Last Post Before 2013
Wow has it been a long time!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season thus far!
Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been up to my eyeballs in world building. I didn't realize how much there was to THINK about, let alone create!
I took a worldbuilding class by Suzane Lazear in November, then stumbled across Holly Lisle's website. And eventually her "clinics" at her teaching website. I purchased and downloaded four of her classes: Create a Language Clinic (super fun); Create a Culture Clinic; Create a Character Clinic; and her clinic on plot. This woman is amazing. She knows her shit. I say this because she has published quite a few books and a few different series...es.
So I finished the Language Clinic (which is part one in her world building class she's currently developing) and have a pretty speakable language for my world. I've also started developing other languages for other parts of the land. Of course, I'll likely only use a little bit of it, but it was so much fun I just went all out with it!
I started the Culture clinic and was so overwhelmed I had to take a step back and really think about what I NEED to know for the first book, the one I'm currently working on. I don't think I need to know every single detail of the inner workings of the Gohjahn people. I definitely don't need to know about the Northern territories, either, because Marietta doesn't go there in the first book. But I do need to know a little bit about both places, moreso about Gohjahn and the Gohji Empire and why they are feuding with the North... I do know the answer to that. ;o)
Intrigued? I hope so!
I've also figured out how magic works, the types of magic in the land, who can use it, what the cost is, etc. It's all very exciting. This world is so very cool, and so very frightening.
I'm taking a break from the culture stuff, because there is SO MUCH to consider. Tomorrow I'll be delving into character creation. My plan for the long New Year's weekend is to get as much done on world building and character creation as I possibly can, because starting January 2nd I'm taking another course through Margie Lawson's Lawson Writer's Academy called Story Structure Safari. I'm really looking forward to it!
I had to take another step back today because my mind was going so fast I lost sight of the main "thing" of the story. I don't know what to call it. Theme maybe? Not sure. Anyway, this story started out as a character growth story. A weak and battered housewife becomes a warrior. With all the backstory I started digging into, that changed into a tortured woman wondering what happened to her dad. Not as strong, right? Right.
I did a little research on abuse and abusive relationships and why abusers abuse and why abusees stay in abusive relationships... *pant pant* and have gone back to my original idea, with a twist to bring in the "other" ideas I came up with. I gave the abusive a-hole a backstory that helped me figure out WHY he has an abusive nature (there are lots of options to chose from so I picked a likely set and went with it).
Backstory, of course, has no place in the first 50 pages of a book, but it is still good to know and can be sprinkled in as snippets of dialogue or a line here or there.
Such as:
"I'm a failure, just like my dad always said I would be." - right? Yeah? Can you see that?
My new dilemma, however, is am I starting the story in the right place? Do I need to start it back further? Should I include a prologue to set the fantasy stage?
Only I can answer these questions, and only my critique group can knock me off my high horse and tell me that it's wrong. HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Oh... and I drew a map. It's awesome.
I'll try to post my 2013 writing goals the first week of January!
Keep Writing and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Claire L. Fishback
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season thus far!
Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been up to my eyeballs in world building. I didn't realize how much there was to THINK about, let alone create!
I took a worldbuilding class by Suzane Lazear in November, then stumbled across Holly Lisle's website. And eventually her "clinics" at her teaching website. I purchased and downloaded four of her classes: Create a Language Clinic (super fun); Create a Culture Clinic; Create a Character Clinic; and her clinic on plot. This woman is amazing. She knows her shit. I say this because she has published quite a few books and a few different series...es.
So I finished the Language Clinic (which is part one in her world building class she's currently developing) and have a pretty speakable language for my world. I've also started developing other languages for other parts of the land. Of course, I'll likely only use a little bit of it, but it was so much fun I just went all out with it!
I started the Culture clinic and was so overwhelmed I had to take a step back and really think about what I NEED to know for the first book, the one I'm currently working on. I don't think I need to know every single detail of the inner workings of the Gohjahn people. I definitely don't need to know about the Northern territories, either, because Marietta doesn't go there in the first book. But I do need to know a little bit about both places, moreso about Gohjahn and the Gohji Empire and why they are feuding with the North... I do know the answer to that. ;o)
Intrigued? I hope so!
I've also figured out how magic works, the types of magic in the land, who can use it, what the cost is, etc. It's all very exciting. This world is so very cool, and so very frightening.
I'm taking a break from the culture stuff, because there is SO MUCH to consider. Tomorrow I'll be delving into character creation. My plan for the long New Year's weekend is to get as much done on world building and character creation as I possibly can, because starting January 2nd I'm taking another course through Margie Lawson's Lawson Writer's Academy called Story Structure Safari. I'm really looking forward to it!
I had to take another step back today because my mind was going so fast I lost sight of the main "thing" of the story. I don't know what to call it. Theme maybe? Not sure. Anyway, this story started out as a character growth story. A weak and battered housewife becomes a warrior. With all the backstory I started digging into, that changed into a tortured woman wondering what happened to her dad. Not as strong, right? Right.
I did a little research on abuse and abusive relationships and why abusers abuse and why abusees stay in abusive relationships... *pant pant* and have gone back to my original idea, with a twist to bring in the "other" ideas I came up with. I gave the abusive a-hole a backstory that helped me figure out WHY he has an abusive nature (there are lots of options to chose from so I picked a likely set and went with it).
Backstory, of course, has no place in the first 50 pages of a book, but it is still good to know and can be sprinkled in as snippets of dialogue or a line here or there.
Such as:
"I'm a failure, just like my dad always said I would be." - right? Yeah? Can you see that?
My new dilemma, however, is am I starting the story in the right place? Do I need to start it back further? Should I include a prologue to set the fantasy stage?
Only I can answer these questions, and only my critique group can knock me off my high horse and tell me that it's wrong. HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Oh... and I drew a map. It's awesome.
I'll try to post my 2013 writing goals the first week of January!
Keep Writing and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Claire L. Fishback
Comments
I'm interested in checking out that "Language Clinic" of Holly Lisle's. I wonder just how detailed it is.
Love to see the map you've created as well. Hope you'll be posting it soon.
The language class is super in depth. There's even a part about creating a written language. Super cool and so much fun to dig in deep like that to make the world even more realistic.
Check it out!
Claire