A Writerly Blog

I almost forgot to post this week's chapter of The Ghost King's Tragedy, due to being away for about a day. Thankfully, the mere sight of BZP reminded me of my weekly duty, so you are all blessed enough to read more of my writing. Here's an excerpt:

The Ghost King smiled and said, “Well, Steben, you are about to set an example for your fellow Ghosts.”

Steben looked up at the Ghost King, a puzzled look on his face. “An example, my lord?”

The Ghost King kept smiling. “Yes, an example. Please come up here.”

Steben almost hesitated, but then he dutifully trotted up the steps until he was in front of the Ghost King’s throne. Steben stopped and stood there, awaiting whatever orders the Ghost King chose to give him. Or, he would have, if the Ghost King had been intending to give Steben any orders at all.

Read the rest of Chapter Four here.

-TNTOS-

It's Wednesday again, which means it's time for another new chapter of The Ghost King's Tragedy. Here's an excerpt from Chapter Three:

Bending low, Tira strung a wire, which sent a vibration that would be felt in every tree. It was a part of a complex, crisscrossing wire system that acted as the main form of long-distance communication among the Ghosts, designed by the Ghost King himself. The Ghost King claimed to have been inspired by some beings known as the ‘stealers of life,’ who apparently used a natural version of this method.

The communication generally consisted of complex vibrations, but this message Tira sent was simple, for it required only one pull of the wire. No one would mistake its basic message:

The invaders have entered the jungle. Take no prisoners.

Read the rest of Chapter Three here.

-TNTOS-

Today I got the third and final book in the Kane Chronicles series, The Serpent's Shadow. I've only read up to Chapter 5 so far, but it's pretty good so far.

I've been meaning to get this book for a while (as I already have the first two), but I've never had the money to buy it until just recently, so yay and stuff.

-TNTOS-

It's Wednesday again, which means it's time for another chapter of The Ghost King's Tragedy. Here's an excerpt:

“Wrong,” said the Master. “The secret lies on the island of World’s End. Specifically, it lies in the mind of one particular being on World’s End.”

“And who is that being?” said Oggak.

“The Ghost King himself, of course,” said the Master, as though Oggak were stupid. “The Ghost King is the only being in the universe -- besides Teridax himself, obviously -- who knows the secret to defeating the Great Spirit of the universe, which is one reason he was imprisoned. I ask you four Toa to go to World’s End and request that secret from him.”

Read the rest of Chapter Two here.

-TNTOS-

As of today, I have posted the first chapter of The Ghost King's Tragedy. Here's a short excerpt to get y'all interested:

“Now, my Ghosts,” said the Ghost King, looking over them all dispassionately. “For years, our island of World’s End has been ignored by the outside world. Our island has remained nothing more than a legend to outsiders, which is why we have been at peace for so many years.”

None of the Ghosts said anything, but the Ghost King, through his telepathy, heard thoughts such as And that has nothing to do with us from one disgruntled Ghost, a sentiment that was shared by the others. That was good. The Ghost King despised arrogance, for it often led to rebellion. By making it clear they were not responsible for this peace, the Ghosts could not become prideful, or so the Ghost King believed.

“Now, my Ghosts,” the Ghost King continued, “through my supernatural intuition and link to the spirits, I have discovered that four invaders have arrived on this island. What’s more, they were sent by my mortal enemy to kill me.”

Read the rest of the first chapter here.

I will update the epic once a week every Wednesday. I will also post a blog entry every Wednesday advertising the newest chapter with a short excerpt, similar to what I'm doing here.

-TNTOS-

A few days ago I finished editing The Ghost King's Tragedy. I'm confident that it's ready for posting; however, the release date is still August 1st. Besides, I might do some last minute editing, which is something I always do before posting a new fanfic or chapter of a fanfic. Usually it's something simple, such as word choice or arrangement, so often what you see posted on BZP looks a little different from what is writen in my Word documents.

Also, I'm proud to announce that I've officially began work on the final chapter in the Legend Trilogy, BIONICLE: The Legend Imploded. So far, the plot is going in a direction that's very different from TLR and TLE. Whereas the last two stories were basically "go on a quest to defeat the Big Bad," TLI is going to be a bit more like a "collect them all and then defeat the Big Bad," but I won't say more than that 'cause I don't want to spoil.

