Writing Tip #4

Posted on July 16, 2012 by N. A. V.

Cutting out writing.

Any writer knows that everything in the first draft is not there to stay. Most of it does, but even the best writer needs to cut out some parts – the unimportant scene, the poorly written conversation, the plot point that was flawed. Often, this is why editing gets a bad name. Authors spend so much time perfecting their work that to remove even a paragraph can be a painful job.

During the last stages of editing Shadow Glyph I realized that an entire chapter of mine should not occur. It added another loophole to the plot, one which would have a negative effect on books to come… It was so hard because I enjoyed the scene so much, but I managed to delete it. Looking back, the book functions much better.

On a different note, I decided to cut about 70 pages of writing I had done for Book 2. The chapters in question I had written during last semester. While they are interest stories nonetheless, they are not important to the plot and make one character much harder to understand. I hardly had to think when I decided to delete them, unlike the 5 pages of Shadow Glyph that had me frustrated for a week! Sometimes cutting out writing is a painful process, but sometimes it is easy to accept that it must be done.

Rather than drive yourself crazy, approach your writing with an open mind. Perhaps impossible advice, but a worthwhile goal.

PS: Don’t worry that I’ve been set back on Book 2. More than 50 pages done already.

News, Influences and Dryn

Posted on June 21, 2012 by N. A. V.

First off, some news. I was trying to have Shadow Glyph for sale this weekend but the final proof copy I received featured a beautifully illegible back cover. That has been fixed, but now I am waiting on the final final proof copy. Hopefully this weekend I’ll be able to post a for sure release date. It will be sometime next week. Once I know, I’ll put a countdown on here.

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I recently thought of a way to inspire my blogs. I set up this website to be both a way of communicating with my readers, but also to allow them to communicate in return, like a community. So, last time, Dylan asked about my influences. Below, I’ll write about that a bit. From now on, I’ll choose a question at random (if any) from the comments and reply with a post. Sounds like fun, from my point of view…

What has influenced my writing? I would say that history plays as much a role on this as other written works. Being a fantasy writer, I’ve decided that the more I fit my stories into a historical realism, the better. Shadow Glyph has magic, but I actually prefer books without wizards, like A Song of Fire and Ice. The main reason to write fantasy is to provide a unique way of presenting insights about the world, themes, or even entertaining plots that cannot exist in the real world. That said, all fantasy should chase the real world. In my opinion.

What about other writers? This also plays a huge role in making an author. Any writer will tell you to read; what you read does influence what you write. The late Robert Jordan, who tragically passed before the 12th book of his 12-book series, has had an enormous impact on me, both in my writing and reading. I’ve read the Wheel of Time 3 times now and am ever amazed at the connections, details, and twists I notice each time I open the covers. His ability to transform characters, to age them in a realistic way, to introduce you so thoroughly into each individual’s world, I will always try to write like that. Unconsciously and consciously.

I could go on and on about influences, so maybe I’ll talk about them again sometime. For a quick list of books that I feel have shifted or impacted my writing: Atlas Shrugged, Lord of the Rings, the series Shannara, and a Star Wars book version of Episode III. The author, Matthew Stover, had a very interesting way of getting you into the characters much better than the movie did.

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Last year I discovered that when I sit down and give it enough time, I can quite impress myself with my ability to draw. I’ve wanted to try some character sketches for a while, and finally sat down to do it. I finished a drawing of Dryn, the main character of Shadow Glyph. I found a picture online that was exactly how I imagined Dryn to look (by the end of the book). The actor, Alex Pettyfer, resembles the character a lot, so I found a picture on his IMDb to use. After a lengthy pencil sketch, I made some changes, and ta-da! It’s Dryn!

Dryn ten Rayth.

Return of the Blog

Posted on April 18, 2012 by N. A. V.

I was recently reminded that I have not posted here since January. I think this is because of the general lack of Shadow Glyph-relevant news. That project is in the middle of a final read-through/draft and should be available in the early summer. I know that this could really seem to be dragging on, but it is only because I want to have the best and most- finished product for you guys once it’s done.

That said, there’s really no excuse for not writing a blog. I could prattle on about the school project where I made parchment out of cowhide or the four essays I wrote in the past month… but none of it is a worthwhile excuse. How about the dog ate my blog? Hmmm…

Instead, let’s move on to more exciting topics! I’ve completed 100 pages of Book 2! The sequel to Shadow Glyph, titled Gothikar, functions as both a prequel and a sequel to the events of Book 1. It’s a very unique project and exciting to work on.

I’ve also begun a collaborative project with my fellow writer Dylan Tracey. Using an impressive and hugely helpful world-building tool here to build a new, convention-breaking and realistic fantasy world. This astonishing list by Patricia C. Wrede begins with broad questions concerning the physics, nature and functioning of your fictional world but continues to move deeper in specifics such as how your answers to the above conditions would affect the culture/s of your world. While our world-building project is far from complete, it already feels like a well-developed, interesting and real place. I look forward to eventually writing within this setting and sharing when I do.

