Working Title: Tea from a Traveler
Genre: Steampunk
Protagonist: Lucy, a rather small young woman with a fondness for frilly things and dancing. She has a cheerful disposition whenever appropriate and has quite the knack for tea-brewing.
Other Main Characters: Hugh, Lucy's boyfriend for some months and one year her junior. He's a bit taller than her but rather thin, and he will occasionally draw attention because of his dark skin. He doesn't speak if it's not necessary, but he isn't perpetually serious. The engineering type, he finds joy in fixing things, literally or otherwise.
Cecelia, an easily excitable teenage girl who tends to run after every boy in sight. Her father, the owner of a large tea set-producing company, sort of assigned her to an apprenticeship with Lucy, but the girls get along well enough Cecelia doesn't mind much. She can hold her own in a fight.
Antagonist: Possibly none. Life. The past. Could be personified later in development.
Setting: Every nook and cranny of your typical steampunk England analogue.
Plot: Lucy and co. travel the world (at least, the portion easily accessible without resorting to ships or zeppelins) to serve tea to whomever they deem could use a cup. Although they tend to wander wherever, it seems that Lucy may be seeking out a particular person along the way...
Point of View: Third person, objective.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
What's Your Type?
I've already covered the fonts I use for writing the actual story text, but those aren't the only fonts a writer needs to choose.
Today I'm more concerned with cover design and the fonts used therein. Readability is, as always, a factor, but much less of one than for the actual text of the book. Covers need to be eye-catching, and title/author font is a big part of that; I know I've picked up a book or two based on how interesting the font was.
Unfortunately, I've never been any good at writing/designing letters, and it doesn't look like I'll be getting into a typography class any time soon, so I'm restrained to using others'.
As of today, I've kept tabs on the following fonts for the following stories:
Dead Font Walking for Along the Winding Road
Aquifer for Short Tales of the Human Body, a compilation of short stories based on and explaining certain aspects of human biology (whether or not it will be written is still udner debate)
Xenogears for Macbay Transportation Services (possibly a dash of Gear Crank for, say, the author name if it would fit in)
bu Penfield Deco for Victims of the Bridge
What do you think? Are these fonts eye-catching enough? What kinds of fonts do you like, either to look at or use in your own stories?
Today I'm more concerned with cover design and the fonts used therein. Readability is, as always, a factor, but much less of one than for the actual text of the book. Covers need to be eye-catching, and title/author font is a big part of that; I know I've picked up a book or two based on how interesting the font was.
Unfortunately, I've never been any good at writing/designing letters, and it doesn't look like I'll be getting into a typography class any time soon, so I'm restrained to using others'.
As of today, I've kept tabs on the following fonts for the following stories:
Dead Font Walking for Along the Winding Road
Aquifer for Short Tales of the Human Body, a compilation of short stories based on and explaining certain aspects of human biology (whether or not it will be written is still udner debate)
Xenogears for Macbay Transportation Services (possibly a dash of Gear Crank for, say, the author name if it would fit in)
bu Penfield Deco for Victims of the Bridge
What do you think? Are these fonts eye-catching enough? What kinds of fonts do you like, either to look at or use in your own stories?
Thursday, October 9, 2014
New Fiction Idea #54
Working Title: The Final Apprentice
Genre: Steampunk
Protagonist: No one clear protagonist. The narrative switches between the main eight characters as equally as the plot allows.
Other Main Characters: Alejandro, a short but sturdy young man with a fox-like face and chronically unkempt hair. He's rather overreactive when startled, and he's a bit of a know-it-all, ready to correct others with a little finger-waggling.
Adelita, a tall and fairly muscular young woman who always keeps her hair in a thick braid over her right shoulder. At times, she's a bit flighty and tends to trail off into semantics; at other times, she's very decisive and aggresive. She tends to jump between personalities rapidly.
FermÃn, a young man of average stature and cropped hair. He's a bit shady and has been known to swipe money and items from friend and foe (usually returning them to the former). He considers himself very masculine and as such can often be seen shaving with a knife, even when he doesn't really need it.
