Young Writers Society

I know I have already made a thread for the 'nameless novel', but now that I've actually started writing it from the beginning, I figured a new one wouldn't hurt.

The story:
The plot is still pretty undeveloped, but I've decided on this so far:

Ayra has lived a completely normal life for thirteen and a half years. She's made friends, she goes to school - basically, she's just for average kid.
And then Guinevere comes. This is explained in the second part of the prologue (which I haven't yet posted on YWS).

In a nutshell, Isaria, Ayra's mother (this is all happening in another world, just thought I'd let you know) asks her to go to Earth as part of her training. Isaria is the kingdom mage (the other world is called 'The Kingdom of Rain'), highly respected. Guinevere is under strict instructions NOT to tell Ayra anything about the Kingdom, as Isaria doesn't think her daughter is ready yet.

Why isn't she ready? Simply because when she was a baby, Isaria cast a masking charm over her, so that she looks and acts human. (Oh yeah, under all the charm stuff she is one of the Elkari, as are Guinevere and Isaria.)
The charm hasn't worn off. Isaria warns Guinevere that should she use any spells and whatnot, the masking charm will begin to deteriorate. (You should also know that Isaria wears a masking charm too, and she acts as Ayra's normal mother while on Earth.)

Ayra and Guinevere become friends. Well, at first Guinevere hates Ayra's guts and basically ignores her, but then Ayra finds Guin's diary... she doesn't believe in the Kingdom at first, obviously.

And the rest is yet to be decided! I'm one of those people who decide the plot as they go - planning ahead sends me into writer's block. XD

Problems:
I have a lot of issues with characterization. Which probably isn't a good thing, lol. I've joined the Character Developement Usergroup and I'm doing research and exercises, so we'll see if that helps any.

That's about it, so far. Keywords being 'so far'.

Projects:

- Research and learn how to use the 'extended metaphor' (suggested by Dream of Fayth)
- Create a basic sketch of the are in the Kingdom where Isaria and Guinevere live
- Work on character developement

Posted on YWS so far:

- Prologue - part one

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I kind of dumped that on you guys, didn't I?

... so if you have any questions, please ask.

And help is greatly appreciated, as are comments and such.

- Camille

^_^ Read prologue, commented. It looks lovely. Oh! If you need help with characterization I'd be happy to give you some tips if I can. Characters are the most important thing in a story, after all.

Good luck! You're off to a good start.

^_^ Keek!

(Have you ever read Tithe by Holly Black? =P Your story reminds me of it a little, though that's probably just because I'm looking at a short resume and not the actual thing.)

Thanks so much, Keek! (Is that your real name? I love it!)

I don't know exactly what my problems are for characterization -- once I post the first chapter, I'll read it over, compare it to other pieces, and try to figure out what's missing.

Cheers,
Camille

=P Keek's not my real name. I don't know how it started. One of my friend's started calling me Kiki, and then another (more mature) friend started calling me Keek. Which I like since my middle name is Kathleen and my first name is Akilah. ^_^

Good luck with the characters. viewarticlebody.php?t=18786&highlight I saw this this morning. I haven't read it yet, but maybe it will help?

^_^ Keek!

Thanks!

That article really helped. Snoink is so smart!

Anyways, here's my progress:

- I have started to research the extended metaphor, and it looks great.
- I am almost finished my self-edit of the second part of the prologue. To be posted on YWS soon!
- Done several rough sketches of the region in the Kingdom where Ayra lives, as well as one of her community in Ottawa. (Where she lives on Earth.)

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Well, it's coming along! (AKA I'm procrastinating, lol.)

You are great with wolves! I know you are basically obsessed but I think it's really fun and you are a great writer!

Keep Writing!

~D'Aedomir~

Hehe, thanks Aedomir!

Progress:
- Done some basic character sketches (I'm not much of an artist, but 'twas fun)
- Written a few experimental pieces using the extended metaphor
- Completed a map of The Kingdom of Rain

Things to do:
- Print out some characterization activities
- Type up the second part of the prologue

Research:
I just realized that I'm going to need to research some diseases and whatnot, because about halfway through the book, Ayra encounters a village dying from a strange disease. I'm thinking of making it an ailment that already exists... which brings me to my project:
I was thinking, and I realized that a lot of the diseases we have today are kind of self-inflicted. I mean, a lot of people wouldn't have lung issues if they didn't smoke, right? And there's no cigarettes or anything in the Kingdom. So, Im going to have to research what kind of diseases were around a couple centuries ago -- I know some, like scurvy, but I think I should know more.

The complete prologue is up!

Just in case you guys are interested. (Hint, hint!)

(Have you ever read Tithe by Holly Black? =P Your story reminds me of it a little, though that's probably just because I'm looking at a short resume and not the actual thing.)

I haven't, but is it good? I mean, should I read it? XD

Cheers,
Camille

I loved it. ^_^ Check out her site (Holly Black, google, it should show up) and make sure you read them in order. =P I think it's Tithe, Valiant, and Iron*insert the rest of the word*.

^_^ They're good. I doubt they'll be like yours exactly, but there is a similar theme ish. But read it just for the goodness of it, they're great stuff.

Thanks Keek! ^.^

Okay, there's going to be a delay in the story. I can't post it for a long time as I'm seriously grounded (see my blog for details) and I won't have computer access except for at school and when my mom is out of the house. >.<

Just thought I should let you know! This means that my rewrites for the prologue and Alphess won't be posted for a while.

Your miserable writer,
Camille

Still grounded, as you might have noticed by my lack of active-ness on YWS.

But I'm getting a lot of work done for my story. Which is a good thing, no? I'm almost done my rewrite for the prologue, and all I need to do is post my rewrite of Alphess - part 1. But I probably won't be able to until I'm un-grounded.

I keep having these random flashes from my story. I keep seeing Ayra under a stormy sky, tossing her mane of blue-tinted black hair back and laughing, almost arrogantly. Which tells me that she needs to be arrogant; I have an instinct. Should I follow it?

Anyways. I've sketched her head in my notebook, and something tells me that she needs to have amber and brown eyes. According to the Mary-Sue litmus test, having an unusual eye colour is mary-sue-ish... jeez, I sound like a nerd. But I imagine her irises as being wolf-gold, flecked with splinters of a soft brown colour. Does that sound okay? I'm going to keep them that way regardless, but I'd appreciate your opinions. If anyone actually reads my rants here anymore.

Bah, intuition is great. Go for it. Just write it and see where it leads you. ^_^

*agrees with Sam*

If it doesn't work out the way you wanted you can always go back and revise.

Prokaryote

Thanks, you guys!

I haven't really gotten much done over March Break so far, but I bought a really nice notebook (leather, artist paper) so I'm going to attempt to sketch some more things.