Novelists, The

Rosendorn

Rosendorn · Jul 31, 2009

So, writing this at ten thirty because I've currently got my novel open and am rewriting. Gosh, rewriting. I should really get the new synopsis written up (my last one was something like two months ago... the subplots have changed too much to keep track of at this point. Which includes my most recent change) but as I mentioned it is ten thirty. xD

Murr. So. Change the minor antagonists around (from the MC's sister to her brother) and am currently working on the reasons behind my major antagonist to be the way he is. Control of the people, or wanting to break away from dependence on a race he can't control? Maybe a mix of both. The guy has control issues from not having any when he was a kid.

Need to have the sister become interested in what Kerani is doing. That is going rather well, considering that was not my original intent. But, kindness and no interest result in a plot hole, so I'm doing it. Once I change it to kindness things went a lot better, though. Go figure. I'm going to need to rewrite some minor bits, but those are not plot-crucial so for now they shall be left alone. My next chapter is the start of the actual plot (49 pages in, and that's without chapter four rewritten. Eash. I hope character tensions can lead it through) so I want to get that nice and out soon. Although, I must rewrite before I can move forward.

Hasin also needs to become more antagonistic and dismissive of Kerani. He likes her so long as she's quiet and has the possibility to advance his carrier. Which means as soon as she goes public with her powers he won't like her and I have an excuse not to write him in to a few later chapters.

... I should probably find a way to include some of these characters, like Kerani's mother. There's so much juicy stuff there, like how she treats her two daughters, but my plot doesn't like any more character interactions crammed into the beginning when there are already a lot. Not to mention I want to start the story already. Her siblings and her soon-to-be siblings (so far, hehe) are giving me enough trouble already. Anything more feels like too much. But, should I actually put a scene in for the mother's departure I can put some tensions in. I need to do that anyway. Later, though. I do have a note. Not to mention I need to figure out where to put that in.

That's enough crazy rambling for tonight. I feel like getting some of this dialogue done so I have an idea where I'm going. When the plot kick-off requires some very detailed character relationships, I put in the rewriting time.

So, writing this at ten thirty because I've currently got my novel open and am rewriting. Gosh, rewriting. I should really get the new synopsis written up (my last one was something like two months ago... the subplots have changed too much to keep track of at this point. Which includes my most recent change) but as I mentioned it is ten thirty. xD

Murr. So. Change the minor antagonists around (from the MC's sister to her brother) and am currently working on the reasons behind my major antagonist to be the way he is. Control of the people, or wanting to break away from dependence on a race he can't control? Maybe a mix of both. The guy has control issues from not having any when he was a kid.

Need to have the sister become interested in what Kerani is doing. That is going rather well, considering that was not my original intent. But, kindness and no interest result in a plot hole, so I'm doing it. Once I change it to kindness things went a lot better, though. Go figure. I'm going to need to rewrite some minor bits, but those are not plot-crucial so for now they shall be left alone. My next chapter is the start of the actual plot (49 pages in, and that's without chapter four rewritten. Eash. I hope character tensions can lead it through) so I want to get that nice and out soon. Although, I must rewrite before I can move forward.

Hasin also needs to become more antagonistic and dismissive of Kerani. He likes her so long as she's quiet and has the possibility to advance his carrier. Which means as soon as she goes public with her powers he won't like her and I have an excuse not to write him in to a few later chapters.

... I should probably find a way to include some of these characters, like Kerani's mother. There's so much juicy stuff there, like how she treats her two daughters, but my plot doesn't like any more character interactions crammed into the beginning when there are already a lot. Not to mention I want to start the story already. Her siblings and her soon-to-be siblings (so far, hehe) are giving me enough trouble already. Anything more feels like too much. But, should I actually put a scene in for the mother's departure I can put some tensions in. I need to do that anyway. Later, though. I do have a note. Not to mention I need to figure out where to put that in.

That's enough crazy rambling for tonight. I feel like getting some of this dialogue done so I have an idea where I'm going. When the plot kick-off requires some very detailed character relationships, I put in the rewriting time.

Rosendorn

Rosendorn · Aug 7, 2009

Figured it was about time I posted the synop, no? xD

So... if you have somehow stumbled upon this thread and are reading my novel, I would suggest you turn back. This is the whole plot, since I really need to get this out and I figured that posting it would help. (Keep in mind you won't get the beginning of this, since I've written that out and am rather happy with it)

Next up is Akmal twisting a few arms to get Kerani to go on pretty much what will be a death trap for her. He'll have to bribe Ranya with somebody to protect her like that, and Hasin is half-happy to see her leave, plus he knows that if he helps out the Emperor by doing this his chances of promotion get increased greatly. Ranya, following the world's custom, has no say in this. She is not happy. Especially since she dislikes the prince, whom she will be traveling with and protecting in Ma'Terre. She makes up her mind to use the dense forests around Ma'Terre to leave Deven and go back to her family, because at the moment she doesn't care and really fears kidnappers/assassins since an attack just happened.