I also think TLI is going to be much longer than TLR or TLE. It might even be two parts depending on how long it ends up being, but don't take that as definitive right now. I'm still in the earliest stages of writing, so a lot could change between now and the time I finish it.

That's all for now, so see ya,

-TNTOS-

So I just downloaded Skype recently and it works on my computer and everything, but the problem is that whenever I click the "Add contacts" button, a screen pops up that says "You don't seem to have an active internet connection. Please check your connection and try again."

I've checked my connection several times already and it still says that. I even disconnected and reconnected my Internet connection and it still doesn't work. My Internet connection works just fine (otherwise how would I be posting this?), but Skype still insists that there's something wrong with it.

Does anyone know what the problem is? 'Cause I kind of really need to be able to add a contact and I can't do it as long as Skype keeps acting up like this.

-TNTOS-

While at Wal-Mart yesterday, browsing the video games, I noticed that they had, apparently for sale, Kingdom Hearts 3D. This is interesting because KH3D is supposed to come out in America on the 31st. Yesterday was the 27th, meaning Wal-Mart was selling the game four days early.

I didn't buy it, but it was interesting to see that they were selling it early. (At least, I think they were selling it. It wasn't on a shelf, but it was in the case they keep all of the video games. Bet I could have gotten it if I'd asked.)

-TNTOS-

Howdy, y'all!*

In anticipation of my upcoming epic, The Ghost King's Tragedy, I've decided to share a short excerpt from the story. This is from Chapter 3 and it probably won't make a lot of sense until I post the epic itself, but if it generates interest then I'll be happy.

So here it is:


The jungle was just like Kiriah remembered it: hot and humid, with vines and tree branches sticking in their path. It was just as muddy, too, and more than once Kiriah nearly slipped. She didn’t feel so bad about it, though, because the slick mud made the others cautious as well.

Kiriah and Oggak were the only two with swords, so they were in the front cutting a path for their group. Kiriah had asked Akuna why they couldn’t just use their elemental powers to make a path, but Akuna had reminded her that such a move might be seen as an act of aggression by the Ghost King. They simply couldn’t risk alarming him if they were going to get the secret from him.

Most of Kiriah’s concerns were quickly proven pointless, though, because they seemed to be walking along an actual path, for the grass and mud looked as though they had been trampled. There were fewer vines or branches to cut down here.

This gave Kiriah and Oggak time to talk, although Kiriah didn’t really feel comfortable around the Toa of Shadow. Yes, Oggak had already reassured her that she was on their side, but Kiriah knew that shadow was generally not good, so she wasn’t sure what to say to Oggak, if anything at all.

“You’re a Toa of Psionics, right?” said Oggak, glancing at Kiriah as they walked.

“What? Yeah,” said Kiriah, nodding. “What about it?”

“Can you sense any other minds nearby besides our own?” Oggak asked.

Kiriah frowned and shook her head. “No. It feels like there’s this intense mental pressure covering area, like a giant blanket. I can’t even feel your mind and you’re right next to me.”

“That’s probably because I already have mental shields,” Oggak said. “But that is an interesting observation.”

“It must be the Ghost King,” said Akuna from behind them. “This is his island, after all. Maybe he knows what your element is, Kiriah, and he’s trying to stop you from using it.”

“Could be,” said Kiriah, chopping a vine out of the way. “I don’t like it. You guys wouldn’t understand, but it feels like I’m missing a limb. I’ve never had to rely solely on my physical senses to interact with the world before and it makes me nervous.”

“There’s no need to be nervous, Kiriah,” said Ahova, patting the Toa of Psionics on the shoulder. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? An ambush?”

Their conversation was interrupted by a rustling sound in the treetops above. Kiriah looked up, but saw nothing. Then something darted through the air and something sharp stabbed her in the shoulder. The blow was enough to send her staggering backwards, yelping as she looked at her shoulder.

A long, thin arrow stuck out of Kiriah’s shoulder. The wound burned like fire and it was bleeding profusely, but Kiriah had no time to think about it, for Akuna shouted, “Watch out!” and tackled Kiriah to the ground as a dozen more arrows flew overhead.


