Well...Hi there

So as I have mentioned before, I am very bad at doing thing regularly. Like blogging. But I have been writing quite a bit which is quite good. I've been working on my first novel which I have been telling you about. The other one didn't turn out so well, I had a lot of problems trying to get a solid plot. Anyway I have been doing another novel as well. I am writing a novel with a friend that lives on the other side of the world (from me anyway). It's going quite well, we're still plotting right now but I think we will be starting to write soon. It's a fairly general fantasy novel, it's her first time doing fantasy so we're trying to keep it simple. Back to my first novel, I'm quite excited about it. I'm working on it a lot more and I have lots of new notebooks. My word count has now reached 22,700 and I'm planning quite a bit more. I should have around 80,000 by the time I have finished. I'm very happy with what I've been writing, I think it's going quite well. That's all I have to say for now, I'll try to do some more posting from now on.

Surprise!

Guess what, I didn't even start the fourth chapter. Which is pretty lazy for me. Well it's normal for me, you probably know that. My writing just hasn't been feeling 'right' lately. I sit down to write something but it just doesn't work. I don't have writers block, I know what is going to happen, I just can't write it. I've decided to take a break from this book for a while. Yes I know, I don't spend much time on it, but I am thinking about it a lot. What I'm trying to say is that the things I am writing just don't feel...real enough. Shut up, I know fantasy isn't real but if it doesn't feel real then it's not good. I haven't even put much fantasy in it yet. After a while, once i have more experience with writing, I will come back to it. I want this book to be good, so I think it is a good idea to finish it later, once I've finished high school. I will have better ideas then, and I will know how to make it seem real.

While I am taking a break from this book, I am not going to take a break from writing. I am going to write a new book. One that requires a lot less world building. It's on a much smaller scale too. It will be a stand alone book. I've planned out the world, which isn't the most original, but I like it. I'm only going to have two main characters this time, and a dragon. So it will be easier to manage perspectives. Also, DRAGONS! little ones, cat sized. So cute. I started planning it on...Sunday? I think it was Sunday. It has taken me a while to get a vague outline for the plot. I have written two different plots, I didn't like the first one so I did it again. I like the second one much better, the ending is much more solid and final. I still have a few days of planning and outlining to go but hopefully I will be able to start writing soon. I'm going to try and get 50,000 words done by February, then I can join in the nanoedmo (national novel editing month) wish me luck :)

Oops

Um...yeah sorry. I haven't posted in a while I've been busy with exams and stuff...and procrastination. Fear not I have been writing! I finally finished my third chapter and I have nearly hit 14000 words. Which isn't really that much but it's a big achievement for me. I did do a few info dumps though which added in quite a bit of words. One was a guy telling my MC the entire layout of the medieval school place and the other was a guy explaining how their timekeeping system worked, it's pretty cool actually. I based it off the Chinese incense clocks they used to use in temples. My characters have bee plotting against me though. I introduced my MC to the first minor/major villain and instead of hating each other they are now good friends. They were supposed to get into a fight and hurt each other but they just ended up having a paint fight. Now I don't have a bad guy anymore and I need to make a new one. *sigh* hopefully they won't try to change anything else in the plot.

Another thing I have to say to you is that my insane procrastination has been lowered from all the time to just a lot of the time. I've been doing more writing and have actually re-started my piano playing. I still have more exams to come but I'm studying too which is unusual for me. I might be coming down with something, I already have enough wrong with me I don't need anything else. Ahem, anyway I'm pretty happy with myself for finishing the third chapter so now I'm off to plan the fourth and hope nothing goes wrong.