That decision happens after the meeting, though. During the meeting I can wiggle in an explanation of magic and more history. Which I just did before that scene, but, whatever.

Now when to have them leave? The start seems to be early enough in the day, so they could leave that night... Meh, doesn't fit. Maybe three days? I have this thing with getting them to leave on the full moon, for some foreshadowing reasons later on (and I'm trying to think in chronological order so that detail will come later!)

Once on the road, Kerani has her guard, Deven, and Deven's guard. GRAH! That was supposed to make sense but suddenly it doesn't. If Kerani is meant to guard Deven why would they need more than a chaperone? If Kerani doesn't have any influence over the decision then why would her guard come? Murrr Ohh, what could happen is Deven requesting another guard for Kerani because he doesn't think she's up to the task, and that means she can wiggle in to request the guard that trained her. Or, by now, her guard has risen up in the ranks and would be the one chosen. I'm liking the later option.

So, I think I'll pick this up tomorrow. At least I figured out the scenes that had been bothering me.

Figured it was about time I posted the synop, no? xD

So... if you have somehow stumbled upon this thread and are reading my novel, I would suggest you turn back. This is the whole plot, since I really need to get this out and I figured that posting it would help. (Keep in mind you won't get the beginning of this, since I've written that out and am rather happy with it)

Next up is Akmal twisting a few arms to get Kerani to go on pretty much what will be a death trap for her. He'll have to bribe Ranya with somebody to protect her like that, and Hasin is half-happy to see her leave, plus he knows that if he helps out the Emperor by doing this his chances of promotion get increased greatly. Ranya, following the world's custom, has no say in this. She is not happy. Especially since she dislikes the prince, whom she will be traveling with and protecting in Ma'Terre. She makes up her mind to use the dense forests around Ma'Terre to leave Deven and go back to her family, because at the moment she doesn't care and really fears kidnappers/assassins since an attack just happened.

That decision happens after the meeting, though. During the meeting I can wiggle in an explanation of magic and more history. Which I just did before that scene, but, whatever.

Now when to have them leave? The start seems to be early enough in the day, so they could leave that night... Meh, doesn't fit. Maybe three days? I have this thing with getting them to leave on the full moon, for some foreshadowing reasons later on (and I'm trying to think in chronological order so that detail will come later!)

Once on the road, Kerani has her guard, Deven, and Deven's guard. GRAH! That was supposed to make sense but suddenly it doesn't. If Kerani is meant to guard Deven why would they need more than a chaperone? If Kerani doesn't have any influence over the decision then why would her guard come? Murrr Ohh, what could happen is Deven requesting another guard for Kerani because he doesn't think she's up to the task, and that means she can wiggle in to request the guard that trained her. Or, by now, her guard has risen up in the ranks and would be the one chosen. I'm liking the later option.

So, I think I'll pick this up tomorrow. At least I figured out the scenes that had been bothering me.

Rosendorn

Rosendorn · Aug 26, 2009

Almost three weeks later...

Point for of synopsis:

~ Bandits jump the group on the road. Kerani and Deven have to fight back to back, which she doesn't like because she has to keep his neck safe as well as hers. They manage to win, but Kerani gets injured a fair bit because she was keeping two necks safe. Deven is also injured, but minorly, and when he passes out from pain/blood loss, Kerani and her guard look at each other and say "wimp" since they're injured worse than he is and are still somewhat functioning. Kerani a little more than barely, but she pushes herself since her teacher is there.

~ Deven, the next day, think's he's really worse for wear after that attack. When Kerani doesn't stay to talk to him he grabs her arm on one of her wounds. She bites back a yell and tells him to let go. He gets worried/curious and lets go. The pain has taken away her strength for now, she she goes to rest and overhears her guard/teacher tell Deven what she did and her wounds. Her teacher then goes and starts to tend her, with Deven near by to see for himself how badly off she is. He's rather astounded and doesn't complain about his minor wounds again. He also helps tend her. Past secret to be had here!

~ In Ma-Terre, we find out the emperor's the villain and there's the shock that comes with it. Not sure how many scenes that will take up.

~ Kerani and Deven get the training in the magic, but by now Kerani somewhat dislikes Deven since even though he's not treating her as a wimp anymore (and that did do some damage to any relationship they had, but said relationship was already damaged) he now treats her very weirdly, somewhere between a proper lady and one of the guys. She just wants him to smarten up already.