Remember: August 1st. The truth is not what it appears.

(*I can get away with cowboy talk because I live in rural Texas.)

-TNTOS-

Looks like my ad (that's what it is, I won't lie) for my upcoming short epic, The Ghost King's Tragedy, has been approved and is on the Calender. Check out August 1st on the Calender to see it.

I am most likely going to use this for future fanfics because this seems like an easy way to increase awareness of my works.

-TNTOS-

Some of you might remember a short epic I was working on some time ago, which was known as The Ghost King's Tragedy. I put it aside for a while to work on an original novel, but recently I have been working on it again and I am pleased to say it is almost ready for posting.

Assuming I don't run into any unexpected problems, expect to see the first chapter of The Ghost King's Tragedy on August 1st.

So, to get y'all excited, here's a short preview of the epic. It's more of an explanation of who the Ghost King is and where he fits into the Shikaverse - written in the form of a short legend - than an excerpt taken from the actual story, but I hope it generates interest in the epic nonetheless.

Without further ado, here is the preview:


The Legend of the Ghost King of World’s End

In the time before time, the Great Beings finished creating the entire universe. They created many different beings and creatures: Matoran workers, Skakdi warriors, large aquatic Rahi, industrious Vortixx, and a variety of other beings besides. The Great Beings finished the universe in a matter of days, putting all of their skill and effort into every island they created.

But not all islands were loved equally. While the Great Beings put loving detail and attention into the northern islands, many of the far south island suffered from a lack of care. One island in particular -- located at the end of the world itself -- was unloved and neglected. The Great Beings were growing tired of working on the universe, so they put less effort into the last island of the universe, which eventually became known as World’s End.

World’s End was not an entirely useless island, however. While working on the universe, the Great Beings made many mistakes and errors. So they put their mistakes on World’s End, far from the eyes of their other, more correct creations. World’s End was the dumping ground for their creations. The seas around World’s End were filled with dangerous Rahi that made travel to that island difficult, if not impossible, for normal beings, so that no one could look upon the Great Beings' shameful failures.

World’s End also had another purpose. In the time before time, a fierce and evil being known as the Ghost King threatened the universe with an army of Ghosts and Dark Horses. He was determined to kill everyone and did indeed cause much chaos and death and pain (this was before the Great Spirit Mata Nui was created).

The Great Beings, in all of their wisdom and goodness, defeated the Ghost King and his Ghosts. They could not kill him, however, and so instead imprisoned him on the island of World’s End along with his ghostly servants. Though the Ghost King had free reign over World’s End, he could not leave it, nor could his Ghosts.

You see, the Great Beings needed a guardian to keep the Ghost King and his Ghosts from escaping World’s End. So they created a new being who would use his powers to prevent the Ghost King’s evil from ever spreading beyond the borders of World’s End.

This being was named the Master of Mist. He was, in contrast to the Ghost King, a wise and benevolent being. He had no desire to rule over others or cause pain and suffering. He stood for order and justice, which made him ideal for the role the Great Beings assigned to him, for the Ghost King stood for chaos and injustice.

Using his powers, the Master of Mist created a huge mist barrier all around World’s End. The mist was so thick that not even the Ghost King himself could go through it or break it. The Ghost King tried many sly and cunning tricks to get around it, such as pretending to have given up his evil ways, but each time he was thwarted by the Master of Mist, who could not be deceived by the Ghost King’s trickery.

To this day, the Ghost King remains on World’s End, still kept in check by the Master of Mist. And the Ghost King will never escape World’s End. Not as long as the Master of Mist keeps in his duties.


So remember: August 1st. The truth is not what it appears.

-TNTOS-

I keep thinking they mean how many times I've gotten infractions, rather than how many proto boosts I've gotten.

-TNTOS-

I saw The Dark Knight Rises yesterday. Twice. In two different theaters. Because it's that awesome. One of the best movies ever (at least of the movies I've seen, anyway).

-TNTOS-

Today is my birthday. That means I'm now 18, which means I'm technically an adult now. So yay and stuff.

