Last night I was messing around on Twitter, and I drilled down on the hash tag #amwriting, and I noticed that there was a discussion about world building in writing going on at #pvpchat. I participated for a while, and it inspired me to really expand the scope of my world. However, with everything that I wanted to add to the world some of my original concept started to feel either out of place, or just forced.
This concept that I was talking about was some modern urban aspects that I wanted to include. Modern cities, cars, technology, but the more that I thought about it the more difficult it seemed to create an epic fantasy in a modern world. Everything about the modern world is geared towards making things easier so how interesting could a journey to a coastal town be if you can drive there?
I opened a blank Google Docs document, and started hashing things out. Races, Factions, Locations, Villains, and Magic. I am drawing on some classic fantasy races, but maybe giving their origin a unique spin. I am also adding a race that I created. I also want to have multiple villains each with their own agenda, but of course there is a main villain. Obviously everything is not planned out yet, and I still don't know for sure how all of their customs or politics will work, but that's okay because I want the reader to learn about them when the main characters do, and that means I don't have to know about them yet.
I started going in to some light detail about the races and the places, and decided on a similar, yet re-envisioned, opening for my book, and immediately set to outlining it. What I ended up with was probably the largest and most detailed chapter outline I have come up with yet. It speculates that there will be 6 scenes, and I would not be surprised to see the length of this chapter extend to 5,000 words or more.
I am going to start writing on this new beginning later tonight, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Spontaneous Genius
I talked about my outline yesterday, but late last night I decided that I wanted to tell part of the story from another perspective so that respective storyline is done some justice. Essentially one of my characters will split off and will go through some things that are worth writing about as a chapter, and not as an afterthought.
What this lead to was me fleshing the outline out a lot better. I have the best feel for what is going to happen in the book now than I have, and I actually settled on a title, though I won't be sharing it just yet. :)
So, inspired by my newly polished outline I began working on the first scene of what would be chapter 7 (8 if you count the prologue). I had intended it to be sort of a short little 500 word scene or so to wrap one thing up and move on. However, as I started writing the conflict in the scene I realized that I had painted some of my characters in to an interesting situation that I hadn't counted on during the outlining process. This situation let me decide whether I wanted one of the characters to save the other two, or if I wanted one of the two to kind of evolve temporarily to handle the current situation. I chose to have one of my characters evolve because I think that it adds an interesting topic to think about to the story.
I just wanted to share that I thought it was cool how no matter how detailed I make my outlines the really genius stuff that I do happens when I'm writing the story. I had no idea that some of the stuff in my scene would be there when I started writing it, but it's there now, and I love it.
What this lead to was me fleshing the outline out a lot better. I have the best feel for what is going to happen in the book now than I have, and I actually settled on a title, though I won't be sharing it just yet. :)
So, inspired by my newly polished outline I began working on the first scene of what would be chapter 7 (8 if you count the prologue). I had intended it to be sort of a short little 500 word scene or so to wrap one thing up and move on. However, as I started writing the conflict in the scene I realized that I had painted some of my characters in to an interesting situation that I hadn't counted on during the outlining process. This situation let me decide whether I wanted one of the characters to save the other two, or if I wanted one of the two to kind of evolve temporarily to handle the current situation. I chose to have one of my characters evolve because I think that it adds an interesting topic to think about to the story.
I just wanted to share that I thought it was cool how no matter how detailed I make my outlines the really genius stuff that I do happens when I'm writing the story. I had no idea that some of the stuff in my scene would be there when I started writing it, but it's there now, and I love it.
Monday, March 14, 2011
More Outlining!
So, I finished up my sixth chapter today with a nice burst of 1,341 words. It's looking like my chapters are going to be roughly 2,500 words. I've been working a bit on the lore that I want to incorporate in to the story, and I've done some detailed outlining of the next few chapters. I have some very limited detailing of the late chapters, but I haven't fleshed them out yet as things can change.
I know where I want the book to end, and to me that's kind of the most logical place for it to end. I need to just fill the gap between the beginning and the end, and I come up with interesting things to happen to the characters from time to time, but it's not completely done being designed yet.
I'm also toying with the idea of using multiple points of view in the sense that one chapter is continuing one storyline, while the next continues another, and it alternates back and forth until those story lines converge back together.
I also came up with a pretty cool title idea, and a cover art idea, but that will come much later. My plan is to look back over the completed work, and then decide what I think the title should be. It's also interesting that I have ideas about what I want to have happen in the second book, but I have to kind of just bottle them up and save them for later.
