So its Monday and I thought Id do a weekly post that wasn’t creative writing. Just to update you all on what is going on. This will be divided into multiple sections, with neat headings so you can easily ignore things you are not interested in. I of course assume you are watching me for my writing, and not for details on my life so I’ll start with blog news.
Writing Worlds – New worlds and new challenges
So I want to start sharing with you my latest novel, its been in the works for almost 2 years now and is my biggest story yet. This epic story has a minor plot arc that is 10 chapters long :O. But I am so proud of this so I hope you give it a chance. There are a lot of planning documents involved which I want to share with first, to introduce you to the characters, the worlds and the Void Queen. Then I’ll have to decide whether I post the chapters here, or updates with a link to a google doc such as with the Casting Runesongs novel.
The reason I want to get this all out is because I plan on working on the novel during Camp NaNoWriMo in June. NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write a novel in a month. It values quantity (often over quality) in the aim to quickly achieve an editable first draft. I find it a valuable tool for me to get out my stories. So expect a lot of writing from me in November as well.
I hope you enjoy all my upcoming content.
Currently reading
I am currently reading The Death Gate Cycle (a series) by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. I love these authors they write wonderful fantasy novels (in the older fashion of fantasy writing) they perfectly balance serious plots with just enough humour. These books are no exception, with four worlds to discover and antagonists you can’t help but sympathise with. These novels are an amazing read and I am really sad I only own the first four of the books. I can’t wait to discover the answers to the many mysteries I have already seen hints of
Fun and Games
I haven’t had much chance to play games much lately due to university, but I have a list of the ones I’ve spent a bit of time on in the last month.
Rimworld is a science fiction base building game. Your settlers have crashed on a quite hostile planet, and have to survive. Its really fun, but I’m very bad at it. I can’t even survive on the easy mode (chill Cassandra classic) suggested for first time players and must play on friendly. I love playing this game while watching youtube videos.
Dokapon Kingdom is a party game which does not take itself seriously at all. Its a mix of board game mechanics with a strong JRPG element that is said to ruin friendships. You go around the board, fighting monsters and collecting money so you can marry the princess. You are encouraged to beat up your opponents, upon beating them you can change their hairstyle or even their name instead of taking their money. Its so much fun, but probably don’t play it if your overly competitive, you need to be able to laugh at your own misfortune in this game.
Final Fantasy X is a game I got for Easter. I’ve played this before and I’ve found the story really compelling. You watch as all of the character’s develop including the main character (who is a winy ass to begin with). The development is very real feeling and the plot full of really compelling twists. I find the second part of the game not as strong as the first, but still a lot of fun. I’d recommend people look into this for the story.
University
I’m currently at university studying to be a primary school teacher, writing is just my hobby. At the moment I am working on sharing that hobby though. I am writing a program for English. This program involves the students writing an information report on a fictional creature they designed. Remind you of anything? Yes, its an odd thing to do but its part of my planning process. Twisting genres like this is I believe a valuable way to stretch you writing muscles and improve. I’m also asking students to use their knowledge from science of how animals have adapted to their environments and diet to design their “monsters”. What do you think of this method of teaching information reports? Would you prefer to learn by writing one about a real creature?
An important aspect of all of my writing units is publication. For me its important that the students feel like real writers, because they are. So instead of it being simply left in a book, or stuck to a wall of the classroom the students will have their work made into a book (two books to be exact). One for the classroom and one for the library, one that can be borrowed out by their peers. I think to often when we’re young we only have the chance to write for our teachers, its important and powerful for them to write for a wider audience and thus feel more accomplished. So many of as adult writers struggle to see ourselves as authors when we are, lets fight that young.
Writing Worlds 