August not-quite-TCWT: My First “Masterpiece” *cringe*

Tags

c.s. lewis, character development, robin hood legends, star wars, story dynamics, the chronicles of narnia, worldbuilding, writing

Okay. I forgot to do this before but I’m hesitant to leave it undone. So.

The prompt, as re-released by Rosalie, for August, was “What was the first thing you wrote of your own accord?”

*grabs Thinking Pillow and Kennedy-the-Dragon and sits against the Doctor’s back, thinking*

Oh my. What a doozy of a question.

Probably my first autonomous work, *smacks Turquoise in the face for insinuating that I use too many long words* written when I was nine, was a compendium of poorly written Robin Hood legends with the worst OC I have ever written. She wasn’t named Sparkles Purple Power or whatever, and she actually did have some bad habits, but she was the closest I have ever gotten to a Mary Sue. She was a very weak character, her backstory was the most cliche, she had no personality and, worst of all, she didn’t ever actually do anything (except burning the trenchers and shooting one of Prince John’s men in the backside. She was so useless she couldn’t even hit him in the back of the head. Or the ribs. Or the lung. Or any part of him where her shot might have actually done some damage. Oh, it was played for laughs, but it had been left in the wrong spot and came across as if I didn’t respect my topic at all.)

Basically, think Merida, only without the spark of life that makes Merida compelling, a tragic backstory, and no actual motivation.

Maybe that’s why everyone sounded so self-satisfied and kept rehashing everything they already knew?!

(I really did get my start writing fanfiction, you see.)

Or, wait!

It was a horrible copycat of “The Chronicles of Narnia” which started out okay (ish), but quickly spiraled downwards as I didn’t have the patience to tell a story which was longer than a front-and-back page. It had a fairly good concept if I could’ve developed it better, but now it’s been shelved. Permanently.

I hope that for posterity’s sake and definitely not out of pride that it stays hidden until the end of time.

I’m not sure how old I was when I wrote that. It was, however, definitely more than a decade ago.

After the Robin Hood fail, my next attempt at writing was a novel-length fanfiction of Star Wars, which taught me a lot about characterization and how to differentiate characters by trial and error, but nothing about story–it was horrifically plotless and basically drifted with whatever ideas I wanted to throw in. As a result, the main character (another unfortunate OC who was marginally better than my first and worst one), while she did improve in her lessons and became better at the Jedi arts, never really experienced any major personal growth. She really did deserve better.

My third (fourth?) serious attempt at writing was another young lady with a tragic backstory, maybe a bit more character and personality, but still with a negligible plot and no real character development. And the world I built for it was sadly lacking in depth and originality. Faugh.

After that, though, I did improve somewhat.

It’s been a journey, to say the least. *sigh*

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Turn, Turn, Turn: A Doctor Who Nursery Rhyme

Tags

astronomy, because it's cool, doctor who, fanfiction, fictional cultures, science, science fiction, so i did this..., worldbuilding

Seeing that Time Lord culture is going to be so based on time and motion in the context of time, I thought this up, mostly during astronomy class. Basically, I was thinking about how the universe turns within itself: The Earth circles the Sun, the Moon circles the Earth, the whole Solar System circles the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, the Milky Way circles with other galaxies, and the whole universe spreads outwards into space… And it kind of made me think. While the whole clock/clockwork/pocket watch sort of steampunky aesthetic works very well in context, I thought that the order we see in the universe and the constant motion of heavenly bodies around their manifold centers would probably also figure very strongly in Time Lord culture, which might also explain why they also are so fixated on order, and that would come across very strongly, even in their nursery rhymes–a sort of indoctrination, if you will, if we’re thinking about the darker side of Gallifrey. Also, a sphere is an incredibly beautiful and quintessential form, and spheres within spheres, don’t even get me started.

ANYWHEN! So basically, this is what I came up with. I hope you all enjoy it!

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Turn, Turn, Turn

Turn, turn, turn away,

Each moves within its whirling wheel,

All the spheres come out to play,

All the perfect moments steal.

