30 Days of Writing: Day 12

Challenge #12: In what story did you feel you did the best job of world building? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?

World building… hm.

I take it none of my fan fiction counts, since that’s building onto pre-envisioned worlds. Do historical fictions count? I guess the world is already in place for those, too.

Okay, I do have several fantasies written in totally made-up worlds that I feel quite proud of. The first that comes to mind is Wind Blessed because I go into the most detail of the settings and characters. It has the most complexities to work out since it’s a world with magic, and all the boundaries of my magic have to be consistently applied.

However, I feel very good about Brides of Plunder, as well. It has a Celtic-y feel to it, but being that I don’t like to be fettered by rules of historical accuracy, (except when it comes to Victorian England) I made it my own world and just go with names and the sort of structure that feels right.

As for tips on world building, I think this quote by Mark Twain says it best:“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.”

My advice to you would be…

Read History

I’m very bad at following my own advice in this case, but I have to encourage the rest of you to do things the right way. Especially if your world is historically based. If your sort-of-Celtic-but-not fantasy story has elements that go totally against Celtic tradition, but they make sense in your story, fine. But if you’re writing a story based on the Celts, and you mess up, that’s going to be embarrassing.

Base It On Reality

If you’re finding it tricky to figure out your setting–say you need to decide how the land is governed, or what sort of clothes the characters wear, or what kind of landscape would be ideal–find something that exists in the physical world to base it off of. For example, since Brides has that Celtic… ness to it, anytime I’m stuck on what a piece of weaponry should look like, or need a new name, I Google things of a Celtic nature, and tweak history to fit my fantasy setting. You can do this with any culture. Borrow from India for clothing options. Study the British monarchy for political intrigue. Visit New Zealand to write better scenic passages. Use things you’ve seen, and heard, and know a little about to make your setting more believable.

Throw All Advice Out the Window

I think the greatest and most frequently ignored rule of writing is that there are no concrete rules. If you have a good grasp of the English language, a vivid imagination, and an idea of what you want to create, do what feels right. Of course, if writing blindly is not working out, I do suggest reading books in the genre you’re planning on writing in.

Featured Snippet:

Before us lay a green sloping land full of forests and woods, with here and there steep hills, crowned with clumps of trees or with farmhouses, the blank gable end to the road. There was everywhere a bewildering mass of fruit blossom–apple, plum, pear, cherry. And as we drove by I could see the green grass under the trees spangled with the fallen petals. In and out amongst these green hills of what they call here the “Mittel Land” ran the road, losing itself as it swept round the grassy curve, or was shut out by the straggling ends of pine woods, which here and there ran down the hillsides like tongues of flame. The road was rugged, but still we seemed to fly over it with a feverish haste.

-Dracula by Bram Stoker

Featured Image:

Since we’re speaking of world building…

Middle Earth Map Dress

2012 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

This is a lot of fun, and totally surprising. For example, my highest viewed post has 0 comments. And more people from Malaysia and the Philippines read my blog than the UK! I guess I swung from the British to the Asian when I started watching K-dramas. : P

I blame Dan Stevens. He knows why…

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 33,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 8 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

30 Days of Writing: Day 11

11. Who is your favorite character to write? Least favorite?

Sometimes I wonder if these questions were invented by a writer. Some of them seem so absurd to me. Or maybe they were written by a non-writer who wanted to know how a writer-person thinks. But if they wrote a series of questions, that implies they’re a writer of some sort, for they wrote questions for writers to answer.

Now that I’ve thoroughly confused myself…

Again, how do I even answer these questions?

I’m almost positive I don’t have a least favourite character to write. There is a small sliver of doubt when I think of certain chapters… but even the villains can be disturbingly fun to write. They can be the most fun.

We’ve already established from a previous question that I love writing male characters. They’re so… not… female.