-TNTOS-

Just got back from church camp an hour ago or so. It was really fun (although I heavily disagreed with the theology being taught, but that's crossing into religion so I won't say any more). Got to see some old friends and make some new ones. I'm really tired, though, because they kept us busy with games and stuff.

Anyway, expect the TLE side story to be posted sometime tomorrow. Figure I should get it done as soon as possible rather than putting it off like I've currently been doing. Hopefully y'all will like it.

-TNTOS-

As of today (should have been yesterday, but oh well), I have posted all 19 chapters of my most recent comedy, BIONICLE: The Legend Exploded. There will be a side story posted later, but the comedy is basically finished.

Of course, the Legend Trilogy isn't complete yet. There is still the next comedy in the Trilogy, The Legend Imploded, which as I stated in TLE's topic will probably come sometime in late 2012 or early 2013, depending on how things go. Here's a few things to expect from The Legend Imploded:

-The story will, unlike the last two, not be a movie parody
-TLI will instead be a loose parody of the 2010 story (hence why it is going to be Mata Nui vs. Makuta)
-Tahu and Takanuva will join the main cast
-Nektann will also probably appear
-And yes, there will be Rahkshi

As I haven't even started work on TLI yet, I don't have anything else to add. All I can say is that I am going to try to make it even more awesome than the last two comedies. Whether I will succeed or not is another matter entirely, but I can always try.

In non-fanfic news, I am going to be away from July 1st to July 6th. I will have no access to the Internet during that time, so don't be surprised if I fail to answer any PMs you might send to me during that time.

-TNTOS-

'Sup, everybody! Just wanted y'all to know that I have, as of today, entered the Library Summer Olympics. You can read my entry, Dimension Cookies, here.

Yes, it is based on Dimension Hoppers and yes, I did try to write Isarot's POV similar to how he was in DiH, but whether I succeed or not depends on what y'all think. IMO I'm not too happy with it, but go and see it for yourself to come up with your own opinion.

-TNTOS-

Please stop starting stories, posting a few chapters, and then quitting and starting a brand new story that will inevitably go down the same path as your last.

This is not an attack on or criticism of inexperienced writers. It's merely a gentle reminder that giving up on your current story won't make you a better writer or make you more popular. Your story isn't completely unsalvagable and you'll learn far more about your abilities as a writer if you stick with your story to the very end than if you give up on it before you're even halfway through.

I've noticed that, a lot of the time, when an inexperienced writer gets a long, rather detailed review from a reader explaining what is wrong with their story, the inexperienced writer doesn't say a thing about the review, but a few weeks later you see they've posted a completely new epic, with no word about what happened to their old story, although it is usually obvious that the old story is dead.

The logic behind this decision seems to be something like, "Well, this reader made it pretty clear that my story is a piece of trash. So I will start a new story, except without any of the problems the original story had."

Problem is, more often than not, the new story has the exact same problems as the old story, if not maybe a little worse. The logic doesn't make any sense, anyway. How will starting a new story magically fix all of the old story's problems? Only if the old story's problems are inherent to the old story itself does that logic work, but as most stories can suffer from the same problems, writing a new story isn't the answer.

Again, I am not attacking inexperienced writers. I understand the sense of shame and anger you experience when a reviewer points out so many problems with your old story that you didn't see, no matter how many times you looked over the story before posting it. And I completely understand the first impulse of "Well, this story has to go to the trash can" because I very nearly gave up writing my first epic, The Tales of Shika Nui, years ago out of the belief that it was not worth writing (although that had more to do with the lack of reviews than a long, scathing review, but I digress).

Stick with your current story, unles it is completely, truly irredeemable or you truly do not like writing it anymore. I'm not saying you should never work on that new idea you have bouncing around in your head right now. It's just that you have a story right now - a story, moreover, that has the potential to be good - that desperately wants you to finish it, no matter how ugly it might look right now.

Yes, getting long, detailed reviews explaining exactly what you did wrong can be pretty hard to take. Even I sometimes have problems with critical reviews of my work and I have been writing and posting stuff on BZP almost since the day I joined.

But check that review again. Did the reviewer state that you must give up your story? No? He merely pointed out that the characterization is weak and that your spelling and grammar could stand for some improvement?

