A to Z 2013 : BETRAYALS & BOOK CLUBS

(An A to Z 2013 Challenge Entry)

Day 2 and letter B is on the docket. Instead of one topic, I thought I would highlight two. Supposedly there was an email sent out (before I registered) expressing shorter blogs yielding a higher likelihood that people will read the posts. It makes sense. Well, those that have been following along from the beginning know that really isn’t my forte.

It is what it is. Let’s begin today’s topics, shall we?

Once Upon a Time...

...in a lifestyle far far away...

Okay, more like 5 years ago... I was heavily involved in MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, for those less familiar). No not World of Warcraft. Specifically one called Final Fantasy XI Online. The MMO is based on the long running, and highly popular, Final Fantasy game series.

I was the leader of a Linkshell (the game's equivalent to a guild) named The Black Omen. For a while I even owned a domain and forums for the group. It was a lot of fun, but extremely stressful at times. My job allowed me an abundance of free time to play, and I undoubtedly took full advantage. I became lost in the gaming world of Vana’diel; my escape from the real world which was ironically full of the same drama.

While playing FFXI, I was continually inspired to write, but my block remained persistent. Eventually, though, I broke free briefly and began a fanfict titled: The Black Omen: Betrayals. I only completed a very short prologue, and part of the first chapter.

Compared to my other projects like After Armageddon, Betrayals was a lot easier to write. The world, settings, economy, races, etc. were already established. This access to an abundance of resources allowed for a more casual approach. The block won in the end. I decided to post the prologue on my fiction blog, and soon plan to place up the first chapter. The hope is that I'm inspired to continue it. I have none of my old notes, but I feel it’s still very viable. It would possibly make for another good blog series.

The Black Omen: Betrayals

Betrayals is a fanfict spanning the course of the Linkshell’s timespan. From it’s fictionalized beginnings to it’s eventual end. Throughout the story would be actual in-game events and intermixed storylines. The characters involved would have been those that I met, joined and/or associated with the group while playing.

The main storyline revolves around an individual named Jak becoming the leader of The Black Omen linkshell, due to the sudden disappearance of it’s original. Thrust into this position, he struggles with maintaining balance amongst its members, finding out what happened to Drake — the linkshell’s founder — and continuing Drake’s quest of uncovering the truth behind the return of an ancient evil: Bahamut.

Some don’t agree with Jak’s new leadership, compounding hardships the group faces as a whole. Friends becoming enemies, enemies becoming friends, conspiracies, lost love, and tragedy abound.

Sprinkled throughout were various adventures and quests The Black Omen would undertake, leading up to the conclusion of the story. These incorporate some of the games actual quests, locations, and cast of characters.

It would be great to finally write this fanfict. Remembering the names of some of the individuals I played with would be hard. That aspect, keeping true to an individual's character name (if ever playing an MMO/online game, you know how said names can make no sense sometimes), may prove distracting for those reading. Never know unless you try, though. If need be I can always change them.

Nerdlings Read

Aside from writing, I’m a pretty avid reader. I like a variety of authors, but the majority of them tend to be Fantasy/Adventure novelists. Jordan/Brooks/Goodkind/etc. etc. I dabble in Dean Koontz and Stephen King as well. With King I've found I stick to short story/novella compilations. For a long time I was uncertain I actually liked his writing style enough to endure it on an epic scale. This may come off as sacrilegious to some, but The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger solidified that thought with me.

That was years ago, though, and I’d very much like to reread the first book and finally read through the series. There are various mechanics and techniques he uses that ring true to my own style. One being the interconnectedness of a handful of his other novels to that series in some fashion. Now that I've read more King, I think I would better appreciate his larger work. Who am I to judge, anyhow?

This year some friends created a book club, and designed a simple voting system in which one or two books are chosen to be read per quarter; each quarter consisting of a different genre. The first two books were The Neverending Story and Merlin: The Lost Years. I’d never heard of the Merlin series and could care less about it, but The Neverending Story — being one of my favorite childhood movies — greatly appealed to me.

I’d even recently looked up information about the book after hearing talk about remaking the film. Finding out that the book was split between the first two movies intrigued me. I don’t fully recall the second movie, short of a few characters and the actor playing Sebastian. The fact that the book club had chosen this to be one of the first books to read was exciting.

There was an issue, though. Since beginning to write again last November, during NaNoWriMo, my overall intake of literature has severely plummeted. Actually, it's been almost completely nonexistent. I’ve read a handful of blogs and articles, but nothing in terms of novels (and I’ve quite the handful borrowed out from friends I need to read).

So time went on, and I never got around to reading either selection for the book club. I made an attempt to have The Neverending Story sent to my local library, but forgot the number associated with my account was no longer in service. By the time I got around to remembering that, the book had already been sent back. After that, I just conceded.

