I'm not sure if other writers have come across this, but I find that my writing playlist changes based on what genre I am writing. I suppose there's not much logic that goes into why some songs fall more into one category for me and not another, it's just a feeling. :) And most, if not all, can cross over depending on the scene you're working on.
Since I am working on both my fantasy novel and my dystopian novel this week, I thought I'd share a few songs from my playlist in each genre.
If anyone has a recommendation for either of these genres or for an entirely different genre, please leave a comment!
FANTASY WRITING PLAYLIST:
Nathan Lanier: SAND and TORN
Hans Zimmer: Oh take your pick!
Lindsey Sterling: MOON TRANCE
Florence and The Machine: OVER THE LOVE and BREATH OF LIFE
The Piano Guys: Again, take your pick. Here's a good one for a sadder scene: ARWEN'S VIGIL
DYSTOPIAN WRITING PLAYLIST:
Florence and The Machine: SWIMMING and HEAVY IN YOUR ARMS
The National: ENGLAND
Lindsey Stirling: ELEMENTS
Lux Aeterna: REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
These are just a few ... anyone have any other recommendations?
Monday, February 10, 2014
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
World-building - Marchetta Shows Us How It's Done
The Lumatere Chronicles is a fantasy series written by Melinda Marchetta that I have continually heard good things about. Well, I finally broke down and decided to give FINNIKIN OF THE ROCK, the first book in the series, a try.
Now, as much as it pains me to admit it, I was not drawn into that first book the way I wanted to be. I was hoping to get sucked in so suddenly and completely that I could not put the book down. That didn't happen. The book starts slow and gives you a lot of information and characters to get to know. I was slightly overwhelmed. It wasn't until I cracked open the second book and started reading about familiar characters and places, that I realized I had fallen in love with the world Marchetta had built.
I didn't understand it at first. Why did I feel such a strong connection to THE LUMATERE CHORNICLES in the second book, when I was lukewarm about the first book? By the time I finished QUINTANA OF CHARYN, the third and final book in the series, I figured it out - Marchetta is a master at world-building.
Yes, the series started slow, but it was because she devoted time to building characters and places. I guess I would say that a lot of YA novels that I read cause me to fall into this "infatuation" phase. I feel an instant connection with the character and the storyline but by the time the next book comes out a year later, I no longer feel compelled to spend time with the story. Infatuation over.
With Marchetta's books, I fell in love. No really, hear me out. The characters in her books are flawed - every one of them - but I know them. They are redeemable. They are real. And while her characters are well done, I'm here to advise all fantasy writers to learn from Marchetta's world-building. She created complex lands - each with their own way of speaking, their own reputations, their own landscapes.
Lumatere is a small kingdom made up of hardworking people who love each other and are devoted wholly to their queen. Yutland is swampy and tribal. Charyn is rocky and cavernous and the people's loyalties are divided and confused. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
The point of all this is to say that I highly recommend Marchetta's LUMATERE CHRONICLES - particularly for those who are looking for writings that will serve as a role model for world-building.
Happy writing and happy reading!
Now, as much as it pains me to admit it, I was not drawn into that first book the way I wanted to be. I was hoping to get sucked in so suddenly and completely that I could not put the book down. That didn't happen. The book starts slow and gives you a lot of information and characters to get to know. I was slightly overwhelmed. It wasn't until I cracked open the second book and started reading about familiar characters and places, that I realized I had fallen in love with the world Marchetta had built.
I didn't understand it at first. Why did I feel such a strong connection to THE LUMATERE CHORNICLES in the second book, when I was lukewarm about the first book? By the time I finished QUINTANA OF CHARYN, the third and final book in the series, I figured it out - Marchetta is a master at world-building.
Yes, the series started slow, but it was because she devoted time to building characters and places. I guess I would say that a lot of YA novels that I read cause me to fall into this "infatuation" phase. I feel an instant connection with the character and the storyline but by the time the next book comes out a year later, I no longer feel compelled to spend time with the story. Infatuation over.
With Marchetta's books, I fell in love. No really, hear me out. The characters in her books are flawed - every one of them - but I know them. They are redeemable. They are real. And while her characters are well done, I'm here to advise all fantasy writers to learn from Marchetta's world-building. She created complex lands - each with their own way of speaking, their own reputations, their own landscapes.
Lumatere is a small kingdom made up of hardworking people who love each other and are devoted wholly to their queen. Yutland is swampy and tribal. Charyn is rocky and cavernous and the people's loyalties are divided and confused. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
The point of all this is to say that I highly recommend Marchetta's LUMATERE CHRONICLES - particularly for those who are looking for writings that will serve as a role model for world-building.
Happy writing and happy reading!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Building Better and Believable Worlds
These past couple of months have been wrought with this nagging disillusionment concerning the world I have been building in my novel. Or… I should say, the world I have been TRYING to build.
I just could not for the life of me figure out how to create an interesting, engaging world for both my characters and my readers. Which, considering that I’m writing a fantasy novel, is quite devastating.
What was the key to Tolkien’s creation of the Shire? How did Hogwarts and Diagon Alley become such vivid locations that, though unrealistic, were entirely real?
And then I finally realized that I had been spending too much time worrying about the big picture. My idea of world-building was vast and non-specific. I thought it meant I had to create some type of new way of existing - like new laws of physics… maybe a purple sky or a new species of animal (not that there’s anything wrong with creating a new species of animal).