At the same time, her dislike also comes from how hesitant she is to get close to anybody. She's telling herself she dislikes him, that he's her sister's, to the point she hardly talks to him even if he does treat her nicely. She then tells him her best friends were sent away "for her own good" (her parents feared she'd get distracted from her task of protecting her sister with friends) and one of them was her boyfriend. She breaks down a bit at this point, and he understands the pain of having somebody leave so he understands her behavior. Details of this are still fuzzy.

~ A debated plot point I had is, since Akmal was never really "emperor" according to the gods, that Deven would become emperor while in Ma'Terre.

~ Debated plot point #2 is having Kerani swear to serve him (after the above, I'm thinking that's going to get cut)

~ Somewhere in here I had a test for them becoming true mages. Not sure if I want to put that in anymore.

~ Bit of a logic kink here. I need to find a way to get Kerani and Deven back to the palace under guard. It wouldn't make much sense for two of the best guards in the palace to be waiting for them for six months. Hm. Since the rajputs know that the prince is in Ma'Terre, he goes to them to ask for a guard and Kerani trails along behind them, arriving a few hours or even a day later.

~ The emperor is not happy to see they're back; he sent them out to die (those "bandits"? Assassins for Kerani since she has the possibility to see through his plans!)

I need to stop getting distracted. Ah well. I've not got the synopsis written down elsewhere, so I can stop now and just use this thread for updates on how I'm doing! :lol:

Almost three weeks later...

Point for of synopsis:

~ Bandits jump the group on the road. Kerani and Deven have to fight back to back, which she doesn't like because she has to keep his neck safe as well as hers. They manage to win, but Kerani gets injured a fair bit because she was keeping two necks safe. Deven is also injured, but minorly, and when he passes out from pain/blood loss, Kerani and her guard look at each other and say "wimp" since they're injured worse than he is and are still somewhat functioning. Kerani a little more than barely, but she pushes herself since her teacher is there.

~ Deven, the next day, think's he's really worse for wear after that attack. When Kerani doesn't stay to talk to him he grabs her arm on one of her wounds. She bites back a yell and tells him to let go. He gets worried/curious and lets go. The pain has taken away her strength for now, she she goes to rest and overhears her guard/teacher tell Deven what she did and her wounds. Her teacher then goes and starts to tend her, with Deven near by to see for himself how badly off she is. He's rather astounded and doesn't complain about his minor wounds again. He also helps tend her. Past secret to be had here!

~ In Ma-Terre, we find out the emperor's the villain and there's the shock that comes with it. Not sure how many scenes that will take up.

~ Kerani and Deven get the training in the magic, but by now Kerani somewhat dislikes Deven since even though he's not treating her as a wimp anymore (and that did do some damage to any relationship they had, but said relationship was already damaged) he now treats her very weirdly, somewhere between a proper lady and one of the guys. She just wants him to smarten up already.

At the same time, her dislike also comes from how hesitant she is to get close to anybody. She's telling herself she dislikes him, that he's her sister's, to the point she hardly talks to him even if he does treat her nicely. She then tells him her best friends were sent away "for her own good" (her parents feared she'd get distracted from her task of protecting her sister with friends) and one of them was her boyfriend. She breaks down a bit at this point, and he understands the pain of having somebody leave so he understands her behavior. Details of this are still fuzzy.

~ A debated plot point I had is, since Akmal was never really "emperor" according to the gods, that Deven would become emperor while in Ma'Terre.

~ Debated plot point #2 is having Kerani swear to serve him (after the above, I'm thinking that's going to get cut)

~ Somewhere in here I had a test for them becoming true mages. Not sure if I want to put that in anymore.

~ Bit of a logic kink here. I need to find a way to get Kerani and Deven back to the palace under guard. It wouldn't make much sense for two of the best guards in the palace to be waiting for them for six months. Hm. Since the rajputs know that the prince is in Ma'Terre, he goes to them to ask for a guard and Kerani trails along behind them, arriving a few hours or even a day later.

~ The emperor is not happy to see they're back; he sent them out to die (those "bandits"? Assassins for Kerani since she has the possibility to see through his plans!)

I need to stop getting distracted. Ah well. I've not got the synopsis written down elsewhere, so I can stop now and just use this thread for updates on how I'm doing! :lol:

Rosendorn

Rosendorn · Jan 1, 2010

Eash. Loooooong time since the last update.

Chapter 1 is now up on YWS for reviews. I'm having some pesky problems with character voice. Might need to do some sketches because, upon talking about it, I actually have the problems being brought up down in the rest of the novel. It's just that pesky chapter 1...

