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Posts Tagged ‘world building’

Research

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on March 14, 2012| Leave a Comment »

First an update: “Heart of Oak” is now available on Amazon as well as Smashwords. It’s still working its way through Smashwords’ review process for inclusion in the Premium Catalog which would make it available in other markets.

I’m considering two more short works that I might decide to e-publish in the next month. Another novelette and a novella I shelved for being more romance than fantasy. But hey, romance sells.

Then, at the end of April, I will most likely e-publish my first (publishable) full novel, BLOOD WILL TELL, a paranormal romance/urban fantasy. To be followed by its two sequels: BLOOD IS THICKER and BLOOD STAINS. I have a draft of BLOOD IS THICKER, but it’s nowhere near ready for publication yet, so that full slate would likely take a year or so.

Meanwhile, I’m continuing to seek traditional publication for my middle grade fantasy, MAGE STORM, and I’ll probably start querying my young adult fantasy FIRE AND EARTH (formerly known as SEVEN STARS) next month.

Now, on to future works:

I’m continuing the research for my young adult alternate history story THE BARD’S GIFT. The research is not only giving me the appropriate background for the story, but helping me to crystalize what the major conflicts–internal and external–will be.

The research is necessary of course to fill the place of world building. In an ordinary fantasy, I get to determine the various elements of the culture–what they wear, what they eat, what kind of shelter they live in, what the rules and mores of their society are, etc. In an alternate history, most of that should be as close as possible to the real historical culture. Of course, given the addition of dragons, some things are going to have to change at least a little.

For those of you who may be wondering, THE BARD’S GIFT is set against the failure of the Viking colony in Greenland. As far as history knows, the settlers all died, probably of starvation, during the cold spell known as “The Little Ice Age”. But there were at least three other things they could have done, if they’d chosen to, including sail to that part of the map marked “Here Be Dragons”.  And that’s where THE BARD’S GIFT will start.

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Other Fantastic Creatures

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on March 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The last post was about dragons. This one is about everything else.

I write fantasy, so fantastic creatures creep into my stories all the time. Sometimes I plan for them to be there. Other times, they just show up.

BLOOD WILL TELL/BLOOD IS THICKER have unicorns as well as dragons. Other fantastic creatures (or, as they are called in this world, magical races) are mentioned, but don’t actually have much of a role. At least not yet. There’s still the third book (tentatively, BLOOD STAINS) to be written. And since that one will involve a battle to defend their home, who knows which ones will turn up to take a part in that?

MAGE STORM also has griffins as well as three kinds of dragons.

SEVEN STARS remains the only novel-length story I’ve written with no fantasy creatures in it at all. Hmm.

MAGIC’S FOOL has some creatures of my own devising, sort of. There’s something very similar to a saber-tooth cat (although I’ve made my own revisions and additions) and a kind of zebra-like wild horse with leopard spots instead of stripes. In addition to wyverns and maybe a hippocampus, later stories in the series will have more odd creatures from my own imagination. In an earlier version of these stories, there was an unusually large and intelligent spotted flying squirrel, a sort of cross between a wild pig and a rhino, and possibly some really mean miniature unicorns. Making up my own creatures can be fun. I should do it more often.

At least right now, the plans for THE BARD’S GIFT don’t include anything other than dragons. But, I haven’t even started writing it yet, so who knows what may show up.

I’m also wondering what imaginary creatures I might want to include in my retelling of the fairy tale “Little Furball”.

 

 

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Dragons

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on February 29, 2012| 6 Comments »

This post is dedicated to dragons. No, I’m not going to tell you about dragons. You already know.

I love this quote from G. K. Chesterton:

Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.

Except for one thing: Why do you want to kill the dragons?

Most of my stories seems to have dragons in them, for some reason.

BLOOD WILL TELL/BLOOD IS THICKER/(and eventually BLOOD STAINS) have dragons as major characters or even the main character. These dragons can take human form and have some interesting difficulties as well as advantages in dealing with our world. The family is into banking, since guarding treasure comes naturally to them.

MAGE STORM has three different kinds of dragons. Mountain dragons are merely incidental (although one would become much more important in the next two books, WILD MAGE and DRAGON MAGE, if they ever get written. That most likely depends on whether any agent and editor ever like MAGE STORM enough.) Water dragons are a little more important to the story. And then there are the Keepers, tiny dragons who maintain the magical library. I have to admit, I love the Keepers. These are all neutral or actually helpful creatures.

