Thursday, February 23, 2017

Finding the Words

            I often find that it isn’t easy to find the right words when I’m working on a story. I’m left struggling to come up with the right phrasing to convey my intentions for the scene. The effort to come up with the right combination can either flow easily like water from a faucet or, as it happens most of the time, feels like I’m bashing my head against a brick wall. I know what I want to happen in my writing but left stalled by the inability to write a single word.
            It is puzzling to know that you have an idea of what you want to happen but struggle to find the right way in which to say it. After all, the best writers show what’s going on rather than tell the audience. That is a hard balance to find, especially for an amateur writer trying to practice their craft before taking it to the professional scene. Perhaps, that’s often what stops me from finding my way even through my first draft of my novel. I worry so much about how bad it is currently that I forget that it’s a first draft.
            However, help has been found online. Trolling pinterest and other parts of the net has turned up several aids for writers looking for help on how to do certain things in their work. I found these sources very helpful even if I’m working on side projects like the occasional fan fictions that I work on. It is all practice no matter what form the writing takes. So with these aids at my fingertips I’ve begun working once more. If any of you want to find these helps for yourself I’ll leave a link to my creative writing pin board below.
            I hope to see you all again next week with more from either of my stories for you to read over.

~ChildofCourage~    

Thursday, February 16, 2017

New Story and Characters in development

            Since setting up shop at home I’ve begun work on a D&D based story. The full story and major characters are still in development. I’ve also decided to do the same with my Lunar Revelations book as well. Some of the characters felt a little under developed and as the main vehicles of showing the worlds that I’m working on I wanted them to be a little more flushed out. I wanted them to feel more real to you as readers of my stories. However, some major edits will be underway with Lunar Revelations to cut out some of the backstory I placed in. I don’t want to hit my readers over the head with a ton of backstory from the beginning. The stories I aim to tell should focus less on the characters' backgrounds and more on the world they find themselves in and how the learn about it and learn to survive in it. 
            However, I wanted to give my readers a chance to meet my two newest characters. These two adventurers will be the main stars of my D&D story. First, there’s Leslie Williams. A 25 year old college student who finds herself pulled into an amazing but dangerous fantasy world and fights to return back to the modern world from which she came. As some of you may note, her first name is my own. It’s for three reasons I gave this character my name. One, I like the meaning of my first name. Boiled down it means strength and that’s the trait I want this character to have. Two, I identify with this character. To be honest on some level all my characters come from some part of my own personality. So, this is an acknowledgement of such a connection. Three, it’s also a little vanity. My first name is very rarely used and I love it. So, I at least wanted one character to bear that name even if nobody really gets to see my work.
            Leaving the modern lead and going to the second, Kalandorl Rilynana is a drow warrior that risks his life to flee the life he’s been leading in the Underdark. For those who don’t know much about Drow or D&D, the Underdark is an underground realm that exists in Dungeons and Dragons where many evil, banished races live. The Drow are also known as dark elves. Their culture is cutthroat and violent. Most drow tend to live only a few hundred years or so due to the chaotic nature of their culture which is led by a tyrantical matriarchy that sees the males of the race as a step above slaves. Kalandorl wishes to leave this world of betrayal and bloodshed behind him.
            Both characters find themselves thrown together in an evil fey King’s dungeon and must try to escape but more dangers await them outside of the castle. However, to give you a taste of what these two characters are like here’s a little information on both of them.

Leslie Williams
    • Age: 25 
    • Race: Human 
    • Height: 5’ 1”
    • Build: Petite 
    • Skin tone: ivory white 
    • gender: female 
    • ethnicity: White
    • identifying features: pixie-cut dark brown hair and pixie-like features with extremely dark eyes 
    • Profession: College student/Medical Assistant (her other world profession ends up a being a ranger)
    • hobbies: writing, reading, gardening, video games, watching anime and tv, and art
    • Habits: sleeps in late (isn’t a morning person), keeps clean and organized room, quiet person unless around the right person (ambivert tendencies)
    • Faults: shy, pessimistic, often fights depression, has trust issues (especially with men)
    • Clothes: At work: medical scrubs and tennis shoes; At school: jeans, graphic t-shirt, and converses; At home: loose t-shirts and shorts
    • Body language: eye contact level: eyes constantly scanning or focused forward on her path or glued to her phone or writing journal; gait: smooth; carriage: slightly nervous; posture: upright with head held straight and often moving; hand movements: often flourishes hands when passionate, movements can be jerky or smooth depending on mood; nervous ticks: bites lower lip, often has a nervous laugh or messes with her hair when nervous
Kalandorl Rilynana
    • Age: 126
    • Race: Drow
    • Height: 6’ 1”
    • Build: slender but well-muscled
    • Skin tone: Obsidian black
    • Gender: Male
    • Ethnicity: dark elf
    • Identifying features: piercing lilac eyes that almost seem to glow in the dark and a scar on his right cheek from an old duel
    • Profession: Drow warrior
    • Hobbies: gambling, playing cards, training physically, and music
    • Habits: Sleeps little (due to elven heritage), practices his fighting skills on a regular basis to keep them sharp for battles with enemies (often other Drow), often likes to gamble with fellows in his patrol to trick them out of treasure he wants, only does anything musical when he’s alone but enjoys what music he can find, constantly on the lookout for threats to him
    • Faults: Distrustful of others due to the culture he grew up in, Defensive about his hobbies that aren’t in line with the life of a warrior, has deep rooted prejudices against other races from his upbringing
    • Clothes: at “work”: black leather armor, belts, and weapons with all tools he needs; At home: a simple red tunic with leather belt and black cloth pants and leather boots
    • Body language: Eye contact: Holds the gaze of anyone he sees as an equal except when it comes to women were he looks away or down to show respect; gait: long strides that are smooth and precise; Carriage: confident and proud; Posture: stands up straight with shoulders squared as if in formation, Proximity: keeps a fair distance between him and those around him; Hand movements: deft and flowing but almost minimal when not fighting; nervous ticks: glances around the room when nervous and often will mess with the hilt of his sword

Hope you guys enjoyed learning about these two! See you next week with another post!


~ChildofCourage~

Saturday, February 11, 2017

Pardon My Dust

Sorry I’ve been away for so long. I’ve been going through a bit of an adjustment over the last year and now have made a permanent move back to my home state. I will soon be posting regularly again about my current writing projects and cosplays. I thank you for your patience and hope to post something more substantial soon for you all to read. Until next week on Thursday! Have a good weekend!