Character Birthdays

I've found a fun way to keep in touch with characters and their updates is to keep a list of their birthdays readily at hand. Seeing as we are approaching a New Year very shortly, I see fit to start birthday-ing fairly soon.

Anyway, the first step I like to take is completing the character profile thing I posted back in October:

http://silvermist-thefeatherpen.blogspot.com/2011/10/character-profiles.html

Once your characters are fleshed out and you have the dates of their b-days, you can save them in a notepad document (or scribble them on a sticky note or whatever. Don't judge me, I have no sticky notes!!!)

Aaaanyway, once that is done, it should look something like this: (alphabetical order) [random names, I swear I don't use such mundane tags on characters]

Aaron - December 1; Abel- August 7; Betty - November 28; Corey - November 3

Etcetera. Or, it can look like this:

January - [list of characters whose birthdays are in this month]
February - [list]
March - [list]
April - [list]

And so on. January 1st marks the 18th birthday of January, one of my more recent characters. I hope to do something nice for that, and then look readily forward to the rest of the year and all the birthdays that come with it. Shew.

Anyway, so long and thanks for all the fish. Hope you had fun with this post.

~Silvermist

Project: Editing. Stage: Nearly Complete

I just reached chapter 11 this morning of my first NaNo novel during the editing process, and I'm nearly done! All that's left is the remainder of this flashback sequence, the climax, and then the end.

I'm not really looking forward to the climax, but it'll feel good to perfect it. It's one of those sob-sniffle-cry climaxes.

:'O

At any rate, as soon as I'm finished with the final editing (this is the 4th draft), I will format it professionally, and then send it out for - you guessed it - publishing! (Hopefully before then I get my short story 'January' published someplace). I'M SO EXCITED!

It's an adventure worth telling in its own story, isn't it?

Keep you updated,

Silvermist

P.S. I've been reading Bleach's Soul Badge arc. It. Is. Getting. EPIC.

This is Tsukishima. The bad guy that wasn't until he was.

He's awesome.

Ahem.

NaNo's dead, and Christmas is coming

NaNoWriMo has died along with the rest of November, but if you're like me, then your novel is still bursting with life, waiting to be read.

Waiting to be edited.

*dun dun*

Sadly, my epic novel "Jinxed" isn't going to be edited because 82,404 words is hard to edit. Needless to say, I'm going to instead turn to editing last year's 70k novel that will in turn be published if I can get it so. But that aside, I'm focusing on little projects for Christmas.

Merry Christmas from Silvermist and Rozar!

Here at Ebony Castle things are lighting up (literally) because of Razor's epic mage powers and how awesome they are at setting torches on fire. They look like Christmas lights. And yay for William, the literal newest addition to the "Guard", and congrats to Draco, the proud adopted dad of our lil dragon. We hope you have as fun a Christmas as us (because we still need a tree!!!)

At any rate, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Bright Jugor's Day, on Jester's planet. (Jester is a character of mine). Let's just say Happy Holidays!

~Silvermist

Checklist

I saw my friend LE make a writing checklist/schedule on her blog, http://farfetchedandbeyond.blogspot.com/ and I decided that since it looked organizational, I cold try it too. Think about it. Makes sense. So here you are. My checklist:

Finish NaNoWriMo: Uncomplete. (Getting there though!)

Edit last year's NaNo: Incomplete. I must get it done before January, if I want to do the ABNA contest again.

Publish last year's NaNo: Incomplete but GETTING THERE!

Beginning planning for/write/complete plans for a 'Flight' sequel: In progress. (Planning well underway).

Begin my DS series, which stars my epic family of epic warriors in an epic land: Begun and semi-complete. Book one complete and book four almost complete. (I do these out of order... heh).

And then...?

Well that's the beauty of the last one. My schedule is full up until NaNo of next year, but then, it's time for a new novel! FUN!

~Silvermist

The Sounds Generator

A friend introduced this to me. It's a generator that produces different random noises, and it's perfect for writing. I tried it yesterday for two scenes in a row, a nighttime campfire, and a progressive thunderstorm. It was perfect, it aids the brain so much more than you'd think and adds to the level of scene-developing. And it gives you something to describe.

