Writing Experiments, Finish Year and Other News

New Technology, new experiments
No, I’m not referring to the Higgs Boson announcement, but to my own experiments with Pinterest. I have started using the boards not only for “pretty things”, but also for pictures which inspire stories (or may in the future) and now also things or people which reminds me of a WIP or finished work.
The first one for which I’ve tried making a separate board is the WIP called “Spilling Beans”. You can see the board here. Started after finishing the drafts, I find that these pictures, textures and people help me to get a firmer “hold” of the picture in my head.


Maps, maps and more maps!
I’ve been drawing some more Airthai maps – one for the Argavér and one of the southeastern part of the Southern and Eastern Lands of the Continent. This shows a closer look at the countries which are featured in some of the earliest worldbuilding I did for Airthai – and which are also being posted on Kammastories bit by bit before I translate these for Hersenskim (these were originally written in Afrikaans).

Map of Battle of the Shadow Plain and Argavér

Map of the Eastern Lands 

All the Airthai maps can be looked at over here. 

Finish Year
I’ve started on a new short story, known at the moment to me as “the clock story”. I’m writing the first draft before completing all of the research about the inner workings of clocks simply so I can get the story down without being side-tracked. However, some inspiration may just follow over here when I get the chance. I’m also submitting the short story “Spilling Beans” in the coming week for publication. I hope I have good news about it soon.

On the study front I am still busy with the paper I’m to give at the beginning of September. As this will only be twenty minutes long, I am a lot more focused on length than I usually am. I am enjoying myself thoroughly though. I guess that’s proof that I’m still on the right track!

"Library" by Louchiere

A tough decision
However, to place more focus on writing and studying, means that I have to scale down my blogging in order to be able to deliver proper posts, especially as I am also working on Kammastories. I have made the following decision: I will still do worldbuilding posts every Wednesdy, and then alternate Mondays and Fridays. This means that I will have sixteen posts per month (both blogs together), instead of twenty four. I think all bloggers can respect the time that this will open up for me. Thanks for all the readers who remain so supportive while I’m finding my blogging and writing feet.

"Library" courtesy of Stock Exchange. 

A Timeline of the Midland Wars

After a couple of weeks describing the Midland Wars – six decades of war which ravaged the Midlands of Airthai – I’m now posting a timeline to show how everything fits together – and a link to the page where all the Midland Wars posts can be read together.

Click here for larger version

Click here for larger version

Some more maps and other Airthai-goodies can be seen at this Pinterest board.

WIP: The Last Dragon Seeker
Spoiler alert! First go and read A Dragon’s Freedom and Price of Freedom before continuing if you don’t want to see any details.

I’m hard at work on the new WIP which takes place during the last years of these Wars and I’m really excited at the whole new world opening up. The main character in this WIP is Nasja’s granddaughter who is one of the Dragon Seekers. She ventures even farther north than her grandfather and I hope to give this short story/novella the epic scope it deserves.

Friday Fiction: Mapping History & a Sneak Peek

I’ve almost finished three small maps showing the changing face of the Midlands during the Midland Wars. Planning on adding the final touches this weekend (like adding colour) and scanning them in properly to post next week. The maps show the changing borders of Guldargan and the surrounding kingdoms mentioned in the posts covering the First Strike and Sanctuaries.
The Maps can be seen here.

Other writing news
I mentioned on Twitter during the week that I’m on the fourth draft of a WIP. I really love this piece, but am not really getting it just the way I want. I’ve changed the beginning a few different times and then realised the chronology I was trying to use is not working for such a short piece (about 2000 words). I’m really hoping that I’ll get a chance to work on it this weekend and finish the fourth draft. Here’s a sneak peak of the WIP at the moment:

I awoke at a sound outside the car window. A child wailing? It took a moment for my mind to clear. The dreams of death, makeshift pyres and graves faded slightly. Maybe it was just the wind. I kept my head down on the sweaty seat, pressing my body closer to the seat. I didn’t really want to find out. But the sound continued. Inside the car it was still dark. I rolled down the window ever so slightly, keeping my head down. Cold wind struck me. The wind, then. Not a child. Not this time.

And today there's also more maps over at Kammastories.

(Stock photo courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu)

Story building – Behind the scenes

(This post first appeared on 16 November 2011.)

It seems that, as the year hurtles towards the end, my mind also gets more scattered. It may be because it’s the time of year when you’re working with two diaries – and trying to remember which day you’re actually busy with. Or maybe it’s just because winter is long forgotten (here, at least) and the holidays are beckoning. Whatever it is, I’m finding myself working on a couple of short stories simultaneously, even though the themes, worlds and even genres are quite different. The one story that seems to be flowing at the moment is called “Stolen Time” for the time being.

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the workings behind the stories I’m writing at the moment – or have already written. People often ask me (and most writers or writerly types) “Where do you get your ideas”? The thing is, I rarely know. Most of the time an idea just pops into my head from seemingly nowhere. “Here but for Grace”, another WIP, started when I saw how awful I looked in a dressing room mirror. Another idea gets planted while I’m on the treadmill and staring at the opposite wall – usually a good time for world or story building! This week I’ll focus on the main story I’m busy with at the moment.

WIP – Stolen Time – Behind the scenes

So, where did that story idea come from? “Stolen Time” is a sci-fi short story, set in the not too far future. The light bulb lit up when I heard about someone being sentenced to quite a couple of years in prison. Add some ponderings about time while washing the dishes and voila! A story which has nothing to do with the original people, crime or judge is born…

When the main character takes the blame for a crime someone else committed, he gets thrown into a hopeless world and starts to wonder whether what he did was really worth it. Throw in a bit of freaky technology, a couple of corrupt officials, questions about justice, life and death – and who deserves either of these – I’ve given myself quite a story to write.

