NaNoWriMo approaches!

Yes, tomorrow is National Novel Writing Month. I've tried to get hyped, and I kind of am. More than I was last year, anyway. (I was in slight panic mode last year). I don't really have a complete plot. I don't even have three-quarters of a plot. I'm not sure I even have time. But I have a world and a bunch of pens and a notebook that has already been decked out with NaNoWriMo stickers, and... really, what sort of Wrimo would I be if I didn't do NaNo this year? (don't answer that.)

Right, well, this is where the slight panic sets in. I'm not sure I can do it because of time. I keep telling myself that I can work on it - that I can work in the world I've set up for myself (mostly) and that the words will just come. It's happened before. But it hasn't happened in a while. I'm possibly less prepared than I was last year - at least I knew all the character names last year. This year, I keep mixing up Tobias with whatever I named my villain (Joshua? No, he was a protagonist last year.  Jericho?  No, he was last year's villain, and I don't recycle names. Oh right, his name is Jeremy. Damn you, J-names! Come to think of it, maybe I should change his name...); also, I can't keep my character sheets straight. For example, I can't find the definitive sheet that I have (I KNOW I WROTE ONE UP) that says the Players' names, strengths, and weaknesses. Gah!

Also, I tried to get into the NaNoWriMo spirit by putting a countdown on the whiteboard on the door of my room. Every day - sometimes multiple times a day - someone would come and erase the number. With 9 days to go, someone erased it and drew a penis.

So, this is my life right now. Will be back tomorrow to begin the hooliganry!

NaNo Building - Episode 1: WHAT IS A PLAYER?

In an attempt to maybe motivate myself to try and get the rest of my NaNo universe sorted out, I'm going to post some mechanics of my world here.

This first installment covers what and who exactly the Players are.

Simply put, a Player is a person whose soul isn’t quite ready for Heaven, but the soul is nowhere near bad enough to go to Hell. If the person chooses, they can go forth and right their wrongs and eventually be redeemed. If they choose not to go forth and be redeemed, they will be doomed to roam the Earth as a homeless, wandering soul... *cue soul-wandering Purgatory legends, etc*

If they choose to be redeemed, they will be cast as an Archetype in 1,001 tales. The Archetype they are cast in is one of two things, depending on the lessons needed to be learned: first, the Archetype can be opposite from the person's personality in life, to show them that what they could have done; second, the Archetype can be similar to the person's personality in life, to show them what they were doing wrong. The first instance tends to be a Hero or Villain's Turncoat Sidekick; the second, the Villain or the Hero's Sidekick (turncoat or not).

That's the basic mechanics of who they are and the start of what they do. Next Time: how you get there and what your gender is.

Going Back

This month, I want to work on typing up and editing my NaNo2011 novel (the one I wrote during November of my senior year; it is, in my opinion, one of the better novels I have written.  It is also the only one that has an ending that is connected to the rest of the story.  NaNo2012 has an end, but I have a scene or two to add before that).  It is going to be rather interesting, I have to admit.  I have not seen most of this novel in quite a long time - the middle bits tend to get ignored in the grand scheme of typing when there are a lot of false-starts.  Since this novel is in roughly the 100,000-115,000 word range, this is going to take a long time, and I hope I can get through it.

I think there are three important things I will need to focus on when I start editing:
1. Work out characters' back-stories more, especially the principal characters.  It is probably going to take a while, but if I know their stories better, I will be able to work out whether they would actually do or say something, or whether I was just putting a certain statement in to be punny or tack onto my word count (it's been known to happen).
2. Work on general plot arc/ subplot arc.  General plot arc comes first, then the subplots.  I made a list the other day: there are five plots in this novel (one main and four subplots).  I need to work out which should stay and which should go (or perhaps should just fade, but not leave entirely).  From there, I need to...
3. ... Work on scene selection.  I think this is going to be the hardest part of the entire thing, which is why I'm going to be doing it last (it's also last because I can't really do it well if I don't have 1 and 2 sorted out properly).  This step is where I add and subtract scenes to make sure it's actually going to work in the general plot.  I predict that my word count will shrink rapidly if I work on this step for a long time, and go thoroughly through step 2 (though step 1 might add a few scenes).