SEVEN STARS may be the only novel I’ve written that makes no reference to dragons at all. Hmm.

MAGIC’S FOOL does not have a live dragon in it, but it does have a story about a dragon and a group of suggestively placed sea rocks called the Dragon Bone Chain. The importance of the largest, Dragon Skull Islet, will only be revealed in later books.

Even one of my trunk novels, DREAMER’S ROSE, had a dragon in it. The dragon wasn’t important to the story, but it was there. Someday, I may figure out what I need to change in that story and rewrite it.

And at least one of my planned novels, THE BARD’S GIFT, will have dragons in it. Yes, it’s alternate history. I’m altering history to include dragons, as well as in other ways.

So, what is this thing I have about putting dragons in my stories.

 

 

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Research

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on October 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

As a fantasist, this isn’t something I deal with all the time. Usually, I get to take bits and pieces from all over and fit them together in new and interesting ways, glued together with a little imagination. That’s how my world-building usually works.

I did a bit of research on my very first (now shelved) novel, because the protagonist was a blacksmith. I needed to know at least enough about blacksmithing to not make any really obvious mistakes, like setting the forge out in the open. (Always at least partially enclosed so the smith can see the color of the heated iron he’s working on.)

Now, however, I have two projects on which I need to do a bit of research. One is a current project and the other is a future project.

BLOOD IS THICKER is the sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL. As a paranormal romance/urban fantasy, it’s mostly set in either a world I created out of whole cloth or the world I actually inhabit. However, there’s one element in this story that’s going to force me to do a bit of research into, of all things, geology. That’s because the central conflict of this story revolves around someone’s attempt to import geothermal energy technology to Chimeria without proper safeguards. It’s endangering something very near and dear to the protagonists’ hearts and they have to find a way to fix the problem. Obviously, I’m going to have to know enough about geothermal energy to not make an idiot of myself. Not there yet.

The other project is THE BARD’S GIFT. This one will be an alternate history, so the need for research is pretty obvious. Actually, I don’t need to research any historical figures and I don’t need much more than the broad brush of (then) current events. This story will take place far from the centers where such things are happening. But what I do need to know is the daily-life stuff about these people: What kind of houses did they live in? What did they wear? What did they eat? Who was in charge and why? What would their relationships have been like? Basically, all the stuff I usually get to make up to suit myself.

In this case, there really isn’t a lot of information available on my real target (the original Norse Greenland settlement). But there is information on the next-best surrogate–Iceland of the same time frame. Most of the Greenland settlers came from Iceland, so it’s a reasonable assumption that they at least tried to establish the same way of life.

I got lucky and found a book that is intended to document Icelandic life during the saga age. That’s about as close as I’m likely to get. Will it be enough by itself? Maybe not. But at the least it will point me in the right directions and tell me what further questions I need to ask.

By the way, THE BARD’S GIFT does not actually take place in Greenland (although it will probably start there). It actually takes place in a Norse settlement of Vinland (or possibly Markland) in the New World that never actually happened–at least as far as we know. Of course, it’s a fantasy, so there will be some elements that no Norse explorers would have encountered. Dragons, for example.

It’s amazing how dragons of all different kinds seem to show up in so many of my stories. Couldn’t be those three dragons surrounding one end of my computer desk, could it?

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Multitasking

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on September 14, 2011| 9 Comments »

First a little housekeeping. Some of you who visited this blog more than three months ago or so may have noticed that several pages were missing from the worlds tab. They related to the world of my first two novels–the same world as MAGIC’S FOOL. But also the same world as a short story I had entered in Writers of the Future. Since the judging of that contest is blind (nobody knows whose story they’re reading), I hid those pages. Since “Becoming Lioness” didn’t place, I’ve put them back.

Now, on to the meat of today’s topic. I’ve decided to try something different. I’m going to have two projects going at once–not, as often happens, one in revision and one in first draft. No, I’m going to try two first drafts at the same time. No idea if I can pull this off, especially with two such different stories. I guess I’ll find out.

