Updates on All Things Creative

I’ve been placing all of my creative drive behind completing the novel of “Scars” and am pleased to announce the first realistic timetable on the project. I expect to have the first draft done by mid-july, after that I will polish the first three chapters and possibly submit them to Tor-Forge books. I am considering Tor as the first publisher I submit my manuscript to because a) they do not require an agent for submission; and b) they publish top-level authors such as Orson Scott Card. 

I have also thrown together I quick place-holder website for “Dynamic Static Productions,” my future film-powerhouse. Visit the website here.

I have begun writing my first feature film, which will be a small comedy affair. More info on that to follow. Creativity level: Fluctuating.

 

Constant Research

I promise that more parts of the story will be posted sometime in the near future, currently I’ve been in a constant state of researching the history of the world where the story takes place. My biggest find so far has been a collection of genealogies that give a very clear portrayal of the generations leading up to the reign of Ethian and Galvant. There are two characters in the genealogies that I am really trying to learn more about, they are brothers, born one year apart, named Athonar and Dyathonar. According to the genealogies they died on the same day as their sons in the year 866.

There were at first innumerable possibilities for this strange occurrence, but, when I uncovered more genealogies I discovered that 866 saw the death of a huge number of people. From this I am able to derive a conclusion that Athonar and Dyathonar, along with their sons, were killed in a war. However, though I can be fairly certain of this I am never quite sure until I uncover a history of that time. 

For now I am going to continue analyzing and preserving the genealogies that I have discovered. Creativity level is rising! 

The Journey of a Year

“Scars” began its journey one year ago under the working title: “The Sheathed Sword.” At that time there were no large sets, four major characters and a very simple quest-based plot. As I wrote “The Sheathed Sword” I found an ever present need for more back-story, more back-story and more back-story, until I was forced to expand the story and the world in which it took place.

Now, “Visage of Scars” has more major characters than I can even fathom, a vibrant world with a rich history and a ridiculously complex plot that is based around a war. A year ago I would have balked at the idea of setting my characters into a war. 

Comparing my notes on “Scars” to the original notes for “Sword” there is almost no resemblance. I take comfort in the knowledge that my story cannot expand much more over the next year, its already reached the limits of its potential.

Too Many Ideas

The hardest part about any creative task is the ever-present need to euthanize treasured ideas. I just ended the tenure of one of my favorite characters for “Scars;” his existence could not be reconciled with my desired outcome for the protagonist. I had become very familiar with this character and his end hits very close to heart. I have stored all the work I have done in creating him in an archive file for use in a future film/novel; though I am absolutely certain he will never find his way back into “Scars.”

Currently I am re-working the entire story to restore harmony to the absolute chaos that has ensued after the deletion of a character. I am confident that the development of every other character will benefit from this event, either that or I have gone completely insane. 

Three finals down; Three to go. Creativity level is thriving!

I Should be…

Currently I should be writing, and I really do not have any excuses since I deny the existence of writer’s block. The issue I have run into is that I know exactly where I want to take my story, there are just way too many ways to get there. I decided to draw what I was writing this evening, took me about three hours but I have the landscape in place for the scene; just need to add the details. 

The biggest problem I have is that I love my characters too much. I am writing a very crucial scene for the major protagonist of the first two-thirds of the story(it takes place before the reader knows he will be the protagonist), but every way I write it makes the reader like the character far too much. I need to step back and really write a character who the reader can love to hate. 

I’ll post what I have of that scene, maybe even from multiple different perspectives, along with a rough sketch of how part of it will look.

Another final tomorrow; really cuts into my creative drive!!