Writing: Acting on Paper, Painting with Words

Fantasy Fair Timeline

2008-01-19T01:23:31Z

Idea stolen from beloved_baka, because it was a really really good one, and I've been meaning to do this for some time. It will help me get organized with the story, as well.

So far, here are the posts I've made on caer_awen, with the other posts I've made here included. Will be updated as I go along.

Fantasy Fair Timeline

Background - pre-human contact

Prompt: 129 Demons or men
Scene: Anselan shows his Eastern magic to Vystai at the orphanage - Anselan and Vystai, Anselan's pov
Status:
Link:http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/34302.html

Prompt: 176 There are no heroes – only broken men
Scene: The fateful turning point in the war - Anselan and Daliseth, Anselan's pov
Status:
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/43844.html

Book 1 (Fantasy Fair)

Prompt: 007 An unfamiliar landscape
Scene: The birth of the Fantasy Fair - Janeene discovers her store is special - Janeene and Daliseth, Janeene's pov
Status:
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/36891.html

Prompt: 070 Gathering courage
Scene: Day Two, Janeene and Daliseth converse - Janeene's pov
Status:
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/38079.html

Prompt: 157 A not-so-secret secret
Scene: Day Three - Given and Daliseth, Daliseth's pov
Status:
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/41443.html

[a good bit of other stuff]

Prompt: [053 A testimony against you]
Scene: Daliseth answers to the Council regarding his behavior - Daliseth's pov
Status:
Link: http://illustar.livejournal.com/2134.html

[more stuff happens]

Prompt: 086 Remain in darkness
Scene: Daliseth has dinner with Janeene and her family - Skylar's pov
Status:
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/27062.html

[more other stuff]

Prompt: none
Scene: Michelle gets a job at the Fantasy Fair - Michelle and Janeene, Michelle's pov
Status: This is the official beginning of the book, but it's also the first I ever wrote (before I knew what was going on), and will need to be rewritten
Link: http://illustar.livejournal.com/1019.html

Prompt: none
Scene: Chapter Two: Michelle learns the Fantasy Fair isn't a normal bookshop - Michelle's pov
Status: Old, needs rewriting
Link: http://illustar.livejournal.com/2934.html

Prompt: none
Scene: Chapter Three: Michelle meets Daliseth and trouble with the oddities is revealed - Michelle's pov
Status: Old, needs rewriting - general plot still okay
Link: http://illustar.livejournal.com/3077.html

Prompt: none
Scene: Chapter Four: A discussion on the nature of magic, and thoughts on elf/human interaction - Michelle's pov
Status: Old, needs rewriting
Link: http://illustar.livejournal.com/3411.html

[tons more happens]

Prompt: 075 - Better than perfection
Scene: Daliseth searches for Janeene in the human world, and is captured by Blodwen - Daliseth's pov
Status: Possibly way off. Take with a grain of salt. Will be rewritten when I get closer to this point in the story for real.
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/caer_awen/23999.html

[lots more, and then the end]

Book 2 (Stitches & Swordplay)

Book 3 (untitled)

Book 4 (untitled)

Haha!! Spontaneous Character Development!!!!!

2007-08-25T14:19:45Z

Cross-posted to kabochan

Last night was pretty eventful. I mentioned to Gwen that I was excited about my book, since I'd been thinking about it all day at work, and she said, "Oh good! Tell me." So I started to try to gather the scattered bits of development I'd had, and suddenly plot was gushing out like a firehose.

Holy cow, it's crazy. I had no idea Seth was hiding so many secrets from me. I didn't know about his dark history, why he's been running from his guilt for the past couple of centuries by switching trades so often. I didn't realize that it was going to come back to bite him in the end of the book, just when he thought he might be able to finally let go. He's not the squeaky-clean cheery dream prince that I always thought he was. Gwen says he's reached the third dimension (and that there's something even more attractive about a dark past this way). I say that I'm scared for my characters now. They're hurting, and it's my fault! And I have to actually put them through it!!

The other interesting thing is how my characters seemed to know it anyway. That is, Blodwen knows (Blodwen's the one who's going to drop the bomb on Janeene, conveniently creating the rift between her and Seth that I'd been needing. I thought it *was* Blodwen. But no, she's just the vehicle.), and Skylar (Janeene's brother) saw through him as well. In the Skylar snippet I posted, the kid sensed that Seth was really dangerous. I thought he was overreacting. Nope.

Yikes, I hope I can remember all the gorgeous details that are coming together, because I didn't write them down last night. Maybe *this* is why I woke up early today and couldn't get back to sleep.

Two Dimensions

2007-05-04T06:58:39Z

[Testing, testing.. 1, 2, 3..
As my first post, and because I CAN, I will reveal to you a short-short I wrote for Louise Plummer's Eng318R about two years ago. It's about KotOR. Because I'm a dork. And no, you won't see much like this on this journal. Though I might if I feel like it. And btw, my class mostly thought I was moron because of this piece.]

**PS~ SUBSEQUENT ENTRIES OF THIS JOURNAL ARE FRIENDS-LOCKED!! CONTACT ME IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED!**

***

“Part of me wanted you to tell him, to betray our mission—just to make the pain stop,” he says, and the memory of his screams echo in my ears.

“I’m so sorry,” I answer. “It tore me up inside to see you like that.”

“But I’m glad you didn’t. I’m even a little awed. I don’t think I could have held up if I were in your position. If it were you—”

My heart does a small leap, despite the seriousness of the situation. I wish he would say more. I wish we weren’t in this mess, that we could just talk instead of fighting for our lives, and the universe.

“What do I have to do to get you to trust me?” I want to say to him. “Don’t my actions prove anything?” But I’ll never actually say it. I can’t. Because my answers, like his, are all preprogrammed, decided beforehand, planned and played out as fast as I can click the mouse and wait for the future to unfold. It’s just a fabrication, cleverly crafted to play off my tender girlish tendencies for economic ends.

It works for me. I realize this. I know there’s no tangible benefit from such investment of my emotions. But still I wonder, why can’t real men talk like that?