on than I am on my current 3648 words of Chosen by Fire. But what I have written I believe to be pretty good. Not as traumatic as the last intro/chapter that I wrote for the Survivor trilogy. No one has died in it yet. (notice the ‘yet’ :P)
I have—however—done some severe damage, and I feel like sharing a few snippets of me torturing my characters while happily sipping a cup of tea… seeing that this is a post to do with NaNoWriMo and all!
So, heeeere they are!
“Fire is my closest friend.” The whisper releases a faint puff of mist from my mouth that makes the flames on my fingertips flicker and sway. ~~~ I don’t want to die. My hands shove against Pierre’s chest with all of my strength; my vision a blur. He stumbles back with a scream of agony. Why? Heat roars around me. Smoke. What’s happening? ~~~ I relax slightly, leaning against the trunk. A tidal wave of emotions slam into me. Pierre. The memory of his burned flesh is fresh in my mind. How did this happen? I suppose it was always going to, but to Pierre? I shiver, wrapping my arms around my body for both comfort and warmth. Tears fall and dampen my skirt. I let them. What if he dies? I shove the thought from my mind, but it pushes back in. “He won’t die.” My whisper sounds out of place in the forest. “He won’t die, and nor will I.” I close my eyes and let the tears stream down my face. ~~~ My breath is a faint whisper in the sound of the dawn—loneliness in a forest of life and company. “Fire is my only friend.” ~~~
Well, I hope that wasn’t too depressing.
I figured that while I was on the topic of torturing character I may as well say few things about torturing characters. Or just being mean in general.
The first thing obviously is not to be mean if it doesn’t bring emotion. It’s always a disappointment for me in a book when something bad happens and I can shrug it off and not be at all affected by it.
Another thing is to not feel bad for being mean to your characters. That’s what makes them grow. That’s what makes your story worth reading.
I love books that murder my feels. *cough* A Time to Die*cough* And I love trying to write it.
And if you also try to write this, then know this—
I have never managed to write as feelsey of a scene as ones that I have read. As much as I try I can’t get it. It needs practice. So don’t touch that backspace button. Leave it alone. Just keep writing it. Eventually, it will flow out naturally. Sometimes it will be better than others. Just listen to lots of depressing music and that helps you feel the mood you are trying to create.
Don’t give up on torturing your characters!
So, here is a prompt just for you people who want to torture your characters and other people’s feels.
There you go! Any Inspiration? Questions? Have fun!
Yep! This is a laaaaaaate post. I had scheduled it and all because I was going to be away on an AWESOME trip to the Opera House to listen to a string quartet, as well as being part of a Mass Choir singing many songs including Mozart's Requiem (It was insane), but my post never came through apparently. *scowls* But the trip was fun, and I shall be doing a post on Thursday as per usual.
So, here is the belated post!
Last post, I was asked about my world for this novel, and, well, I love world building. Therefore you will get a post on just that!
The first thing that I feel must be said is this; World building is not always fun to everyone. And no, it is not genetic. I know two sisters, one who loooooooooooooves world building, and the other who runs the opposite direction. I happen to love it. Then again, I love most planning with systems and creating rules, places and other fun stuff.
In Chosen by Fire, I have only planned out the country, not the full world. Namely because one doesn’t see any interaction of the country with the rest of the world, and also that the country is an island. So, no trading with other countries!
I have an unusual world, particularly for fantasy. In fact, a lot of the structure fits more clearly into dystopian. Because the land was run by magic a while before my story, the very structure of the place is symbolic, and the maps of the countries, and of the individual towns would look near the same. Here is a picture of what Jade’s town looks like…
(Sorry for it being so blurry!)
Now, for the entire country, it is also divided up into those lots. This means that in the Farm Land area in Miritain, it would be a mostly farming community.
The random thing in the middle of the picture is also quite important to the plot. In the history of Miritain, that was where the magical flames would burn; a symbol of power. As soon as one of those beacons went out, all of them would. If this happened, then the previous prosperity of the country would cease.
One of the other major things that I love about world building is the history.
As you can see from my excerpt above, I have written and planned my history of the world. Does that come into the story? Very slightly. However, this in general is a useful tool. Adding landmarks and feature of history and culture to your world makes it more believable. Think of Narnia with the Stone Table and the Lamp Post. Those are part of it’s history, and just make it more real. It had relics that have been there for a long time.