I didn’t realize that simply including the mundane aspects of life was the key to building a believable world. And so I’ve begun research with the help of some history books that delve into medieval societies that are similar to mine in many aspects of life.
The number one book that has aided me in this regard is THE TIME TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer.
I have seen other similar books of his relating to other periods of time so do not be discouraged if you are not writing in a Medieval setting. There's still a helpful book out there for you!
I now know the traditional dress for a butcher and a fishmonger. I know that signs in front of shops often were simple symbols because so many people were illiterate. I know that the different materials used for houses symbolized different social statuses and that a town was called a town not based on population but on whether it held a regular market.
All of these types of details make a world come to life. Suddenly I feel as though my characters are real persons. Their problems are relatable and understandable. The tragedy in my novel becomes more tragic and the humor becomes more humorous. Details make the plot come alive. They are what create that literary sense of diving into another world.
I have said before that I am a firm proponent of fiction novelists doing their research but it seems I was preaching to the choir. If anyone is struggling to create a world – stop looking at it as though you were looking at a world, and start looking at it as though you were examining a scene. What are your senses telling you as you walk through the streets of your story? Even if you don’t use all the details you come up with, like where your character might use the restroom, it’s good to know.
It reminds me of the character building I do when I act. When I get a side to learn, I sit down and ask myself why the character might be in a certain place, feeling a certain way. I create a history for them all of my own.
It’s the same with a novel. As an author, I want to know all I can about my character. In the end, it will only lead to better writing and more believable stories.
Cheers to the small things!
I just could not for the life of me figure out how to create an interesting, engaging world for both my characters and my readers. Which, considering that I’m writing a fantasy novel, is quite devastating.
What was the key to Tolkien’s creation of the Shire? How did Hogwarts and Diagon Alley become such vivid locations that, though unrealistic, were entirely real?
And then I finally realized that I had been spending too much time worrying about the big picture. My idea of world-building was vast and non-specific. I thought it meant I had to create some type of new way of existing - like new laws of physics… maybe a purple sky or a new species of animal (not that there’s anything wrong with creating a new species of animal).
I didn’t realize that simply including the mundane aspects of life was the key to building a believable world. And so I’ve begun research with the help of some history books that delve into medieval societies that are similar to mine in many aspects of life.
The number one book that has aided me in this regard is THE TIME TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer.
I have seen other similar books of his relating to other periods of time so do not be discouraged if you are not writing in a Medieval setting. There's still a helpful book out there for you!
I now know the traditional dress for a butcher and a fishmonger. I know that signs in front of shops often were simple symbols because so many people were illiterate. I know that the different materials used for houses symbolized different social statuses and that a town was called a town not based on population but on whether it held a regular market.
All of these types of details make a world come to life. Suddenly I feel as though my characters are real persons. Their problems are relatable and understandable. The tragedy in my novel becomes more tragic and the humor becomes more humorous. Details make the plot come alive. They are what create that literary sense of diving into another world.
I have said before that I am a firm proponent of fiction novelists doing their research but it seems I was preaching to the choir. If anyone is struggling to create a world – stop looking at it as though you were looking at a world, and start looking at it as though you were examining a scene. What are your senses telling you as you walk through the streets of your story? Even if you don’t use all the details you come up with, like where your character might use the restroom, it’s good to know.
It reminds me of the character building I do when I act. When I get a side to learn, I sit down and ask myself why the character might be in a certain place, feeling a certain way. I create a history for them all of my own.
It’s the same with a novel. As an author, I want to know all I can about my character. In the end, it will only lead to better writing and more believable stories.
Cheers to the small things!
Monday, February 3, 2014
The Lessons of Creating a Monster
I've been slowly creating a monster in one of my novels. A dark antagonist that surprises me in the way she often takes over my writing and does things even I, as the author, am blind-sided with and taken aback by. It has been teaching me quite a bit about villains.
The most terrifying villains are the ones that are complex – not pure darkness, but a rainbow of colors that don’t quite piece together right. They’re the ones who have reasons to justify their cruelty; beliefs that allow them to condone it. And they become even more terrifying when you realize that, when looked at from some angles, their motives are justifiable to you - that some remote piece of you relates with what the villain went through. You understand rejection. You understand heartbreak. You understand the desire to be viewed as great. And suddenly a tiny thread of sympathy passes between you and the villain. That’s when you take a shuddering breath with white knuckled fists gripping each side of the book. That’s when your insides constrict with the knowledge that the monster you are reading about is not so distant after all.
The most terrifying villains are the ones in which you see a sinister reflection of yourself.
The most terrifying villains are the ones that are complex – not pure darkness, but a rainbow of colors that don’t quite piece together right. They’re the ones who have reasons to justify their cruelty; beliefs that allow them to condone it. And they become even more terrifying when you realize that, when looked at from some angles, their motives are justifiable to you - that some remote piece of you relates with what the villain went through. You understand rejection. You understand heartbreak. You understand the desire to be viewed as great. And suddenly a tiny thread of sympathy passes between you and the villain. That’s when you take a shuddering breath with white knuckled fists gripping each side of the book. That’s when your insides constrict with the knowledge that the monster you are reading about is not so distant after all.
The most terrifying villains are the ones in which you see a sinister reflection of yourself.
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