World of Writing

I know it’s been a while since my last post. I have had a crazy few weeks, but I have not pushed aside my love for words. To the contrary, I have actually been doing some research into the different fields in which I could hone my writing skills and make my living at the same time, other than writing my books of course.

I found one very interesting career path that I had not previously considered. Writing the lore and quest lines for video games. This would be a exceedingly interesting occupation in my opinion. One that I would never be bored with. Just think about it, spending your days making up the history and lives of characters and entire nations every day. I mean, essentially it is the same as writing a book. However, the variety would be astounding. For every project you would be able to write about something different. The lore would be one big project, but the basis of this history would come from hundreds of side stories. It wouldn’t be just following a select few, but an entire world would be at your disposal. You would be responsible for telling the stories not just of a main character, but of every individual who made the world that your main character was a part of.

It has been my experience that in a book, some things just are. They are never given any explanation. No one ever tells you why there are dragons, they have just always been. The reader most likely never discovers the reason for griffin being tamed, they just are, and although they griffin may play a pivotal role in the story, no one ever really thinks to wonder where they came from. In a video game however, I have observed many different situations as having a well thought out history and explanation. It is because of these many stories throughout the gaming world, that I find myself fully aware of why things are the way they are. This helps make my gaming experience more personal. I find that understanding why the world is broken in half, leaves me with that sense of emotional attachment that I get from many books. Sometimes though, this experience becomes more intimate because I feel that my actions will play a role in the future of my gaming world. It is for this reason that I find the art of creating a game’s history and bringing the many characters to life so appealing. I want to go to work every day and create something or someone knew, while at the same time, giving someone else in the world a personal experience. I love the idea of writing hundreds of short stories (quests) and then watching as those stories meld into one larger and more impressive world history. This is defiantly something that I will be looking into in more detail. And who knows, I might be writing the next big game’s lore while I write the world’s next big book series!


I am currently reading "Veronika Decides to Die" by Paulo Coelho.
I highly recommend this book as it has been a great read thus far. 
















"Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along."  ~Hugh Allen

Creature Creation Do’s and Dont’s

This blog is about the do's and don’ts of character and creature creation. I used to have trouble creating characters. Lately that is, but not when I was a kid, I remember making things up all the time when I was little.. The Tyrask is the one I remember most vividly. It was almost like a werewolf, only mixed with a bull. They were grumpy and always looking for trouble. They were foul, barbaric and they smelled really bad. At least that’s what I remember. Then I started to grow up and I wanted to write books, and I’ve had trouble ever since trying to make up new creatures for my stories. I think that I have just been trying too hard. If you really think about it, creature creation is very simple. However, there are many do’s as well as many trepidatious don’ts involved in the process.

DON'T:
Don’t think that just because you make a creature that is bright purple, that it can’t be in your story about the green forest. What if that purple creature lives in the trees, hanging or sitting in the branches? It curls up and looks like a big and beautiful purple flower, Of course, when other inhabitants of the forest walks around below it or above, it springs into action, catching and devouring it’s prey in a single graceful swoop.

Don’t let people tell you that just because a critter has legs too short to walk on, that you can’t make it a viable part of the environment. What if your characters are walking through the woods and they see this adorable but sad looking creature waddling around among the bushes? They might feel the need to follow it until they hear crashing branches as a huge monster lunges toward the helpless creature. When the main character decides to intervene, they would surely be surprised as the stumpy critter bounces high into the air, and lands directly in the flowing mane of the terrifying monster, and together they ride through the forest, away from the heroes.

DO:
Use your imagination to its fullest extent. If you want to make a character or a creature that speaks every known language plus one, do it. If you want to make someone who changes colors every day, do it. If you want to make the main character in your book a talking cracker, do it. The point that I’m trying to make is that you can literally make anything you can think of become real in your stories, as long as you have a rhyme and reason for it. If you can tell a great story about a world full of box cutters that only eat lettuce. Do it!

 During this blog I am reading Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. it is very different from what I normally read, but I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to broaden their horizons and try something new.

"If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found."  ~Author Unknown