It's a change from music, but it's so soothing... I didn't even want to turn it off.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/3YYrOQ/naturesoundsfor.me/Rainy-Day

~Silvermist

Mid-November Rut

It's mid-November in two days (the 15th) and I realized it's about here I always get stuck in a rut. Yep, a rut. My novel is having trouble moving, even though one of the minor characters is about to die... The characters are starting to realize my evil plans for them and are trying to throw me off, I suppose.

I've been wondering what to do to boost my word count without too many word sprints... those tire my fingers and although they can help move the plot along, I find they usually make my work seem mediocre because I don't have time to focus. Which is bad.

Anybody have any inspirational thingie-ma-bob ideas I can use to help me?

Many thanks ahead of time,
Silvermist

Day 5

Five days into NaNo and it's going well. I'm getting loads and loads of writing done, but I now have no time for piano or drawing... heh... now it's just writing and school, writing and school...

BLEH. At least I love the novel! Character developement coming along nicely.

~Silvermist

The Rhetorical Last Minute and Halloween

It's officially three days until NaNoWriMo, and for me that means it's also the unofficial last minute... I just realized I gotta grab a notebook and get down the outline for the first scene! Otherwise it'll never get off the ground.
Thank my friend for inviting me to her house to write together on November 1st! (Bittersweet, I know. I'll want to write all day long forever and ever... and she'll want to hang out because we haven't seen each other since August. Bummer). Any last-minute plans you need to double check with? Grab your MC(s) and start debating!

On top of that, Halloween is just around the corner. (AND IT SNOWED HERE). I'm actually going to my friend's house on Halloween and writing the next day, so we're going trick-or-treating together. Heh. Teens. A junior (moi) and a senior (elle)... this oughta be fun. ;) Going as Morticia Addams, the patron of gothic, long black hair! Yay for me having as such.

To tie Halloween to writing, who else is writing mini creepy stories?

~Silvermist

Music for Writin'

Music. It's essential for writing, undeniably. My brain in particular feeds of music from Evanescence, the most epic band I've ever heard. (Especially with a new album out last week). Luckily for me, their style is right, the vocals are right, and it clicks in my head when I'm doing scenes. Plus, they have a lot of songs to choose from. I also listen to instrumental OSTs from animes, instrumental versions of regular songs, and some Linkin Park, Within Temptation, Three Day's Grace, and the like.

But I kinda want to expand a little. So followers, tell me what music you listen to when you write, and when you use certain songs for certain scenes. I'm completely open to the internet so I can look up pretty much all songs.
You can also mention why you listen to the music you do.

Have fun,
Silvermist

Flight

Hey, did you scroll down and see the dude at the bottom of my blog? Well, his name is Andael, and even though 'Flight' isn't really hitting theaters this April, I've chosen to take that novel and spruce it up for publishing - but not before I add the scenes I've been meaning to add since last April, when I wrote it during my Script Frenzy double challenge.

Please comment on this basic plot outline/summary!

---

Set in a futuristic, semi-scifi Earth-based setting, 'Flight' centers around the story of four "Supernaturals", or power-wielding humans who are scattered sparsely from each other, always forced to keep their otherworldly talents a secret, living disguised among the humans and forever cursed by their differences. The quartet of young people pull together but are pushed into hiding for fear that they will be discovered by the untrusting, fearful, and sometimes biased humans; they train together in the deep country until, when the book begins, they are discovered but suddenly and unpleasantly kidnapped.

Bane Larron, the Supernatural's malevolent captor and the unfeeling orchestrator of the Supernatural Plan, relishes the thought of four such rare beings at his disposal, and the intelligent scientist uses threats and even violence to keep the prisoners under control, even at the expense of earning his only teenaged daughter's displeased anger. Things go quite well according to his plan, until the Supernaturals prove to be much more powerful than he anticipated, in more ways than one.