Guadalupe, a pudgy young woman who's always smiling and has a habit of pulling down her bangs temporarily when she's thinking. She's a bit preoccupied with her appearance, particularly her face and makeup, butshe's very caring and giving and doesn't expect much in return.
Lorena, the youngest of the group. She's quiet, easily flattered, and very superstitious, particularly concerning the presence of interfering demons.
Tercero, a young man of impressive stature with a well-kept beard. He's very laid back and unopinionated, although he's brought to sniffles easily and keeps a handkerchief on hand. He tends to trail off sentences and in general leave things unfinished.
Hernando, a bony but very loud young man who's always wearing a tasteful hat. He tends to be showy, and his default pose is an upright stance with his fists against his hips. He feigns confidence but can easily lapse into screeching or wailing when he gets ignored. He also claims to have demonic heritage (much to the chagrin of Lorena) and to be sparing the world of the full extent of his powers.
Roque, a well-spoken young man with particularly curly hair and a lopsided smile. He considers himself quite the gentleman and goes out of his way to be effusively polite. He relies on others for most things and has a habit of crinkling some mechanism or another in his hands when he's nervous.
Antagonist: Mostly unknown. Several other armies stir up trouble.
Setting: Latin American steampunk. The nation has little identity in its state of war.
Plot: Eight promising young students have made it to the safe home of The Animator, a tinkerer who believes creating a functioning clockwork army is the solution to unifying the state and ceasing the strife. Although all are put to work, The Animator intends to only take one on as his personal apprentice based on their work—but one hopeful apprentice is found killed in the estate, and the remaining students must figure out how such a thing happened and how the rest of them may stay safe to aid in the army construction in light of it.
Point of View: First person.
Genre: Steampunk
Protagonist: No one clear protagonist. The narrative switches between the main eight characters as equally as the plot allows.
Other Main Characters: Alejandro, a short but sturdy young man with a fox-like face and chronically unkempt hair. He's rather overreactive when startled, and he's a bit of a know-it-all, ready to correct others with a little finger-waggling.
Adelita, a tall and fairly muscular young woman who always keeps her hair in a thick braid over her right shoulder. At times, she's a bit flighty and tends to trail off into semantics; at other times, she's very decisive and aggresive. She tends to jump between personalities rapidly.
FermÃn, a young man of average stature and cropped hair. He's a bit shady and has been known to swipe money and items from friend and foe (usually returning them to the former). He considers himself very masculine and as such can often be seen shaving with a knife, even when he doesn't really need it.
Guadalupe, a pudgy young woman who's always smiling and has a habit of pulling down her bangs temporarily when she's thinking. She's a bit preoccupied with her appearance, particularly her face and makeup, butshe's very caring and giving and doesn't expect much in return.
Lorena, the youngest of the group. She's quiet, easily flattered, and very superstitious, particularly concerning the presence of interfering demons.
Tercero, a young man of impressive stature with a well-kept beard. He's very laid back and unopinionated, although he's brought to sniffles easily and keeps a handkerchief on hand. He tends to trail off sentences and in general leave things unfinished.
Hernando, a bony but very loud young man who's always wearing a tasteful hat. He tends to be showy, and his default pose is an upright stance with his fists against his hips. He feigns confidence but can easily lapse into screeching or wailing when he gets ignored. He also claims to have demonic heritage (much to the chagrin of Lorena) and to be sparing the world of the full extent of his powers.
Roque, a well-spoken young man with particularly curly hair and a lopsided smile. He considers himself quite the gentleman and goes out of his way to be effusively polite. He relies on others for most things and has a habit of crinkling some mechanism or another in his hands when he's nervous.
Antagonist: Mostly unknown. Several other armies stir up trouble.
Setting: Latin American steampunk. The nation has little identity in its state of war.
