Hello out there readers. I’ve taken an extended hiatus to updating my writing progress outside of facebook due to many other pressing matters. As some of you may know, I don’t speak much on personal plans over the Internet.
This year I entered the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 50th Anniversary writing contest.
MAJOR Star Trek Spoiler Below
BEAM ME UP!Among the so many other things I did this weekend, I worked a bit on Shinigami, knowing how the main character is at “Act 1” and will be at “Act 3” (more of screenwriting terms here than prose writing), I believe it’s important to keep showing her as being true to herself. I think sometimes it takes genuine courage to do that. And it will for Shirayukihime. Just as it will for Eleya in Rise of the New Masters when she faces a truth she would rather forget. Although important in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona, this idea is not really from that series. I think it is a strong idea present in many works. The idea of being true to yourself is among the best things you can commit to. After all, who wants to be lying to yourself? Of course, in great contrast, I do have characters that are. Brianna, for example.
I think that by writing scenes with that focus for the characters that adhere to that philosophy really fleshes them out, first of all for me, then also for the audience. I’m looking forward to writing the hard scene is Rise of the New Masters, where Eleya and a few minor characters will be dealing with something that really puts what they believe in, including themselves, to the test. And in Shinigami, Shirayukihime must realize her error and choose to deal with the avalanche that is its aftermath.
Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior, and these characters won’t be backing down.
I’ve been a very long hiatus from both blogging and writing, well fiction writing that is. I thought I’d return with a few of my favorite moments. My favorite comedic one has to be my very short spoof, A Modern Medieval (Picture Perfect). I laugh every time I read that over, even though I know what’s coming. As for The Age of Merrik: The Anointing, which I know some of you are familiar with, here’s a list warning: spoilers.
SPOILERS:
Continue readingAnother year, another birthday (or anniversary) for The Age of Merrik. September 7th or Novem 7th in The Age of Merrik timeline terms is also the birthday of Merrik of Tyera. I look forward to writing more in the series and the prequel that serves as background for the Sword Masters. The sequel should be a challenge to weave everyone together, especially what I have planned for Sethane (Kingdom of Malik). Perhaps a great question is, if you are already Malik’s General, what is to stop you from taking his head and becoming the new king?
Fan Favorites:
Miriam and John have always been a fan favorite. Areya and Miriam will be in this one, plus the new addition, Miriam and John’s child.
I’ve done a lot of outlining, notes, and summaries these past two weeks, mostly centering on Rise on the New Masters and the Phoenix (title TBA) novel. Of all books, I have made the most progress on my Phoenix (title TBA) novel. I always knew the general idea of the book, and the main characters. I even have a few drawings of the dragons. Yes, I said drawings. I’m not good at many things as I would like to be in the drawing world, but I think I did pretty good on the dragons.
So, I get to the ultimate question, if you have gods in the novel, how do you make those gods bland bleed? How do you make then vulnerable to an enemy? You could have their army vs the enemy, but that’s not what I want here. I want the actual god in its weakness. So, I’ve got a lot to flesh out on that, but I am making progress.
I’ve been writing a few scenes for this book, not in chronological order. The best one I wrote this week was for a character who had one last moment with her mother before another slit the mother’s throat. It was quite the best of the scenes this week. She was just reacquainted with her mother, whom she did not believe for a long time was in fact her mother. Finally, that truth was revealed only to have the mother ripped away from her.
Big simplification, but I don’t want to give away spoilers so early.
A WordPress Prompt Post — Audience, what do you think?
No. Nothing is ever always better than something else. Usually for those of you who read a book and enjoy it then it is a disappointment to see the movie or television adaptation. It will never be similar enough (some exceptions).
As a writer, technically, I could write anything any way I want. Novels are generally written as they come to me and I edit them. Structure per se is not a necessity.
Movies, however, are an entirely different story. The majority of American scripts are written in a particular formula or structure. There are certain variations and sometimes trend changes. To a certain degree, I have started planning my novels in the same structure as a screenplay, at least for its backbone.
An example in action: Number of Characters
The Age of Merrik: The Anointing has a very large cast. I will be cutting down on that cast in Rise of the New Masters but will probably be expanding it in Dark Desires since it focuses on the sword masters. When I wrote the screenplay adaptation of The Age of Merrik: The Anointing, however, I reduced the number of characters and turned The Four and Miriam into two characters.
Movies and novels are generally different. They usually can be both appreciated. Fans may not like a book’s adaptation. I think the Stardust movie is much more enjoyable than the book.
A prophetic dream sequence…Eleya taking up arms against…Merrik?
Yes, audience, the development is looking good. I know there are no Jonas/Eleya shippers out there (except me) since their moments came in the screenplay adaptation, but there will be some moments in Rise of the New Masters. Stay tuned.
I’m beginning to think I should start writing the ending first always. Well, it was easier to do since this was a sequel. Sequels are really HARD to write in my opinion. But at last, I have written (detailed outline) the ending of this book (Rise of the New Masters), now to write my way there from the beginning. Another great adventure in writing continues.
As a side note, I am considering not including Jonas in this one as he was greatly in love with Brianna who does not appear in this novel. Although he gets somewhat close to Eleya and decides what Brianna has done to her is wrong in the screenplay adaption, this does not show in the first novel. Although, I could just write in a few references or flashback scenes.
Contains spoilers for the prequel Dark Desires and the sequel Rise of the New Masters:
I’m Okay With SpoilersI’ve got several concrete plots going, and I have already written a draft ending–now just have to get there.
CONFIRMED RETURNING CHARACTERS:
Merrik, Eleya, Oroco, Zaedrif, ZIbiah, Zsastar, Jonas
and
Areya, Miriam, and Miriam’s new child.
There will be several new sword masters and old sword masters (that did not necessarily get mentioned in The Anointing).