Patrya gets the fifth chapter - She quickly learns at the site of the execution that Myreap's father is allied with Syne when he stabs Patrya's mother. Patrya assumes Myreap is in on the plan too. So filled with burning resentment, fear, and sorrow, Patrya flees from the site, intending to take her younger siblings (Pellia, Pai, and baby Percie) along with their bodyguard (they are the children of an Excellian leader after all) to Chymea, the modern-day equivelant of Asia.
And yes, you can just imagine what emotion I've been adding in here...muahaha, the joys of an author. :)
Unfortunately, they do NOT succeed in escape; Syne intervenes with Patrya's plans by confronting them at their house with several other armed men. He kills their bodyguard and wounds Patrya but doesn't kill her, instead aiding her journey to Chymea by letting her use his personal aircraft.
This creates a good deal of confusion for Patrya since, if he killed her parents, it only follows that he would kill her too, but he doesn't.
That line of logic along with Syne's final words, "Remember it was I who gave you your life," causes Patrya to realize that he wants something out of her.
Any guesses? :D
Patrya gets the sixth chapter - Having arrived in Chymea, Patrya seeks out the Emperor Jeon, an old friend of her father. Jeon welcomes, feeds, and boards her and her siblings, hearing out her story with condolences over a meal. When she asks for military assistance, Jeon refuses however, due to his being a friend of Syne as well.
Naturally diplomatic, Patrya discusses other aspects of military assistance with Jeon. He admits that the Chymean soldiers themselves made a rule that if any human could kill one of their captains in single combat, the soldiers under that captain will agree to fight. (In case you were wondering, the rule was set up to keep captains from becoming physically lazy.)
Still half-grieving the loss of her parents, Patrya files the information away, knowing she can do nothing without a champion.
Millis gets the sixth chapter - Having successfully assassinated one of Excellia's four leaders, Millis is hired again by the same mysteriously ambiguous character (*coughSYNEcough*) to kidnap four children in Chymea. (I wonder who... ;)) Millis and his loyal friend Hyn go together to Chymea, but like all male assassins (*coughJASONBOURNEcough*), the two refuse to wound or kidnap children as young as Percie, who is merely an infant.
As a result, Millis and Hyn take a moment during their mission to consider their return home. The two realize they cannot go back from where they came or else risk being killed by their ambiguously mysterious employer. Millis advocates for just nabbing the children and finishing the job. Hyn objects. The two argue (and St. Francis above, can they argue. I realized earlier today that I accidentally filled an entire page with a nonsensical debate of theirs. Hehe, guess that's what comes of characters who are too good friends).
Obviously thinking of a necessary champion, Patrya interrupts their conversation, entreats them to hide in Chymea, and return upon their earliest convenience.
The males agree.
And now you all know why I laugh when you ask me what my story is about. ;) It'd take me till Doomsday to scratch the surface... :)
Write on!
Clove
5.30.2013
5.29.2013
5.28.2013
Outline Part 1
I've been extremely hesitant to give this out because I'm certain it will change. Having gotten over my hesitations, the disclaimer's out now - I'm not responsible for any un-outlined plot twists, accidental character deaths, or sudden, blooming romances. ;)
So saying.
The story begins on September 11, 3414 with Deidre Keane reading a history tome for school.
(*collective gasp* What is SHE doing there?! Well, I liked her and Skain's character profiles, but the story I put her in was...less than satisfactory. I still intend to use her character in a later novel, only with a completely different outline. She'll be back. :))
Deidre reads about the history of Excellia, namely how poisonous GMO's had taken over the known world and Excellia had used an antidote against the toxic plants to control the common people. She reads at the very end of a "revolution...freeing mankind from the shackles of their own creation."
Time warp, and we're back in December 9, 3013 right before the actual revolution.
Millis gets the first chapter - he assassinates Hassan Ikolvii, basically to show his occupation and personality. I posted part of that chapter here.
Patrya gets the second chapter - she is attending a party where she is warned by Syne (our beloved antagonist and also the son of one of Excellia's four leaders) that her love relationship with a male named Myreap may be a catalyst to civil war. Why? Imagine a Romeo and Juliet scenario, only Romeo's the son of one of Excellia's leaders and Juliet's the daughter of one of Excellia's leaders. Between a load of conspiracies, Patrya is believed to be playing Myreap, and Myreap is believed to be playing Patrya.
Their parents, needless to say, aren't happy.
Other factors combine with that dilemma so that Patrya and Myreap's parents are at the brink of civil war. Syne warns unwitting Patrya of all this and threatens her at the end of the chapter, that if she doesn't keep her relationship low, he may have to exterminate her.
