Rae Roy's Blog, page 81

Magic the Gathering and Writing Novels: 5 Similarities and 5 Differences

I had been meaning to go to the local game shop to play Magic the Gathering with real people for several months, but I was scared. I’m an introvert, I’m socially awkward, and I barely know the game. I was also worried they wouldn’t be friendly or they’d be the wrong kind of friendly as there are some horror stories online in both of those categories.

I really wanted to get better before my martial arts weekend away, though. We often play board games and such while having some drinks. Last year a small group was playing magic and a friend and I thought we should bring cards this year.

I also knew my deck was a mess.

So I went to the shop. The woman at the counter asked for my DCI. Upon seeing my blank deer-in-the-headlights look, she said not to worry and got me sorted and ready to play. I had also forgotten my 20-sided die and she helped me with that too.

I stood around awkwardly until I eventually sat at a table. Of Pokémon players, I later figured out. Someone took out a fancy playing mat and I wondered what the hell I was doing there and I was going to lose and be made fun of for sure.

Eventually, I found the magic players. There was a small group that night, just 3 of us, but that worked in my favour. The two guys were really nice and helped me play and fixed up my deck at the end. I went back Wednesday to play again and needed less help.

They gave me suggestions of things to add to my deck. One of the cards needed replacing and I got the exact card to replace it with out of the booster pack I got for playing. They also told me some things about deck building like wanting the deck to have a little less diversity so the way it plays is consistent. When I got home, I had had so much fun that it was hard to sleep!

I went through one of my other decks to make it better.

I realized something too. Building magic decks is not unlike writing a novel. Here’s why:

1. Pacing: In Magic, we want to be able to ideally play the right card at the right time based on what turn we are on. On turn one we want to play 1 mana and a maybe a creature that costs one mana if we are fortunate enough to draw those. In a novel, we want to ease into it. We want some action at the start, but just enough to pique the readers interest the keep them reading. As we go along, we introduce little things that make the reader ask why. Then we add a small problem. Then fixing that problem leads to another, slightly bigger problem. We hint at things, but don’t confirm until later, which gives the reader reason to keep reading.

2. Characters: Creatures are like your characters. We have creatures that start out small and become big later, by bumping them or killing them to bring bigger ones out later. With writing, it takes some time to get to know the characters and it can be a great plot device to kill off a character if their death moves the story along.

3. Fuel: Mana is the fuel necessary to do cool things. They aren’t exciting cards, for the most part. They are necessary to get the awesome things out onto the table. It’s likeness in writing would be the stuff in between the major plot points. Those bits in between the points of climax. A lot of it is just words that might not have a deeper meaning. But like some special land cards, some of those words may foreshadow the events to come.

4. Bumps: In Magic, bumps are buffs for the creatures. You might have a little 1/1 creature that you bump with a +2/+1 or something, for example. In writing, we might give something to our characters along their journey such as armour, a magical item, or perhaps an annoying sidekick that turns out useful.

5. Obstacles: In Magic, our opponents will do anything to stop us from completing our goal of killing them, just like the antagonist will thwart our hero’s attempts to complete the journey.

The major differences between the two are:

1. Dynamics: In magic, you plan all the pieces, but are left to chance when it comes to combat. There’s no guarantee you’ll get the cards you need when you need them. The story is different every time. With a novel, you plan the pieces, deviate as needed until the work becomes finished and static.

2. Chances: In Magic, you usually play best of three. You have three attempts to do things right. In novel writing, you have lots of chances while writing, but once it’s published it is the same story and you can’t do things like sideboard to reconfigure for different readers on-the-fly. What’s done is done.

3. Control: We can’t control the outcome of a magic game. Even control decks have weaknesses and one doesn’t know what kind of deck one will be up against. There are too many variables. With novel writing, we are in the driver’s seat. We get to decide if our hero needs to have his hand chopped off with a lightsaber because the journey requires him to suffer in order to realize his full potential.

4. Social: Magic is best played with 2 or more players. Novel writing is most commonly a solitary endeavor, though some writers get together to write in the same room as other writers, that would be more comparable to deck building in the same room. They may critique each other and offer suggestions, but the novelist must decide what is best for the book as only they can know their story intimately.