Plot: Eight promising young students have made it to the safe home of The Animator, a tinkerer who believes creating a functioning clockwork army is the solution to unifying the state and ceasing the strife. Although all are put to work, The Animator intends to only take one on as his personal apprentice based on their work—but one hopeful apprentice is found killed in the estate, and the remaining students must figure out how such a thing happened and how the rest of them may stay safe to aid in the army construction in light of it.
Point of View: First person.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
New Fan Fiction Idea #31
Working Title: "Jail House Rock"
Fandom: Phoenix Wright
Genre Tags: Friendship/General, possibly Humour
Length: Short multichapter
Protagonist: Klavier Gavin (17).
Other Main Characters: Mostly OCs as well as a few detectives and possibly some prosecutors.
Antagonist: None. Possibly a minor role by Kristoph.
Setting: Pre-Apollo Justice, with Klavier's prosecutor badge fresh out of the European vending machine. As far as place, most if not all of the story will be at the precinct, in the vicinity of Criminal Affairs.
Plot: Klavier and some other new prosecutors are being introduced to some of the police members and facilities. In the process, Klavier runs into a series of present or future law enforcers with some similar interests, including one with a shark hoodie... Basically, it's the preliminary assembling of the Gavinners.
Point of View: Third-person, limited to Klavier.
Fandom: Phoenix Wright
Genre Tags: Friendship/General, possibly Humour
Length: Short multichapter
Protagonist: Klavier Gavin (17).
Other Main Characters: Mostly OCs as well as a few detectives and possibly some prosecutors.
Antagonist: None. Possibly a minor role by Kristoph.
Setting: Pre-Apollo Justice, with Klavier's prosecutor badge fresh out of the European vending machine. As far as place, most if not all of the story will be at the precinct, in the vicinity of Criminal Affairs.
Plot: Klavier and some other new prosecutors are being introduced to some of the police members and facilities. In the process, Klavier runs into a series of present or future law enforcers with some similar interests, including one with a shark hoodie... Basically, it's the preliminary assembling of the Gavinners.
Point of View: Third-person, limited to Klavier.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Word for Word
And here is your allotment of odd and interesting vocabulary.
aplomb cachinnate shinplaster
gallimaufry kickshaw spume
bricolage toxophilite zowie
diffident antipathy saturnine
comestible chivy sclaff
tortuous celerity balkanize
chicane crazy-quilt operose
rathskeller pell-mell aphelion
esurient comestible quiff
sotto voce pandurate nidificate
voluble clinquant cynosure
aplomb cachinnate shinplaster
gallimaufry kickshaw spume
bricolage toxophilite zowie
diffident antipathy saturnine
comestible chivy sclaff
tortuous celerity balkanize
chicane crazy-quilt operose
rathskeller pell-mell aphelion
esurient comestible quiff
sotto voce pandurate nidificate
voluble clinquant cynosure
Friday, August 29, 2014
Writing Music! Part Deux
Although I've already touched on writing soundtracks, I've been exploring the topic enough to warrant an update. I never had a big tendency to pick out songs based on what I was actually writing, but now I've started being more careful with my soundtracks.
My iPod has plenty of songs of every emotion, but when I go out of my way to tint my soundtrack, it's not with my iPod. After all, I listen to those songs all of the time; they're just a general soundtrack, not strongly associated with anything for me. Video game soundtracks, however, are more strongly linked to emotions, moods, and certain types of scenes in my head; the only time I hear them much is in the appropriate scenes.
The 30-minute extended soundtracks put up by BrawlBRSTMs3 on YouTube are my go-to. Not only is it a great compilation of themes from Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, the main video games with which I concern myself, the length of the videos allows me to continue writing with the same tune without much fussing on my part.
So what song goes with what scenes? Well, the bloodbath chapter of Tributes and Tribulations was written under the influence of TRAUMA. I used the first Epilogue tune from Phoenix Wright while writing the epilogue of Along the Winding Road. I've gone with video game soundtracks while editing as well; the last chapter of Along the Winding Road was done to the tune of the Turnabout Sisters theme, which may evoke the strongest emotions in my case.
