The People of My World

 A story isn't a story without the people who fill your world.  In your sourcebook, you most definitely need to hit upon those same people, because your readers are going to want to know more about them.

One of my chapters will be devoted to the characters of my book.  Some time in the past I found a wonderful outline to help you flesh out your characters.  I'm not sure where, but it was just enough to get the creative juices flowing.  I figured I would use a similar format for my book, but make it flow just a bit better.  Here are the highlights I suggest you throw in about your characters:

1) Name and a short biography.  This really depends on when you make your companion book.  If it's with your first book in the series, you don't want to put too much in there.  If it's after the series is done, feel free to let it all hang out.  I mean, if someone is picking up your companion book, they've most likely read your stories and know all the plot excitement already!

2) Add statistics, because followers of your stories love that sort of thing.  Height, weight, race, age, how they look and what they wear.  Even speaking style is good.  Do they speak with an English accent or, like Krom, rolling r's?

3)Their best and worst qualities.  Elly loves animals, is a quick thinker and loves good jokes.  But she is obsessed with killing Wizards, finding out who she is and saving children.  This gives your character a little more depth, even though some of these things should be obvious when you read the stories.

4) You can also add in where they are found or how they are integral to the story.  Shadowdancer was just supposed to be a random waif that Krom uses to find some information but became an important cog later on in the series.  It happens more often then you think!

5)Lastly, add in some random facts about your character.  Elly knows how to weave, while Krom can carve.  Small things such as this make the characters a little more alive.

Keep on writing and good luck!

What is the Point of My Source Book?

 Alright, so we've determined that we want a source book for our series.  Many fine book series, like Lord of the Rings, the Dragonriders of Pern, and even Dragonlance have sourcebooks to allow their readers see more of their world, but they all do it from a different take.

What is your take?  Are you trying to just give a step by step view of your world?  Are you setting up for the use in a roleplaying game?  Or even just to fill in what you couldn't in the book?  Or even all of these?

To help you pinpoint what you want to put in you need to know your goal.  Myself, I plan as an exploration of my world as well as the ability for someone to use it in any roleplaying system.  My husband and I use to roleplay every weekend, (before kids and tons of volunteering), and were starting to again, before the Covid.  The ability to have another world to roleplay in would be awesome.  I don't need a new system, we can use what ever one we want and adapt.  But without a backbone to work with, it would be hard to game in my world.  Roleplayers like a good handle on what they are playing in and with.

So my advice is decide what your goal is before you begin, so you know what information may or may not need to be in your source book!

Keep on writing!

Happy President's Day

 I hope everyone has a chance to relax today, but also think how lucky we are to live where we do.  Yes, I know not everyone is happy with every bit of our history, but think of what we have done as a country.  Let's dwell on the positive and discuss civilly the negative and I think we can continue to have the greatest place in the world to live.

Stay safe out there and more writing on Friday!

The Gods on High

 Many fantasy stories have a higher power watching over the characters, whether known as the Fates, the Gods, or something else.  If you are working in a fantasy world of your own, you probably have some form of guiding influence and will want to add them, even as a passing footnote, in your companion book.  I am certainly no exception to this.

In my world, my Gods are integral, becoming characters of their own.  My most used is Targon, God of Magic and the Arcane.  He is a swashbuckling flop if there ever was one, riding the edge of God protocols and doing what he wants.  But how do I talk about these all powerful beings with out making them seem as just some over powerful character?

Here is my rough plan on how to present my Gods:

1) I'm going to talk about their personalities.  Are they friendly, indifferent, gruff?  Like I said, my Gods ARE very much like characters, so it is good to know where they are coming from.

2)Describe their ethos/pathos.  How does he/she like to interact ethically with mortals or just use them?

3) What is their realm of influence?  In Targon's case, he oversees the arcane and magic in general.  He effectively allows the other Gods have more or less power for their followers.  It causes friction, to say the least. But this will give the reader an idea of how they would act or control.

4) How are they related to the other Gods?  Are they all separate beings or did they create some of those who are in the pantheon? In my pantheon, most of the major gods consider Sarjon and Catiana their parents, though they aren't, because all the Major Gods simply appeared from the depths of space.  But the minor gods, most of them, were the products of major gods dalliances, Targon being the father of many of them.

5) If you are setting things up for a roleplaying help, alignment and abilities of followers would be good, as well.  In my example, Targon's followers should probably be a little chaotic and lean toward the neutral.  They would have a lot more mage spells then priest spells, are charged with passing on knowledge of the arcane, and should enjoy a good wine now and again.  You might also want to throw in what type of "vestments" priests are expected to wear.