5. Language: Magic is a language all its own just like Music or French. Lifelink means a creature will basically steal life from the opponent and give it to its owner. Haste means a creature can attack right after being summoned instead of waiting a turn. In English, haste is a word with a negative connotation of not thinking before taking action, whereas in Magic it is often a good thing to be able to attack right away.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts on Magic the Gathering and its similarities and differences to writing novels.

Ciao,

R~

2016 Ad Astra – Day Three

The final day began with packing my car and checking out. The person ahead of me decided to talk the hotel guy’s ear off, so that was slower than expected. Luckily, I had already packed up my car and just had to hand him the keys. Yay for pre-booking and paying online!

I was still slightly late to panel one, which was “When to Listen to Your Editor and When Not To”. Tips included:

Don’t change your whole book if say they don’t like it. It means they’re not the right editor for you. It’s a relationship you’re looking to start. Would you be with someone who only wanted you if you weren’t you?
If it’s not on the page it didn’t happen. You shouldn’t have to explain anything. They should understand everything from reading the thing. If they don’t, it’s because you missed communicating something to the readers.
Check out the Terms from the Editor’s Association of Canada to know what type of editing you’re looking for.
Some offer free 5-10K word edits, so you can see if they are right for you.
Get references. Who have they edited in your genre?
You NEED beta readers before editing.
Which English language? If set in Canada, Canadian. If set in London, British. Etc.
DON’T RUSH! There is often no reason beyond your own eagerness to get the book published. Take your time and make it the best it can possibly be before it’s out in the world.

Next, I attended “How to Go Beyond Getting Started and Get Something Finished”. I’ve been stuck on some things in The Page & The Magician and I figured any tips at all could help me find my way out of the tunnel. We talked about:

Outlines and the beat sheet.
Writing it without any pressure. It doesn’t have to be awesome. It just has to be something. And some days you might not get passed the word “the”, but at least you put more than nothing down.
Telling the inner critic to STFU!
Some writing can just be practice.
The process is whatever works for you. If you aren’t finishing anything, there is something wrong with your process. Change it up.
Find ways to restore the joy. You love this thing or why do it?
Be gentle with yourself. You might not make your word count, but that doesn’t make you a failure.
Have mini goals.
Schedule everything in your life. Free time, family time, writing time, work time, exercise, etc. This will help with work-life balance.
Epic music.
Read a few pages before where you are if you’re stuck.
Have your character do/say that one thing they said they’d never do/say.
Lots of little things can be decided later if they don’t affect the story. Things like hair colour, what kind of chair, etc.

I had a blast listening to people talk and debate at “Star Wars: The Fandom Awakens”.

Then I listened to a “Conversation with Chizine Publications”. It helped me decide some things with my own publishing plans.

After that was a discussion with a man from Tor about “Publishing Science Fiction and Fantasy”. He was interesting and had lots of neat stories.

I took a last look around the vendor’s room before heading to Oshawa to briefly visit a friend as I had forgotten some personal items the weekend before. The drive home involved rain and was fairly cold and miserable, but my heated seats kept me going[image error]

And that’s it for my first Ad Astra. I came out of it with tons of ideas on how to fix my novel. I learned techniques to identify the problem areas. Some were very obvious, but I’m not going to feel bad about not seeing them before. I learned and I grew. I also got that boost of motivation I sorely needed to finish my book.

Ciao,

R~

Wonder Wednesday: Does anyone really have all of it together?

Does anyone really have all their shit together? This is what I’m pondering today.

It seems everytime I think I’m getting mine together, I do something awfully dumb that complicates my life unnecessarily.

The latest incident? I made a taco lasagna. Delicious. It was to be my lunches for this week. Well, day 1 and 2 I had taco lasagna. On the evening of day 2, I came home discover I had somehow forgotten to put it away before leaving for work.

So, I ate my leftover pho for supper and pondered whether I should skip martial arts to ensure I could eat. I remembered I had this frozen thing that would do for Wednesday’s lunch and I could cook it after martial arts.

