Hello readers. I hope you are all well and safe. I participated in NaNoWriMo last November and I’m excited to announce that my new fantasy short story has just been released! I wasn’t sure I could participate because of a broken arm and shoulder (spiral fractured humerus), but I chose to do a personal challenge of 10,000 words and I made it! If you’ve never broken your dominant arm and shoulder (and I don’t recommend it if you can avoid it) it’s quite difficult typing with the other hand. Even more so while drinking tea.
The story’s about a young Nord farmer who embarks on his Rite of Passage to serve the king and the people of the Town of Refuge as evil encroaches the land.
“With all the courage he could gather in his brave young body, Warag took a deep breath and let out a loud battle cry. He rushed towards the cave entrance and closed his eyes, bracing the void and believing with all the might in his heart for that one moment of defiance. And just as he reached the darkness, he heard the wind.”
Watch for the next book in the series coming soon.
‘Til next time — be safe, be well, and know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
Where do you get inspiration for your story’s location? I’m writing a fantasy story for NaNoWriMo this year. I have a broken arm and shoulder so I gave myself a personal goal of only 10,000 words in place of the usual 50,000. This meant I’d be writing a novella (small novel). But I was bereft of ideas for the location to a particular scene until I remembered my son had invited me to play Skyrim with him one night and — ta da — my characters had a home!
Now, understand that when I say “play” I actually mean watch, (haha) and I know as a writer that copyrights are something to be respected for the original creator. With that in mind I joined my son on a Skyrim walkabout to get the feel of the land and take notes for my own fantasy world.
Skyrim – Whiterun waterfalls
Skyrim – Whiterun stone steps
Skyrim – Whiterun pool
Skyrim – Whiterun town centre
Images of Skyrim Whiterun
I also took some notes from the landscapes of LOTR and the breathtaking photos by Ray Majoran in Compassion Gallery. His photos from Iceland are spectacular.
Have you found a particular game, movie or real life location an inspiration for your writing? Leave a comment.
Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who made you in His image.
I find it helpful to have a playlist as I write my stories and I choose songs that fit with the genre I’m writing in. I learned this from another author and I’m very thankful to him for suggesting this. My playlists are collections of various artists in various music styles, even some instrumental, and follow the course of the story.
For instance, if I’m writing an epic battle scene I’ll usually listen to an instrumental with loud drums and clashing symbols. If my protagonist is departing on an epic adventure and happens to be a halfling, I’ll play all the scores from the entire collection of LOTR, if my protagonist is in the mood for romance — well, you get the idea.
Benjamin T. Collier is the one to thank for this playlists idea. Here, he talks about why he uses playlists to inspire him when writing and as added enjoyment for his reader.
“… Each song referenced in ‘Singularity’ is mentioned by title and musical artist, so readers can find each song online as it comes up in the story. In case some of my readers want to have the songs all lined up already before they start reading, I’ve written out the playlist below, which I played often in the background as I was writing…” Read Ben’s full blog post about his Singularity Playlist by Benjamin T. Collier
How A Playlist Helps Your Reader
Do you find yourself enjoying a show more when there’s relevant music playing in the background of a scene or as a filler? I faithfully watch reruns of Heartbeat, a British show about the people of a small town close to where I was born. The background music takes me back to that era. I may even sing along. Do you enjoy a movie more when the music actually becomes part of the story as in Guardians Of The Galaxy when Quill plays tunes from the 80’s?
Music can enhance your reader’s experience with your story. Give it a try. Maybe I’ll create one for my readers of The Fellowship Of The King and share it in my next blog.
Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
The answer to this question will play an important role in the tone of your entire novel. We listen to other people probably every day in one form or another, in personal conversations, a lecture at school, a boss or characters on a TV show. Notice how the tone of their voice influences you. What tone do you want to convey in a particular scene or throughout the entire story?
Interesting
Funny
Lively
Friendly
Romantic
Quarrelsome
The characters telling the story have their own unique voice and, depending on that voice, will tell a scene in a specific way.
8 Points To Ponder For Point Of View
Have you thought about what tense you’ll write in? Will your story read better in past tense or present tense? Past Tense – “Suzie shopped at the mall”.
