Hello all,
In a sudden move that may shock and dishearten you, I’ve decided not to write The Power of Six as this year’s NaNoWriMo-challenge.
I’ve thought of another story, one that suits my personality better. No matter what I did with tPoS, it always felt too ‘normal’. So now, I’m going to concentrate on this other story, which is much more of a character piece. There are only two weeks left, but I’m certain that’ll be enough to make this work.
I might still write tPoS at a later time (mostly because I do like the characters and basic mythology), but the other story is the one I want to write next month.
I’ll create a new blog for it soon.
For now, this blog will be closed. I’ll re-open it if I ever do get back to work on the Power of Six.
TTFN.
The making of a NaNoWriMo novel
Friday, 15 October 2010
Wednesday, 13 October 2010
Wri Wednesdays: The importance of background information
Hi all,
It’s time to discuss the importance of background information. As a writer, especially a fantasy writer, you create an entire world, filled with people, places and all sorts of events both past and present (sometimes future too, but this is rather pointless in most cases). In order to make such a fictional world believable, you need to know every detail. When your characters enter a city, you need to know what it looks like, who lives there and which significant events made it what it is today. I personally like to think about the way that city was first founded as well, but I may be going too far with these things.
As far as characters are concerned, you need to know them inside and out. Who are they and how did they get to be this way? Which life-events shaped their personalities? What kind of life do they come from? How do they react to certain situations?
Of course, creating a lot of background information while the story isn’t finished means some things won’t make it to the final product.
For the Power of Six, I created a back-story for Lana. It involved her parents being highly religious, which interfered with her desire to go to the Temple. I created the religion her parents were part of, including Bible-like stories they could reference. Lana’s back-story changed and the religion will now go unused.
Kym used to be a lesbian, including past romances (every one of the main character’s love lives has been described). She is now straight and her past lovers have been erased from memory.
Nothing else has changed much so far, but the possibility is always there. This can mean I’m doing work now that’ll prove to be fruitless, but I’d rather have that than a half-finished world. After all, telling a story is mostly about it being believable. If people don’t believe in it, they won’t care. So for now, I’m building up the back-story as much as possible.
TTFN.
It’s time to discuss the importance of background information. As a writer, especially a fantasy writer, you create an entire world, filled with people, places and all sorts of events both past and present (sometimes future too, but this is rather pointless in most cases). In order to make such a fictional world believable, you need to know every detail. When your characters enter a city, you need to know what it looks like, who lives there and which significant events made it what it is today. I personally like to think about the way that city was first founded as well, but I may be going too far with these things.
As far as characters are concerned, you need to know them inside and out. Who are they and how did they get to be this way? Which life-events shaped their personalities? What kind of life do they come from? How do they react to certain situations?
Of course, creating a lot of background information while the story isn’t finished means some things won’t make it to the final product.
For the Power of Six, I created a back-story for Lana. It involved her parents being highly religious, which interfered with her desire to go to the Temple. I created the religion her parents were part of, including Bible-like stories they could reference. Lana’s back-story changed and the religion will now go unused.
Kym used to be a lesbian, including past romances (every one of the main character’s love lives has been described). She is now straight and her past lovers have been erased from memory.
Nothing else has changed much so far, but the possibility is always there. This can mean I’m doing work now that’ll prove to be fruitless, but I’d rather have that than a half-finished world. After all, telling a story is mostly about it being believable. If people don’t believe in it, they won’t care. So for now, I’m building up the back-story as much as possible.
TTFN.
Saturday, 9 October 2010
No Saturdays: Meet Lana
Hey all,
Today, you’re going to meet a very special person. She’s had some hardships in life, but her spirit never lets down. Having finally found out who she is, she’s set out on her way to become who she can be. Let’s meet Lana!
Oh hello, I was wondering when you were going to turn up. It’s been
three days since I’ve left home and it’s been a rather lonely path so far. The only time I think I can hear others is during the night, and I believe that’s just because I’m a bit frightened. After all, it is my first time away from home and even if home wasn’t the most pleasant of places, it was still a place I felt safe. Now I’m alone for the first time in my life, and I can’t say I’m enjoying it much. Father said there will be others like me on their way too, I do so hope he’s right. It’d be simply wonderful to meet others who can do the things I can do, if only to know for sure that I’m not alone in all this. It’s been pretty difficult not to go wrong in the nights. I do become afraid, and I really must learn to control my emotions. Perhaps it’s a good thing I haven’t met anybody yet, I dearly dread hurting anyone. So alone I go, at least for the time being. I just hope father will keep his promise.
That’s all for this week, I’ve got a personal life to get back to.
TTFN.
Today, you’re going to meet a very special person. She’s had some hardships in life, but her spirit never lets down. Having finally found out who she is, she’s set out on her way to become who she can be. Let’s meet Lana!