Okay. Then keep writing your story, but keep his criticisms in mind if you believe they are accurate. If you're really angry, say to the reviewer, "Thank you " (the smiley is not optional). Or wait a day before responding, once your emotions have cooled down and you can think clearly again.

Repeat: Keep writing your story. No matter how scathing or detailed the review is, if the reviewer encourages you to keep writing or at least says nothing about giving up, then keep writing. Even if he does tell you that you should give up, you probably should keep writing unless you have absolutely no more interest in the story yourself.

I know how tempting it is to give up on a story, especially when you hit writer's block or you get the detailed review I have been talking about. I have yet to write a story where I didn't hit a wall, where I didn't think "Why am I writing this?", where I didn't want to give up and do something else.

Except under rare, unusual circumstances, don't listen to those thoughts. No matter how persuasive they might sound, tell them to shut the heck up and then get back to writing.

Starting a new story will not somehow make you a better writer. In fact, I will admit that I am wary of writers who have a large collection of unfinished works. It tells me that they are probably not good writers for the sole reason that they have never finished even one story (talking about epics and chaptered comedies here, not short stories). Their library of incomplete stories tells me that there is no reason to follow this writer, for he will never finish anything. They will never improve because they are afraid of failure. What incomplete works they have are generally of low quality and never get the chance to shine because the writer gave up.

This is not to say that taking breaks from your story is bad. Sometimes, you need to take a day or two away from your work or even work on something else for a while to help you understand the story better. Thing is, though, you aren't giving up. You're taking a break or working on another story to give you perspective. It's up to you to decide when to return to the story and finish it, but I recommend to get back to it as soon as possible so you don't forget about it.

Nor is this a slam against stories that have no ending. I wil admit, however, that I generally don't follow stories that never end because they usually get bland, repetitive, or too convoluted to follow after a while. I might drop in every now and then to see what's going on, but don't expect me to be a devoted reader of such a neverending story.

Once you finish your current story, feel free to start your new one right away. It might actually be better than the last story now, since you have finished at least one story and so have an idea of what you are capable of. It doesn't mean you're perfect. It means that, if you can keep this up, you have the potential to become a great writer someday.

I think I've gone on a bit of a tangent here, so let me reiterate my main points:

-No matter how many problems the reviewer points out in his review, do not give up. Take what you can from the review and apply it to whatever your current writing ability is
-Do not start a new story with the illogical thought process that it will somehow magically be "better" than your old story. Chances are it will have the same problems as the old story or, in all likelihood, be even worse
-Taking breaks is fine, but get back to your story as soon as possible
-Your current story may not be a very good story, but neither you nor your readers will ever know for sure unless you finish it

This is a problem I've seen on BZP far too often. It just saddens me that so many writers with bright imaginations and a sincere desire to write give up because of one negative review. That's all.

-TNTOS-

As a writer, I'm always seeking to improve. I try to make each story I write better than the last. Sometimes I get lazy, unfortunately, but overall I seek to become the best writer I possibly can, which means doing my best at every level and listening to the criticisms that readers give me.

However, being a good writer also means recognizing one's limits. It means knowing what one can and cannot write at their current level and a good sense of when to try something new, something you never thought you could do but now have more confidence to do.

I have come to that point in my writing career where I realize that there are certain things I cannot handle, at least at this point in my writing level. Let me introduce you to Terra Apocalypse, my NaNoWriMo novel that I hope(d) to one day expand into a trilogy.

It's an immense tale, exploring what would happen to a planet facing, well, the apocalypse. It would have dealt with religious extremism, whole countries going to war, racism, and various other neat things that interest me like that. The next two books in the trilogy would have dealt with even grander things, such as the origin of life and the idea of God. Add in complex, well-rounded characters, interesting plot twists at every turn, and cool sci-fi settings and it sounds like an idea that cannot fail.

I even wrote two whole drafts of TA, plus half of the third one. I did a lot of research and even read the entire Book of Revelation from beginning to end in one sitting several times to get me in the mindset necessary to write such a story of epic proportions. I told myself, "This is it. This is going to be my crowning work. When this is all over, I'm going to get it published and everyone will want to read it and it will get a crudy movie adaptation that the true fans will hate."

