Writing Factoid #3
Nobody asked me a question this time, though I wish people would since I know someone is reading this blog, but I figure I could put something entirely random here that won’t have any influence on the story. How To Count in the Ancient Language of TraeaThis is very similar to how Spanish is put together. So you have the first 10 numbers here.Na – OneTwa – TwoTre – ThreeFirth – FourFith – FiveFesh – SixEsen – SevenEct – EightNoc – NineNas – Ten Now, after Nas, it goes Nas’na, Nas’twa, Nas’tre, Nas’fir, Nas’fi, Nas’fe, Nas’en, Nas’ec, Nas’oc, and then Twas (for Twenty). It repeats the same after the ‘ for each ten. From then it goes to Tres (Thirty), Firs (Forty), Fis (Fifty), Fes (Sixty), Ese (like ‘essay’ for Seventy), Ectes (Eighty), Nos (Ninety), and finally Nan (One Hundred).From One Hundred on it is a different story, but now you can all count in the ancient language. Congrats. For those that actually look at the map you might notice some new things now.
Writing Factoid #2
Time for yet another Writing Factoid! Question by Alex (referring to the last factoid about Leans)–You say the lean cannot be killed by anything normally possessed by the people of Traea. This brings up two things. One, what COULD kill a lean? Aren’t they just sort of spiritual shadows? So where would they go, and how could you kill them? And two, surely there are more leans, I mean the guard at the entrance to Ti’nagal seemed more worried of the ghostly thing then surprised by it being there. Now, I realize that is a lot more than one question, but since they are all connected I’ll address them all!Yes, a Lean cannot be killed by anything normally possessed by the people of Traea. A Lean can only be killed by some form of magic that is capable of crossing over worlds. Meaning that in my world there are different levels of being. Leans lie on a spiritual level, and therefore can only be hurt by something at that level. In theory, the only thing that can hurt a Lean that would be remotely normal is another spiritual being of sorts.Yes, they are basically spirits made entirely of shadow with tiny pinpoints of light for eyes. In theory, when one dies it is subject to the same laws and rules of the living. So it goes to the Halls of the Great Fathers for judgment.Yes, there are more Leans. I can’t say how many, but there are more. The guard was actually more concerned because Leans are not tremendously common. Generally all people are a little weary of the spiritual realm. Ghosts frighten us, and so for the same reason the guard was uneasy.
Writing Factoid #1
Alright, so I have two questions that have been brought up to me about WISB. Feel free everyone to bring on more and more. Anything, just ask! It gives me a chance to create new things and to give all of you who might be interested some fascinating information about my fantasy world. I’ve also started this today because the book I am currently reading is giving me one hell of a time to get through. It’s a terribly hard book to read in my opinion. But, that will come later in the week when I finish reading it! Now for the first ever Writing Factoid! Question #1 by Jason of Scribblings of a Madman–What is the meaning of life? How much planning did you put into WISB?The meaning of life, obviously, and how could you not know this, is to acquire everything you could ever possibly want in one single lifetime. If you fail, well, then you get sent back here as a gerbil and you have to work your way up life to life until you get back to being a human again and go through the same process. How could you not know that?Now for the serious question. I honestly didn’t put much planning at all into WISB when I first started. I rarely outline to begin with, but in this case I barely even had an idea! I started it as an experiment and it just sort of took off in places I hadn’t expected it to. Granted, it’s not like I’m super popular like Tolkien or Rowling, but the fact that some people express that they enjoy this story has kept me writing it. That’s all that matters to me really, some loyal fans. So, I didn’t plan to get very far. I researched blog novels, thought it was an interesting idea, and decided to go with it. So, here we are, some 86,000 or so words later, nearly to the end of the first book.Now, towards the latter half of WISB I did do some planning. I had to. My world had become so expansive and enormous that I had no choice. I created a map, as some have seen and of which I should put up as a quick link on the right hand column. The map was mostly to give me an idea of where everything was so I wouldn’t get things mixed up. I did make a mistake, and the map helped me realize that, and luckily I fixed that. For the plot, I’ve been thinking steadily about where the characters should go and did some thinking on how they would get there. The Blaersteeds came into the picture right about then. I had to figure out where and why the characters were running. And, so you have the story as it is now.But that’s for WISB. If you want to know about The Spellweaver of Dern, well, you’ll have to ask :). SOD is a completely different beast! Question #2 by Alex (forgive me for not knowing your SmackJeeves page off hand)–One thing I am intrigued to learn is of the location of the Lean. Will he return and will there be news of the fabled city?Now, I’m going to answer this without actually giving anything away. Realize that SOD is actually going to be far more complex than WISB. It has to be. I can’t stick in James’ head anymore because there are alternate storylines now that have to be addressed.Will the Lean return? At some point, yes. And yes, there will be news of the city beyond the Black Sands, but I cannot tell you whether or not the city actually exists. In fact, because I will writing SOD in about 2 months–which will put us rather close to when WISB first appeared on the Internet–I have to come up with everything that happens. I have to find out if I can actually write from the point of view of the Lean, and if not, what am I going to do about the character? How am I going to convey what the Lean has seen?So, I can say this: The Lean is moving beyond the Black Sands. The Lean will know the truth about whatever is out there, if anything. And the Lean will return. Leans technically cannot be killed, not by any normal abilities that would be possessed by the people of Traea, so the Lean will return at some point. Whether that be in SOD or not, I cannot say. I don’t even know that myself! So there you have it!Ask more questions! Even stuff that’s not related to the plot! Bring it on!