Torin is amazing. (King Torin, to ye peasantry!) He’s brash and thoughtless and sulky… come to think of it, I’m not a nice person for making Lira marry him. And yet I giggle with immense glee as I type those words. Teeheeheeheehee! xD

I haven’t written him in a while–which is a bad, bad thing–but Payne was always extremely enjoyable. He reminds me of Prince Zuko. Except I was writing him before I saw Prince Zuko, so the similarities surprised me.

Emma Browne. Oh, I loved writing her. So much so that I often toy with the thought of writing a new piece to continue where I left off. However, the words haven’t come as smoothly as before and I’m wondering if a sequel is simply not meant to be for Emma Browne. Perhaps she has no more to say to us.

If we step outside original works and talk about fan fiction, the entire cast of H2O are quite possibly the most fun ever, but especially Cleo and Lewis. Something about the accents. And the cheesiness of their story.

And most recently, Felicity Merriman as a six year old captive. That is some exceptionally fun writing.

Although I still can’t think of a least favourite character to write, there’s no doubt about which ones I struggle with the most. Any character in The Turnings. Many of them are based on people I know–myself included–and rather than finding it easier to write about what I know, I second guess every action, word, and thought. Would I really do that in such a situation? Is my Beta going to be insulted that I wrote her dialogue that way? Will readers think that was a selfish motive? Does it matter what they think if it’s more realistic?

Whoever said to write what you know never took real life and tried to turn it into a mock vampire novel. Because it’s not the best. It’s the hardest.

Featured Snippet

Within hours, everyone in town has heard about it. By afternoon the news has spread several towns over. Word of mouth is a more effective method of advertisement than typeset words and exclamation points on paper pamphlets or posters. It is impressive and unusual news, the sudden appearance of a mysterious circus. People marvel at the staggering height of the tallest tents. They stare at the clock that sits just inside the gates that no one can properly describe.

And the black sign painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, the one that reads:

Opens at Nightfall
Closes at Dawn

-The Night Circus
By Erin Morgenstern

I have three days (now it’s two) to finish this book before it goes back to the library, and I’m nearing the end. So far it’s been absolutely breathtaking. It’s just… it’s magical. That seems a cliche, but really, I can think of no better way to describe it. I hope it ends as well as its begun.

Featured Image

This was actually taken by my mother, per my request. On the way to work at 4:20 in the morning, I noticed the sky was this gorgeous dark blue and the moon and stars made it look like a book cover, and not at all like real life. It could be the after effects of reading The Night Circus that made it so special, but it was quite a sight.

30 Days of Writing: Day 10

Challenge #10: What are some really weird situations your characters have been in? Everything from serious canon scenes to meme questions counts!

Weeeeeell… I once wrote a scene where all my fictional characters were begging me to finish their stories. But instead of finishing a story I wrote that scene. Which is a depressing kind of irony, I think. I’ll put a snippet from that as the featured one today.

A couple of my creations have ended up in that infamous Husband Closet of mine. Is it weird to be in love with a creation? Ooo… that makes me want to write a story about… *fists head* NO!! You have too many projects to complete!

All my characters have been in strange situations. They wouldn’t have plots to live through if it was all ordinary living. Can you imagine a book full of the day to day details of an ordinary girl’s life? Oh wait… I think there’s a book like that.

Ahem.

Featured Snippet

Beth took the fraction of silence to glare flying swords at her muse. Almaund avoided her gaze and scowled menacingly at the floor.

“My cereal was soggy last night,” he muttered, deeming it a perfectly acceptable excuse for not sharpening the proverbial pens.

Mina played with the ends of her waist-length hair and said, “All we want is words.”

Beth looked around at the crestfallen faces surrounding her.  Ariane was finger tracing the ugly scar on her arm, remnant of the epic accident she’d had with the vase stall in Televast.  Clara sat forlornly with perfect Regency posture between Jack and Arthur who both felt utterly forgotten, and Payne looked on as if he finally realized what his name was for. Various male subjects brooded or sulked, and Dracena alternated between faces of shock and despair, the shock being directed towards girls like Kira and Casey, who kept making bizarre references to things they considered almost as tragic as not having an ending.

