I'm Making Progress! ... kind of...

Well, I have to say this is probably the most work I've put into a story before writing it.

     I've made a sort of promise with myself to actually write a story and not abandon it after a few weeks of daydreaming about it. It is the same story that I was writing before but I will not be using the paragraphs I already wrote as is (shocker, I know). I've actually tried doing character histories. Now, before when writing stories I've made character profiles--you know, eyes, hair, personality etc.--but this is the first time I've written the character histories in so much detail.
     I got this extremely helpful Character Creation Form from Elfwood (Here's the link : http://www.elfwood.com/farp/thewriting/crissychar/crissychar.html). Its gotten me to actually write relatively fleshed out back stories for all of my characters, which I absolutely love! Granted, I've only fully completed about 2 of these and the rest of my characters are pretty half-assed--but that'll all change when I get my laptop fixed. Hopefully.
     I now realize that I may not have written about my laptop predicament. I've been meaning to write proper character profiles for all the people in my second book, but all the names and little background I had on them are on my other computer. And yes, I know that I said I would write the first book first and then write the sequel because I didn't have a clear idea on where the story was going, but I've got good news on the plot front too!
     I have finally gotten a rough idea for the quest my heroes will embark on. The problem is, the prequel's plot is kind of hazy, which makes certain details in the sequel's a little hazy. However, of the two storylines, the second one is the one that is more thought out. That, and there are a ton more characters I'm falling in love with all over again. So long story short--I like the second book better, so that's what I'm going to write!
     Now, what does this all have to do with the actual writing. I know I aimed to have at least the first chapter by new-years (Haha--that dream happened), but as it stands, I will not be setting some ridiculous deadlines that I know I'm not going to be able to achieve. My goal right now is not to do any writing really, unless I have a truly inspired moment, but to finish the character histories and brainstorm more plot ideas on how this is all going to work. Unfortunately this includes coming up with a coherent system of government for my world , which I know I will delay because even the though of doing that seems tedious and boring to me. Anyways, the point is to get the brunt of the prep-work done before I actually attempt to write a story so that there'll be less rewriting later on.

We'll see how this goes. It is exam season again.

~Koshi~

Not fond of Present

      Just as I was about to skip off to class, a thought hit me. I somehow find it unbelievably annoying to read stories in the present tense. I find that somehow novels, when written in this way, sound fake and forced and the story doesn't flow off the mental tongue as well. I was just a little curious if I was the only one who felt this way.

~Koshi~

     An elderly gentle man seems to be singing in the library with earphones and I'm not sure he's fully aware of just how loud it is. Small side note because I found it funny. And rather annoying, but more funny.

Just felt like hearing that tip-tappin'

     Sometimes I really have the urge to write something--particularly if I am on a computer that has one of the keyboards that make ridiculously loud clicking sounds whenever you press a key. I spend most of my time on my laptop and so it just isn't the same. There's just something about that sound that makes me think that I must be the world's fastest typist.

      As you've probably already guessed, today is one of those days, which explains the reason why I even bothered to write all this useless drivel. Usually when I get the urge to type mindlessly like this just to hear myself type, I just google up some typing tests and try and see how fast I can type (which, given all the random typing errors I make, isn't all that fast).

     The sound of typing for me seems to be somewhat therapeutic. I find the experience goes tenfold when I'm in a room full of people typing all at the same time (which is why I enjoyed taking the lab portions of my computational engineering course, though I never did any actual work in that class). Oddly enough though, when I am not the one typing, I find this noise to be rather a nuisance. Not that I notice it too much if I'm not in a perfectly silent room save, of course, for the sound of the typing.

      Anyway, back to the sound of typing. I find that somehow it makes me more productive and inclined to work and it also makes me more likely to concentrate on one thing for a very long time. (Namely typing). I am beginning to think that this is the reason that--though I do enjoy thinking about and creating concepts for my stories--I do not enjoy writing them. I am so obsessed with perfection and perfect plot and wonderful prose, that I end up re-writing the same sentence over numerous times before I am satisfied with it. Then, half a paragraph later, I realize that I can no longer use that sentence because it sticks out like a poorly written similical sore thumb. (I realize that similical is probably not a real word--and were it not for the word 'like' in that sentence I would have used the word 'metaphorical' in its stead. I should probably should have written 'it sticks out like a allegorical sore thumb' or something of that nature).

     This fact that I can not write with the apparent smoothness that I do when I write blog posts is what frustrates me to no end, and I postpone my jotting down of notes until a later date. This is a sad consequence of my laziness and unfortunately, because all of my stories end up being stored in my head, I loose much of the desired plot threads that I wanted to write up and sometimes even entire stories all together. (I know I can forget some of my stories because I remember my characters, and I remember how I visualized a certain scene, but I can not for the life of me figure out what the bloody hell they were all doing).