I contemplated just dropping from the book club. Why be in it if I wasn’t able to read any of the selections offered and attend meetings to discuss? I kind of felt like a failure. I have so far stuck with the group (it does consist of a good handful of my friends, after all) and hope to be better about being involved with reading the chosen books and discussion group.

This next quarter’s selections are: The Last of the Mohicans and The Count of Monte Cristo. I’ve never seen the movie adaptation(s) of either, and plan to refrain until after reading the books. If I can find the time to read them. It would be nice to discuss both the books and movies with everyone, this time around.

It will be a miracle, between the A to Z Challenge; Camp NaNoWriMo; and my fiction, to get any reading done this month at all!

Ever written or read any fanfiction? If so, what was it based on? Anyone participate in book clubs? Still go to the discussions if failing to read the selections (if for no other reason than they serve good pizza)? For those who write, do you find that once you begin writing regularly your reading decreases, or the opposite?

A to Z 2013 : AFTER ARMAGEDDON

(An A to Z 2013 Challenge Entry)

It’s April 1st and it appears this A to Z event isn’t some cruel April Fool’s joke...

So, the challenge begins! I have no doubt this is going to drive me mad, but felt it would be great practice and should open some doors to connecting with fellow bloggers. I’m curious of how the appeal will be, being I chose to focus on my journal/personal blog instead of my fiction blog. I also passed on picking a specific theme; something that would have heightened interest and made everything worlds easier.

With no theme, the topics will be random. I do, however, plan to blog a little about my writing projects intermittently. They will be sprinkled throughout the chaos that is about to ensue.

As a first time participant, I’m just going with the flow, all the while attempting to avoid becoming completely frazzled. The concern of keeping up with not only my own blog entries, but those of fellow bloggers, is a real one. Knowing that others are diving head first into the same murky waters, though, is comforting. At least I’m not alone.

No map, compass, or survival skills? Sounds good, let’s do this!

Write What You Know

I figured the most fitting place to begin would be with After Armageddon. It is, after all, the reason I stumbled upon the A to Z Challenge to begin with, so it would only seem fair. 

After Armageddon is a story I began to partake in once NaNoWriMo came to an end. Taking a break from my NaNo story, I thought blogging would be a great way to keep actively writing until the dreaded rewriting process. The idea for this story has been with me since early 2008, and was technically imagined as a TV series. For a period of time, I contemplated dabbling in screenplays/scripts, but never went through with it.

I am uncertain how common it is, but I see all my projects in visualized movie format — playing out in my mind — needing only to figure out how to write what I see. Considering I was deep within a writer’s block funk, the fruition of those ideas were rarely birthed. I created some simple outlines, but never advanced beyond that.

Eventually the idea resurged and I wanted to explore it, only this time in novel form. Instead of attempting to jump right in and tackling it, I thought I would write it over a period of time as a blog series. It wouldn’t be as daunting if piece by piece, rather than a full blown assault; easy peasy.

I was mistaken.

I feel most at fault was my departure from one of the Golden Rules of writing: write what you know. While I don’t fully agree — I think going outside your comfort zone helps you learn and grow, even with writing — I can completely understand how it makes things easier. I’m more accustomed to writing Fantasy/Adventure, and creating the world the events take place in.

After Armageddon is a Post Apocalyptic Fantasy/Sci-Fi based story taking place on Earth. A story that I can add various creations to, but want to retain a sense of realism. Sense of realism... I’ve a feeling that statement will completely bite me on the ass with what I have in mind for After Armageddon. Regardless, this lack of knowledge on various topics has me researching a lot of things, which eats up a lot of time.

It was during this research that I came across Shannon at The Warrior Muse. She had up an article/blog entry talking about writing post-apocalyptic stories. It was a lot of help, and I subscribed to her blog, which in turn lead me to hearing about the A to Z Challenge.

Another factor creating a challenge is that I didn’t start where planned. When the idea came to me, it was end of this story. It was something that I wanted to create and from there worked backwards. Eventually the story spiraled into more than I had anticipated; expanding well beyond the “end” I had envisioned. I feel a starting point is important when you tell your story. After Armageddon was meant to take place specifically in the not so distant alternate future, accompanied by a series of flashbacks throughout.

I got wrapped into a few specific scenes, though, that I really wanted to write. They take place before the main bulk of the story; essentially what would have been the flashbacks. This made things more difficult, but I found (thankfully) that doing this opened up a flood of ideas for the story — from additional characters and events to plot connections later in the series. With the third chapter, I‘m slowly attempting to shift into this other section/timeline of the story. We will have to see how the transition goes.

