The Sage

Okay, so again I’m sorry I wasn’t able to finish my last post about the TL. I hope you learned a few things, though. We can come back to it soon, I may just publish an update to the original post, so be on the lookout.

So last night I was going to go over the Sage. He/She is the person that our MC comes back to every so often and, in one way or another, charges out upgraded, whether physically or mentally.

Sage characters have a small list of qualities you want to hold onto loosely:

1. They tend to be older than our MC (unless you’ve got some freaky reverse-world-thing going on.)
2. They usually are not in the battle, as their battle days are over. (this is a rule that you really want to hang loosely on)
3. They are a wellspring of _____. (This is the most important; you need this one.)

Sage characters are becoming less and less the norm in books; instead we are in a trend of many different, smaller sages.  However, I would recommend that you keep a dominant Sage character.

Sages tend to influence our MC with wisdom, offering advice when asked, eager to see our MC rise into the role he/she was destined to fulfill. However, the good ones tend to be quiet, wanting to allow your MC to experience life. They also push your MC to stretch the limits of what your MC can do.

The Sage is a fountain of… something. Usually wisdom; however, you can branch out to whatever you want. Me and my author friend’s Sage character is more of a… well, I can’t necessarily give that away. Either way, you will want to make it

The Sage character is very delicate: you really can’t mess with this one. If you make the Sage character cheesy or especially cliche, it will affect your entire scene, if not the entire book.

Your Sage character can adapt to two main moods:

• He/She is housed in one particular spot, where the MC can access him/her at all times.
• He/She is in the battle/interlaced in the plot line, and takes your MC under his/her wing, since they see that your MC needs help.

Your Sage character is also usually highlighted by two different moods:

• Old, discerning,
• Battle-worn, seen-it-all, tough-loving

More and more movies tend toward the latter model; however, most fans have a special place of respect reserved for an older, wiser mentor. I would recommend both. Perhaps a sort of feud between them, with the MC having to discern between each mentor? I don't know whats best for your book...
Oh, and by the way, I'm sorry for accusing you of not reading my blog. That was mean. Maybe I'm doing so well, you really don't have a question. If you do, however, or if you want to see something on blog not yet covered, then ask!

Character Tips Part 2 - True Love

Dear Reader,
Before you read this, I must apologize:
I could not finish this post because my personal life got in the way, big time. You are really special to me, which is why I wrote as much as I did.  I will try to make it up to you. You are really important, and I am very sorry I wasn't able to finish this post. Please forgive me, and watch out for any extra posts I make this week to make up for this one. :(


Okay, so I mentioned our MC's true love last post. This character is a BIG key in three main things:

• Motivation
• Joy
• The Journey

In motivation, you'll often see the MC pushing towards a goal concerning the True Love. This can branch out in two ways:

1. Crucial Need (i. e., The MC journeying to reach a rare flower that will cure his True Love of a terminal illness).
2. Memory (i. e., The MC journeying to get a rare flower that will cure someone else's daughter of a terminal illness because he remembers his wife's illness). This is often associated with the MC losing his True Love in death. It can also be used with temporary loss, such as the TL being captured.
3. i

In joy, you will find that whatever your MC is around this character, he/she will be walking on rainbows, experiencing new feelings and sensations like never before, living each moment to be with that TL. While this is slightly exaggerated, you will see this in comedic movies, "young love" stories, and the like. This is also combined with motivation to show the struggle to win the heart of the TL. (i. e., a little boy falls hopelessly in love with the girl he sees every recess. He can't live without her, and needs to show his love to her and make her fall into his arms, so he proceeds to draw 6-year-old drawings of her with the the words, "I luv yu" on the back)

Lastly, the Journey model is what most people find satisfactory and fulfilling. In it, you have two options:

1. Your MC struggles through the plot line (which we will cover soon) with a person he/she dislikes and/or is forced to work with, eventually growing to love the other character.
2. This is a person that the MC is already attracted to, and grows more in that love along the Journey. 

Generally, people are most satisfied with the Motivation and Journey relationships. However, I would recommend a relationship that combines two or more. Remember, each relationship is different, but most follow a general pattern.

Character Tips

"When creating a character, you want to take traits of people from your life around you," emphasizes Rachel Coker, author of Chasing Jupiter and Interrupted.
I think this is wise.
As another author remonstrated, "How can you write what you don't know about?" That doesn't mean you can't write science fiction, or can't write a country western novel while you're living in the urban community. However - with certain themes and elements - you want to stick with writing what you know.
I would recommend this with characters. Here's how I worked this out with my author friend:

1. We ALWAYS began with the TEAM. In my project with my author friend, we have about eight characters, including the true love, which we will cover later. A lot of good books and best-selling series have a MC, and the MC has a group around him or her who the MC can rely on, whether physically or emotionally.
2. We started with ONE trait we wanted in each character. We wanted every team member to fulfill a specific part for a group of bad-*** characters, working in sync to accomplish a specific mission. Example: Jose is the fastest character, while Burly is strong. Emotionally speaking, however, Jose is serious, whereas Burly has a great sense of humor, always cracking jokes, making the relationship between them complicated. You can see it happening already, can't you?
3. Exaggerate that one trait, ESPECIALLY if it is emotional. Starting with the main trait you picked, exaggerate it. If this character's main is prone to anger, then exaggerate it to become the character's most noticeable trait. This makes sense to the readers, because as humans we tend to categorize people by traits we see in them, so when you exaggerate characters, you are showing what already happens naturally for the reader, making it easier to read. 
4. Go on to define that character. You can be as specific - or not - as you want. The example below shows what we did.  