Emeric and Lucius were the only ones who seemed wholly unconcerned by their stories’ lack of progress. Lucius was staring profoundly at a seething Brooklyn, while Emeric muttered into his cloak which had come unclasped at the neck. Phaelon would probably leave any minute so that no one would see when his eyes started pooling.

That is a section from the piece I wrote many, many moons ago. Before Panera, before Europe, and before I’d finished the first chapter of Turnings. Funny–and weird–how different my writing is now. And yet, how similar.

Featured Image(s)

THIS is the reason this post has taken so long. THIS is what I’ve been working on in the dark, hiding it after each frame in a “Spies” book. Secretly. Secretly. Oh, Christine. You WILL have to full size the pictures to see them properly. Works best if you right click, open in new tab and switch back and forth from the image to the list of things. And please do, because awful as they are, I took forever to draw them and I’d love for you to laugh at my silliness.

The Longest OC Meme Ever
stolen from The Dreamer OC Remix – Although I can’t find the original because the link is broken.

Choose ten of your OC’s. If you don’t have ten then fill in the empties with cool people.

I have the drawing talent of a four-year-old. No, I take that back. That’s an insult to four-year-olds.

#1. Emma Browne – The Baffling Case of Miss Emma Browne
[A modern girl thrust into Victorian life.]
#2. Brisella Prentiss – Wind Blessed
[Heroine of an elemental fantasy; possess the ability to create and control wind.]
#3. Red – Red
[Alternate version of Little Red Riding Hood. She has no memories left.]
#4. Mr. Prentiss – Wind Blessed
[Brisella's father. A simple bookkeeper in a small village.]
#5. Mlle. Lucy Abelard – Transition of Affections
[Phantom of the Opera fan fic OC.]
#6. Titus Flannegin – Titus Flannegin’s Amazing Machine
[A sad and slightly crazy scientist.]
#7. Payne Ryker - Beauty and Payne
[A disowned angst-muffin with a facial deformity.]
#8. Princess Andahlia Fraewyn of Tikaea (Princes Dahlia) – Royal Interview
[A slightly haughty princess who likes things to be done properly.]
#9. Olderic – Brides of Plunder
[Warrior and leader of the Mandor tribe.]
#10. Count Grigori Haanrath – The Turnings
[A vampire with a very broken moral compass.]

~The Meme~
Bearing in mind that I did not even finish all of it, because it’s just. that. long.

1. Four invites three and eight to dinner at their house. What happens?
A lot of awkward nothing.
2. Nine tries to get five to go to a strip club.
There’s no way that Olderic even knows what that is. Evidently The Doctor got mixed up in things and whether from misunderstanding or simply having a laugh, he sent Olderic and Lucy to a club together.
3. You need to stay at a friend’s house for a night. Who do you choose: one or six?
I don’t know that Titus even has a proper bed. If I could stay at anyone’s house in all my stories, it would probably be Emma’s. Ooooh Victorian meeeen!!
4. Two and seven are making out. Ten walks in. What is their reaction?
Brisella and Payne both have prospective love interests who are not each other. Grigori has injected them with a love potion and is running evil experiments as he observes from his tower of perverseness.
5. Three falls in love with six. Eight is jealous. What happens?
Yeah. That went down.
6. Four jumps you in a dark alleyway. Who comes to your rescue? Ten, two, or seven?
I cheated on a lot of these, but apparently Mr. Prentiss is not happy about his ultimate fate. And Grigori will jump at any opportunity to bite someone. I wonder if he knows Mr. Prentiss is a ghost… oh, and I’m wearing a nightcap.
7. One decides to start a cooking show. Fifteen minutes later, what is happening?
Poor, poor Emma.
8. Three has to marry eight, four, or nine. Who do they choose?
I stopped being creative and gave Red a boring wedding dress.
9. Seven “kidnaps” two and demands something from five for two’s release. What is it?
Payne somehow thinks the daughter of a 19th century doctor can do a better job of fixing his face than futuristic surgeons, apparently. And Brisella is just enjoying her water whirlpools.
10. Everyone gangs up on three. Does three have a chance in hell?
Let’s see… no. The wolf could probably take out Mr. Prentiss while Red knifed Payne, but anyone else gets involved, and she’s a goner.
11. Everyone is invited to two and ten’s wedding, except for eight. How do they react?
Brisella is drugged out of her mind. That’s the only proper explanation for her marriage to Grigori. And Dahlia knows this.
12. Why is six afraid of seven?
Payne is quite a demanding thing.
13. One arrives late for two and ten’s wedding. What happens and why were they late?
Emma was fetching me to fix things. Smart girl. I’m not sure why I ended up in striped pants and a long sleeve top, but oh well. My pen looks like a nail polish brush.
14. Five and nine get roaring drunk and end up at your house. What happens?
Lucy is unhappy with Erik’s continual obsession with Christine. Olderic did not protest when we put makeup on him and used his spear for a fruit-kabab. And I am karaoke partying to Disney songs.

