Katherine Frances's Blog, page 10
September 9, 2018
brynwrites:
A gentle reminder that while I have a book published (siren! pirates! okay yeah enough...
A gentle reminder that while I have a book published (siren! pirates! okay yeah enough with the marketing), I’m still editing the first novel I wrote.
It’s okay if your first novel takes a long time.
It’s okay if you have to rewrite it and rewrite it and then thoroughly edit it and then rewrite it again.
It’s okay if you take long breaks from editing it to write other things.
It’s okay if you drop it entirely because you finish up your second or third novel and decide putting effort into those is a better use of your time.
It’s okay.That first novel is still worth all the time and love you put into it, so long as you figure out what went wrong, and learn from the mistakes. You’ll make less mistakes during your second novel. And if you keep learning and keep growing and keep writing, each stories after that (while many bring their own new skills to be conquered) will get easier, even if the process is so slow that you don’t notice it in the moment.
Your worth as a writer is not defined by your first novel. It’s not defined by your second novel. Or your third.
A writer’s worth is not defined until they put the final touches on the last novel they’ll ever write.So don’t give up. Don’t stop writing. Don’t stop editing. Don’t stop publishing.
Don’t let this be your last novel.
“IF I AM WORTH ANYTHING LATER,
I AM WORTH SOMETHING NOW.
FOR WHEAT IS WHEAT,
EVEN IF PEOPLE THINK IT IS
A GRASS IN THE BEGINNING.”— Van Gogh
* Applies to all creative endeavours, not just novels.
windowpane-reflections:
maramahan:
I love characters who don’t know who they are
Not characters...
I love characters who don’t know who they are
Not characters who are liars—who know what they are and pretend to be otherwise—but characters who honestly genuinely don’t know how they’ll behave under pressure
The character who feels like a coward but will jump in front of a bus to save a friend
The character who talks like a hero but when the worst happens they can’t help but crumble
The character who truly has no idea if they are selfish or selfless and is terrified to find out and risk disappointing the people they love
And then when you bring in a variety of situations—the character who is useful through action scenes but loses all composure when it comes to a medical emergency
I love these characters, because that space between ‘fight’ ‘flight’ and ‘freeze’ is such an interesting one, and the doubt that comes with it is a heck of a conflict to explore
Also, those characters are pretty relatable.
September 8, 2018
sixpenceee:
Karymsky Lake is a crater lake located in the...
Karymsky Lake is a crater lake located in the Karymsky volcano in Russia. With a radius of 5 km it was once one of the world’s largest fresh water lakes, but as a result of a recent eruption toxic gases turned this into one of the largest acid water lakes.
pigeonbooks:
More often than not I’ll crack into a sprawling fantasy series and, while I appreciate...
More often than not I’ll crack into a sprawling fantasy series and, while I appreciate the luscious descriptions of furniture, landscapes, and clothing, all I’m focused on is that I don’t actually know how this world works. I only know what it looks like.
Including some functionality to your universe can add to immersion and give your reader a strong foundation on which to build their mental model of your universe.
You certainly don’t need to use all of these questions! In fact, I recommend against that, as all of these certainly won’t make it into your final draft. I personally find that starting my worldbuilding off with 5 to 10 functional questions helps pave the way for glittery and elaborate aesthetic development later on.
How is the healthcare funded in your world?
How does healthcare functionally differ between the wealthy and the poor? (i.e. can only the wealthy go to hospitals? do poor families often have to rely on back-alley procedures?)
Where are health centers (i.e. hospitals, small clinics, etc.) organized in your cities?
Does it differ in smaller towns?
How does this affect people’s ability to get healthcare?
Is healthcare magical, and if it is, how does that affect the healthcare system?
If healing is instantaneous, how does that affect people’s views on injury, illness, and chronic ailments?If you have both magical and physical healthcare, which one is deemed superior and how does that affect society?
What illnesses are common in your world?
How does this affect daily life? What do the people in your world think illnesses are?
Is it a miasma theory?
Humor theory?
Demons?
Do they know about biological viruses and bacteria?
How does this affect healthcare?How do people get water?
Is the water sanitary and if not, how do they sanitize it?How does agriculture work?
Is it large corporations or individual farms?
What sort of agricultural technology exists in your world and how does it affect food production?
Are farmers wealthy or poor?
What sort of natural resources does your world/country(ies) have and how are they obtained?
How does this affect the average wealth of the country?
How does this wealth affect the culture?
What livestock or beasts of burden are most valued? Least valued? Why?
What is considered a luxury good vs. a regular good?What forms of transportation does your world have?
What classes use what forms of transportation?
How far has the average citizen traveled, given your transportation limitations?
Which cities are the most accessible and which are the least? Why?
How do popular transportation methods change how cities/towns are laid out?
Does your world have public transportation? What is it?
Is there a coming-of-age aspect to travel?
Describe your world’s postal system or whatever equivalent there is.
Who pays for it?
How reliable is it?
Are there emergency methods for transporting information?How does your world keep time (i.e. watches, sundials, water clock, etc.)?
Does your world have a currency system, barter system, or something else?
If you have multiple countries, do different currencies have different values across said countries?
How does this affect travel?Do you have banks in your world and if so, how are they run?
Who owns the banks? Government? Wealthy? How does this affect the economy and/or class system?How does credit operate in your universe?
Does your world operate more on big corporations or small business? Something in between?
How are workers/labourers treated in your world?
Are there workers unions and if so, what are common views on unions? Describe your tax system. If you don’t have a tax system, explain why and how your world is affected by that.
Can certain social classes not own property, certain livestock, certain businesses, etc.? Why?
How are business records kept? Are business records kept?
If your world has technology, does your world prioritize developing entertainment tech, communications tech, transportation tech or something else entirely?
What does this say about your world?
How does this affect your economy?To the closest approximation, what type of government does your world have?
How are rulers/presidents/nobles put in place?
How much power does an individual ruler have?
Is there a veto process?
If you have multiple countries, do they have different types of rulers?
Describe any large-scale alliances (i.e. countries, factions, etc.) that are present in your world.
How did they come about and how are they maintained?
Are they strained or peaceful?
How does it affect the greater politics of your world?
Describe how wars are fought both internationally and nationally.
Do methods of war differ between countries/races?
What about philosophies about war?
If there is a military, what is its hierarchy structure?
How does the military recruit?
Is the military looked upon favourably in your society?
What weapons are used by each country/type of people during warfare, and how does that affect war strategies?
Describe the sentencing system of your world.
Is your accused innocent until proven guilty, or guilty until proven innocent?How are lawbreakers punished?
If you have prisons, describe how they are organized and run, and who owns them.
Does differing ownership change how the prisons operate?
What are the major ways in which laws between countries vary?
Do laws between cities vary? If so, how and why?How does citizenship work in your world? What rights and privileges do citizens have that others do not?
Can certain classes or races not become citizens?Are there certain taboo subjects or opinions that artist/authors/musicians are not allowed to depict (i.e. portraying the official religion in a negative light, explicit sexual material, etc.)? What does this say about your society?
How do people get around these censorship laws?What is the official hierarchy of duty in your world? (i.e. is family the most important, or patriotism? What about clan?)
How many languages are there in your world, and how many languages share a common origin?
How many people are multilingual?
Which language is the most common?
How is multilingualism viewed?
How are different languages viewed? (i.e. is one language ugly/barbaric while another is romantic and sensual?)Feel free to add your own questions in reblogs or in comments!