It has a past.
One problem a lot of people find when writing fantasy worlds, is that they are very cliche. They just fall back on what they know is awesome; C.S.Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien. I love both of them, but, most people cannot re-write their worlds in such a way that I like them.
So, how do you avoid writing a new Middle Earth or Narnia?
As weird as it is, I would say start with a sketch. Sketch out your world and then draw in the divisions. What are the politics like? Who talks to who?
And above all, have fun in your world building. Go with what you can feel inside you. Make a world that suits what you need, and make it real. Write a history.
So, after all of that on the grand art of world building, maybe some Inspiration would help?
Tell me about your world! Are you Inspired? Feel free to chat!
As you have probably gathered from my last post, I am in Plotting for NaNo Mode. (Trust me, that's a legitimate thing… Condition even.) So… I have another post that has a lot of cool stuff for you strange, mythical race of people who are known as writers.
You people who use magic to make worlds for at the tip of your fingers.
You people who hold that fate of countless lives in your hands.
Yes. I am talking to you.
My main character in Chosen by Fire, Jade DeArchet, is a fire mage. So, that means she has magic.
It didn’t take too long in my planning to realise that I was in a foreign area. I hadn’t ever worked with magic systems before, so, how does one do it? I used the magical skill I had—Google. (Wow, that sounds like an ad, maybe I should go into marketing some day….)
Anyways, I hunted about and basically got one clear message; Magic has to come with a cost. Now that’s fair enough. You don’t want limitless magic and characters being super overpowered. But how can one make a magic system of costs?
There are a few ideas about the place. Y’know, if you use magic you will slowly transform into something. You could suffer nausea, fatigue. Maybe it requires a sacrifice. Maybe it is sporadic and dependent on a much greater power.
I decided to go with a chance of loss of control.
Sooooo, I had to come up with a system to have this all neatly arranged so that I could calculate how much fire magic she could use before she loses control, resulting in a bushfire. Now, this was an interesting process, so, here are some tips for anyone else considering doing something similar.
I use spreadsheets. Label one column, “Magic” the next “Cost” and then the last one “Calculating.” Then go ahead and write in the type of magic in the first and then put a number in the second. Put in numbers and then decide what your max will be before the loss of control happens. Then, while writing, just add up the numbers. Its pretty easy.
But you know what all of you magical writers? Magic is less terrifying when you get into it than it is when you’re staring at it for aaaaaages trying to pluck up the courage to start the planning. I actually really enjoyed doing my magic scheming. Admittedly, I do love that sort of stuff.
I wish you all luck and a prompt on this magical day! Have fun performing your magic while typing away!
Any Inspiration? Any ideas on magic? Feel free to say so, and enjoy writing!
Ack! Am I the only one who is shocked at how fast November is coming?
Why is November such a big deal? Well, you see, this will be my first ever NaNoWriMo.
A quick fill in for anyone who doesn’t know what NaNoWriMo is…
It’s an online event/challenge that happens in November every year. Basically, you sign up (for free) and you will aim to reach the goal of writing 50k in a month. You update your word count and have fun with other people doing the challenge by buddying up and encouraging each other.
So, that’s what I’ll be doing this November.
Yup. First ever NaNoWriMo. So this will be a cool experience. I don’t know why this seems so much…bigger, than Camp NaNo, but it does. I mean, the last two camps I have exceeded my goal of 50k, so, this should be no different…right?
I think it has a lot to do with the name. NaNoWriMo. No ‘Camp.’ It just seems so much more foreboding. I mean, I should be fine to get to my goal, I just need to calm down.
So I have been doing plotting. (No WAY I could write unplanned.) So, I figured I’d tell you guys a bit about what I’ll be working on.
I know that a while back I said I’d be moving on to the next book of the Survivor trilogy, buuuut, that isn’t to be. My brain is going dead on the dystopian line, and when I asked Jane she suggested to do something totally different. Soooo, that is what I shall be doing!
I am definitely doing something quite different.
As in, fantasy.
From 1st person present tense.
Very different to dystopian 3rd person past tense.
I have been trying to come up with a plot, with a little bit of success. I’ve got a basic idea. And some plot twists. I’ve planned out character arcs (always exciting) and a lot about my characters.