At this point, I need to stop thinking in terms of word count and start thinking in terms of MAKE THIS A BETTER NOVEL.  I am no longer in NaNoWriMo: I'm in WiCaEdMo (Wild Card Editing Month), in which word count and word quality are not the same thing (they never were, but the NaNo mindset tends to force you to ignore that).

Also, this is not an April Fool's Joke.

How to Defeat a Dragon

I've discovered something that can be kind of interesting if used right.

My play for FYEC is going to involve dragons and people who contemplate suicide.  I know that much for certain.  However, I making my main character, who attempted suicide multiple times, also fluent in Old Draconic (like Old English for dragons), which brings up the interesting point: will she kill the dragon, negotiate with the dragon, or talk to the dragon in Old Draconic and win it over?  (I'm not telling you this.  I already know.  I've already written that part).

But this proposes an interesting alternative to dragon-slaying.

Yes, yes, I know, fantasy is supposed to teach us that dragons can be beaten.  But 'beaten' does not mean 'killed.'  'Beaten' means foiled, quashed, clobbered - not killed.

As the (modified) saying goes, there's more than one way to clobber a dragon.  Just some of the ways are more difficult than others.  The easy way out is just to kill it (though, considering it's twelve times your size and can breathe fire, might not be that easy); the more difficult way is to talk it out with the dragon; this may be only more difficult because the dragon is older and larger and smarter than you, and a battle of the wits is one of many situations where a Dragon of Old benefits from having a larger brain than you (it means it has plenty of room to think about gold and also clobbering humans).

Of course, talking to the dragon is dumb, according to every movie and fairy tale ever.   Who talks to dragons?  Who gets along with dragons?  WHO CARES ABOUT THE DRAGON'S OPINION?
The dragons care about their opinion, thanks very much.

Homework...

Well, I got homework on the first day of J-term.  For once, I am actually kind of excited about doing my homework (being excited about doing homework?  Yes, that can happen. Who knew?).
As I may or may not have mentioned, my J-term course is called "The Playwright's Process," where the final is a one-act that is fully written, edited, and thought out.  This is turning out to be (in the one class I have attended of this course) more of a workshop environment than one of instruction - there will be a lot more peer editing than I expected, and a lot less of the professor saying, "LET ME TEACH YOU HOW TO WRITE A ONE-ACT!"

About an hour ago, I went to have a meeting with my professor about my one-act - everyone has to, just to brainstorm ideas about what each of us is going to write about.  From that, the professor has given us each an assignment that is supposed to help us figure out what we are going to write about further (at least, that is what is happening for mine, because I need to work some details out).  I have to do two scenes: first, a scene in which the murder victim is the main character, and has to persuade the murderer not to kill them; second, a scene in which the being tasked with the murder is the main character, and, to maintain the secrecy of their mission and society, they must convince a relative of the victim to kill the victim.  This is supposed to be to help me decide which side I want to focus on - the secret society, or the being who investigates it (and who may or may not wind up dead).

So far, I think I like this course.  The professor is interesting, and the discussion today really helped with just generating ideas.  I came in with half a plot I threw together in ten minutes, but came out with something that I can actually work with (I'm not saying what it is, because I haven't finalized it yet, but I'm excited).  The main parts of the story - a secret society and a murder - are things that I don't normally write, because I feel that I'm really bad at coming up with plot twists and good reasons for a secret to be kept (she did once say that a secrecy motive I suggested was boring, which is really true.  I don't remember what it was, but I remember agreeing with her).

Anyway, I have to go forth and do cool stuff.  Farewell.

On Reading

One of the things I'm going to miss during the finals week cramming - and that I have missed during the semester and during NaNoWriMo - is reading.  If there's one thing that almost all writers can agree on (all novel writers, anyway), is that reading books is important for style development and just plain fun.  It doesn't matter what genre, really - I guess if you want to write erotica, you should probably read a fair dose of erotica before and during your erotica writing experience.  Similar goes for romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and anything else you might want to write, and it's especially important if you want to do a crossover - if you want to do a sci-fi romance novel, that's your choice, but you'd need experience reading both.

There are reasons for this - reading when you're writing.

First off, you can't just put "how to write a romance novel" into Google. Well, you can, but there's a difference between reading the wiki how-to on it and actually seeing it in action.  Besides, the tips in the wiki page are very generic - "create two characters," "end your novel well."  Read to know what those mean: every writer is different, so there will be some variation in how each character is presented, what the plot is, what causes the emotional tension, and such like.