10 Things A Female Writer Does When Stalling

1. Pointing toes. I have to test my damsel fainting posture and while so doing I’ve come to the horrifying conclusion that my toes don’t point daintily. They stretch out with little gaps like they’re clawing the ground. *gasp* I have ape toes!!

2. Conversing with characters. I was having trouble with a one-shot, so I asked Guy (not my character) what I was doing wrong. He said I had my head in the clouds and it was my own fault for spending so much time with Alan Warren (not my character either). So I went to sulk in H2O stories, but couldn’t get Ben Davidson out of my head. Then I wrote three pages of Felicity fan fiction. It was a low point for me. Well… *smirk* except I rather liked what came of those three pages.

3. Dramatic Sing-Alongs. On My Own, I’ll Be There, All For Laura, When I Look at You, Part of Your World, Without Words, Unworthy of Your Love… etc. These are the life’s blood of a bored writer who listens to Broadway.

4. Very bad drawings. I can’t draw for fluff. I never could. And yet, I try. I draw schematics of buildings that defy physics, I doodle faces of characters that don’t look a thing like them, and I draw maps. The maps actually help me. Sort of.

A Phantom Family Portrait

5. Binge eating. If I had a normal person’s ability to gain weight, I’d be a 400 pound woman. Anytime I reach a pause in my writings I feel hungry. I’ve consumed more tea and chocolate than many people will in a lifetime. I’m so lucky. And my skin is so bad. Cereal is good, too. And sandwiches. But those take longer to put together.

6. Television reruns. There are times I simply do not want to write. Or I want to write with noise in the background and music isn’t helping. That’s when Netflix is called upon. Psych, Dr. Who, subpar romantic comedies. I’ve decided to watch Lost all the way through. I couldn’t remember where I’d left off so I began from the Pilot again.

7. House cleaning. You’ve heard it said a clean house is the sign of a broken computer. Well, a clean room is the sign of a broken writer. Every so often folding laundry actually helps me with scene development. But it’s problematic because then I have half-folded laundry piles I must walk away from to write down what I figure out.

8. Korean Dramas. It’s important to note, this falls into its own category and does not get clumped with TV watching. The biggest reason being that once you start an episode, clip watching, soundtrack playlist building, or anything to do with a K-drama, five hours have passed before you realize. Engrossing. That’s what they are.

9. Online Shopping. Ebay and Amazon; the perfect places to get rid of money and gain more books and K-drama memorabilia! Also, The Victorian Trading Company offers me beautiful things to make me feel like a lady.

10. Blogging. Know what I should be doing now? It’s not blogging, but here I am. Okay, I’ll get back to piecing my chapter together!

Flight To The Ford: featuring blob wraiths and Frodo, the hobbit