Chosen by Fire is a fantasy novel about a nineteen year old girl called Jade who happens to be able to control and use fire. In Miritain, there has been an uprising that destroyed magic, and people have been hunting down and killing anyone who has these magical qualities.
However, there is also a secret group who are also trying to find people with magic—not to kill them—but to get them to fulfil an ancient prophecy that will restore peace, magic and prosperity to the region. Caeden, a twenty year old street musician, is among these people.
When Jade’s family found out that she was magical after she lost control over a fire and burnt her brother Pierre, she was cast out. One day, she met Caeden who saw her for who she was. The Chosen One of the Ancient Prophecy.
He eventually convinces her to come with him on the quest to fulfill the prophecy, and on the way they meet a strange man who trains Jade in her magic and teaches Caeden hand on combat. Thusly prepared, they leave.
Then…well, the rest is pretty big spoilers. But hey, it’s still cool.
I’ve had a lot of fun preparing for this, and have even done an Inspiration prompt that is Inspired by it!
Feeling Inspired? Are you doing NaNoWriMo? What’s your WIP? Feel free to comment, I love to talk!
Lately, I have been writing a ton of different things. I mean, what better time to write than in the holidays? Anyways, even during the school term it was rather interesting how many ideas I was juggling.
After Camp NaNo in July, I was writing, rewriting and butchering my first draft, trying to get it to the stage that I could allow others to read over it without hating it immensely. (Still isn’t quite there yet :D) It was a slightly less exciting and epic thing to be doing than when I was in my frantic Camp NaNo craze of being in the mindset of write,write, write. This was more trying to make it good.
Aaaaaand, if you know me, I have the attention span of a— *Stares at a bird outside the window* Um, what was I saying?
You get the picture.
So, as you can imagine, this has been a long task, and then all of these little ideas snuck into my brain. *Sighs* And, I was back to my writing. Loooots of it. All of the ideas just seemed so perfect. I was writing up more character arcs and plot lines and worlds than I think I ever have before. Then I looked at my bookmarks bar, and saw the Survivor Trilogy was still sitting there. So, I went back to going through my first book there as well, Sister. And then, I began to get sidetracked-ish.
Now I have managed to work out a system of editing, re-writing, writing, and plotting.
It is possible guys! But, my advice for all of you writers out there who are suffering with this problem is simple.
Those awesome ideas that come into your head? Write them out, as much as they Inspire you and as soon as they come. But don’t go and try to keep writing them as soon as you are stuck. The moment you don’t know what to do, stop, and go back to you WIP. Get the other things down there, and who knows? Maybe one of them will be your next WIP.
Whatever you do, don’t make your writing a chore. Don’t suffer from unexpressed ideas. Get them out and enjoy writing.
Now, it is my turn to Inspire all of you who are staring at this blankly as you currently have no WIP and want one. Or you people who need help to push through your current WIP.
Only cliche if you make it! Any ideas? Comments? Do share! I love to hear what you have to say.
Holidays have begun! And yet, I am here. *Shakes head* Impressive. Truly.
I have spent a lot of time with Jane, and, as you may have gathered, that means a lot of raving, laughing, writing, plotting, deciding, and alllll of the fun stuff that happens when we hang out.
And planning for reckless activities. Always doing that.
Anyways, it’s been fun, and cool, and yeah.
I mean, we climbed hay bales, discussed characters and superhero plot lines. Not to mention the conversations of torturing our characters. And we became Master Jugglers. *nods sagely*
She also became a slave with myself in the grand art of pencil sorting and clothes counting.
And there was the game if Riskopoly, (An invention of my sister's boyfriend) a cross between Risk and Monopoly. That was interesting to be a beta player for.
So all in all it has been a very cool and fun time.
Anyways, do not fear- you are still getting some Inspiration from me.
And heeeeeere it is!
I hope that that was somewhat Inspiring! Any ideas? Please share!
Well, this has been an interesting last week of school for the term for me.
I love writing and critiquing, and have been doing a fair bit of both lately, and then, all of these kids in year nine suddenly needed my help; all of them Inspired to write 1100 word sci-fi short stories. *Squints suspiciously and puts on detective coat.*
What on earth had overcome them?