For the good of Excellia, of course. :)
Millis gets the third chapter - I introduce his best friend Hyn in this chapter, show their camaraderie and mutual trust, and have a mysterious figure hire Millis to kill one of Excellia's four leaders. (The leader he is hired to kill is NOT Patrya or Myreap or Syne's father.) The amount of money Millis is offered is immense, and he accepts, finishing the job. (I'm thinking the job will be off-scene, and it will be understood that he carried out his task without any problems.)
Pleibea gets the fourth chapter - I'm still debating as to how I'm going to do this. (I think I'm on my third re-write...ugh. :)) The basic factors are that a.) Pleibea's a slave, has an older brother and a complicated family history b.) due to a message she and her fellow slaves had received from a government leader, telling them to go on strike, well...they're on strike c.) Pleibea is arrested by government officials, causing large confusion because she was commanded by the government to go on strike in the first place. She struggles and is knocked out.
When she wakes up, she's about to be hung with several others. Tarkin, Patrya's father, makes a speech before the hanging, reinstating that slaves are NOT to rebel. He is stopped by Syne (muahaha) who makes a claim for freedom and stabs Tarkin, freeing the slaves.
I think that's a good place to stop.
If I haven't bored you to death with blocks of text, congratulations. You really are a devoted fan. *blush of honor*
But don't worry.
I'll be back with more blocks of text and can kill you then. ;)
Write on!
Clove
So saying.
The story begins on September 11, 3414 with Deidre Keane reading a history tome for school.
(*collective gasp* What is SHE doing there?! Well, I liked her and Skain's character profiles, but the story I put her in was...less than satisfactory. I still intend to use her character in a later novel, only with a completely different outline. She'll be back. :))
Deidre reads about the history of Excellia, namely how poisonous GMO's had taken over the known world and Excellia had used an antidote against the toxic plants to control the common people. She reads at the very end of a "revolution...freeing mankind from the shackles of their own creation."
Time warp, and we're back in December 9, 3013 right before the actual revolution.
Millis gets the first chapter - he assassinates Hassan Ikolvii, basically to show his occupation and personality. I posted part of that chapter here.
Patrya gets the second chapter - she is attending a party where she is warned by Syne (our beloved antagonist and also the son of one of Excellia's four leaders) that her love relationship with a male named Myreap may be a catalyst to civil war. Why? Imagine a Romeo and Juliet scenario, only Romeo's the son of one of Excellia's leaders and Juliet's the daughter of one of Excellia's leaders. Between a load of conspiracies, Patrya is believed to be playing Myreap, and Myreap is believed to be playing Patrya.
Their parents, needless to say, aren't happy.
Other factors combine with that dilemma so that Patrya and Myreap's parents are at the brink of civil war. Syne warns unwitting Patrya of all this and threatens her at the end of the chapter, that if she doesn't keep her relationship low, he may have to exterminate her.
For the good of Excellia, of course. :)
Millis gets the third chapter - I introduce his best friend Hyn in this chapter, show their camaraderie and mutual trust, and have a mysterious figure hire Millis to kill one of Excellia's four leaders. (The leader he is hired to kill is NOT Patrya or Myreap or Syne's father.) The amount of money Millis is offered is immense, and he accepts, finishing the job. (I'm thinking the job will be off-scene, and it will be understood that he carried out his task without any problems.)
Pleibea gets the fourth chapter - I'm still debating as to how I'm going to do this. (I think I'm on my third re-write...ugh. :)) The basic factors are that a.) Pleibea's a slave, has an older brother and a complicated family history b.) due to a message she and her fellow slaves had received from a government leader, telling them to go on strike, well...they're on strike c.) Pleibea is arrested by government officials, causing large confusion because she was commanded by the government to go on strike in the first place. She struggles and is knocked out.
When she wakes up, she's about to be hung with several others. Tarkin, Patrya's father, makes a speech before the hanging, reinstating that slaves are NOT to rebel. He is stopped by Syne (muahaha) who makes a claim for freedom and stabs Tarkin, freeing the slaves.
I think that's a good place to stop.
If I haven't bored you to death with blocks of text, congratulations. You really are a devoted fan. *blush of honor*
But don't worry.
I'll be back with more blocks of text and can kill you then. ;)
Write on!
Clove
5.24.2013
Grammar Girl
The other day, I was tossing the idea around in my head about how I was going to introduce incorrect grammar on this blog when my younger brother began to play a piano song. As he was playing the piano song, I realized I had heard it before, so abandoning my brainstorm, I went to iTunes and looked through my library, realizing I had downloaded a free box of 100 Most Essential Chopin pieces, and the song was:
Nocturne Op. Posth. 72 in C-sharp minor, great for writing emotional scenes or squeezing out a school essay
But I digress...
