The Other Side

I found this cool blog post over at Write-or-Die that talks about the antagonist of the story and how important they are because they're what's really driving the story by giving the protagonist something to do. And she had a cool idea.

Somehow it had never really occurred to me to really get into what my antagonist is doing while the story goes on centered on the protagonist. I mean, I have vague ideas on what my villain is doing behind the scenes, but most of the time it's really blurry. The stories not centered on the villain so why bother, right?

I'm starting to rethink this. Outlining what the villain is doing throughout the story could bring up some good stuff that I hadn't realized before, and could add more depth to the story when I know precisely what's going on with both sides. Not to mention it could be downright interesting. And fun.

I wouldn't let this take over into a book of it's own (try not to, anyway) cause it would only be for reference on what's going on over there.

So what do you guys think of this? Writing about what's going on on the other side, what they're doing to get at the protagonist, how they're planning they're stuff and just general stuff like that? Only to know what they're doing throughout the book while your protagonist is doing his/her thing?

I am DROWNING

Well, I have to say I thought I would've been ready to start writing by the beginning of this month but I'm not. And while I would like to say this sorta sucks, well. . . it kinda doesn't. Because were I to start writing now the resulting story wouldn't nearly be what I wanted it to be.

I mean, I did plan. Really, I did. Maybe not as much as I was supposed to but I had a beginning to end plan on paper. At first I was happy. But then I looked at it, really looked at it and thought, "This is not the story I was supposed to tell." And that was a bad realization because what I had written down wasn't better than the way I see it in my mind, in fact I think it was way worse.

I wonder how that might have happened and I think it was because the planning was done too quick and was too forced. Yet on the other hand I didn't spend nearly enough time planning which I believe was largely the reason for this result. So, I am giving myself this rest of this month to do some serious planning.

I think the hardest part of all this is not knowing where to start. I know I need to create the back stories of all my major characters at least, and that I need to plan out the plot and the character arc of this book, and figure out exactly who my characters are down to their bare instincts, and the world itself needs to be figured out still. Does this story take place in a hot place? A cold place? What is the society and culture like there? What sort of things might be ingrained in my character from growing up in such place? And then there's the magic system, or lack thereof. And it's just a bit overwhelming. How do I plan this out? Do I start small and then go big? Do I start with what I know and then ponder the things I don't or do I figure out what I don't know first? And just which part of this whole mess do I start with first?

It's all just burying me alive and I feel very small and useless.

But I know I'll get through this mess. Somehow. I think I might start with some back stories and some magic structure. I've been working on the cultures some, but still not enough. For this whole month I've got to focus on nothing other than planning this thing so I can write it. Even if I don't have much of a clue where to start.

How many of you feel this way sometimes?

Dragons

Well, I have to say I was on the fence about putting dragons in the Chronicles. Mostly it's because, no matter how much I may like dragons, they seem cliche to me. Plus they just didn't seem to fit into the chronicles. If I were to have dragons I knew they would be a entirely sentient race, not animals, not something to ride on (in fact, a human riding a dragon is about the lowest of the low for my dragons).

So, still undecided I've been vaguely thinking about them from time to time and then I had the perfect idea: Mages and dragons have a mild rivalry going on between them, namely who is superior than the other. This idea just grew and grew bringing with it history and how dragons came into existence, the scuffles between the mages and dragons and now, they fit perfectly. In fact, I already have dragon a character (though unfortunately he shouldn't make an appearance until book 2) and it was really him who said, "Yes, us dragons do exist," with an eerie smile on his face. His name is Oris and here's a simple drawing of him:

 (Click for larger version)

Probably not the best but it catches him. He's not the nicest dragon and is rather frightening at times.  As you see my dragons do have hair, as well as tusks and horns. They don't look very much like giant lizards anymore but more on the mammal side. I think that actually may have been why they didn't seem to fit into my world because I was imagining the stereotypical dragon with all the scales and the long snakish neck and the fire breath and everything but once Oris came into my head that all went away and I knew that they would be looking a bit different.

So, now I got some new things to outline in Remnants cause I'm sure there will be dragons! This will be great, having this added diversity. Quite honestly I can't wait till I get to book two so I can write about Oris!

I hope everyone is having a good time with their NaNo stories! And if you haven't already, click the NaNo Bloggers image at the top of the sidebar to get a list of blogging wrimos and to add your blog if you will also be blogging for NaNo.

Good Luck!

So Very Busy

Wow, I have been so busy! Running around town getting DBA's and stuff, visiting grandparents until midnight, trying to perfect business cards at 3am and then spending all day working the Young Living booth at the wellness expo, I'm just tired!

I was going to post the day before yesterday but didn't have time, but, see. . . I met Scott Westerfeld. I did, and it was awesome. I got there two hours before the signing was supposed to start (this is because attending Stephenie Meyer's signing closer to the right time was a nightmare) and Scott Westerfeld was there - with his wife Justine Larbelestier! - and I got to meet them and shake hands with them! This may not sound too special to some of you but it felt like meeting a celebrity to me. Anyway, they left very soon after that to eat and I waited for the signing to start and slowly people started to trickle in. Scott Westerfeld's presentation was awesome, with all the history that inspired his Leviathan idea and some stuff on his Uglies trilogy. I now wish I had already read the Leviathan series but I just haven't because of everything else I'm trying to read, but now I'm going to get started on them! Anyway then we got the books signed, I also had his Midnighters series which he signed and my mom brought the Uglies for his to sign. She also had me sit next to him and get a picture, kinda embarrassing for me but awesome! I can't wait to print it and hang it on my wall by my desk, that'll be great inspiration :D

Other than that, I haven't had time to outline at all since my plot breakthrough awhile ago and I have to get started with that again because November is almost here! I'm so nervous and excited about it and I have to get back into my story cause I feel a bit detached from it now, having not thought about it very much for the last few days :(

Waiting for NaNo

(Fixed)

I've finally made a cover for the first book of the Chronicles of Siron. It took two or three very wrong tries but I finally did it:


(Note: Image used does not belong to me)

I think it came out very good, a lot better than last years Angels cover by a long shot! I especially love how eerie the eyes came out :D I also made a signature banner thing for it:



I didn't do that texture thing I did with the cover but it came out better without it.

Gosh I'm just so exited! Waiting for NaNo to come up! I've just barely started to outline. I've done this major event outline on a wipey board, an idea from someone on the forums, but I'm still going to try and outline chapter by chapter. I just feel the need to because the wipey board isn't detailed enough, though it is good to glance at for reference. Like in chapter one the outline will be like, 'Be sure to include this or that, etc' That's what I think it'll be like anyway. I haven't actually written it yet. . . <.<

Haha, anyway. I know a lot of other people are just as exited as me, you can tell by looking at the forums, all the topics for 'Countdown to the Wipe' and 'Farewell Forums' and some others.

Um, I might be able to talk about something else tomorrow (or maybe after the new site is up) but for now I CAN'T WAIT!!!1! XD