You can see I blocked a lot of our info - you gotta come up with this stuff yourself! 
So you can see what we categorized. Some things, such as general moods (humorous, etc.) and the like, are contained in the "Additional Notes" section

      5. Relationships between each character should always be considered. Technically, there should be tension and varying degrees of bonding with each character, with each other and with the MC. Remember, Jose and Burly aren't really that excited about each other, what with their mood set, but since Jose is so quiet, he is generally not going to start a fight. Neither would Burly, since he is so laughable (is that even a word?)

    

     6.  Now, normally I don't do more than 5 rules, as you know, but with this progress, there's no choice. #6 is Stay true to that character. You shouldn't have much trouble following this rule, but keep it in the back of your mind as you write.  Is this what the character would do in this situation? 

     7. Infuse yourself and those you know into your character. Always think, Is this what I (or that person I know) would do in this situation? This is SO important, and it leads into the next rule:

     8.  As a general rule, your character needs to be heroic. Yes, you might be scared in that situation, but remember, your character is a role model, unless you have written him or her otherwise. He or she needs to demonstrate heroic qualities. If you have written that character otherwise, however, such as a fearful character, then feel free to discard this rule.

     9. Do NOT kill the main character, unless it is a tragic story, such as Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. However, those stories are not very common nowadays, and I would recommend you staying within normal plot lines, which we will cover later.

    10. True Love. Now, each will novel will look different, but a great number of novels contain true loves. These are generally categorized in two ways:

• They journey through the novel together, or
• The True Love is a goal that our MC must journey toward or save.

The first type is typically used with female MCs, with the second type used primarily with male MCs. However, both have been used for both categories. My author friend and I plan to use both, for our series.

I gotta go right now, or else we could go deeper! If you have any questions, then ask them! If you didn't it would prove you didn't really read...  XD

Ideas...

More than likely, if you are reading this blog, you probably have a good number of ideas about what you want to write about.
But what if you don't have an idea?
What if you are straining your brain for an idea?
Well, don't worry... an idea will come.
Here are some techniques to getting an idea, for those who feel they can't come up with a good idea when they need it. Trust me, I can relate.
Take a look at these:

1. Relax. I've seen a complaint about how ideas don't come when the businessman, author, or anyone needs them, ideas shower like waterfalls when they go to sleep at night. This is true for me. What about you? What are the ideas you come up with in bed, just before you fall asleep? What is the idea that you see and think, "I'm going to save that idea for tomorrow," but the next day you wake up and forget all about it?
2. This leads me to my second point: Keep a pen and notebook beside you at ALL times. An author I know claims to do this most of the time, writing down notes as they come to the author. If you don't prefer a pen and notebook, then download the Google Docs app, or, if your device is incompatible, another text editor. However, I would recommend a pen and notebook beside your bed for the simple reason that electronic screens are proven to hamper your sleep, as the studies here and here show, which leads me to my next point: 
3. I want you to have a good night's rest, as being rested improves your creativity, as shown in this study, Wikipedia, and this study as well. 
4. Focus on writing only ONE HOUR a day. That's it. Now, I realize that for some, that's too much, while for others, too little. However, a "published" screenwriter recommended that you keep it down to one or two hours (preferably one) of creative writing. Why? Think about it. You have a specific goal and TIME LIMIT. That's huge. You don't want to come out of there empty-handed, and if you love your story, you'll write faster. For others, it's a commitment. I want you to reach that publishing stage and grow famous, so put in that work.
5. Research. This should be fun. This is anything from browsing Pinterest or looking up when the first car was introduced. You want to browse and be inspired by stuff other people have created. If you do not have a Pinterest account, I highly recommend that you acquire one, as of right now it is free and there is a great amount of good inspiration material on the site.

So, for a moment of Review:

1. Relax. Get in your zone
2. Keep something near to hold your ideas (preferably a notebook)
3. Have a good night's rest
4. Write with hyper-extreme-focus for ONE HOUR a day
5. Research. Stumble across ideas.

There you go, some tips for creative work. I might post a follow up to this, so beware.  :)

Happy writing!

