#WordWeavers 2405.18 — What kind of dragon (behavior or looks) would your MC be?
In one WiP, this question makes as much sense as asking a typical Irish person what kind of Tahitian they would be (body type). In the other, dragons also exist but seem to be (it's not totally defined) the result of some kind of contagious magic. We've already seen a wyvern, wbo is a monstrous fire breathing bat, and will soon realize there is a monitor lizard version (a wyrm?), but by this token there could also be a cat dragon. Thus, this question makes no sense in the other WiP, either.
#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 9 Nbr 18 — Have you written sections where the action occurs against the clock? How did you do it?
My current story segment in serialization takes place over a very short time period, after the last third of the previous story taking place between dusk and dawn. The other story I am working on is a three act story, each act taking place over very few hours.
Writing stories in compressed time isn't much different than writing stories that take place more episodically over longer periods of time. In both cases, I write about what is important for the character and how they deal with events. An example may help.
In the serialization (obviously spoilers if you know which story I'm referring to), the MC realizes that though the leader has left on a military adventure to handle a "guerrilla insurgency," she sees evidence that same foe may attack the capital city. In theory, she's politically second in command. In practice, she has no real power. How she spends that day scheming and conniving with only a title to get a single frigate on patrol drives the story and the clock. It starts with a PTSD episode where she realizes she may be responsible again for innumerable deaths without the power to prevent them, then her working every contact she knows, butting heads with the generals who discount her experience running a crime syndicate (briefly), convincing a discriminated against officer who wants to accept discharge to instead command a museum-piece frigate, getting into a bloody fight with the XO, avoiding what the reader will see as assassination attempts, and it just gets worse with her love interests (plural!) pulling at her heart.
All in 12 hours. Tick-tock! That's one day of three days of escalating existential threats. The fourth day's events take place over one hour, which is about the time it would take to read.
"Were my trust misplaced, I'd learn something about myself. But, then again, that seemed to be my method of operation: win—or get hurt, pick myself up, make different mistakes." HRH CPE S. G. Regina A. M.
Any set of readers who appreciate all the characters working (whatever that means) to the best of their ability. The above quote is how my MC views getting things done. Plot advancement by stupidity is verboten. They should probably like fantasy or soft / social SF, too.
I didn't write anything for Sun today. Which is okay, because I wrote a new Epilogue for South. (It didn't have one until today.)
Now, I'll share it in my next newsletter (which will be a while), but I can already tell you that'll tie in book #2 (West Flows) a lot better.
Wish me luck - I do need better sell-through. And it seems people don't realize that the series is up to 6 books by now (out of 9 that I have planned).
I submitted two haiku to the Sakura Haiku Challenge of the Consulate-General in Toronto, Canada and they are both included in the beautiful anthology. Free to read and download: 👇🏽
#PhantastikPrompts 17.5.
Wie bist du auf den Titel deiner Geschichte gekommen und was findest du wichtig bei der Wahl eines guten Titels?
Als sich die Winds und Pillars Serie eines Nachts in meinem Kopf bildete, waren die Titel auch alle schon gleich klar.
Ich muss aber sagen, dass mir bei Sun Burns ein Lied im Kopf herumspukte: "Alarmsignal. Die Sonne brennt. Heißer als man sie kennt." (Na, wer kennt das noch?)
Ein guter Titel sollte neugierig machen. Gleichzeitig sollte er einen guten Hinweis auf das Genre geben.
Ich finde es bei Fantasy inzwischen wirklich schwierig, gute, spannende Titel zu finden. Habe mir die Titel beim SPFBOX durchgelesen und fand die meisten langweilig.
Meine Winds und Pillars haben seltsame Titel, und sie bilden auch das Genre nicht gut ab. Das tun dann hoffentlich die Serientitel (Winds of Destiny & Pillars of the Empire).
No wait, you mean that appeals to ME as a writer about my current writing project. 🤔
Putting as much DEI and incorporating “the message” so hard into my work I’ll win the praise of the industry even when my work is utter crap. 😈 #writingcommunity
We can numb it with
ice. It might take time.
But o’clock we’ve got.
And at absolute zero,
frozen stares and
charges flow in pairs,
with even the halting
halted on stairs, and
hate might as well
be a popsicle stand
and it’s loving
standing still,
by the way.
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