Over the course of one day and in one place, the Supernaturals must fight their way past Bane's guards, weapons, and machines, trying to find their way toward the woods and, ultimately, freedom. Along the way they meet Andael, Bane's right-hand man, but whose side is he really on? He claims to have known Larron for longer than he cares to remember, and follows the man's orders to the letter in capturing the Supernaturals, but when he faces them alone, he's a different man. Wary of his trust, Laticia, the group's leader, is left helpless in the face of attack after attack. On top of it all, each member relapses into his or her past, reflecting on what brought them here, who they are, and why - and none of it is pleasant.

But the real question is: will they ever escape alive? Bane is as ruthless as he is knowledgeable, and with his hands on the most technologically advanced, anti-energy weapons of the age, he will leave nothing behind without first making sure it's left maimed or dead. Left powerless, the small group is forced to leave behind everything they believe about the captors and even what they knew about each other before they can escape. Andael and Erica, Bane's meek daughter, try to help, but whose trust are they looking to secure? There's only one way to find out, and only one way to escape.

Destroy the source of power - Bane's anti-energy dome.

---

Be sure to tell me what you think! Now I'm off to start writing those scenes I need to add! Weee!

~Silvermist

Character Profiles

Do you fill out profiles for your characters? If you do, how long do you wait to fill the profile out, and what critera do you use? If not, you should! It's not extremely detailed, but it helps you keep track of your character's strong points, weak points, personality features, basic appearance, and even basic background outline. It's quite fun, and gives you references to go back to.

Example: You're writing your NaNoWriMo novel (or any story, perhaps, that is longer than 20 pages), and you realize you forget the color of that one guy's hair. Well, now you have to go scrolling back up 60 or so pages to find what it was. And then you do it again 40-some pages later. Now what?

Yeeeep, this keeps that from happening. Here is the basic character profile template I use, and I hope you'll enjoy using it too:

Profile for: [character name here]


Gender:
Race:
Age:
Date of creation:
Birthday:
Height:
Measurements:
Hobby:
(Twist):
Status:

Basic Description:


-------------------
Current Information
-------------------
>family background

>birth place

>history, background

>home

>possessions, make-up, jewelry, etc.

>pets

--------------------
Physical Description
--------------------
>hair style

>eyes

>body

>physical condition

>marks,scar,tattoo


>clothing

------------
Personality
------------
>likes

>dislikes

>fears

>goals

>hobbies

>occupation

>favorite food

>least favorite food

>most prized possesion (important or emotional value)

>vernacular (way of speaking)

>psychological condition

>character behavior

>aptitude

>social and other pressure, problems

>relationships (with who and what kind)

>beliefs, superstition, moral value

>positive characteristics

>negatives characteristics

>personality

>other

------------
Abilities
------------
>physical

>magical

>other

Enjoy!

~Silvermist

NaNoWriMo prep tips

Bienvenue, fellow writers!

Today is October 11th (new Evanescence album release date!) but it's also a good indicator that November is right around the corner. As we all know (or most of us, I hope), NaNoWriMo starts on November 1st, and there's nothing stopping us from charging out and galloping through the novel nonstop until the 31st. So who's going to jump with me?

Prep tips:

• Start brainstorming now. If you don't have a plot on November 1st, you're going to flounder.


• Listen to what they say - write what you know! Whether it's modern fantasy or stylish scifi, adding elements you are comfortable with always makes it fun and easier to write.


• Get into it! If you can, draw pictures of your characters, prepare cover art, design monsters, anything! Or if you can't draw, then write up character profiles. List the name, age, gender, clothes, personality, etc... Do this for the setting too, if you're not comfortable with it.


• Get a partner. If there's someone you know who likes to write, challenge them to join you! It doesn't have to be a competition, but support is always the best prompt when writing a novel. There's always someone to push you along. If you can't find a partner you know, look online, preferably at nanowrimo.org and head to the forums. (Much fun there).


• Let the characters write. This may be my personal form of writing novels, but I find if I just give them the basic outline, they will take the story and just fly with it. I don't even have to do anything - I just write it down as it goes. [i. e. don't outline every word before November 1st].