---

Order rules both time and space,

As within their worlds we roam,

Every atom has its place,

Every second has its home.

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Wanderers that feel the turning,

Crossing on from sphere to sphere

Underneath each new sun’s burning

Wanderers that travel here.

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Music, laughter, joy and pain,

Hope and love and shivering fear,

The years turn round the worlds again,

And everything moves in its sphere.

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First the sun shines on the plains,

Sweet life within the nave of day,

And then the moon comes once again,

So turn, and turn, and turn, away.

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Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Authorly Bucket List Tag

Tags

author, authorly bucket list tag, blog events, blogging, j.r.r. tolkien, new tag, practice makes perfect, story dynamics, tags, the lord of the rings, worldbuilding, writing

Okay, I’ve seen tags going around and I had an idea for a new one. (So sue me.) (And please tell me why that quote seems so familiar, too. 😛 )

So, without further ado… The Authorly Bucket List Tag!

Otherwise known as the Stuff-I-Need-To-Practice-More-Slash-Stuff-I’d-Like-To-Be-Better-At Tag. (Partly inspired by this post. Also this one.)

Basically, the idea is to list a few things you’re not very good at, and a few things which you’d like to try. Three to seven of each should be a good number. So here we go!

Things I’m Not Very Good At

1. Holding points of view through a scene. It’s a bad habit of mine–I go omniscient sometimes, or I jump heads. Big thing that needs editing. You know. That’s part of the reason why I started writing fanfiction–it helped me learn a little bit better how to hold a point of view in a scene.
2. Detachment to objects. I’m not very good at leaving stuff behind, partly because my characters are so often either not very well off (and thus need to hold on to whatever weaponry they have), or are on the run (which needs no explanation, frankly–what is wrong with me?!)
3. Certain character types. I’m very good at blatantly and manipulatively evil characters, stern characters, etc. What I am not very good with is the chronically irritating character who just gets on everyone’s nerves, the clever clown, some kinds of traitors, the double-blind traitor, and so forth. I can write a charismatic leader. Not so much an outcast who is outcast through some fault of his own.
4. Finding out the middle bits of a plot. I don’t always have a direct path through the plot, and thus I tend to occasionally write myself into corners, or lose my inspiration, and have no idea how to proceed to the next plot point that I am sure of.

Things I Want To Try

1. Dystopian, Urban Fantasy, and/or Contemporary Adventure, as well as Science Fiction. I sort of have a few books in the works, but Fantasy is my strong suit, and I know for a fact I’m not very good at writing romance, and I can’t–simply can’t–write horror. I can’t watch it, can’t read it, can’t write it. And I’m better off that way. I’m better at psychological drama and character development. (This one is mostly because I love varied and strongly-differentiated worlds in fiction.)
2. Characters who are flawed. Characters who freeze up and there are consequences. Characters who are imperfect. (Besides, your own flaws are a much better reason to angst than things that you can’t help, such as your past, things that were not your fault, and such, don’t you think?)
3. Meals that are not just soup. I think I’m mentally reverting to soup because it’s homely and hot and that’s all travelers want after a long day on the road, right? I need to figure out other meals, sometimes even less appealing.
4. Better McGuffins to tie up loose ends with and hold the story together (in the Redwall series, it’s Martin’s sword; in The Lord of the Rings, there are several, such as the phial of Galadriel or Arwen’s tokens to Aragorn.) I need to learn how to write them well into the plot.
5. Small repeated cues from a character, things that recur through a story, color scheme, etc. Anything that shows up more than once in a story, even if it’s just an Easter Egg, is really rewarding for a reader; it makes them feel good that they were paying enough attention to recognize those. Especially if it’s important to the plot. The mark of a good book is that you see new things in it every time. I want to make my books that good.