6) How do they interact with other Gods?  In my world, it is very important.  Most Gods, even those of darkness, find Targon amusing, the unofficial God of Mirth.  And Targon has a "friendly" rivalry with Lokar, the God of Death, while loving and sheltering his daughter, Aiyana, the Goddess of Love.

Keep on writing because you can do it!

Expand That Outline!

 So you have your generic outline?  Good on you.  What is the next step after that?  Well, I suggest you slowly expand on that outline.

If you started like myself, you had what you wanted to have in each chapter.  Basically, I wrote the chapter name and a few brief notes about what I would like in each chapter.  Now lets take that basic idea and expand upon it.  Here's my example.  (Bare in mind, I'm not a professional, but sometimes you just need a little jump start to get you going!)

My chapter 7, theoretically, will be about the major groups which play a part in the my world of Martapa.  The following is all I initially wrote down:  Find the groups in my notes and make sure they are all in my list.  From there, I've written down the major groups in a list like below.

Knights of Tridon

Blades of Janesh

Wizards of Shaniko

The Kin

Wolf Warriors

The Crystal Brigade

The Northern Alliance

Snowbird’s Spellblades

Society of the King

The Hand

Disciples of the Gods

Saber’s Blades

The Shadow Gaurdians

After that, I added a few notes for what I needed to do next:

Need to describe each group, what they stand for, who is usually found there, even a few major NPCS that would be found in the leadership or in the ranks.

It's just a little expansion, but it's a start.  Everything about writing is steps.  Don't overwhelm yourself and try to do it all in one sitting.  Granted, if you can do that, good for you!  For the rest of us mere mortals, we need to take it in steps.

My next step would be to hit highlights of each group, then flush out each group completely. I say that knowing that you might decide to change something halfway through your list and that way you haven't wasted a lot of time filling out each one, then just have to go back in change it. (Granted, that will probably happen as well 😂)

And if you are just writing a campaign for roleplaying, this is a good way to start, as well.  You may not fill out the details quite as thoroughly as someone writing a book, but it's the same idea.  Don't overwhelm yourself trying to make the best adventure ever.  It will come to you and may, (and will) change over time!

Keep on writing!

Day One...

 If you are familiar with Disney's Mulan, Chi-Fu doesn't really want Li-Shang to succeed.  So his comment after the huge rice fight is to say, "Day one..." with an arrogant tone.  As I stare at my outline I feel like I'm staring at my own personal Chi-Fu, that he is ready to send off his scathing report on me for not getting further, faster on my companion book.

But I am ready to tell my own Chi-Fu to just take a hike.  I have to realize, and so should all of you working on your books, that you can't get it all done in one day.  That inspiration comes when it comes, that you will write when the the thoughts come to you.  If you force it, it won't feel natural and may not be as good as you would like it to be.

I think my point is, yes, get your butt in the seat before your computer, (or notebook or scrap of paper) and try to write.  But don't be hard on yourself if you don't write Homer's Iliad in one hour.  Just take what you can get.  Maybe it's just some editing. Maybe it's an outline.  Maybe it's a little research.  It all gets you moving in the right direction and is progress.

Don't give up on yourself and keep writing!

How Should I Have My Book Edited?

So you are getting close to finishing up and self publishing.  That is very exciting! But maybe you should have someone who didn't write it, look it over.  If you are publishing with a publishing house, they will have staff to do this for you, but for the self publisher, you are on your own.

Here are some suggestions to help you on your way:

1) Ask friends and family members to look it over.  This is okay for catching spelling mistakes, layouts that just don't look good, or for, "hey, why didn't you add this", kind of things.  For actual constructive criticism this may not be good.  Unless you have a relationship like my husband and I where we are use to giving each other constructive criticism and not feeling offended, this may not be the best idea.  As much as you want your book published, losing a relationship is not worth it.

2) Join a critique group.  This can be fun and very rewarding.  Early on, when I was taking classes, I joined the local writing guild and started attending meetings. While there, they had an option to sign up for groups and I found a marvelous group of very opiniated ladies with very diverse backgrounds and writing styles.  I learned a lot and got a lot of good, constructive feed back.  I'm hoping I gave some back, as well.  Plus, we had a potluck each time we got together, so that was good, as well.

3) Pay for someone to look at it.  Again, English majors at your local college would work, but there are professional editors that will charge by the hour or page.  This is an option, but does cost money.  Check with your local writing guild, because they will have a list of local editors.  Not nearly as much fun as critique group, but if you are an introvert, this probably would work for you.

Keep on writing!