On creating a magic system

Magic without limitations or a cost I think is really bad, because its harder for the reader to understand. If you could summon an immortal dragon every time you got in trouble then the story wouldn't be interesting, there would be no conflict. If you were haveing say a deity of a super magic awesome person that can do anything and you want them to have no limitations, a good way to keep the conflict is to give them self-limitations. Not limitations that are permanent but one that they have given themselves, like they won't use any magic that kills or hurts people, something like that. Another way is limiting it through imagination, like the green lantern. Make the magic so that it is potentially unlimited and all powerful. The one Val mentioned with the Inheritance cycle is also a good idea because the magic is limited through energy. You could potentially use huge amounts of energy to do something massive but it would require you to draw the energy out of all the life around you causeing many creatures and plants to die. Sacrifices are also a good way to make the magic limited but without limiting it. You could just have it require a huge amount of people to be killed in order for you to do something big. Using tools is another way to limit unlimited magic, you could have the magic channeled though a staff or wand. Another thing is danger as mentioned by Fredrik, you could have the magic be chaotic and unpredictable, or you could use a magic language like the Inheritance cycle where pronounciation is vital and if you pronounce something wrong the desired outcome is drastically changed. You could end up accidentally teleporting yourself into a volcano instead of lightly toasting your bread. You don't want to have magic where the reader just thinks, why didn't he just make the dragon evaporate? Give the magic consequences. Even if the hero does make it evaporate, where does it evaporate to? does it disperse though the air? if so what effect would it have on the environment? would it make it harder to breathe because there are little dragon particles floating around? would it make it harder to see? maybe it would be poisonous to breathe in dragon? you might choke on the air because it is thicker. Try to keep the magic interesting, and that will keep the reader hooked. Give your magic the potential to be unlimited, but make it really hard or have horrible consequences to be able to use the magic to its full, unlimited effect.

One of the great rules of creating a magic system is ask why to everything. Literally everything.

World makers disease

I have now established that I have what is known as world makers disease. That's where I spend all my time creating the world and things to go in it and no time on the writing itself. I have however gotten better since you last heard from me. I have edited some of my work and I had my brother read what I have so far and write little notes in the side of the paper about things he likes and dislikes about it. I've found that it is incredibly scary to wait while someone reads your story. I ended up just pacing back and forth in front of him until he was finished. So I was there for about twenty minutes. Also! I have progressed in y bad sleeping schedule. I actually got up in the MORNING! I know, I know, it's shocking right? I couldn't believe it either. Although I'm not sure if you could call 11am much of an achievement...it's an achievement for me anyway. I've also just been watching Pokemon movies for a few hours so I haven't really been doing anything good with my time. But I shall now proceed to my writing...well research anyway, I still need to figure out the third species of my world/island group thing.

On the matter of creatures

My brother visited a few days ago, and as he is quite smart and good with story things I had him read over my creature creation things. One of which he pointed out to me just sounded like an alien. So now I am trying to re-make then so they don't sound like aliens. It's harder than it sounds although I am getting some ideas as I write this. I've also been sick for a while, I'm getting better though, and I will be trying to do some form of writing today.

To stop myself from procrastinating, I have joined a site called www.figment.com if you search for my book, Hidden in Plain Sight, you will find I have posted the first chapter. You have my permission to read it. It's quite a good site because it had small groups within it. I like small groups. They're all...small. Yeah so I have a day planner now too. So far I haven't followed my plan but that shall change on Monday. I also have an alarm clock though I have yet to use it. I will start using it tomorrow. One problem I've had is that I have a new video game, it's very distracting. I have decided that I'm not allowed to play it till I've written one scene, and then I'm only allowed to play it for one hour, If I want to play for longer, I have to write another scene. I like this plan, it may actually work.

Belgian Hot Chocolate

Well I am currently sitting in the library cafe drinking a Belgian hot chocolate. Yes, I have been writing. I actually feel quite proud of myself. I should go to the library more often, it will force me o write more, which is always good. Because, you know, not writing isn't that great. It's nice to be able to write in peace without cats attacking my legs or trying to sit on my notebooks. Or generally being insane, I love the really. Though it's annoying when they keep pushing me out of bed, I'm sure I'll survive. Ooh, I just discovered there is a spoon at the end of my straw, it's a metal straw I haven't come across straws like that before. I it normal to get excited about little things like this? Or is it just me being eccentric? H I almost forgot! I got up at 10am today, quite an accomplishment for me as you may have realized. I dislike getting up early, but once I'm up I'm fine. And so I will go back to my writing, fear not, one day I shall return to you, with more random utterances from the depths of my soul...or something.