So, that’s my list of things that I wish I could do better as a writer. What’s yours? Feel free to pick up on the tag, even if you’re not on the nominations list. 😉 Just make sure that you link back to this post on my blog, and to give me a link to your acceptance posts; I want to read them. 😀

I now hereby nominate:

Sarah of Light and Shadows

Tara Therese

Portergirl at Secret Diary of Portergirl

Rachel Carrera

Proverbs31teen of The World of the Writer

IcedMocha34

Liam of This Page Intentionally Left Blank

Erin (the other one!) at Laughing at Live Dragons

Rosalie at Against the Shadows

Shiekah of Dark Link/Light Link

Amy of The Monday Heretic

Bessie Lark of Firefly

Iris at The Road Goes On

Well, that’s everyone I could think of, anyway. 😉

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Setting the Stage: Color and Mood

Tags

captain america: the first avenger, captain america: the winter soldier, color, j.r.r. tolkien, lighting, marvel, movies, peter jackson, setting a scene, story dynamics, the avengers, the lord of the rings, tricks and tips, worldbuilding, writing

Color is a tool.

Watch any well-made movie, and you’ll see what I mean. Some movies (such as Star Wars) use color to define a character’s alignment and/or leanings towards another side. Aladdin notably uses color to hint at danger, greed, or corruption. Military units use color as an identifier.

Color is a hint to character. Humble, soft-spoken characters will often prefer muted colors; browns, dark reds, navy, royal blue, gray, forest green. Vivid, vibrant characters love the jewel tones. And if you have a sweet little girl, princess or otherwise, she’s almost certain to like pastels.

However, color isn’t just useful in reminding the reader what sort of character he or she is dealing with at the moment. It’s also handy in setting a scene, adding to a mood. (Watch “The War Was In Color” if you don’t believe me. Then again, listen to it anyway. Even if you’re not a fan of the movie-from-which-the-fanvid-was-made. I could’ve found another one that would have also worked, but this is more fun.)

If you have not watched The Lord of the Rings, then you won’t be able to relate, but Peter Jackson masterfully uses color saturation and lighting to set the scenes, highlighting a progression through the story in a way that characterization might be able to convey, but never in the exact same way as Tolkien’s words do. However, Jackson is able to reasonably emulate Tolkien’s literary style through an art style, visual cues, and lighting.

In the Shire, the light is warm; the most common colors are green and bright yellow, and the lighting feels natural, like bright summer sunlight. As the travelers leave the Shire, the lighting moves towards grays and blues; still natural, but more like the light of a cloudy day. Rivendell is fittingly full of fall colors, as a refuge of the Elves that may be compared to their eternal autumn; the lighting is, again, natural, warm, but softer, full of memory; “sunbeams” and avenues shot with frequent lights are commonly seen in Rivendell. Upon leaving Rivendell, we are again exposed to a similar winter light. Moria’s strategically placed beams of white light against the overall dimness create a greater impression than mere blackness could, and Lothlorien is filled with a soft silver radiance, colder and purer than any other light in the whole set of movies, symbolizing the eternal refuge of the Elves in which the world is forever young.

However, it is not until The Two Towers that the lighting really takes on a role all its own. The blue, pale lights of Frodo’s journey, washing out the hobbits’ faces and making them seem paler, almost sickly, contrasting Frodo’s hair still more strongly with his skin and eyes, the drab, gooey look of the Dead Marshes, and the sickly, greasy light of the Morgul Vale reflect the growing darkness and danger of Frodo’s quest, and the poisonous lure of the Ring. Of course, it leads to the pass at Cirith Ungol and Shelob’s lair, which was nearly impossible to convey through film as written; with the dirty gray-and-white look in the movie, Jackson did a fair job. The journey culminates in the red-and-yellow-saturated Sammath Naur on Orodruin, the lighting underscoring the crux of the quest. The remaining scenes of The Return of the King have a soft, distant, dream-like quality, which is best summed up by Frodo’s quote: “We set out to save the Shire, and it has been saved; but not for me.”

The two Captain America movies and The Avengers use a similar progression of color, though more subtly than Jackson’s use in The Lord of the Rings. In The First Avenger, many of the scenes are cast in warm sepia tones, like a haven from the horrors of war; the entire film has a charming vintage-yet-unexpected look. The Avengers expertly uses shadow and light to convey a mood, while many of the scenes from The Winter Soldier (which I still have not yet seen) appear to be cast in a bluish, cloudy winter light, similar to some scenes from The Two Towers.