Present Tense – “Suzie is shopping at the mall”.
When you sit to write each scene, who do you hear talking in your mind?
First Person – “I love doughnuts”.
Second Person – “You love doughnuts”.
Third Person – “Suzie loves doughnuts”.
Omniscient (aka, all-knowing) – “Suzie loves doughnuts but she doesn’t realize they’re laced with a powerful hallucinogenic”. Use this voice sparingly, as when none of the characters knows something but your reader needs to know it.
Choose Your Narrators
Just like in a movie audition, test your characters’ voices to see which point of view sounds best for each scene. You may want to do several viewpoints throughout your story, but remember to not switch viewpoints in the middle of a scene or chapter unless you make a specific break in the narrative. It confuses the heck out of the reader. If you’re new to writing fantasy/fiction keep it simple and write one POV for each scene. You may feel like you want to write the entire story from one POV, but test other voices to see if you can spice things up, add some humour or simply add a different perspective to delight the reader.
Voice Test for POV
Write a paragraph from the author’s POV. This means you just write out the paragraph as it happens, without emotion or opinion. Then write it out in all the voices of your characters who are in that scene. Let them say what they feel and what they’re thinking.
Who sounds good for this particular scene?
Who has an emotional investment in what’s happening?
Who will it influence later in the story as your plot unfolds?
Who sees something no one else does?
Example:
“Suzie went to the mall again. I hope she’s not spending all her money. She still has two weeks before her next paycheck”.
“She went to the mall again. Who does she think she is, buying all those fancy expensive clothes? They look ridiculous on her anyway.”
“Suzie went to the mall this morning. She needed to choose a dress for her grandmother’s funeral”.
Do you see how each character changes the tone of the scene? What were they thinking and feeling? Ask them why. Draw the scene out from your chosen character’s point of view.
Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
Lynne
Resources to check out
Back To The Future – where the twists are revealed by other people’s POV and by the main character.
We have the freedom to create an entirely new world from our own imagination! How amazing is that? We get to decide everything that happens in this world and who lives there. We’ve already decided what our world looks like. Now we’re going to decide how our world works so we can write a society for our fantasy characters to live in.
art by kellepics
Your World’s Society, Technology & History
Before you can create your characters you’ll need to know what goes on in the world around them and how they fit into this world. However, if you’ve already drawn up an extensive list of characters and decided what they eat for breakfast, no problem, don’t waste all that creativity, just build the society around them and let it unfold from there.
Here are some things to consider about your world:
Social Norms
What kind of work do they do?
What significant events have shaped the history of this world?
What’s their educational system like?
Do they own businesses or trades?
Are there male and female or children and how do they develop?
What religious beliefs are in play? How do they worship? Write down some of their moral values.
Is there a law enforcement system? How is it run?
Is it a democratic society, dictatorship or monarchy?
How do they communicate? Is there more than one language?
What about transportation?
How do your characters communicate long distance?
What do they do for fun
Does your world run on electricity, steam or natural resources?
Are there warring factions?
What are their weapons?
Ask Yourself, “If This Is True, Then What Needs To Happen?”
• If characters go to work in cities, then where do they live?
• If they live in high-rise buildings, then how do they get to the top floors?
• If by elevators, then how are they powered?
• If by electrical power, then how is it generated?
• If by water, how is it produced?
• If by rain, how is it stored?
• …
You get the idea. Here we have characters that live in high-rise buildings where they get to their apartments by taking an elevator which is powered by electricity produced by water which is held in reservoirs outside of the city.
You can go on from there, filling in the “If This, Then What..?” questions until all the questions about your characters’ needs are met in their world. You only need the details that are relevant to the characters. There’s no need to write lengthy, unnecessary descriptions which aren’t relevant to your story and will only bore your readers. You just need to know how they do what they do.
Remember to show this in your writing, don’t tell it. (More on this later).
You may need to go back and add transportation routes, such as wide rivers and ports for boats, roads for trades’ people, or something like train tracks to your world map — grab the cheat. Add any changes as you write your story so you don’t forget the details.
The easiest way to figure this out is to put yourself in the shoes (hairy feet, hooves) of your characters. Walk around in your world as if you were there and see what you need.
Lynne Collier 