Hopefully tonight I can get a rough idea of what major plot points I would want in the next book so I know how to finish this book. I'm considering having one of the characters split off from the group, and to alternate with their storyline for part of the end of the book. Nothing is finalized yet, though.
I know where I want the book to end, and to me that's kind of the most logical place for it to end. I need to just fill the gap between the beginning and the end, and I come up with interesting things to happen to the characters from time to time, but it's not completely done being designed yet.
I'm also toying with the idea of using multiple points of view in the sense that one chapter is continuing one storyline, while the next continues another, and it alternates back and forth until those story lines converge back together.
I also came up with a pretty cool title idea, and a cover art idea, but that will come much later. My plan is to look back over the completed work, and then decide what I think the title should be. It's also interesting that I have ideas about what I want to have happen in the second book, but I have to kind of just bottle them up and save them for later.
Hopefully tonight I can get a rough idea of what major plot points I would want in the next book so I know how to finish this book. I'm considering having one of the characters split off from the group, and to alternate with their storyline for part of the end of the book. Nothing is finalized yet, though.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Twelve Days
It's been twelve days since I decided to actually buckle down and start writing a book with the sub-goal of writing 1,000 words a day. I have written over 14,000 words, and I'd like to finish the chapter I am working on today.
Writing 14,000 words may seem like a lot, but when it's distributed out across multiple days it's really not that daunting of a task. No one can eat an entire cow in one sitting, but if you break it down in to burgers and steaks the cow will be gone before you know it.
I started thinking about other things that I will need to do even after my book is finished. I will need to format it for eReaders, and it will need editing. It will also need good cover art, which I can't create on my own, and an excellent description to accompany it's listing on Amazon/B&N/Smashwords. Even after it's published it will need advertising. It's a lot of additional work, but if I break it down in to smaller pieces I'm sure I will finish it before I know it.
We'll have to see how big of an advertising platform I can turn Facebook in to. :)
Writing 14,000 words may seem like a lot, but when it's distributed out across multiple days it's really not that daunting of a task. No one can eat an entire cow in one sitting, but if you break it down in to burgers and steaks the cow will be gone before you know it.
I started thinking about other things that I will need to do even after my book is finished. I will need to format it for eReaders, and it will need editing. It will also need good cover art, which I can't create on my own, and an excellent description to accompany it's listing on Amazon/B&N/Smashwords. Even after it's published it will need advertising. It's a lot of additional work, but if I break it down in to smaller pieces I'm sure I will finish it before I know it.
We'll have to see how big of an advertising platform I can turn Facebook in to. :)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Names, Names, and More Names!
Anyone who has ever written a story, or a book can tell you that coming up with names can be a very lengthy process. You want to make sure that you get the names just right, and you don't want them to be very common names. The Adventures of John Smith is not nearly as exciting as The Adventures of Drake Daring. Names carry a lot of power. You want your reader to believe that the character's name reflects their personality and behavior.
Some stories are easier to tell than others. They might take place in one location with only a handful of characters. Some stories have tons of characters, and take place in a fully created world full of cities, lakes, and forests that each need their own unique, yet cool, names.
I spent a lot of time the other day coming up with names of locations that will be in my book. I came up with eleven names for various locales, and I have already named at least five characters with many more to go. I'm wondering how far I am going to get in telling my story before I stop and decide that it's time for book two to start.
It's an interesting experience creating a world from scratch. You don't want the names of the places to sound stupid, and since they're fictitious locations you need to describe them vividly to the reader. However, the payoff is that you get to create anything you want to. you have the freedom to create a floating city if you want to.
For my character names I randomly generate sets of obscure names, and I take a look at hundreds of names until I think I find a first and last name that I like. I don't like making up names like Tirion, I want them to sound real. For location names I have looked at names of places, and browsed random lists, and tried to pick and choose the best components, and reassemble them.
How do you come up with your names?
Some stories are easier to tell than others. They might take place in one location with only a handful of characters. Some stories have tons of characters, and take place in a fully created world full of cities, lakes, and forests that each need their own unique, yet cool, names.
I spent a lot of time the other day coming up with names of locations that will be in my book. I came up with eleven names for various locales, and I have already named at least five characters with many more to go. I'm wondering how far I am going to get in telling my story before I stop and decide that it's time for book two to start.
It's an interesting experience creating a world from scratch. You don't want the names of the places to sound stupid, and since they're fictitious locations you need to describe them vividly to the reader. However, the payoff is that you get to create anything you want to. you have the freedom to create a floating city if you want to.
For my character names I randomly generate sets of obscure names, and I take a look at hundreds of names until I think I find a first and last name that I like. I don't like making up names like Tirion, I want them to sound real. For location names I have looked at names of places, and browsed random lists, and tried to pick and choose the best components, and reassemble them.
