Things I’m going to do when exams are over
- read some fucking books
- watch Elementary
- watch Hannibal
- maybe watch Firefly
- play guitar again
- get baked like a potato
- i guess get a job or whatever
I highly recommend numbers 2, 4 and 6
Restless
So since getting home a few hours ago I’ve been feeling pretty fucking restless, but unfortunately I can’t find some activity to allay this feeling. I’m not sure whether it’s linked to the sudden burst of desire to write that I’ve been having lately or whether it’s because I’ve had a few days of very little activity/movement.
Anyway the reason doesn’t matter, what does matter is that it’s stopping me from doing anything useful so I thought I might write a small post about my ideas and current writing projects to try and jog my brain into being able to write.
Of course my main thing at the moment is my NaNoWriMo novel from last year, I’ve decided to split the last third of the novel into it’s own book and the first book is now in theory complete and almost ready for other people to read, but I keep fiddling with the order of certain events and generally trying to get the naming into a more coherent scheme that fits the themes of the world and its nations. Despite that I’m feeling surprisingly confident in this book, the characters are some of the more interesting ones I’ve created and the premise/main plot I think is more solid and original than others I’ve done. Considering there are a lot more sex scenes in this that I normally include (including my first male/male scene) my anxiety about showing it to people I know/who know me in real life is not nearly as bad as it normally is (though this could be down to the citalopram) so I dunno, this is good progress I guess?
Since I lost my job this year I really should get back to writing short stories to get a few more published and some money coming in until I get another job, but I’ve had little success in the short fiction department lately, it keeps turning into something that works better in a longer format, or is just incredibly bland/non-interesting.
Onto the ideas! I’ve been feeling very vampirey lately and have been noting down possible characters and settings, but nothing for plot as yet, I don’t know if this’ll be something I’ll be able to make a book of so I might end up using the characters or setting elsewhere.
Secondly we have the vaguely Romance of the Three Kingdoms inspired low fantasy story, set in a region formerly ruled by an extensive and orderly empire but which is now ruled by a multitude of petty kingdoms and warlords after a devastating series of civil wars. The story will follow a number of characters spread across the region during a time shortly after the Shining Emblem re-emerges after hundreds of years of being missing (the emblem being an item with a similar but stronger connotation as the Imperial Seal of China does to the Mandate of Heaven) which naturally shakes the delicate balance of power in the region.
Then of course we have Shuffle which was my first NaNoWriMo attempt and it was a mess of muddled ideas and plots, but there are things in there that I might not like now but which I think I might be able to use/turn into an interesting modern fantasy thingy. I’ll likely be keeping the friendship between an Angel and Demon, but probably cutting the stupidly complex made up card game altogether and replacing it with something that already exists (I’m thinking something more story based like Once Upon A Time or Gloom) for the manner in which the two friends manipulate the lives of two humans.
Then of course we have my D&D projects, my ongoing plotting for my currently happening Star Wars game, my plotting for my epicly majestic mega-campaign which will likely use GURPS and happen sometime next year, plotting for my Mutants and Masterminds superhero campaign which has not yet been tabled to happen any time soon and general ruminating on the Iron Kingdoms setting for the fantasy/steampunk games I want to run or play at some point.
I hope this post hasn’t completely bored the eyes unlucky enough to view this out of their sockets.
We started frenching passively
Me and Hope were trying to figure out how to french passively, it got a little weird.
New Insults by Kait Rokowski - [x]
Casual Curses
Beth, this reminds me of you.
The Writers Helpers: Magical/Mythical Creatures
You all voted, and you voted for this so there you go. Now I’ve thought about this a lot, and I’m not going to tell you what to do so to speak. But I’m giving my opinion on creating them and thinking about their personality and roots.