I had a great session at iaido, so I’m really glad I went. We worked on things I sorely needed to fix like the horizontal cut. I had been getting lax and not making sure the tip is where it needs to be in order for me to ensure I was cutting anything when I drew my hand across. Probably one of the most important cuts in the art… I also wasn’t gripping properly. No surprise there as that’s one of my troublesome areas.

On the way home, I decided to stop and get groceries as I need to get food ready for Comiccon. Groceries at 9:30 PM is something I may do more often. Fewer people, so it was quicker. Also, the introvert in me preferred the tranquility.

I shove that frozen thing in the oven. It’s supposed to take 25 minutes. It was still frozen in the middle. Fek.

And that was my evening.

So I wonder if other people do this? How does my brain completely forget to put stuff back in the fridge? Is it because I’m behind in my dishes and couldn’t discern the food from the dishes? What’s the deal? Will I ever have my shit together or does it only happen once you have kids? Does it even ever happen for anyone?

At any rate, I had food. It was palatable. I’d probably buy it again, but I’m not desperate for it. I could make my own better if I had the time.

Speaking of time, I have things to get done. Like sleep because I didn’t get enough yesterday.

Ciao,

R~

2016 Ad Astra – Day Two (Night)

The afternoon and evening were much less eventful from the I-apparently-can’t-human-today perspective.

In “Crossing the Gender Divide”, I learned that whether or not your character is male or female matters less than making them a person first. As authors, we need to refrain from making assumptions like gender=female therefore, likes pink. Examples (good and bad) included:

James Tiptree Jr.
Andre Norton
Wally Lamb
The Wheel of Time Series
Gail Simone

Next, I was off to “Does Diversity Sell?” where I mainly just enjoyed the discussion. It gave me something to think about. I think it’s good to write diversely, but I also think it’s good to connect with readers. There might be a Goldilocks zone there somewhere.

In “Loving the Villain” I learned that Frodo and Sam are the assholes that screwed up everything. Resources included:

Once Upon A Time
Legend (Tim Curry)
Sons of Anarchy
It (Book)
Dexter
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Shirley Jackson

Then I went to “The Disappearance of the Beginning, Middle, and End”, which turned out to be quite different than I thought it would be. One thing that stuck with me was, “Things always find their natural shape”. We talked about how many TV shows are keeping things going at all costs. The obvious example was Supernatural. How many times have Sam and Dean died? Some other examples included:

Unbreakable
Jemma
American Horror Story
True Detective

After that it was off to “The Rise of Kink” which was very interesting. Resources mentioned were:

fanfiction.net
reddit
Erika Moen
Cliterature
Sexapalooza

After a quick bite to eat, I headed up to the Chizine Party to see friends. We worked out details for a future panel I’ll be part of in the fall.

Stay tuned for my final post on 2016 Ad Astra, which is coming *soon*.

Ciao,

R~

Merry Monday: Fighting My Way Through

I’m not sure what to say. I’m trying to stay positive. It’s been a tough day from horrible internet interactions to a lung test, which has left me feeling awful. I’m still jittery from too much Ventolin. Also, I discovered I forgot to take my Vitamin D for the past couple of days. Ugh! But I’m starting to feel much better now that it’s kicking in.

But whatever else the week throws at me, Ottawa Comiccon 2016 starts on Friday. Several friends have booths and I can’t wait to escape from the regular world for awhile. Time to plan what panels I’m going to attend!

I’m enjoying my new rear brakes on Pixie. She’s so quiet inside now that it’s weird. I’m so thankful I have a financial advisor to ensure I have emergency funds when major things happen.

I figured out my novel lacks set up, so that’s what I’m currently working on. I’m also having a rather large dilemma. I have my character become a Page, but she’s older than the Page Program allows for. I’ll need to do something creative to make that work. I need her in the House of Commons. I think I just figured out a plot reason why/how…

I should really do some dishes. My place could do with a good cleaning.

Ciao,

R~

Funky Friday: Week of May 6

I’m a day late. Sorry. Yesterday was stressful and it got the best of me.