Preparation Preparation Preparation - Part 2

So, we've discussed steps 1-3. Now comes the harder, more complex part(s).  :)

The next step in preparation IS:

     4. Setting the mood for your book.

A mood is sort of like a genre. Is your book categorized by romance? By the feeling of horror readers get when they read your book? Or is there not a lot of feeling, and a lot of action? You don't want this to take over your book (don't fall into slaving after one specific mood), but keep this in the back of your mind when you write. Also, you want different sub-moods WITHIN your book ("duh," you say, "I know that!" However, it's a skill to get your emotion/moods into the heart of the reader. You might be surprised how hard it is.)

     5. Storyboard the mess out of this thing.

I used to NOT believe in story-boarding, believe it or not. I believed that your book should just FLOW from your pen, eloquence flowing out as fast as the ink. 

Well, I was wrong.

Tell me if you think I'm wrong, but there is a term that's called "writing yourself into a corner." Let me show you how this works:

You are on a hot streak. The words haven't flowed from your pen like this in a month. You feel your mood is getting across to the reader. As your writing, the only thing irritating your mind is the fact that you haven't taken a sip of water in five minutes, even though you are parched; your hands are too busy. 

Then it stops. 

You realize that you and your MC are trapped, whether metaphorically or perhaps even physically for your MC. And it's not like you can take out that part of your story: it was written so well...

You didn't plan ahead.

With that bad memory in mind, whether experienced personally or not, it's probably a good idea to prepare by story-boarding. Not every conversation, or even every chapter. Just the basics. For example:

1. MC gets captured 
2. MC works for captors, learning the inside structure of his opponents castle, analyzing weaknesses inherent in his captors for if he ever breaks free
3. MC breaks free
4. MC gathers his family's tribe, which is rather large, and assaults the castle, using the knowledge he gained from analyzing the castle.
5. MC wins the battle, and is declared king.

Now, my storyboard is much more complex. But you get the understand the general idea. See how it allows for wiggle room. I didn't specify what conversations he/she had, who he/she meets, if someone he/she meets within the castle sets him/her free, or if he/she met his/her true love or even if (*gasp*) he/she had to leave that true love behind!

So yes, I love story-boarding. :)

As a counter-weight, however, some authors may perhaps skip the story-boarding process. I, however, am not that good, and I have yet to hear about them.

What's your opinion?

Preparation Preparation Preparation :)

One thing that makes a LOT of authors NOT finish their books or creative work is lack of preparation. Believe it or not, you actually need a lot of preparation to write a book.  :)
With preparation, you actually can make writing your book a LOT easier.
How do you prepare?
I'm glad you asked.
Before we advance though, let me remind you that not everything is for you, the writer. Remember to take everything "with a grain of salt." However, these are general steps that is best taken, switched around, and experimented with, to see if it benefits your writing.  :)

1. Do your research. Put at least some effort into it.
2. Prepare your setting. 

Make sure what time period this story is in, whether in the 1950's, 2000's, the present, or in the future (I almost put the time period in another category, but it's rather small as a category. However, do NOT miss this). Another part of the setting is where geographically this is, whether in Germany, Africa, Mars, or farther away. In whatever you do, put in some effort for research, as it will pay off in huge sums at the end. I remember watching a movie with my father, and near the beginning, in a moment when the audience was supposed to be awe-struck, a moment of faulty researched showed through, and I was drawn out of the moment.  The reader's mind must be constantly meshed with your MC's mind and emotions.
Research is why I prefer science fiction, dated in the WAY future. That way, I feel that my creativity is almost fully unhampered.

      3. Prepare your characters.

As you prepare, think about the characters you want your MC to meet. This is critical, as you develop personalities, lessons you want your character to learn from these people your MC meets, etc. This step will lead to, and for some, become interchangeable with the next step.
Remember, your story will be carried by characters.  :)
What do you think? :)

First Off... As of 4/20/16

Hello, friends!
I just want to say thnx for coming to my site, whether by accident, or (go figure), you really want to write stuff! :) And not just stuff...

• Worlds born and characters created.
• Good versus Evil
• Epic battles of the heart and of the mind.
• Betrayal
• Steadfast belief, amidst crumbling ruin
• Love lost, reborn, and forever.
• The struggle for the Character's beliefs.
• The legendary last battle fought with either the mind or body, that goes on through the generations as a story bordering on fantasy.
• The triumph of your character, with a swell in his/her chest of pride, having only grown stronger

I know what I just described may sound like a battle story, but I don't mean just like that. You can literally take almost everything I described I just described and apply it to almost any story you have up there in your writer brain.

One disclaimer though:

• I am not a professional writer. (Yes, it's true)

With that in mind, please take everything you read, "with a grain of salt," meaning, don't take everything I say, and don't expect everything I say to be gold that will transform your book writing.

• I made this blog as a conversation

This is a DISCOVERY to book writing. I want to argue, inspire, and support each of you that reads my blog, and I want you guys to do the same for me. :)  All of us, including those who have authored books, are just spit-balling, seeing what feels right. Even the pros don't have everything mapped out, remember,

I am currently in a project with my author friend. We are going to write a book, hopefully approved by the publishers, and enjoy it thoroughly!

Well, I think I've said enough for my first blog post.  :) I hope you enjoy our conversation! 

Happy writing!