Secondly, read to know what not to do.  Every writer has their good bits and their bad bits.  The trick is to finding which is which - especially in your opinion.  You're the writer; write what you like.  Grammar rules, however, cannot be bent under any circumstances that are excusable if you have an editor.

Read what you know, and what you don't know.  Expand your horizons a bit, and you'll be able to write more and better.  I'd say "write what you know," but that's a piece of advice I have mixed feelings about.  I'm a fantasy writer.  I've never met a dragon.  I don't know any dragons.  But I've written several dragons.  In each of my three mostly-complete novels, and in two that are in progress, there have been reference to a dragon at some point or another.  In four of the five aforementioned works, the dragon is a significant being.  In the fifth, its existence is situational and any other creature could have thrown the characters together adequately.
Anyway, the point is, I've never met a dragon.  I've never met a dwarf.  I've never met an elf.  I don't know any of these beings personally, but I write about them all the time.

That's not the point.

The point is, READ!

Character Building

So some of you might not know, but I play Dungeons and Dragons. A new campaign is starting at my school, and I was working on building my character today. It really helped my perspective on character building on a whole - I mean, I'm going to be stuck with this chick for a while, so I might as well like her, and build her as well as I can, in both ranks and her story.  Since I'm playing a human bard, there are things that I have to work with - the bard can do magic, but only a certain amount and in certain ways and stuff, and the human has a lot of adaptability, but isn't perfect.  There are certain languages she can't speak because she's a human, but she might be able to learn them because she's a bard, and she travels a lot.
So, how does DnD character building relate to the character building of normal building, including non-fantasy genres?

Though it may be really annoying, you could look up the character sheets for DnD and just look them over.  Though a human bard is not going to be built the same as someone from "The Devil Wears Prada," both of them need to be built well.  DnD has Skill lists that certain classes can do - look those over, modify them to fit your genre, and think about it.  You don't have to roll for Charisma, Intelligence, and Strength, but think about what alignment they might be if they lived in the DnD world.  If you aren't familiar with the alignments, look up alignment memes in any image search engine, and you'll be able to find one that has various characters for each - there's one where Superman is Lawful Good and the Joker is Chaotic Evil.  Additionally, tvtropes.org has a good explanation of them (just be wary: that website is very like Facebook: it can suck you in.  The difference is, you'll figure out different archetypal things, whereas on Facebook you're just watching other people's drama unfold).
Anyhow, that's all I have for today.
Have fun!

exposition

Well, since I've gone over random little things about writing, I might as well go over some big stuff.  Like exposition.
Before exposition happens (aka before you start writing), there's something you need to consider.  You could consider it and decide to see what happens, but you need to think about how you're going to do your exposition.  One way is that you explain everything as you go - "this is how the monarchy works;" "this is how the trade route works;" "this is where the dragons live;" "this is what I eat for breakfast," and so on.  Another way it could happen is that Plot could happen and, with A VERY WELL ESTABLISHED WORLD, let the reader figure stuff out for themselves.
These are only two ways to do exposition; you might combine them or think of a completely different way to do it.  However, if you go with the former, you can't explain the way the trade routes work if your character has been summoned for an audience with the king.  Similarly, your character can't be thinking of the monarchy when they decide to slip onto a trade caravan headed South (unless, of course, your character is running away from the palace, in which case you should have established why they're leaving, unless you want it to be a mystery).  If you jump right in to the exposition, it might be a good idea for you, the author, to already know about the Senate's plan to assassinate the King, whether there are multiple trading peoples and where they might be headed in any given season, and what the current dragon population is.  If breakfast is generic, don't go on about it in either form of exposition.  Most people, when going about their daily routine, don't give their breakfast more than a few moment's thought; similarly, you should only give your character's meal more than a sentence or two if Senate has decided to poison the King at the Winter Festival, and the character, while surveying the scrumptious feast, is trying to remember whether the poison in question is derived from spinach or potatoes.  In that case, something should give it away.  Funny blue stuff on the spinach.  A bit of red that might be cinnamon, but probably not, on the potatoes.  Things like that.