The reason I’m doing this is that I’m pretty much stopped on MAGIC’S FOOL. Not blocked. I know what comes next. I can write it. I just don’t. I’ve been trying to figure out why this is. At first, I thought it was my concern over the central conflict. Having had to break up the much longer THE SHAMAN’S CURSE into pieces left me with a more internal conflict for the first story and that worries me a little, especially for a middle grade story.

But, having thought about that, I decided that I should follow Kevin J. Anderson’s advice and just dare to be bad (at first). Get the first draft down and then I can worry about fixing it. That doesn’t seem to have increased my enthusiasm for this project, though.

Now, I think I know what it is. MAGIC’S FOOL is a twice-told tale. I’ve already told the story. True, I’ve reimagined some elements of it, moved some things around, deleted others. But still, I’ve already told this story once. This is the reason some of us (like me) don’t outline extensively. Once I’ve told a story, the excitement isn’t the same.

That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on MAGIC’S FOOL. I just think I’m going to have to approach it differently than I do most first drafts. Instead of immersing myself in it and coming up for air with a completed first draft after six to eight weeks, I’m going to have to go more slowly. I think I may have to be content to just get a chunk done at a time–a chapter or two, perhaps.

But that’s not enough writing for me. The one thing I know for sure is that I won’t get anywhere by standing still. So I’m also, as of this morning, starting on BLOOD IS THICKER, the first sequel to BLOOD WILL TELL. (see a theme, there? Fooled you. It’s not what you think. No vampires, here.)

I normally just write down the ideas for sequels and move on to something new because, if the first book doesn’t sell the odds are even worse for the sequel. In terms of traditional publishing, you’re better off working on something different.

But, traditional publishing is no longer the only game in town and BLOOD WILL TELL is my prime candidate for e-publishing if I can’t generate some real interest in it this go-round. And, with e-publishing, it’s an advantage to have sequels to bring out relatively soon after the first book.

I have to start seriously thinking about that. December or January would probably be the optimal time to e-publish, if that’s what I’m going to do. And I really need the time to figure out what I’m going to do about a cover.

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Diving Back into Seven Stars

Posted in writing, tagged , , , on June 8, 2011| 2 Comments »

After a bit of an interruption for MAGE STORM, following Agents Day, I worked finished working through the rough draft of SEVEN STARS. Then I took a little break to get caught up on some critique-driven revisions on BLOOD WILL TELL and DREAMER’S ROSE and worked on a couple of short stories. That gave me a little space.

Now, I’m about to plunge back into SEVEN STARS and barely come up for air for the next three weeks or so. The plan is to have it ready for readers in July. Looking through my notes, that shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t have all that many notes this time around.

There are a few things I want to add or develop further and one thing I want to tone down a bit. I may end up adding a chapter or two.

The manuscript is still a tad short at only 65,000 words. On the other hand, I’d rather be in that position than have to cut 10% to 20%. (Been there. Done that. Not much fun.)

The only things I foresee interrupting the flow on SEVEN STARS this time would be possibly a little more work on this quarters Writers of the Future entry and maybe a little pre-writing work on my next projects.

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New Ideas from Old

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , , on June 5, 2011| 4 Comments »

My first two books (not counting the thing under the bed that we don’t talk about) have been on the shelf for a while, now. I’ve known that they needed a complete rewrite, especially the first. The problems are too numerous even to list here. It should have been young adult all along, but I didn’t realize that. The pacing is way off. There are far too many characters. It got over-edited. Well, let’s face it, those are the books on which I made most of my beginner mistakes.

But I haven’t given up on them. The world I created for that series (which was originally supposed to be four books) is very complex. You can get a glimpse of it in most of the entries under Worlds on this blog. I like the premise. I like the theme that developed out of the stories (not the other way around). And I think I have something to say in those stories.

For a while, now, I’ve been trying not to think too much about those stories so that when I come back to them for a rewrite I can start fresh. Occasionally, an idea will bubble up from my subconscious and I’ll jot it down for later use. Some of them were interesting, but none of them quite worked. Well, yesterday an idea came up that I think is the one.

It’ll start the story much earlier and transform at least the first books into middle grade. I think that actually works well for this story. In doing that, it’ll also break the story into more pieces. That part, I still have to work out. One thing I won’t compromise is my preference that each book, even in a series, be able to stand on its own. That’s okay, it’s just a matter of properly defining the central conflict.

