Thursday, July 21, 2005

What mythological form?

dra
You are Form 5, Dragon: The Weaver.
"And The Dragon seperated the virtuous from
the sinful. He tore his eyes from his sockets
and used them to peer into the souls of those
on trial to make a judgement. He knew that
with endless knowledge came endless
responsibility."

Some examples of the Dragon Form are Athena
(Greek), St. Peter (Christian), and Surya
(Indian).The Dragon is associated with the concept of
intelligence, the number 5, and the element of
wood.His sign is the crescent moon.
As a member of Form 5, you are an intelligent and
wise individual. You weigh options by looking
at how logical they are and you know that while
there may not always be a right or wrong
choice, there is always a logical one. People
may say you are too indecisive, but it's only
because you want to do what's right. Dragons
are the best friends to have because they're
willing to learn.

Which Mythological Form Are You?
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Monday, July 18, 2005

History 101

Whew, been busy lately. However, got my world mapped out and a bunch of locations figured out. I highly recommend a program like Campaign Cartographer or such, but maybe that's my engineer's love of drawings...
Now that everything's mapped, I'm noodling around a brief Gazetteer so that I can at least get the basics recorded. I know I'll be changing, tweaking and otherwise changing everything as the story progresses, but I have found that without wrapping my head around the locations I don't have the visuals in my head. I've give myself until Sunday to finish at least the basics, but I may alter my timeline if I get on a roll and give myself another week.
It's kinda funny, in that I'd love to get published and leave an industry that is addicted to timelines, schedules, plans and such, yet rely on framing my work in ... guess what ... a timeline. Still, for me it's effective to know that there's a plan to it all. Time given to worldbuilding and character development. Otherwise it would feel more like I'm doing all the prep work and not -really- writing. Of course, were my writing to earn a sale, there'd be the deadlines, but somehow it sounds more dire with deadline than timeline.
Then again, maybe I'm still slightly addled from too much fun and too little sleep at the convention.
Nice, now you're rambling. Then again, why not. It -is- my blog after all. :-)

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Back to the world

Finally! Back to worldbuilding. Been a busy week, with my family on holiday, leaving me to build the fence for our (somewhat) newly sodded back yard. Isn't that nice of them? :-) Seriously, it takes several hours just to get everything staked out, material ordered, then arrange for delivery.
So after collapsing in a heap for two days after I and the neighbours did four yards in two days (yeah, yeah, whine-bitch-complain), I finally got back on track with my world building. Which basically consists of me writing myself questions, and answering them so that I can run through the logic. Fortunately there's no one with me or they'd think me stark, raving mad as I have a conversation with myself (including much hand-waving and gesticulation). Probably not foolproof, but when I compile the Q&A into my 'bible,' I can tweak the inconsistencies. Then map it out and move on to more character work. It's kinda fun, but I want to make sure it's real. Sounds kinda odd coming from a fantasy book, but you have to make things real for that world.
Sooner or later I'll get the progress bar up for my book. As soon as I figure out how to code it up. Once more unto the learning curve...

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Still figuring things out

I'm still figuring out this blog post thing and styling up the page. Patience, must have patience.
So some may ask, why? Why does anyone care? Well, truth be told, I'm not interested in people caring (though it's nice if you do), but more in paying forward for the kickstart I got from sites like Holly Lisle's (www.hollylisle.com), which have given me more than I could expect for the beginning writer. Since I'm a newbie, maybe by describing my journey to publishing (must think positive!) it can smooth the road for someone else. Maybe someone will benefit from the growing pains of my own writerly career.
That and sometimes it's fun to just rant a little, or blow off some steam. And if other writers (or future readers - positive thinking again) drop by, maybe they'll leave a note or two.
Have fun!
Rowan

Monday, July 04, 2005

Welcome!

Welcome to those who have wandered here! This is my gathering of words, wisdom, and various and sundry other details I find interesting. I can't guarantee relevance to anything else in life, but I'll give you honesty, maybe something to think about, and if (when!) I ever get published, some snippets of work to whet your appetite. Otherwise, just sit back, chill with me and maybe we'll both learn something.
Best regards,
Rowan