I accepted their requests for help and set off to find my answer.
Was there some sort of disease that was running through the year? Why were these highly uncreative people suddenly seeking me out, come of which I hardly knew?
I needed to know the truth.
My first client had been showing symptoms of this disease early on, talking about the world halting in its turning until one side always faced the sun.
Another was suffering from time travel delirium and thinking that one could sacrifice part of themselves to obtain a supernatural power such as that to time travel.
The next person who was suffering from this disease seemed to think that Earth was flooding, and that all of the countries were slowly submerging; and yet she lives in Australia, “The Great South Desert.”
And even still, I had one very recent patient who seemed to be having visions of people who were exploring the moons of Jupiter, and someone dying along the way.
How could such a disease occur? And to be as specific as to require them to write a story that was between 800 and 1100 words before the 21st of September 2017? Pieces were beginning to fit together in my mind like the puzzles that my mother and I flee from.
I couldn’t openly show that I was trying to hunt down where this disease had stemmed from— else my clients realised and retaliated, attacking me with their strangely programmed brains. Perhaps it was a programming virus; hence they were all thinking in a science-y manner. As it was, to avoid giving myself away I attended school as per normal, spending a fair bit of time around these people.
They were not acting any differently to usual, but they all seemed to want to write; even going as far as to drag me into the library with them at lunch to help them with their writing.
In one history class, I was finished all I needed to be doing, and decided to continue my search on the disease— determined to find where it was coming from before it spread any further in the years. My teacher walked up behind me and peered over my shoulder to see what I was doing. Instead of acting confused that I was looking over a 1000 word sci-fi story written by a highly uncreative student, he nodded, and then answered all of my questions, unintentionally of course.
“Oh good, I’m so glad that she took my advice to get you to look over her assessment task. A lot of them have been struggling to get the short story part written.”
I couldn’t believe it. The cause of the disease was my teacher.
Mission closed.
*Slips off detective cloak*
Aaaaanyways…
After this crazed hunt, I figured I should give you guys a prompt. And, seeing that I potentially just failed as a detective, this one seems quite appropriate. xD
So, here is the prompt to make up for m failure as a detective. See if it Inspires you, to keep writing and to keep your characters and plot despite the hardships and failures you fight through together. (And they will come and be high in number— trust me. I just deleted a whole heap of scenes from my WIP to re-write.)
Well, I hope that that was Inspiring. Any ideas or thoughts come from that? Any cool character ideas? Plot? Does it Inspire you to keep writing? Or are you Inspired that a little group of symbols can be arranged to have meaning?
Please share! Or just talk to me. I love to hear from you!
WOW! I REMEMBERED AND AM HERE! With a double tag post at that!
Wait— double tag? Yup. That is now officially a thing. Basically, I figured I’d toss both of the tags onto the one post, so, I shall begin with the Rising Author’s Tag from Sarah!
Thanks Sarah, I’m touched to know that ye think of me as a Rising Author!
Erhem, now, to the tag!
1. When was the last time you worked on your WIP?
Ummmmm, *Checks watch* Exactly 12 minutes ago. Just editing over and trying to fill in parts and develope my side characters a bit more, y’know.
2. Do you have a comic-relief sort-of character in your story?
Heheh, you may have gathered that that is Ryan Sands. He is an awesome antagonist, emotional character and comic relief. I mean, who doesn’t like a snarky, sarcastic, video game playing, blue haired, evil guy????
3. Do you have a favourite place to write?
Oh wow… I have my writing area in Little Tuscany, (Our garden, ever since the pizza oven it has been called Little Tuscany) But I also like just writing at my desk in my room… *Shrugs.*
4. What's the first book that made you cry?
*Freezes* Uuuummmmm *Mentally scans bookshelves and Kindle collections* I thiiiiiiink that it could be Tuck, by Stephen R Lawhead… but I am not suuuuuuure…
5. How many WIPs do you currently have?
Um, Rebellion of Weddendel- *Carefully avoiding*
The Survivor Trilogy, Sister- *Is writing/ rewriting/ editing*
The Survivor Trilogy, Sweep- *Is plotting for NaNoWriMo*
Tales of a Forgotten Home- *Drafting*
Jade deArchet’s Thingo- *Has got a pile of parts written, and yet to get a plot line*
The Lost Pendant- *Totally has not been highly distracted from my actual WIP by writing.*
*Coughs* Moving on…
6.What was your hardest scene to write?