If you are creating something based on myth, research that fucker - Did I need to swear there? Probably not. But research should be the first thing you do, for anything. You need to know the basics of the different myths/legend this type of creature is usually involved in. Then start to take it apart, which bits do you like? Which bits don’t you like? Create the lore for your creature. You’ll need to make sure there are no holes in it. Make sure the way of killing it is clear (if you need to kill it) or the history of this creature is understood by you, else your reader has no chance.
Little known mythical creatures
Think about the area you are setting this- Different places have different folklore and magical creatures, use this to your advantage. If your story is set in Australia then why not look at some the Aborigines’ myths and legends- why not use them? Think, be creative and use your imagination to twist these things.
English Folklore (you may recognise some from Harry Potter).
If you are creating your own, be detailed- creating your own magical creature from the top of your head? GREAT! J.K Rowling did this and it worked for her. I would first of all get an idea of what these characters look like, draw them- be creative. Then think about what their culture is like? Are these ‘evil’ creatures/people? Would they attack humans? Think about the history of this creature and perhaps how accepted it is by humans. Are they like Goblins? Accepted into the magical world but excluded? Or house elves at humans servitude? (Obviously a Harry Potter reference).
Have elements of ‘humans’ in them - But why S? I’m making a magical creature, they don’t need to be human! No, they can be little bat things with scales, it doesn’t matter. A good magcal/mythical creature will be relatable. Okay, here is an example. House elves? They are magical creatures and don’t act like ‘humans’ would, yet their loyalty and the fact they are repressed is something we both understand and sympathise with. Here is another example, Castiel is an angel, he’s fucking powerful and doesn’t act like a typical ‘human’ would by reacting to emotions. But he does have emotions, he does act on them and he is in fact relatable.
Know what this character/creature’s powers are and then stick to it. It’s fine to create magical characters that are powerful, but this power should have a limit. You should know what this character can and can’t do. I’m not saying this to be a downer but because it’s not as interesting to read about a character that can’t lose, it is to be frank- boring. It is far more interesting to read something and not know who is going to win. By doing this you prevent it from becoming a Mary-sue/Gary-stu. It makes this a real creature/character that is fallible.
Fantastic beasts and mythical creatures
How to describe a fantasy creature
How much can you change fantasy-creatures and get away with it (forum)
So I hope this has helped and I’m sorry if it wasn’t quite what you were expecting. If you have anything to add please feel free to send us a message, I tried to include mythical creatures from around the world but I don’t doubt that I’ve missed places- sorry.
-S
(via referenceforwriters)
(via nudityandnerdery)
Hooray for packages of classic fantasy!
I mean I’m not too thrilled about the Moorcock BUT STILL, packages are fun
This picture reminds me of a few things
1. That I really really enjoyed The Eathsea Quartet
2. That I really need to reread The Earthsea Quartet
3. That you have a face (I needed a third thing and this was all I could think of)
Damn you followers
One of you appeared in a confusing dream of mine on Saturday night, your presence in said dream made me very uncomfortable when I work up. I have therefore very logically decided to extrapolate my anger at this uncontrollable situation to all of you.
finding out someone you know is getting interested in something you’re interested in
(Source: jaclcfrost, via manicpixiedeathbitch)
Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers
As described by Selnick’s article:
Author and doctor of clinical psychology Carolyn Kaufman has released a one-page body language cheat sheet of psychological “tells” (PDF link) fiction writers can use to dress their characters.
(via nudityandnerdery)
First Day Started I guess
So I just took my first Citalopram tablet, it’s strange starting on medication after being resistant to it for so long.
A very musical musical
So today in an illness induced madness I tracked down my old notes from the shitty musical I was ‘writing’ a couple of years ago and started work on it again. I’m fairly sure this can only end in one of two ways, fame and fortune for me as somehow it becomes massively successful, or just fortune as it becomes successful but I remain a shadowy hidden writer.
Neil’s Puppet Dreams with Nathan Fillion. (x)
*chuckle*
omg
(Source: captainfillion, via nudityandnerdery)