Personal

Scared: Online dating is scary. I seem to attract creeps who want to do things like walk around with pictures of me in their phone after chatting for an hour. When I explain that’s inappropriate, they freak out at me. Dude, when you make a woman feel like you might try to wear her skin someday, you’re doing it wrong and she doesn’t have to feel bad about deciding not to get to know you better.
Sickish: I’m still coughing from a head cold that began April 21st. It is a little better after drinking some wine last night.
Happy: I had wine last night and other than some heartburn and sleepiness, I didn’t have any reactions. Being yeast sensitive, I don’t drink often, but I felt like I needed to treat myself or celebrate, perhaps. More on that another day.
Excited: I have new ideas for my novel. The things I learned at Ad Astra have helped me begin an analysis to discover problem points. I realized I should do more setup and I have to change the location of Josy’s apartment some because plants are unlikely to thrive in a basement. The plant thing should have been obvious, but wasn’t while I was writing it.
Relieved: My car’s rear right wheel was making grinding noises. It was time for a rear brake job including one caliper. Thankfully, I have a financial advisor and will still be able to eat this month. Incidentally, I was told my caliper got seized because I have two years of mileage on my car instead of four. Use it or lose it just like the human body.
Fun: Thoroughly enjoying my new guitar. A new Xbox 360 breakaway cable should arrive next week for use with Rocksmith.
Confused: I seem to be missing a lot of cables I swore I had. Not just the breakaway cable, but the component on for my TV is missing too.
Sad: I am out of chocolate. Perhaps an excuse to drive my car

Wonder Wednesday: Conflict

It’s funny how in real life I can’t stand conflict. That’s not to say I don’t stand up for myself. It was something I had to learn, though. In the beginning, I would overdo it. I’d be too aggressive because I was overcompensating for all the times I didn’t.

In writing, I love conflict! Whenever a scene feels a little flat I throw a wrench in the works and have my character limp or crawl along. They have to fight against tough odds. The only time I let things calm down is before something worse happens. The calm before the storm. The trick there is keeping enough tension, so the reader doesn’t think the story has ended. I’m still learning to do that.

Conflicting priorities are part of life and it’s no different for writers. To be a good writer I often hear it’s important to have a full life, but then you have to manage your time well. As a writer with a full-time day job, a martial artist, and a hobbyist musician (among other things), I know the struggle well. Add to that the need to read, learn, have a social life, and maybe watch some TV or movies sometimes… (Like Star Wars on May the 4th, perhaps?). Life would be empty without conflict, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Conflict lets me appreciate achievements and downtime more.

At some point, conflict needs to resolve. I managed to get that parking ticket canceled. Happily, I didn’t have to use the phone or drive back to that mall.

I managed to get that parking ticket canceled. Happily, I didn’t have to use the phone or drive back to that mall. I’ve come to hate speaking on the phone. That’s not unusual today, but I think it’s more pronounced because of my introverted nature. We once celebrated spontaneous phone calls or unplanned company. These days it’s a weird thing to do. I’m not sure if it’s a good change. Maybe it has contributed to people having less social skills. I think we’re socializing as though we’re TV characters and that’s bringing about miscommunication and creating unnecessary conflicts.

In writing, conflict doesn’t have to be an axe-wielding wedding interloper. It can be more subtle like the character’s only pants getting soaked. Then we are taken through the steps the character tries to get their pants dry. Once they achieve that, a new conflict that is bigger will be thrust upon them until the theme of the story comes full circle and the character is altered in some fundamental way that changes their existence from that point onward giving them a new “normal”. See how fun conflict is?

Well, if I continue, I’m afraid it will turn into meaningless rambling, so I’ll sign off here.