I have been reading a lot of Limyaael rants. Maybe more than is healthy. I'm in early 05 and I've been at it maybe five days. :lol:

According to them, I'm fine for practically everything (so far) other than spunkiness. I think Kerani will get a dose of cynicism as well, just because she tends to make offhanded remarks rather easily. Especially with the villain or anybody set up as her rival. Or the times she's going through her sister's belongings for reasons that are not snooping (Kerani has an odd trait of knowing a lot about fashion from observation and will sometimes pick outfits for her sister to wear). It's rather funny and so fun to write.

I'm realizing that a fair chunk of scenes need to be tweaked in order for the plot to move forward smoothly. I'm beginning to rely on information she gleaned from a couple of banquets early on in the story, but those banquets are shockingly thin in content. The one I draw on the most, sad to say, is just a summery of what was learned. I must flesh that scene out in order to show the lovely secondary character relationships. I have a few planned, all of them leading to one sub plot or another, but none have been properly written as of yet. I plan on changing this soon.

Character sketches are next on the agenda, I believe. I'm really interested in Kerani's reactions the first time she killed at 12/13, and the time she heard the legend about a sage who kept a bloodline from dying out because of a certain branch of magic, which is also Kerani's branch of magic. Both make deep impressions on her, and since she's going to kill rather shortly I'd like to know that reaction. The legend is where she gets her sense of duty from, and that's playing more of a roll than I foresaw.

Eash. Loooooong time since the last update.

Chapter 1 is now up on YWS for reviews. I'm having some pesky problems with character voice. Might need to do some sketches because, upon talking about it, I actually have the problems being brought up down in the rest of the novel. It's just that pesky chapter 1...

I have been reading a lot of Limyaael rants. Maybe more than is healthy. I'm in early 05 and I've been at it maybe five days. :lol: According to them, I'm fine for practically everything (so far) other than [url=http://limyaael.livejournal.com/321426.html]spunkiness[/url]. I think Kerani will get a dose of [url=http://limyaael.livejournal.com/364268.html]cynicism[/url] as well, just because she tends to make offhanded remarks rather easily. Especially with the villain or anybody set up as her rival. Or the times she's going through her sister's belongings for reasons that are not snooping (Kerani has an odd trait of knowing a lot about fashion from observation and will sometimes pick outfits for her sister to wear). It's rather funny and so fun to write.

I'm realizing that a fair chunk of scenes need to be tweaked in order for the plot to move forward smoothly. I'm beginning to rely on information she gleaned from a couple of banquets early on in the story, but those banquets are shockingly thin in content. The one I draw on the most, sad to say, is just a summery of what was learned. I must flesh that scene out in order to show the lovely secondary character relationships. I have a few planned, all of them leading to one sub plot or another, but none have been properly written as of yet. I plan on changing this soon.

Character sketches are next on the agenda, I believe. I'm really interested in Kerani's reactions the first time she killed at 12/13, and the time she heard the legend about a sage who kept a bloodline from dying out because of a certain branch of magic, which is also Kerani's branch of magic. Both make deep impressions on her, and since she's going to kill rather shortly I'd like to know that reaction. The legend is where she gets her sense of duty from, and that's playing more of a roll than I foresaw.

Rosendorn

Rosendorn · Feb 18, 2010

Well... those character sketches never ended up happening. I just rewrote my beginning so it worked better. Thank you Karsten!

I'm currently grappling with a scene where I have the option of very richly describing how my character feels when her magic is activated. Problem is, I'm not sure how! I've always treated her magic as radar; she can know a groups mood and she can know a single person's mood. Very intense emotions cause her to feel that way as well. Maybe she feels the emotions as if she's emotional, but she's gotten so used to masking that all she doesn't react to everyday emotions anymore? I think that's actually it.

And I just realized how that can work for the killers she senses. They're driven by the desire to kill, so she feels a desire to kill and uses that as fuel. Plus the usual fight or flight reaction.

Now I can keep on going with this scene! As soon as I figure out how to get my main characters back to back so they can be in the best fighting position. I think what I'll do is have the MC get to a guy coming for the prince, and get the prince to block a guy going after her back. That should work.

Well... those character sketches never ended up happening. I just rewrote my beginning so it worked better. Thank you Karsten!

I'm currently grappling with a scene where I have the option of very richly describing how my character feels when her magic is activated. Problem is, I'm not sure how! I've always treated her magic as radar; she can know a groups mood and she can know a single person's mood. Very intense emotions cause her to feel that way as well. Maybe she feels the emotions as if she's emotional, but she's gotten so used to masking that all she doesn't react to everyday emotions anymore? I think that's actually it.

And I just realized how that can work for the killers she senses. They're driven by the desire to kill, so she feels a desire to kill and uses that as fuel. Plus the usual fight or flight reaction.

Now I can keep on going with this scene! As soon as I figure out how to get my main characters back to back so they can be in the best fighting position. I think what I'll do is have the MC get to a guy coming for the prince, and get the prince to block a guy going after her back. That should work.

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