...as I was in iTunes, I ran across Grammar Girl, an old podcaster that my father introduced to me many, many, many years ago. While many, many, many of you might believe you are Grammar Nazis, you haven't seen anything until you've seen Grammat Girl. (Bahahah, but before you feel bad, you should have seen the look on my face when I first heard her...all of my bad habits in grammar torn to shreds... :D)
Stick with her, and you'll polish your writing up in no time.
You can find all her podcasts here.
Or, if you don't feel like having your grammar skills obliterated, you can go here and laugh.
Write on...with good grammar!
Clove
5.23.2013
I'll do this someday...
School's out and with it went my juicy brain ideas. I've done practically nothing all day (except for getting my violin skills beat up and trashed and torn apart in an agonizing hour from one of the most horribly strict and extraordinarily musical violin masters in the world).
Instead of writing, I was (nursing my violin skills' ego back to health and) musing about an interesting idea I've seen over and over in anime.
Here it is in a nutshell:
1.) The character plot begins with a handful of protagonists protecting and encouraging a main character who doesn't deserve their protection and encouragement.
2.) The character plot moves on to where the main character earns the protagonists' respect by defeating a large cast of minor antagonists in such a way as that the minor antogonists also recognize something respect-worthy in the main character.
3.) In the final "big battle," both minor antagonists and protagonists sacrifice to help the main character who must fight against the ultimate antagonist. Of course, the main character wins in the end.
I'm generally a realistic, dystopian sort of author, so the big, bold, heroic idea of doing this character plot is majorly intimidating.
However...
*starry eyes*
It just looks so stinking good in the anime!
Bahahah, someday, I'll manage to get my readers to love my characters as much as they do Naruto...or their favorite Bleach character...or their favorite Pokemon character. Someday.
Ciao!
Clove
P.S. If you've ever done this character plot before, I. want. your. story. ^.^
Instead of writing, I was (nursing my violin skills' ego back to health and) musing about an interesting idea I've seen over and over in anime.
Here it is in a nutshell:
1.) The character plot begins with a handful of protagonists protecting and encouraging a main character who doesn't deserve their protection and encouragement.
2.) The character plot moves on to where the main character earns the protagonists' respect by defeating a large cast of minor antagonists in such a way as that the minor antogonists also recognize something respect-worthy in the main character.
3.) In the final "big battle," both minor antagonists and protagonists sacrifice to help the main character who must fight against the ultimate antagonist. Of course, the main character wins in the end.
I'm generally a realistic, dystopian sort of author, so the big, bold, heroic idea of doing this character plot is majorly intimidating.
However...
*starry eyes*
It just looks so stinking good in the anime!
Bahahah, someday, I'll manage to get my readers to love my characters as much as they do Naruto...or their favorite Bleach character...or their favorite Pokemon character. Someday.
Ciao!
Clove
P.S. If you've ever done this character plot before, I. want. your. story. ^.^
5.21.2013
Bits of life
I have to admit - 75% of my story is a glued mesh of bits of life, tiny snippets and phrases, lines of repartee, senses and emotions. All of them take up mere seconds in life, but combined in my writing, they are invaluable.
My top three favorite places to find bits of story from bits of life:
1.) The airport
With 9/11's consequences, I know we can't just go wandering into airports anymore, so I relish every minute in those high-roofed buildings, absorbing smells, the business, and above all: faces. Once I find a face I like, I follow the person with my gaze, identifying his gait and clothing and inflection of speech.
Sounds like I'm stalking, I know.
But he sure doesn't know. ^.^
And he probably never will unless if he reads my story and realizes there's a character in it who looks and talks and walks exactly like him. :)
2.) The kitchen
A lot of magic can go on in the kitchen - the vast array of aromas, flavours, and feelings like the firm of a celery stick or the soft of a peach.
Even beyond those words that seem to float around the counter tops and ovens, there's also a sense of flow, a flow of methodological work, that turns raw meats into savory dishes. I can see my mother's focus when she measures, stirs, and paces back to check the bread in the oven, and it's a sort of focus that many of my characters mimic in crises.
Kitchen to battle speech.
They're not that different. :)
3.) My little sister
Everyone has that one sibling (unless if you're an only child...and even then, it's normally a friend) who can makes the most witty, humorous, and yet absolutely deep comments.
Or maybe you're the one.