Ciao,

R

2016 Ad Astra – Day Two (Morning)

Day two got off to a weird start. I had a fantastic shower. Indeed, I loved every minute of it. When it was finished, I peeled back the curtain to see water all over the bathroom floor. For some reason, my brain decided not to put the shower curtain into the tub before showering. My jeans (a.k.a. my only pair of pants) were on the bathroom floor! I frantically waved the hair dryer at them. It was hopeless. Due to time constraints on breakfast, I went down to eat half dressed nicely and half dressed in pajamas. On my way, I asked the guy at the desk in my hotel about the connected mall. He said it didn’t open until noon. Disaster! After food, I talked to the guy at the other hotel’s desk, explained my predicament, and he presented me with a little box of bounce and gave very loose instructions on where to find the laundry room. I roamed the basement halls with my little box of fabric softener and my too wet jeans. I debated entering the Associate’s Only room but was sure I would be reprimanded and continued to wander in the bowels of the hotel. A staff member nearly ran into me and looked at me with incredulity when I explained my mission. He led me to a tiny unmarked room with two little machines and a chair. As I placed my jeans into the dryer, I felt relief wash over me, but it was not without challenge. For in that tiny room, there was little air exchange and the dryer was very hot. I had to prop open the door with my foot in order to remain conscious. At last, in triumph, I ran up the steps to my room to change and hurriedly pack the day’s necessities. I was a touch late arriving at the first panel, but given the morning’s hijinks, I felt OK about it.

In the “How to Outline and Plan Your Story” panel, we talked about pantsing being a good method for short stories and flash fiction, but longer works should have some sort of outline even if it doesn’t go further than 4-5 scenes.

Know everything possible about the protagonist and antagonist.
Knowing the premise of the story, which will bring about the inciting incident and hint at the ending. The premise should tell you if you’re writing a short or long work of fiction.
Long pieces should be broken into the 3 Act Structure with minor climaxes before the major climax where the hero confronts the antagonist and the story resolves. Then overlay the hero’s journey on top of that.

Make character sheets with common words/phrases they say, appearance/clothing, back story, favourite things, etc
Setting outline to immediately immerse the reader in the world like Mad Max

Recommended resources were:

Blake Snyder’s – Save the Cat (beat sheet)
Donald Maass – Writing the Breakout Novel (workbook)
David Farland – The Kick in the Pants (editing passes)

Next, I attended a “Troubleshooting your Manuscript” workshop. As it was something I paid extra for, I’m only going to give some basic details. We talked about the opening scene being made of change, movement, conflict, suspense/unanswered questions, human activity/presence, setting, and narrative POV/camera view. Within that we talked about ways to go about it (sledgehammer vs introducing subtle details). We talked about how improper pacing and trivial dialogue lead to problems in the middle of the book. We talked about problems with character and dialogue tags. A good character example was Scarlet O’Hara because even though she is an awful person, many love her.

In the “Finding a Literary Agent” panel, I learned tips like trying a small handful and using Twitter to find out what kind of stories they are looking for. Query only one agent per agency as they often work together. Never write a query letter from the character’s POV. Get references if they do offer to work for you. Money only flows toward the author. Resources recommended were:

Query Checker forum
Query Shark archives
Writer’s Digest posts (examples of successful query letters)
#MSWL on Twitter

Next, I attended the inaugural panel “Welcome to Hellmaw”. I took no notes save what specifically spoke to my own writing. Want to know more? Check out the Ed Greenwood Group’s page.

The morning was capped off with another workshop, “DIY Publicity: Who to Contact and What to Say” where we learned about analytics and targeted queries for reviews. Recommended resources:

Alexa.com

Well, that was the morning. Stay tuned for the rest of Day Two later this week.

Ciao,

R~

Merry Monday: A Challenging Day

It’s one of those Mondays where I’m having trouble being positive.

I took today off after Ad Astra to recover from the last two weekends of heavy socialization, a head cold, and a lot of learning. I was doing OK and might have stayed so had I got out of bed before 10AM. You see, I lounged about and let my schedule get all wonky. Normally I do this on weekends, but I remember to get my medication into me.

Oops.

I didn’t realize I hadn’t taken my morning dose until I was in line at Walmart, which I was only there because I was looking for an Xbox 360 breakaway cable. Mine went missing and I can’t play Rocksmith without it as the guitar cable needs that piece to plug into the USB port. I was hoping to play it today. Instead, I got pain and fatigue.

