Nell’s Comments (group member since Mar 31, 2016)

Nell’s comments from the Twenty-Something Authors group.

Read the first 2 chapters here.

Pendire page on my website. I created a little slideshow to go with it. :)

I've used it a few times too to get inspired, haha. When I was making that map for my story I just had to use the generator because there was no creativity left in my brain.

I'm obsessed with the names Abner and Pan right now. I was thinking about writing a series of short stories about them, I just don't know who they are yet. Just their names. Lol.

Ayan wrote: "Alyssa wrote: "Ayan wrote: "About the title, I can only say that, it is the shortest possible explanation of the plot. But do people really do that?"

Yes, they really do. I have no tangible proof ..."

True to form, I just re-read Piper's Folly and decided I don't like it anymore. Lol. If you do read it, you'll have to tell me what you honestly think about it.

Ayan wrote: "Wow, its really good. I'd really like to play it someday :D"

Thanks!! I want to incorporate a board and some pieces too, but my husband says I'm making it too complicated.

Here's what they'll look like when I can afford to buy them:

Ayan wrote: "About the title, I can only say that, it is the shortest possible explanation of the plot. But do people really do that?"

Yes, they really do. I have no tangible proof but deductive reasoning is on my side. I was guilty of doing the same thing in high school. I'd think of some really awesome pull-quote or title, and I'd write a story around it. There's absolutely nothing wrong with doing it that way but it's clear sometimes that authors put more care into the title than the story itself.

I do have a blog. I post my writing, art, and book reviews all in one place. HERE'S the link if you want to look.

What about you, do you have a blog?

I created a card game for my novel, Ash Rising. The game is Pendire and ideally, I'll create my own custom cards. As it is, I've made it work with a standard deck for now.

GOAL:
You are a powerful element-wielder and the personal guard of a beloved royal family. You're travelling back home and are on the road when you're attacked. Your goal is to keep the royals protected by creating constructs, summoning creatures to aid you, and casting spells.

REQUIREMENTS:
* A standard deck, separated by suit - Remove the Jokers
* Pen and paper for each player
* 2-4 players

CARD FUNCTIONS:
Royal: These are the most important cards in the game, because losing both of them is losing the game. They can be attacked by Creature cards, even when you have Construct built to protect them. These cards can't directly attack other cards.

Constructs: These are your defensive cards, and their purpose is to protect your Royal cards. They are directly attacked by Creatures and Spells.

Creatures: These are your first offensive cards. They attack Constructs for all of their face value or Royals for 1/2 of their value. The player has to make this decision before turning over their card.

Spells: These are your second offensive cards, and the ones you hold in your hand. They're the only cards you have direct control over. Since they're in your hand, you can see them all and plan accordingly. They attack Constructs at face value.

Aces: Aces are low in this game, valued at 1.

SETUP:
* Write the following along the top of your paper:
- Strength (This is the current value of your Royal card.)
- Defense (This is the current value of your Construct card.)

* Separate the deck into the 4 suits, giving 1 suit to each player

* Shuffle your 13 cards
*If there are 2 players, you can combine two of the suits and double all of the piles to make the game last longer

* Create the following piles for yourself, face down:
- 2 Royals
- 3 Constructs
- 3 Creatures

* Keep the 5 remaining cards in your hand

* Flip 1 Royal and 1 Construct

Here is a picture of the card layout on a tabletop. Red cards are backs, white cards are faces.
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

Here is a picture of each deck's discard pile:
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

Here is a picture of the deck names and the number of cards in each deck:
(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]

GAMEPLAY:
The first thing you have to do is decide who is going to go first. If there are 2-3 players, deal from one of the unused suits. Highest card gets the first turn, then move clockwise. If there are 4 players, you each shuffle your own decks and turn over the top card. Highest card gets the first turn, then move clockwise.

* A player's turn is divided into 2 parts.
Part 1: Recording any attacks made against them.
Part 2: Doing one of the following: replacing destroyed Constructs by flipping a Construct card, replacing killed Royals cards, dealing from your hand to directly attack the other player's Construct, or flipping a Creature card to directly attack the other player's Construct.

* Before flipping a Creature card, you have to decide if you are attacking the Royal or the Construct. If you attack the Royal, you flip the card and do 1/2 of its value as damage. If it is an uneven number, round up. If you attack the Construct, you flip the card and do all of its value as damage. The other player will record this information on their sheet.

* If the value of your Creature or Spell card exceeds the value of the other player's Construct card, the remainder is taken out of their next Construct card. If they have no remaining Construct cards, the remainder is taken out of the Royal card.

* The game ends either when a player's final Royal dies or both players still have Royals alive but have no more Spells or Creatures. If that's the case, the player with the most Strength is the winner.

I myself have always enjoyed coming up with names. Names for characters, lands, story titles, etc. My personal favorites are names for goblins and plants.

This topic is for names only. Tell us your ideas but make sure you specify whether or not it's okay for others to use them. If you just want to brag about a cool name you had for a future story you're going to write, that's okay too!

I've made a Share folder because sometimes I come up with stray ideas for things I know I'll never write, but I don't want them to go to waste.

This topic is for plots only. Tell us your ideas but make sure you specify whether or not it's okay for others to use them. If you just want to brag about an idea you had for a future story you're going to write, that's okay too!

Ayan,

I never mean to pressure people by creating folders! You're not the first to say something like that, so maybe I should rethink the setup of this group. I don't want anyone to feel like they have to post something.

What you said about starting something but then coming up with a better idea halfway through--Jonas and the others can attest that I do the exact same thing. It's frustrating! I've started and re-started both of my novels at least half a dozen times.

I like the title, One Goes Home, Dies Alone, but don't fall into that pit some authors do, where you can just tell they came up with a kickass title and struggled to create a story around it. Be willing to change it if the story grows and changes, or else your readers will know. (See The Sin-Eater's Daughter for reference.)

When I get busy, I like to set aside a little time to do something creative. Even if it's just 10 minutes, or else I'll start to get upset, too. I had a long conversation with my old metals professor about it and he said he gets up at 5 every morning so that he can write for an hour before going to work.

I could never get up that early, but I took that idea and used it. Even if I had nothing in mind, if I wasn't working on a story or thought that I had writer's block, I still wrote. Ideas, names, random world-building, things like that. Anything creative.

So I'd recommend a routine. Set an alarm on your phone and take 10 minutes out of the day to write something down. Honestly, it helped me get through my writer's block last year.

Hope this helps!

I spent a few days before I started writing the story to flesh out the outline. I have to know exactly what happens at every point in the story before I start it or else I'll make mistakes, or lose track of sub-plots and things like that.

My outline is about 50 pages long. Broken down into Acts, like a play, and bullet-pointed. That's the only reason I've been able to fly through the story the way I have. Outlining is so, so worth it.

Ayan, welcome to the group! Your folder is all ready, so start posting those great ideas. :) It's right HERE. (I'll delete my "Visible" post once you create your own.)

I, too, am not always the best at time management. I've been hauling ass lately, though--I've written over 100 pages to my novel in the last 3 days!

This thread is just to make Natasha's folder visible.

This is just to make Michelle's folder visible :)

This post is just to make the folder visible. Once Rajkumar creates his own topic, I'll delete this.

Have fun writing, Rajkumar!

I wish I could settle on a freaking outline for this story. I'm driving myself crazy. But I think having Aurea be the only MC and giving her more unique traits will help. Maybe I'll actually keep this outline now.

I decided to change A Tide Rising again. I have a serious problem, lol.

The garlic grenade is cool. I have a UV bomb in my story so a grenade wouldn't be too far off, though garlic doesn't hurt my vampires.