Oh hello, I was wondering when you were going to turn up. It’s been
three days since I’ve left home and it’s been a rather lonely path so far. The only time I think I can hear others is during the night, and I believe that’s just because I’m a bit frightened. After all, it is my first time away from home and even if home wasn’t the most pleasant of places, it was still a place I felt safe. Now I’m alone for the first time in my life, and I can’t say I’m enjoying it much. Father said there will be others like me on their way too, I do so hope he’s right. It’d be simply wonderful to meet others who can do the things I can do, if only to know for sure that I’m not alone in all this. It’s been pretty difficult not to go wrong in the nights. I do become afraid, and I really must learn to control my emotions. Perhaps it’s a good thing I haven’t met anybody yet, I dearly dread hurting anyone. So alone I go, at least for the time being. I just hope father will keep his promise. That’s all for this week, I’ve got a personal life to get back to.
TTFN.
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Wri Wednesdays: Getting the story straight
Hey all,
There’s little less than a month to go before I start writing, so it’s crunch time. Luckily, things are actually on track (as far as I’ve thought ahead, I’m sure I’m missing a great deal of things).
At the moment, I’m trying to get the story to flow right. That means I’m putting all the key scenes I thought of earlier into a document and start shifting them around. This enables me to see how scenes can transition into each other, and keep things from becoming too episodic. I can now place where I want certain characteristics to show and how to include everyone in the main narrative.
I’m now on my second pass, which already flows much better than the first one. Both passes lacked an ending though, as I’m simply not sure how I want to wrap things up yet. I got a lot closer today, which I choose to count as a point for me.
This scene-scheme is sort of like a storyboard, in that it really allows me to tweak the finer points of the story and see what works and doesn’t before actually producing the novel. I hope to finish this stage this week, after which I can begin work on the map of the area. I hope I can come up with the rest while writing. That’s some of the fun; not knowing every little detail, but making some things up as you go along. NaNoWriMo is about to start, and I hope to be ready.
TTFN.
There’s little less than a month to go before I start writing, so it’s crunch time. Luckily, things are actually on track (as far as I’ve thought ahead, I’m sure I’m missing a great deal of things).
At the moment, I’m trying to get the story to flow right. That means I’m putting all the key scenes I thought of earlier into a document and start shifting them around. This enables me to see how scenes can transition into each other, and keep things from becoming too episodic. I can now place where I want certain characteristics to show and how to include everyone in the main narrative.
I’m now on my second pass, which already flows much better than the first one. Both passes lacked an ending though, as I’m simply not sure how I want to wrap things up yet. I got a lot closer today, which I choose to count as a point for me.
This scene-scheme is sort of like a storyboard, in that it really allows me to tweak the finer points of the story and see what works and doesn’t before actually producing the novel. I hope to finish this stage this week, after which I can begin work on the map of the area. I hope I can come up with the rest while writing. That’s some of the fun; not knowing every little detail, but making some things up as you go along. NaNoWriMo is about to start, and I hope to be ready.
TTFN.
Saturday, 2 October 2010
No Saturdays: Random facts
Hey all,
It's Saturday and you know what that means! More info about the story!
I don't want to introduce another character just yet, because that would become too predictable. However, I also don't know anything else I can tell you about (without giving too much away). So here are some random facts (which are all subject to change).
* The main antagonist will be introduced in the same manner as the main characters. He'll also have scenes focusing on his story in the novel.
* The characters in this book are on a journey to the Temple, where their powers will truly be released. The antagonist is headed there for much the same reason, but with very different motivations.
* Each main character will at one point have the choice to help the others, or desert them.
* The 'Six' in the title is not what you probably think.
* There may be some romance involved.
* Old myths can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, or be based on things other than facts.
* Controlling your emotions is a must.
* The world is already changing. Now is the time to act, the only time it'll ever be possible to restore the world to its old ways. Or to destroy it altogether.
That's all you're getting this week, but I daresay it's enough. Less than a month to go before I start writing! I'm working on putting the story together now, shifting scenes from one place to another, figuring out what works and what doesn't. I really hope I'll be able to get all the prep work done in time.
TTFN.
It's Saturday and you know what that means! More info about the story!
I don't want to introduce another character just yet, because that would become too predictable. However, I also don't know anything else I can tell you about (without giving too much away). So here are some random facts (which are all subject to change).
* The main antagonist will be introduced in the same manner as the main characters. He'll also have scenes focusing on his story in the novel.
* The characters in this book are on a journey to the Temple, where their powers will truly be released. The antagonist is headed there for much the same reason, but with very different motivations.
* Each main character will at one point have the choice to help the others, or desert them.
* The 'Six' in the title is not what you probably think.
* There may be some romance involved.
* Old myths can be interpreted in a myriad of ways, or be based on things other than facts.
* Controlling your emotions is a must.
* The world is already changing. Now is the time to act, the only time it'll ever be possible to restore the world to its old ways. Or to destroy it altogether.
That's all you're getting this week, but I daresay it's enough. Less than a month to go before I start writing! I'm working on putting the story together now, shifting scenes from one place to another, figuring out what works and what doesn't. I really hope I'll be able to get all the prep work done in time.
TTFN.
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