And yet, despite my world-building notes and desire to write this story, it never came out quite right. Drafts One and Two are, to be blunt, crud, while I gave up Draft Three and renamed it Draft Two Point Five because I couldn't finish it. I soon came face-to-face with the problem of writing a novel about the apocalypse, set on a world that wasn't Earth or anywhere else I'd previously written in. I had to deal with a lot of plot absurdities and try to justify certain character choices that, at face value, made no sense whatsoever and required far too much explanation to make sense.

At first, I thought it was really only the beginning of the story that needed work. I mean, the book opens with a royal marriage; how boring is that? Or, at least, it wasn't as interesting as it could have been, in my opinion, so I came up with a complication that never made it into any of the drafts but could have added some interest to the scene (having bandits crash the party and kidnap the bride and groom as part of a complicated political plot on the groom's brother's part).

Yet it still felt wrong whenever I tried to write Draft Three. Even bandits kidnapping royalty didn't seem quite as interesting when I began to seriously ask myself how a group of rough, uncivilized bandits could break into a royal wedding that was rife with bodyguards and security of all kinds. Even if they were hired by someone attending the wedding who had a realistic motive for getting the bride and groom out of the picture, the idea still seemed too illogical and sensational, however 'exciting' it might have been.

It was then that I had an epiphany. I realized that, however good a writer I may be, I am simply not at the point in my writing career where it was possible for me to write a tale as big and epic as Terra Apocalypse. Looking at my fanfics, I realize that I never have written a story spanning whole planets before. I mean, Dimension Hoppers come close, but even then, I only covered the parts of each dimension the protagonists visited that were important, such as a city or a ship. I didn't cover the entire dimension.

I should have realized this earlier. I had attempted to write a story like TA before, which some of you might remember me talking about in the past. It was called Two Worlds, which I gave up on because it was simply too big for me as a writer at the time. I mean, I was dealing with two worlds (as the title subtly suggests), which is definitely bigger than anything I'd dealt with previously. Even coming up with hundreds of pages of world-building didn't help; in fact, I suspect the immense world-building is what turned me off TW in the first place.

So, for now, at least, I've put aside Terra Apocalypse. I've begun work on a new original novel, currently titled The Nameless(referring to a character, not the book itself), which is thus far smaller in scope than TA or TW, but that's fine with me. I have zero world-building notes on TN, but that's also fine with me. It gives me the freedom to make up whatever I need and then figure out how it all comes together later, which is generally how I work.

Now that doesn't mean I will never go back to TA or even TW. Some day, I might return to those projects, particularly TA because I stil love the idea of using apocalyptic imagery in a world populated by robots, golems, and mandrakes.

It's just that, as a writer, I am not quite ready for a story as big or epic as TA. I should stick with what I am better at, which is stories set in one, not terribly large location, with little of the surrounding world fleshed out. That's kind of what The Nameless is like, which is why I like it so much and why I think it has a better chance of making it to the final stages of editing than TA or TW ever had.

My piece of advice for other writers out there, then, is to know your limits. If you're a new writer, you might not know what you can and cannot do, so I suggest experimenting. Or if you're dealing with a story that seems to be going nowhere, you might just need to drop it for now because you might not be good enough to do the story justice.

Just don't think of it as a failure or look at yourself as a failure. Both TA and TW have taught me my limits as a writer, which means there will likely be less unfinished manuscripts sitting on my laptop's hard drive now because I know what stories I can and cannot do. Perhaps this story you're working on will teach you the same thing or another important lesson that you as a writer need to learn in order to improve.

-TNTOS-

So I decided to enter the new Short Stories contest, Warm Up. Thought it was worth mentioning, 'cause I wasn't sure I was going to enter it at first (didn't think I'd have the time or inspiration).

My entry does take place in the Shikaverse, for anyone interested. It basically expands upon Kafor's vision of the future that she mentioned at the end of The Other Tale. That's it, really. Not much else I can do with a story that has to be between 400 and 600 words, although it was pretty fun to write. Don't know if I'm going to write more entries, though. Depends on what the next themes are.

-TNTOS-