Oooh, um, yikes… How about that chapter that is still sitting unwritten? Masquerade. I mean, I’ve got soooo many ideas for it, but, like, I CAN’T WRITE IT!!!! I’ve been putting it off…
7. Do you have a specific ambience that you like to listen to for your WIP? (Like an aesthetic/collage almost... but only sounds ;D)
*Scratches head* Music? Are we talking music here? If so, then yes, I do…
Legacy~ Nichole Nordeman.
Sea of Souls
My Epic Music Thingo (I listen to a variety of this sort of music.)
And there is much more, but that’s all I’ve got for you for now!
8. Write about the first thing that comes to mind when you see the colour green.
Rain filled the thirsty country, the water falling through cracks and soothing the burnt and scorched land. Caeden stared out the window, a smile upturning the corners of his mouth. “Jade, rain. At last.” Silently, the girl stood and joined him by the window. He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “The green will come back again. It’ll come through the ashes.”
Heheh, I think that will have to go into Jade’s book now… even more ideas…
9. Does your MC have a sidekick/best bud and/or pet? If no pet, do they want one? If no sidekick, do they need one? xD
They have a sister in book one who gets kidnapped, and in the second book/ end of first, they score a sidekick.
And yes, Connor totally needs one. He would go mad and probably die without one. Or explode like the human atomic bomb that he is.
10. (LAST QUESTION, YAAYY.) How old were you when you first started writing?
Hmmmm, well, I think that was the Treacherous Trio, and that would have been when Izzy was around, so, 7 or 8?
When did I start writing well? Ah, well, that can be debated, but, I will say that that was this year. *Nods* Think that sounds about right.
Okay, so, there ends the “Rising Authors Tag.” I hope that I have answered the questions sufficiently. And now, to the next tag!
The Rising Author’s Tag #2
So, thank you heaps Ral! And I shall now proceed with this tag… again.
1. Who's your favourite author?
Was this question just asked? HONESTLY???? *Glares* Okaaaaaay, ummmmm...
They have a name.
And they wrote books.
‘What is their name?’ You ask?
That’s a great question.
2. What's your favourite book? (I know I'm mean; I'm only letting you choose one )
There are many books that claim this title. I love the Silmarillion, the Ilyon Chronicles, Out of Time, Screwtape Letters… ACK SO MANY! (Bad luck, I chose them alllll.)
3. What's your favourite writing quote?
WHAT IS WITH ALL OF THESE “FAVORITE” QUESTIONS!????
Ummmm, well, perhaps, um, I dunno…
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” ~ Psalm 19:14
This verse (although not strictly about) writing really helps remind me who I am writing for, which can be all too easy to forget when you are frantically writing.
4. What do you do when you've run out of ideas at a crucial moment?
*Headdesk* *Glare at screen* *Glare at fingers* Why will my brain not work??!!!!
*Eventually moves onto next scene, noting to come back to it later.*
5. What do you do when you get Writers’ Block?
*Stares blankly at screen.* Oooooh, pretty birdy… *Stares at birdy for an unknown amount of minutes.*
*Spends the next 15 minutes typing frantically, somehow coming up with ideas.*
6. What does writing mean for you?
Writing- physically causing words to form in a visual way.
Nah, to me writing is more than that.
Writing is the way to express emotions, ideas, dreams, truth and gifts.
It is the way one can communicate a message to someone to change their heart, and help them through life. Writing and words are a gift from God that has been giving to no other creature, a blessing of the gift of imagination and creation that the Creator has blessed us with. Writing is something that I pray that I use to glorify God not myself as it is He who gave the gift to me.
That is what writing means to me.
7. What makes you continue to write, even when things get hard?
As I said above, writing is a gift from God and that keeps me going. Actually, often I write when things get hard in my own life. That is when I feel I am most able to display my own weakness through my characters, and that is when the most character development occurs.
God sustains me when I am struggling in writing. Sometimes that is through a verse that just suddenly decides to dump itself in my life, or through a friend who just says the right thing at the right time, Or through a random sense of peace and a reminder that, yes, it is God that I am writing for.