Either way, don't pass those dialogue quotes as something to laugh at. Write. them. down. Every so often, you'll find the perfect place to use them in your story, and instead of trying to screw a dog-tired brain up for an ingenious and natural conversation, resort to your sibling.
Bingo.
Write on!
Clove
My top three favorite places to find bits of story from bits of life:
1.) The airport
With 9/11's consequences, I know we can't just go wandering into airports anymore, so I relish every minute in those high-roofed buildings, absorbing smells, the business, and above all: faces. Once I find a face I like, I follow the person with my gaze, identifying his gait and clothing and inflection of speech.
Sounds like I'm stalking, I know.
But he sure doesn't know. ^.^
And he probably never will unless if he reads my story and realizes there's a character in it who looks and talks and walks exactly like him. :)
2.) The kitchen
A lot of magic can go on in the kitchen - the vast array of aromas, flavours, and feelings like the firm of a celery stick or the soft of a peach.
Even beyond those words that seem to float around the counter tops and ovens, there's also a sense of flow, a flow of methodological work, that turns raw meats into savory dishes. I can see my mother's focus when she measures, stirs, and paces back to check the bread in the oven, and it's a sort of focus that many of my characters mimic in crises.
Kitchen to battle speech.
They're not that different. :)
3.) My little sister
Everyone has that one sibling (unless if you're an only child...and even then, it's normally a friend) who can makes the most witty, humorous, and yet absolutely deep comments.
Or maybe you're the one.
Either way, don't pass those dialogue quotes as something to laugh at. Write. them. down. Every so often, you'll find the perfect place to use them in your story, and instead of trying to screw a dog-tired brain up for an ingenious and natural conversation, resort to your sibling.
Bingo.
Write on!
Clove
5.19.2013
Writing challenge #1
Ever get a peculiar feeling...
-When you've seen the same car too many time on random occasions for it to "just be" a coincidence...
-Or when you want to be sick the next day and, when you wake up, you realize you are...
-Or when you feel as if someone's watching you when you're alone in the house...
-Or even worse - when you hear a noise, distinctly a footstep, in the top floor of the house when you're alone and at the bottom floor of the house?
-Or what about when a random stranger walks up to you and starts asking about your personal life...
-Or when you can't quite hear the conversation of two men who keep looking at you with toxic glares?
-Or do you ever get that moment when it's just too quiet?
I'm setting your nerves on end, aren't I? Admit it. It's late at night, and you're reading this in the dark with your laptop on your thighs, and you're getting seriously creeped out and want to go turn the lights on.
Or...
If, by any chance, you aren't seriously creeped out or only mildly creeped out, it's more likely you've 1.) never been in any of the above situations, or 2.) you are reading this blog entry in broad daylight with a bustle of human activity around you. (Of course, I could be a fail. *wink wink*)
At any rate, here presents my writing challenge #1!
50 cool beans to grand winner, 10 to the rest for trying. :)
How do you put a feeling of unease, so intense and nerve-rattling, into words? And from there, how can you use the words to make a reader, reading on a sunny afternoon with no sense of anxiety, still feel the prick of shadows...and echoing footsteps...and dripping waters in cavernous conspiracy lairs...?
I await your ideas with much anticipation!
Write on!
Clove
-When you've seen the same car too many time on random occasions for it to "just be" a coincidence...
-Or when you want to be sick the next day and, when you wake up, you realize you are...
-Or when you feel as if someone's watching you when you're alone in the house...
-Or even worse - when you hear a noise, distinctly a footstep, in the top floor of the house when you're alone and at the bottom floor of the house?
-Or what about when a random stranger walks up to you and starts asking about your personal life...
-Or when you can't quite hear the conversation of two men who keep looking at you with toxic glares?
-Or do you ever get that moment when it's just too quiet?
I'm setting your nerves on end, aren't I? Admit it. It's late at night, and you're reading this in the dark with your laptop on your thighs, and you're getting seriously creeped out and want to go turn the lights on.
Or...
If, by any chance, you aren't seriously creeped out or only mildly creeped out, it's more likely you've 1.) never been in any of the above situations, or 2.) you are reading this blog entry in broad daylight with a bustle of human activity around you. (Of course, I could be a fail. *wink wink*)
At any rate, here presents my writing challenge #1!
50 cool beans to grand winner, 10 to the rest for trying. :)
How do you put a feeling of unease, so intense and nerve-rattling, into words? And from there, how can you use the words to make a reader, reading on a sunny afternoon with no sense of anxiety, still feel the prick of shadows...and echoing footsteps...and dripping waters in cavernous conspiracy lairs...?
I await your ideas with much anticipation!
Write on!
Clove
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