However, these colors are not all mutually exclusive. The First Avenger uses the chilly, cloudy natural light to hint at forebodings of ill-fortune, while certain deleted scenes from The Avengers make use of a similar sepia cast, and the forest confrontation scene uses a nighttime moonlight that is reminiscent of the blue cast from The First Avenger. While I can not say much about The Winter Soldier, I think it is safe to assume that it follows the same trend, using sepia to highlight memory or safety, pale blue light for foreboding or the realization of a horrible fate, and a chiaroscuro theme for the uncomfortable truths that will come to light (no pun intended.)

So should it be with your stories.

Not that you can pick a color scheme to symbolize every last thing in your story, but you can at least use a color scheme to evoke an emotional response in the reader, and reusing those color schemes is just a bonus to help keep the reader interested. (Readers like repeated imagery and symbolism, because it makes them feel good because they’ve been paying enough attention to notice it when it first appeared.)

Think of yourself as a filmmaker. Pick a color palette and stick with it. Use color effectively.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

The Art of Allusion

Tags

avengers, baroness emma orczy, j.r.r. tolkien, marvel, selay'uu (sort of), star wars, story dynamics, the lord of the rings, the scarlet pimpernel, the silmarillion, worldbuilding

In literature, allusion is a reference to something that will be familiar to the audience; anything from a turn of phrase to a cultural icon, or even a mention of a familiar food. Allusion is a tool, used to anchor the readers and story in a certain time and place. It is also useful in creating its homophone: the illusion of a larger world.

Places like the galaxy far, far away and Middle-Earth are chock full of things that we never see, but are alluded to; “strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark”, for instance, or “Ancalagon the Black.” Each of these allusions gives us a tiny amount of information about the subject. We know that Ancalagon the Black was a dragon. They also hint at things; Ancalagon the Black must have been a very nasty dragon to merit the nickname “the Black,” and for Gandalf to mention him at that point in the story, he must have been familiar even to hobbits. This gives Ancalagon a bit of a reputation. Having read the Silmarillion, I don’t recall seeing what Ancalagon did, exactly. I do remember Glaurung–also a nasty piece of work–but he wasn’t technically a dragon, he just took the shape of one. Unlike many of the throw-away references in The Lord of the Rings, we didn’t learn much about Ancalagon in the Silmarillion. We didn’t learn anything more about Gundarks until the Clone Wars (which some people don’t accept as canon.)

Throw-away references that may or may not be built on later are important. While the reader probably won’t mentally flag them “THIS IS IMPORTANT!” unless they are a major fan of the book or the series, they do create the illusion that there’s a bigger world off-screen or off-page, and if you do bring them back later, it will be an “oh. OH!” moment for the reader as they recall that you slipped it into the text earlier. (Here’s a hint: if it is important to your plot in any way, slip it in early and bring it up at least once before you need it. That way it won’t fall on your readers’ heads out of a blue sky. That tends to drive people away.)

These allusions are also marvelous in creating a character with a past. Like the infamous tomato sauce incident (I thought I told you not to experiment in the kitchen, Will! The New World hasn’t been discovered yet!), or the moments when Halt or Crowley mention something that happened in their youth without telling the full story, these allusions also broaden a character, just as they broaden a world. You create jucier characters, which readers love, that way. It’s a win-win situation all around.

Would Araluen be so interesting if we weren’t curious about what might be lurking in Russia (the John R. Flanagan equivalent of it)? Okay, maybe that wasn’t a good example. 😛 But would the oliphaunts have made such an impact if we hadn’t been already curious about Harad, after Gandalf mentioned it and that it was nearly always warm there? Would we have been so eager to find out what happened at Budapest? What about Halt and Crowley’s friendship and how they became friends, or why Marguerite was acquainted with Chauvelin at all?

Insert random reference that builds into your world here.

Your readers will love you.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless!

Remember how I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island?

Yeah, and I threw up?

This isn’t payback, is it?

Now why would I do that?

(Virtual chocolate for anyone who knows that quote!)