When dealing with exposition, there are several things you have to establish.
1. world exposition - this is especially important in fantasy novels.  As mentioned, you should only bring up dragons and the oligarchy if it's of moderate to severe importance that one is destroying the other.  Otherwise, only bring up dragons and government in forms of complaint.  Still, remember to set up your monsters and government even if your novel is a romance set amongst fairies.  Even if one of your lovers doesn't get captured by a dragon, think about how the dragon population might affect them.  If you know that, you could use it as Plot.
2. Character exposition.  This is more directly important to your novel.  The characters run the show, so make sure you know each one starting out.  This isn't just what Regreeya's height and hair colour are; this is how she gets along with Grescire and what each thinks of the other.  Though Regreeya's height and hair colour might be a contributing factor to why Grescire never really liked her, despite the fact that Regreeya is madly in love with him, this is also a way to develop Plot.  Does Regreeya KNOW that Grescire doesn't like blue-haired girls that are a foot shorter than he is?  If she does, what does she do about it?  If she doesn't, what does she do to try to get his attention instead?  How does this affect their relationship?  Think about motives as well - why is Regreeya trying to get his affections?  Why doesn't Grescire like blue-haired short girls?  Additionally, though appearance should be taken into account, an important thing is also character strength.  Regreeya can't be only good at trying to win over Grescire.  NOBODY would like it if she did that.  Sure, she could be a relationship therapist, an avid reader, or an advice columnist for fictional characters.  Whatever.  But what she and Grescire are good and bad at - and what their core values are - are going to determine whether or not the readership wants them to get together.
3. Plot exposition.  This is on par with Character exposition for importance; frequently it's higher than Characters, depending on whether the plot drives the characters or the characters drive the plot.  Establishing the plot, whether it's Regreeya's futile attempts to win Grescire's affections, or Grescire's accidental arrival on the scene of the king's death and the subsequent accusation of his guilt, it's important to establish what it is your characters are trying to accomplish.  Even more importantly, is it Regreeya, Grescire, or both of them who are trying to clear his name?  This also ties into motive - Grescire doesn't want to get put to death (king-killing is a capital offense, you know), and Regreeya wants to be with Grescire, so she helps him - so what do they do about it?  More importantly, how do Grescire's traits as the town's Resident Snotty Hunter and Regreeya's skills as the Shy Fictional Advice Giver help (or hurt) them in the course of the story?




Okay, I know that was a lot, but I was on a roll.  Also, exposition is important.
SO, a summary:
1. Know what you're doing, even if your audience doesn't.  Yet.
2. Know your world, who inhabits it, and what your characters are doing.
3. Don't talk about it if you don't have to.  Grescire's ability to identify the native flora and fauna should only be mentioned in foreshadowing his attempts to identify the poison used on the king.

languages

Languages are fun.  Though it can be really difficult to learn sometimes (aka all the time), Ancient Greek is kind of cool.  I just finished my first bit of translation.  It took forever, since I've never actually translated anything before, but still.
Though the paragraph they were having us translate was kind of boring.  It was about a farmer.  The farmer worked hard.  Then the farmer was like, "O Zeus, I work hard, but I don't have a lot of food."  And then he worked and then he rejoiced because he was free and everything was beautiful and he loved life.  The end.
In all, though, I'm ready to do more.
Tomorrow.

alpha
beta
gamma
delta
epsilon
zeta
eta
theta
iota
kappa
lambda
mu
nu
xi
omicron
pi
rho
sigma
tau
umicron
phi
chi
psi
omega

Yes, I DID just recite the entire Greek alphabet, in case you were wondering.  I needed the practice because I have a quiz on it on Friday.  I need to keep up to date on this stuff, you know.

Anyhow, languages are important in writing, especially if you have a multinational fantasy novel on your hands.  You could go the Tolkien route and set up two complete languages, right down to grammar, syntax, genitive verb tenses, and a complete vocabulary, AND set up a few others but less complex, but most people don't opt for this route.  This is why people can write their dissertations on Tolkien languages and not any other fictional languages (seriously, my Elvish grammar book is, I think, the author's final Ph.D. thing for linguistics or something).
Anyway, the point is, keep language in mind.  It's an important part of a culture, and you can have your characters cuss in whatever words they want.  Just remember consistency - you can't have your character say Argana and have it mean 'poop' one time, and then have ganega mean 'poop' the next time.  (that also means that argana and ganega should also always have their own assigned meanings, too, and not mean 'poop' one time and 'procreate' another time).
And that's where I leave you, because sleep is something I have been lacking.  Farewell!