Why write it then?

Because, now that I’ve started the story, I need to see how it ends. I need to answer these questions myself, for myself. It’s really as simple as that. The story needs to get out, it needs to be told. By writing a story, I can take different viewpoints (some very unlike my own sometimes), measure each, see how they will work in a certain context and have a jol doing it.

Research can be fun – and disturbing

All went well until I reached about 2,500 words. The main character was established, the world was established enough for the first draft and I had reached one of the main scenes of the story – a death scene. Basically, it is the death of someone whom you might say deserve it. You weren’t supposed to feel very sorry for him when I set out to write it. But, when it came to writing the scene, I found I couldn’t make it a black and white scene. Gray entered and, with it, more conflict (which I guess is a good thing). So, I scribbled some margin notes and continued on, but then I realised I needed to know more about human decomposition timelines than I’ve learned from shows such as Medical Detectives, NCIS and the like.

After some reading I wish I did before having gone through the trouble of making dinner – I did manage to write a decent first draft of the scene. The biggest problem with this scene will be balance – the last thing I want is a gore-fest slapped in the middle of the story. There’s a certain amount of gore which I’m comfortable with writing (or even reading), but there is also the right amount of gore for a specific story. If you’re not setting out to do a “lone hitchhiker with a love of chainsaws and the colour red” story, there’s really no need to go all-out with the gore factor. I’m quite happy to leave the details to the reader’s imagination. After all, when you write about decapitated human heads being catapulted over a city wall, you don’t need to write about every blood spatter[1]. This is probably one of the scenes I’ll have to edit or rewrite the most once I’m done with the draft.

All in all, I had a good writing night – about 800 words after all the research. Tonight, I’ll tackle the next two (luckily) corpse-free scenes. And maybe even enjoy dinner tonight!

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[1] If you’re going WHAT! o.0 at this moment; this happens in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. And no, every speck of blood isn’t described. 

Story building – Behind the scenes

It seems that, as the year hurtles towards the end, my mind also gets more scattered. It may be because it’s the time of year when you’re working with two diaries – and trying to remember which day you’re actually busy with. Or maybe it’s just because winter is long forgotten (here, at least) and the holidays are beckoning. Whatever it is, I’m finding myself working on a couple of short stories simultaneously, even though the themes, worlds and even genres are quite different. The one story that seems to be flowing at the moment is called “Stolen Time” for the time being.

I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the workings behind the stories I’m writing at the moment – or have already written. People often ask me (and most writers or writerly types) “Where do you get your ideas”? The thing is, I rarely know. Most of the time an idea just pops into my head from seemingly nowhere. “Here but for Grace”, another WIP, started when I saw how awful I looked in a dressing room mirror. Another idea gets planted while I’m on the treadmill and staring at the opposite wall – usually a good time for world or story building! This week I’ll focus on the main story I’m busy with at the moment.

WIP – Stolen Time – Behind the scenes

So, where did that story idea come from? “Stolen Time” is a sci-fi short story, set in the not too far future. The light bulb lit up when I heard about someone being sentenced to quite a couple of years in prison. Add some ponderings about time while washing the dishes and voila! A story which has nothing to do with the original people, crime or judge is born…

When the main character takes the blame for a crime someone else committed, he gets thrown into a hopeless world and starts to wonder whether what he did was really worth it. Throw in a bit of freaky technology, a couple of corrupt officials, questions about justice, life and death – and who deserves either of these – I’ve given myself quite a story to write.

Why write it then?

Because, now that I’ve started the story, I need to see how it ends. I need to answer these questions myself, for myself. It’s really as simple as that. The story needs to get out, it needs to be told. By writing a story, I can take different viewpoints (some very unlike my own sometimes), measure each, see how they will work in a certain context and have a jol doing it.

Research can be fun – and disturbing

All went well until I reached about 2,500 words. The main character was established, the world was established enough for the first draft and I had reached one of the main scenes of the story – a death scene. Basically, it is the death of someone whom you might say deserve it. You weren’t supposed to feel very sorry for him when I set out to write it. But, when it came to writing the scene, I found I couldn’t make it a black and white scene. Gray entered and, with it, more conflict (which I guess is a good thing). So, I scribbled some margin notes and continued on, but then I realised I needed to know more about human decomposition timelines than I’ve learned from shows such as Medical Detectives, NCIS and the like.

After some reading I wish I did before having gone through the trouble of making dinner – I did manage to write a decent first draft of the scene. The biggest problem with this scene will be balance – the last thing I want is a gore-fest slapped in the middle of the story. There’s a certain amount of gore which I’m comfortable with writing (or even reading), but there is also the right amount of gore for a specific story. If you’re not setting out to do a “lone hitchhiker with a love of chainsaws and the colour red” story, there’s really no need to go all-out with the gore factor. I’m quite happy to leave the details to the reader’s imagination. After all, when you write about decapitated human heads being catapulted over a city wall, you don’t need to write about every blood spatter[1]. This is probably one of the scenes I’ll have to edit or rewrite the most once I’m done with the draft.

All in all, I had a good writing night – about 800 words after all the research. Tonight, I’ll tackle the next two (luckily) corpse-free scenes. And maybe even enjoy dinner tonight!

---

[1] If you’re going WHAT! o.0 at this moment; this happens in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. And no, every speck of blood isn’t described.