What does your writing soundtrack look like? Do you incorporate soundtracks from video games or other entertainment sources? What music affects your mood the most, and what effect does it have on your writing?
P.S. Due to time constraints, there will be no posts during the month of September. Updates will continue starting October 1.
My iPod has plenty of songs of every emotion, but when I go out of my way to tint my soundtrack, it's not with my iPod. After all, I listen to those songs all of the time; they're just a general soundtrack, not strongly associated with anything for me. Video game soundtracks, however, are more strongly linked to emotions, moods, and certain types of scenes in my head; the only time I hear them much is in the appropriate scenes.
The 30-minute extended soundtracks put up by BrawlBRSTMs3 on YouTube are my go-to. Not only is it a great compilation of themes from Ace Attorney and Ghost Trick, the main video games with which I concern myself, the length of the videos allows me to continue writing with the same tune without much fussing on my part.
So what song goes with what scenes? Well, the bloodbath chapter of Tributes and Tribulations was written under the influence of TRAUMA. I used the first Epilogue tune from Phoenix Wright while writing the epilogue of Along the Winding Road. I've gone with video game soundtracks while editing as well; the last chapter of Along the Winding Road was done to the tune of the Turnabout Sisters theme, which may evoke the strongest emotions in my case.
What does your writing soundtrack look like? Do you incorporate soundtracks from video games or other entertainment sources? What music affects your mood the most, and what effect does it have on your writing?
P.S. Due to time constraints, there will be no posts during the month of September. Updates will continue starting October 1.
Monday, August 25, 2014
New Fiction Idea #0
It occurred to me that I can link back to story profiles for just about everything but Along the Winding Road. Better late than never.
Working Title: Along the Winding Road
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Romance
Protagonist: Charlotte Heiman, a six-foot twenty-year-old who works as a zombie hunter for her village—more specifically, one of its restaurants. She's determined, optimistic, and a little flirty, and family is her highest priority.
Other Main Characters: Arthur Deering, an English twenty-four-year-old of Chinese descent. He is an excellent archer but isn't the best at social interaction, particularly after being in isolation for years.
(John) Dalton Tolbert, a very blonde twenty-four-year-old who fanboys over swords but does most of his fighting with a staff. He's energetic and social and prides himself on his wingman abilities.
Antagonists: Zombies and distance along with some other survivors.
Setting: Four years after the zombie apocalypse. Some zombies are still hanging around, but they're not so threatening anymore. Place-wise, it's across Texas, between Killeen and Hunt.
Plot: Charlotte sets out to find her younger brother Blake, who was away at camp when the zombies attacked. On the way, she has to contend with various enemies, but Arthur and Dalton are happy to help her along—particularly the former, who quickly develops a romantic interest in her.
Point of View: Third person, omniscient.
Working Title: Along the Winding Road
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic/Romance
Protagonist: Charlotte Heiman, a six-foot twenty-year-old who works as a zombie hunter for her village—more specifically, one of its restaurants. She's determined, optimistic, and a little flirty, and family is her highest priority.
Other Main Characters: Arthur Deering, an English twenty-four-year-old of Chinese descent. He is an excellent archer but isn't the best at social interaction, particularly after being in isolation for years.
(John) Dalton Tolbert, a very blonde twenty-four-year-old who fanboys over swords but does most of his fighting with a staff. He's energetic and social and prides himself on his wingman abilities.
Antagonists: Zombies and distance along with some other survivors.
Setting: Four years after the zombie apocalypse. Some zombies are still hanging around, but they're not so threatening anymore. Place-wise, it's across Texas, between Killeen and Hunt.
Plot: Charlotte sets out to find her younger brother Blake, who was away at camp when the zombies attacked. On the way, she has to contend with various enemies, but Arthur and Dalton are happy to help her along—particularly the former, who quickly develops a romantic interest in her.
Point of View: Third person, omniscient.
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