How do you come up with your names?
Friday, March 11, 2011
Inspiration
A lot of people who hear that I am writing a book ask me where my inspiration came from? First off, I think that this is two questions in one.
Where did my inspiration to write a book come from?
I had always wanted to write a book, but I never did as a product of laziness, and the fact that even if I wrote it I would not have any means to publish it for public consumption. I figured that as cool as it would be to write a book I would still want people to read it, and if they couldn't I viewed it as a waste of time.
We live in an age of technology, and now we have the means to buy a book, and have it delivered instantly without having to leave the comfort of our favorite reading corner. I am of course talking about eReaders, namely the Kindle. Amazon, much like Apple offers with iTunes or their App Store, offers authors a way to electronically publish their own books and keep 35%-70% of the royalties. When I finish my book I intend to publish it for between $.99 - $2.99 on all eReader formats.
Where did the inspiration for my story come from?
I think that this is a slightly more complicated question. I look at inspiration as the sum of everything you have experienced in life. This creates a large pool of creative basis for you to draw on. I think that there are two main ways to draw an idea from this pool.
First, you can simply focus on a topic that you find very interesting, and come up with a single thought. This thought will function as the seed that you grow in to your story.
The other method is to sleep, and let your sub-conscious create stories for you in the form of dreams. If you have a particularly interesting or entertaining dream, you can use it as the seed for your story.
For my story I thought of a cool theme for the story, and I also thought about the ending, and I built from there. I thought about a cool way to start the book, and have taken it one chapter at a time since.
For my brother's book he told me that he had a dream, and a particular line in that dream served as the basis which he grew his story from.
Everyone's experiences are different, and I think that's why even if you told 30 people to write a book about an alien that was raised as a human only one of them would write Superman.
Where did my inspiration to write a book come from?
I had always wanted to write a book, but I never did as a product of laziness, and the fact that even if I wrote it I would not have any means to publish it for public consumption. I figured that as cool as it would be to write a book I would still want people to read it, and if they couldn't I viewed it as a waste of time.
We live in an age of technology, and now we have the means to buy a book, and have it delivered instantly without having to leave the comfort of our favorite reading corner. I am of course talking about eReaders, namely the Kindle. Amazon, much like Apple offers with iTunes or their App Store, offers authors a way to electronically publish their own books and keep 35%-70% of the royalties. When I finish my book I intend to publish it for between $.99 - $2.99 on all eReader formats.
Where did the inspiration for my story come from?
I think that this is a slightly more complicated question. I look at inspiration as the sum of everything you have experienced in life. This creates a large pool of creative basis for you to draw on. I think that there are two main ways to draw an idea from this pool.
First, you can simply focus on a topic that you find very interesting, and come up with a single thought. This thought will function as the seed that you grow in to your story.
The other method is to sleep, and let your sub-conscious create stories for you in the form of dreams. If you have a particularly interesting or entertaining dream, you can use it as the seed for your story.
For my story I thought of a cool theme for the story, and I also thought about the ending, and I built from there. I thought about a cool way to start the book, and have taken it one chapter at a time since.
For my brother's book he told me that he had a dream, and a particular line in that dream served as the basis which he grew his story from.
Everyone's experiences are different, and I think that's why even if you told 30 people to write a book about an alien that was raised as a human only one of them would write Superman.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
10,000 Words Down!
So, this morning I came in to work early like I usually do to avoid the bulk of the Atlanta traffic, and I set to finishing the chapter I was working on. A little over a thousand words later I had finished the chapter, and passed the 10,000 word barrier. If anything means that it's real I think that writing 10,000 words does.
So there are some pretty good characters being introduced. I might take some time tonight and consolidate some facts about them in to my character sheets. I would like to take my main three characters, and kind of plot out where they are at the beginning of the book, and where they will end up at the end of the book. What will their emotional journey be like? What events will be significant to them? How will these events change them?
Does anyone else have experience with character sketches that could offer some advice on how to plan characters so that they grow throughout a book? I'm sure my plan will be fine, but experience would be nice too.
So there are some pretty good characters being introduced. I might take some time tonight and consolidate some facts about them in to my character sheets. I would like to take my main three characters, and kind of plot out where they are at the beginning of the book, and where they will end up at the end of the book. What will their emotional journey be like? What events will be significant to them? How will these events change them?
Does anyone else have experience with character sketches that could offer some advice on how to plan characters so that they grow throughout a book? I'm sure my plan will be fine, but experience would be nice too.
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