I’ve even got a tentative new title. (This was one of the ones that I alwas hated the title for.)

I’m really getting excited about this idea. Now, I’m not sure whether July will see me starting this one or THE BARD’S GIFT. Maybe this one while I continue to research THE BARD’S GIFT.

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Backstory

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , , on May 22, 2011| 2 Comments »

Backstory is an important part of world building for speculative fiction. It’s the history of how your world and your characters got to be where they are when the story opens. Some stories have a lot of backstory, like Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS. Others have less. But all have some.

The real question isn’t how much backstory you have, but how much you actually put into the novel. Some things, it’s important for me to know but may never be important enough to tell the reader. Too much, unless you’re Tolkien, can drag the story down and kill the pace. But too little backstory can be just as big a problem because you can leave the reader without enough information to undertand the world and what’s happening in it.

How much and where to introduce the backstory is another issue. Trying to avoid the dreaded infodump or an “as you know, Bob” bit of dialog can be tricky. I try to reveal the world in a learn-as-you-go fashion in my stories, so I’m wrestling a bit with exactly where and how much–and how–to reveal backstory in three of my novels right now. Internal monologue can do some of it, especially if I can combine it with some inner conflict of the point-of-view character.

  1. MAGE STORM may need just a little more of the recent history brought out, but I want to be very careful not to slow the pace too much. It’s a delicate balance.
  2. According to at least one reader of BLOOD WILL TELL, a part of the backstory that I expunged in an earlier draft may need to be brought back in. (You can see that bit under Worlds/Chimeria). I could just put that back, but I’m trying to find a better way to ease the information in.
  3. The first draft of SEVEN STARS also has a few lengthy bits of dialog. At least, it’s not “as you know, Bob” because two characters from very different backgrounds are explaining things the other doesn’t know. Of course, first drafts are only meant to get the story down so I can fix it later. I’m going to have to look for a better way to get some of it out as I work through the revisions.

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The Devil Is in the Details

Posted in writing, tagged , , , on May 11, 2011| 2 Comments »

I’ve been thinking more about the subject of my last post–world building. I realized something interesting. This is important stuff to understand, especially for a writer of speculative fiction.

One of the things that bothered me most about the story that got me thinking about this in the first place isn’t actually uncommon. I’ve seen the exact same thing in at least two other stories where it didn’t bother me at all. So what makes this one different?

I’ve come to the conclusion that the difference is that I’d already started to question the world building before I stumbled on this particular facet. My trust in the author was already wavering so everything was open to question.

When you ask a reader to suspend disbelief and accept your story, the writer’s side of that deal is trust. The reader puts their trust in you to keep that suspension of disbelief possible. When the trust is breached, even a little, so is the willing suspension of disbelief.

The detail that first made me question this story is a small one, really totally unimportant in the story. But it was the first thing (at least the first I can put my finger on) that made me say “What?!” and come out of the story for a moment to consider–and doubt–the implications of that detail.

The moral is, every detail has to be believable and consistent in order to hold the reader.

My next post will be about SCBWI’s Agents Day. Excitement is building.

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The Importance of World Building

Posted in writing, tagged , , , on May 8, 2011| 3 Comments »

This is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, in part because of what I’m reading, not what I’m writing. (No, I’m not going to say what that is. The policy of this blog is not to name other writers or books unless I can do so in a positive way.)

When you write any type of speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, or horror), even if it’s urban fantasy or near-future science fiction, the writer is responsible for creating at least some aspects of the world in which the story takes place. If you write an urban fantasy about werewolves and vampires, it’s up to you to set up and then adhere to the rules by which those creatures operate. In second-world fantasy, of course, there’s a lot more world building–maps, political systems, history, all the details of daily life.

The important things are:

  1. You have to create a system that holds together. It has to make sense. People living on a plain devoid of trees can’t build wood houses and probably don’t eat fish on Fridays–or any other days.
  2. And you have to stick to the rules you create. You can’t go around making exceptions. (Now, that doesn’t mean that things can’t seem to be exceptions if your characters have an imperfect understanding of the rules. But somehow or other you’re going to have to let readers know that.)

These things are important to keep the readers immersed in the story. You, as a writer, have asked them to suspend disbelief. It then becomes your job to make sure you never make them sit back in their chairs and say “What?! That doesn’t make any sense.”

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