Don’t worry though, developments on Shadow Glyph take priority.

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PS: I thought about calling this, “Re:I have a blog?” but decided to go with the Star Wars AND Lord of the Rings reference instead.

Writing Tip #3

Posted on January 14, 2012 by N. A. V.

It is hugely important to determine your planning style. For example, many authors plan every chapter before beginning their book. It works for them, and that is all that matters. Some writers don’t plan at all for their first draft. After writing the entire story, they will go back and create either a written or mental outline of the book to see what parts don’t fit with the rest.

In my work I never make chapter outlines, but I have to settle on a format structure before I can get much work done. Most of the time this is in my head as I think about it so much that I don’t need to write it down. As far as chapter-by-chapter events, I find it important to my creative process to leave that open. Within five chapters of the start I already know how the book is going to end. As I write, most of the events I create along the way end up supporting that outcome. When I finish the book, part of my first or second revision is to determine if any of these don’t below. For example, I recently cut an entire chapter from Shadow Glyph; the scene added a layer of confusion to the climax, as well as leaving some loose threads that wouldn’t be resolved for a couple books into the series. Now, the book works perfectly without that chapter.

So, to conclude, there is no right way to do this. Everyone who writes has their own way of planning and their own procedure. Before you can finish a novel, you should know yours. If you don’t know what your style is, attempt writing longer and longer short stories, consciously thinking about the outcome. A good idea might be to work on sequential short stories.

There are a couple rules though. I said above that everyone writes their own way, however there are a few dangers to watch out for.

1. Never force a length limit! Even if your do a chapter-by-chapter summary, never say ‘my book will be no longer than X pages.’ Also, be open to the idea of adding chapters when needed. Limiting your book is the best way to cram, lose ideas, and eventually lose interest.

2. Never revise on your first draft. One of my writing professors at UBCO told the class this on the first day. The more I think about it, the more right I realize he is. If you write Chapter One, and then tomorrow start Chapter Two but revise One, there is no way you will finish the book. At least not within a normal lifetime. There is always enough to revise that rereading while writing will cost you dearly.

Hope this helps!

Christmas and Productivity

Posted on January 6, 2012 by N. A. V.

Apparently, Christmas is not the ideal time to try to finish the biggest project you’ve worked on to date. Until the week following Christmas, I got practically no work done on Shadow Glyph, also, no blog posts. A large part of this is the faulty internet at my family’s house in Ontario, but also the nature of visits home.

Since Christmas, I have been working vigorously on completing the editing on Shadow Glyph. Now all I’m waiting for is a final proof copy to arrive in the mail. Once I review that, the book will finally be available via Amazon, Kindle, local bookstores (hopefully) and me! It’s quite exciting to reach this point, both to see my book in print, but also to potentially have readers! I hope everyone likes it!

For anyone whom I haven’t told, Shadow Glyph is the first of a series of five. Book Two is already in the writing stage, as I’ve made it my project for CRWR 383B, a novel writing course at UBC. I’ve got the basic structure done and several chapters written. I only mention the structure because it took me forever to figure out how I want to build Book Two. I was faced with the problem that I need to tell 3 coming of age stories in it, and I actually hate writing bildungsroman and Shadow Glyph is already one. Finally, I found a way to cut Book 2 down to a single somewhat troubled coming of age story, using a non-linear structure.

So, to conclude – the holidays were good, but back to work now!

On Creating Magic, Language, etc

Posted on December 15, 2011 by N. A. V.

You know you’re dedicated to world-building when you find yourself in the process of designing a language from scratch. My friend Dylan (the artist of the series map) and I have been spending the last month or so working on the language of magic in my series.

Step one was building the basic framework of magic in a more detailed way than Shadow Glyph expresses it.

In the series, magic is the the language of glyphs, the words used by the Maker when he spoke the world in existence. His gift to humankind: the ability to use glyphs on our own. Because of this, building the framework of magic involves deciding how the elements of creation relate to one another, similar to the Greek views of fire, earth, air, water. But as with any fiction world-building, you want something unique, something that is only characteristic of your world. And so I built the Two Rings of the Great Glyph.

Step two was the actual building of symbols and words. Each glyph represents an element or more specifically a form of an element. Similar to the above mentioned Greek view, everything is not fire, but rather a form of fire or a form of air, etc. So the process of designing words isn’t like making an alphabet. Each single rune is a word not a letter.

I hope to post some of our work to this site soon, as it will be interesting to check out while reading the book. As for the book itself, Shadow Glyph is about 90% done. Unfortunately it won’t be ready to order until Christmas or later, so it won’t be ready as a gift option =( . Stay tuned for more updates!

Also I love feedback, if anyone ever thinks of replies to these posts…

Ithyka

The official Shadow Glyph community, plus a blog by the author.

Category Archives: Writing