So, with the fear of not writing realistically, researching, entering uncharted territory, and other life contributions my pace has been hindered. I’ve finally released the third part and hope to continue regularly, albeit a bit slower than desired. Having just shifted the series to my own blog — originally posted on a collaborative blog — and having such a long delay since the last post, I assume I lost a handful that were keeping up on it.

That brings to light the other most important factor I seem to constantly forget. It’s for me. I love others reading and critiquing/discussing my writing, but ultimately it’s for myself; to keep doing what I am passionate about doing. Practicing and plugging away, finally after so many years of lost time. I’m treating the blog series as sort of a rough draft. That is why there will be random edits made over time. One of these, I’ve a feeling, will be the timeline. Others will just be minor grammar/spelling edits.

As for writing what you know? I’d like to believe I know people, and my stories are all very character driven. So, while I may not know much about military protocol, complete effects of earthquakes, and alarm system capabilities when power is lost, I feel those things will be background to what is most important: the characters.

What’s Your Story About?

This is a question I heard a lot during NaNoWriMo. It makes sense, right? You’re writing a story, and you’re interacting with other writers doing the same. Why wouldn’t you ask that question? As logical as it sounds, I’ve always had a strong sense of avoidance to it.

It’s like I have the defense mechanism of keeping my ideas safely guarded and secret. This isn’t necessarily because I think my ideas are amazing, but more that they are mine. Sharing these ideas would mean having to share some of myself. Also, I hate spoilers and feel that I will somehow give something away. It makes no sense, but it is what it is.

I can only imagine the scenario if I ever attempted to pitch my book for publishing:

“Well, you see, this thing... this event takes place. The story takes place X amount of time after said event, and these characters are striving to survive,” I’d begin.

“What exactly is the event? What happens? What happens to your characters along the way?”

Silence.

“Uh... stuff... and then more stuff... you see?” Met with blank stares. “Once you read it, you’ll completely understand!”

Yeah.. I’ve a notion that won’t go over too well. What can you do? If there was a trailer for the series I’d want it reminiscent to earlier M. Night Shyamalan movies; Vague yet intriguing. I hate how so much is spoiled in trailers nowadays!

Anyway, it has to be maddening for one of my brothers who I’ve signed on to be my soundboard. The conversations aren’t so much different from the above. Even worse is I know he’s likely to read it at some point, and hate ruining anything. He will bring up one point/topic, and I will say that point/topic is explained or irrelevant because of X, Y and/or Z which have yet to be revealed to him. Oh yes, it drives him mad! Muahahahahaha!

I’m getting better with it, I swear. But... but no pinky swear. Just saying.

What I can say is that the story is set to be gritty and geared towards adults. Violence, blood, and vulgarity will be prominent. There are religious themes, and like most of my writing, various theories/beliefs are intermixed.

Uh... So WTF is Your Story About?!

To be honest, I haven’t exactly ever come up with a fitting synopsis of After Armageddon. While I know the endgame, The inner workings are still very much a work in progress.

Essentially it’s a story about a cataclysmic event that changes the world as we know it, and how those that survive must adapt and cope with this change. Specifically focusing on a handful of people as they fight for their lives and quite possibly the future of the world; some by choice, others by circumstance.

Sound pretty generic? Yeah, I thought so too.

So you see, this event takes place... and stuff happens. But guess what? There are people in it! Not only that, but they have to survive through the aftermath of said event!

*Sigh*

I'm working on it, I swear! But... you know... not pinky swear. That’s serious business.

If interested in checking out what I have out so far, just remember it’s always best to start from the beginning.

The Early Arlee Bird Gets the Worm Word

Upon registering to the A to Z Challenge I was informed who it was exactly that begun the challenge: Arlee Bird. He has been there from its humble conception, building it up and helping it metamorph into the beloved event it is today. Each year, more and more participate and now there is no going back!

It just goes to show how a simple idea can spawn great things and bring such a wide variety of people, of different backgrounds, together. Its a beautiful thing really, and is a reason I like a lot of these types of events. Regardless of our upbringings, beliefs, passions, we all have a connectedness. This is one of the ways we ignore those differences and engage with one another. We write! We encourage one another! We curse the letters X and Z!

So I’d like to give thanks to Arlee Bird for creating such a fun event, and I look forward to giving it my first go. I plan to participate from here on out; year after year.

You can visit Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out! Good luck to everyone participating!

Que the Interactions

I’ve come to notice a handful of blogs place questions at the end of their entries. I’ve also read articles stating it is a great way to engage your readers. It seems clumsy to me, but I am attempting to follow suit...

Have you ever strayed from “Write What You Know” when writing a story? If so, how have you managed the challenges it presents? Are you secretive/hesitant about sharing your story ideas or do share with wreckless abandon? Does anyone actually take pinky swearing as seriously as I do?