At least I got pho today since I had just missed out on it last night when I arrived back in town.

I can’t seem to get the mall security to email me back despite sending them a copy of my receipt as proof that I was shopping there and not parking and riding. Where I could’ve gone in an hour on OC transpo and actually come back, I have no idea. I wonder if there’s any hope in getting it canceled.

As I’m editing my book, I feel like it’s never going to be as awesome as I want it to be. I read the first bit of Ed Greenwood’s Hellmaw: Your World is Doomed and was astounded by the immediate transportation into another place. I want to be able to do that! I know I should definitely not compare myself to such a prolific writer, but damn it’s solid and wonderful. I should find his first novel and see how that one compares to what he is writing now. Everyone starts somewhere after all.

I’m still coughing. Been doing so since around the 22nd. I’m wondering if that will ever end as well.

I had planned to get so much more like laundry and dishes done today also. All I managed was getting a few things from the store and editing a chapter and a half.

So I don’t really know if I have a point here. The week has started off pretty crappily. I suppose that means it should get better from here?

It’s 9PM and I have yet to eat supper. I should probably fix that. Maybe I’ll have something light given the time.

Do I have enough clothes to get me to Wednesday night? I play this game way too often… Maybe someday I’ll be on top of that. I might edit some more while I snack and watch something on Netflix. Or I’ll play some guitar. I was really hoping to play Rocksmith. The cable is going to take a couple of weeks to get here.

Oh, hey I have dairy free chocolate pudding. The day is looking up[image error]

Ciao,

R~

2016 Ad Astra – Day One

Ad Astra began on Friday evening after I checked in and had a burger at the restaurant in the hotel. Registration was a breeze and I got my choice of a free book. I chose Ed Greenwood’s The Iron Assassin.

Later, a familiar friend roamed the halls: R2D2. I heard him through the walls. He sounded upset. Someone was surely trying to put an end to his fun. They’re always telling him what’s appropriate behaviour. For some reason, the picture I took of him got lost.

In the “Give Them A Laugh” panel, we talked about the different types of humour including situational, character, and verbal. In only an hour, it was difficult for the panelists to go into any depth, but there was enough to use as a launch point. One major point was that humour usually has to be interpreted and the reader shouldn’t be hit over the head with a joke. It’s OK if not everyone who reads the story gets it. Some recommended reads/watches were:

– Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

– Dr. Strangelove

– Buffy the Vampire Slayer

– Big Bang Theory

– Robert Asprin

– I, Phone

– Hitchhiker’s Guide

– Major Karnage

– Pirate vs Ninja vs Zombies

– The Technicolor Time Machine by Harry Harrison

– British humour

– Red Skelton

In “Loving What Happens vs Loving Who It Happens to” we talked about agency and how the character should end up in situations because of what actions they previously took. We also talked about unique viewpoints like writing from the perspective of a pet rock. The key is always connecting with the reader on an emotional level. Some recommended reads/listens included:

– Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

– Speculate podcast

– Ursula le Guin

“The Roots of Religion and Folklore” was thoroughly enjoyable. We talked about urban legends such as The Michigan Dog Man. We also talked about how this paranoia we see with conspiracy theorists may go back to the days when paranoia warned there was a dangerous predator because “even chicken-shits have more babies than dead people do.” Recommendations included:

– The Cropsey Documentary

– Michael Moore was mentioned

– A documentary about a guy who pretends to be a murderer and no one ever turns him into the police. Can’t find the name of it.

– Satanic cults of the 1980s

– The Exorcist’s inspiration vs what it became

– The Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspiration vs what it became

– New Jersey “Watchers” letters

– The Fourth Kind

“The Dos and Don’ts of Writing Erotica” was prone to sexual innuendo as they took us through the ins and outs of the trade. The main points were that the sex should further something in the story just like any other plot device. Yes, that means there should be a plot of some sort. It’s also OK to just say they had sex without writing a scene if that’s what makes sense at that point in the book. Apparently dinosaur porn is big right now…

Then it was 11PM and I was too tired to go party, so jammies and a bit of reading were in order.

Ciao,

R~