8. How would you cope in your MC's toughest moments?
To be honest, I don’t think I would cope. Not very well at least. I mean, Connor doesn't score an easy life. And I’d probably freak out.
But I suppose that I would probably end up better than he does, after all, I have God on my side. He would help me through the crises.
9. Can you give us any snippety snippets?
I can.
*Hums and wanders away.*
Oh wait, like, you want me to give you some? *Sighs* I suppose I can scavenge some up… *Is beginning to wonder if my entire book will be published in the form of snippets on my blog.*
“The darkness refused to let her go. It shrouded her, hiding her from the light outside. She raised her hand to her face and dabbed at the sticky blood. I tried Alex. They found me out. Now I’m leaving you. A sigh slipped free from her lips and she leant against the wall, sliding down to sit on the dirt. Now what?
Her gaze travelled over the dusty cell and she picked up a piece of hay, rolling it about in her fingers. They’re going to hang me. They don’t care, they just will have me hung. They won’t look twice at my sweeps, at the rest of the starving children. They’ll kill us.
She felt a traitorous tear slide down her dusty cheek and she swiped it away. I can’t cry, not now. There’s too much that I still need to do. She looked up at the small barred window above her and stood up. It was just out of her reach. She stretched as high as she could until her hands gripped around the freezing bars. With a slight grunt she drew her body up until she could just see through. Feet trampled the snowy ground and her nose scrunched at the scent of horse manure. Nothing to be gained here. She dropped back down quietly.
No point trying to run away or anything. If I wait, maybe things will improve. Maybe Alex will be able to get me out.
Somehow.”
That one was from my awesome chimney sweep’s perspective, Ashley.
“He rolled back over onto his stomach and turned his band on, flicking through the holograms that appeared over it. “Contacts- InterDimensional” Perfect. His fingers slid a few times across the image, allowing it to strengthen before speaking. “Lauren Caitlin Daleson.” A life sized image of his sister formed in front of him and he smiled slightly, but the grin faltered as the form flickered.
“Connor? Is that you? Oh, we’ve been so worried about you! Where are you right now? Are you okay?” Laura’s questions came out in a rush, tumbling over each other.
“I’m in Turkey, and, what date does WWI start?” Connor shrugged off the rest of Laura’s questions. For now, I just need to know how much time I’ve got until this part of the world begins to end.
Laura’s concerned voice came across to him, amid some crackling, “Connor, what do you mean WWI? Don’t tell me you’re in 1914?”
Connor shrugged, Hopefully she can see me better than I can see her. “Yeah. July 17, 1914.” It can’t be for another month at least. He heard his sister take a sharp intake of breath. “What? When is it?” Please not today, please no.
“July the 28th. Connor, WWI is going to start in 11 days.”
Connor slowly closed his eyes. “Laura, how do I know how to travel back to the right dimension? What’s the trick to it?” Let’s ignore the fact that a war is about to start and just get out of here.
“Focus your atoms in the way that feels most natural to you. That should then lead you to hear, your ‘most natural’ habitat. Your atoms will pass through easily and should be accurate.” She sounded as though she was reading off a script, but that was just Laura. Ever the factual one. I once was, back when I studied science, before Dan. Before science made a martyr of my brother.
I will not follow that path.
He nodded, “Okay then, I’ll see you soon.” He paused, then added dismissively, “I also have a tendency to go unconscious after, jumping.” Laura squinted at him and shook her head slowly.
“Okay then. I’ll keep a watch out on you. Get here soon.”
He felt a smirk settle on his face, “Always Laura. I’ll be there.” He swiped at the image making it vanish and turned his gaze to a desk in the corner of the room.
Striding over he found some paper and a pen, then sat down, turned his band on, and started writing down everything he could find about WWI.”
And that was from Connor’s POV.
*Gasps* Did I just give snippets with no Ryan? *Shakes head* The world must be ending…
10. What do you do when you've (finally) finished your book?
*Blinks* I will scream to Jane of course. Then to everyone else. And then collapse.
And then really hope that it ends up better than the last book I finished…
So, there is my double tag! I really hope that my answers passed.
Ack. Now it appears I must tag.
Okay, so, I will toss in a few names, and if ye feel like doing one go ahead. Or if you read this and just feel like doing it also go ahead.