     Well, that just about sums up another one of my rants, or ruminations as I should probably call it, since my initial intention was not exactly to complain about my own writing habits. Anther one of the good things that come from ranting about myself is that I get the urge to do some story writing!


Motivation is great! I could have probably put it to better use if I didn't have a mathematics class to attend to in about twenty minutes. As it stands...

~Koshi~

Guess what? Exams!

Well. Isn't this everyone's favorite time of year. Yes I'm using it as an excuse for not updating, but at the same time I have a feeling like this is the time when my story will be updated the most. This is because of my tendency to try and to anything to get out of studying. I've already started working on the plot (you know--filling some loopholes, finding new ways to make my characters suffer--normal writer's stuff).

Anyways, I know (though you may not have been informed) that my goal was to get at least a full chapter done by New Year's, but I can see that dream rapidly fading. The reason for this is though I have a general plot for the Prequel that I abandoned my other story to start writing, I don't really have any details. And since really you need to know what kind of government your main kingdom has if its supposedly corrupt and the entire plot revolves around this-- I've decided to take a break from actually writing and try and do rough outlines for at least the first few chapters and of course figure out how exactly this mythical world runs.

I am actually considering not posting any story chapters on this blog anymore. I would like to dedicate this blog simply to the progress I'm making, since that's all I seem to be doing anyways, and create another blog that will have simply the story chapters. Obviously the two will be linked and anything I write in that blog will be commented and written about in this one by yours truly. Hopefully with this new method I will update this blog more often to ramble, and will not feel pressured to finish the story and end up making crappy directionless work that I'll end up re-writing in a month anyway.

So that's the plan at least. I'll be posting the new site up once I've got an entry in it. Don't expect it in the near to immediate future.

~Koshi~

It's that time again....

No, I don't mean Christmas or Halloween. I'm talking of course about the time where I give my many (feeble) excuses as to why my story hasn't even been started yet.

Well truth be told, it has been... kind of... Well nothing really happens in it, and only one of the major characters has been introduced (to be fair, he will likely be the only main character for some time), and that character wasn't really introduced so much as, well for lack of a better expression, flung into a heap of text.

My excuse is that I (sort of) have a life outside being a nerdy fantasy freak, which is basically my life as a nerdy physics freak. And as I'm not very good at being a nerdy physics freak, I need to study to not fail all my exams. (Lame excuse, I know, but YOU try majoring in physics and having a dynamic social life.... you geniuses out there don't get to try this little experiment.)

So, though I could post up what I've written so far, chances are in about a month or two I'll re-read what I've written, decide its a total atrocity and that I'm going to start over, and then come up with more excuses as to why the story hasn't yet progressed past some guy standing in a forest. (If I posted my written part, that last comment would make much more sense).

As it stands, I will not be posting the four paragraphs I have obsessively written. I am going to wait until I have at least finished the first part (not necessarily the chapter, but just make it so you don't sit there wondering "...wtf?"). Truth be told it isn't much writing to get that far, but again at my pace it will probably take a few weeks.

..... I have this ominous feeling that I really won't post until new-years....

ah well. Love and kisses,

~Koshi~

My Never Ending Writer's Block

Well. Yes. About that story I was writing.

I think I will be putting it on hold for a while. Not that I haven't been doing that already, but now I have a legitimate reason for doing so. I have started another story with a completely different plot. Well, now that I've said that, I don't know if that's what I want to do. In fact, it just dawned on me that I could use the story I'm writing right now as an in-depth background for one of my key characters for the original story I was posting on this blog. A prequel of sorts. Oh my, I am liking this idea. Of course I will have to tweak the plot a little in both stories but it will still fit together quite nicely....

Ahem. But I am getting ahead of myself. What I wanted to say is that since I really haven't made any progress in the writing of my Original story (which is what I'm calling it until I give it a title. The other story I'm writing now will be called The History for the time being), I will be writing more about The History. Mostly because the plot is fresh in my mind, which makes it easier for me to write.

Which brings me onto another topic I wanted to ramble about. It is unbelievable how slowly I write things. I never really realised how slowly I write stories until just now. I spent 4 hours today and I wrote about 2 paragraphs. Small paragraphs. It's because I over think things. Over write things. I can't leave anything half-assed written, even if I know its only temporary. I change the wording around so much it drives me crazy. I need a larger vocabulary. That would make this process so much easier.

Ergh. I've spent too long away from my story. I will return to it. I might post what I've got in a few days (or a few months?). I'm aiming for a full chapter on Elfwood. That seems to be my ultimate goal. If I don't write at a quicker pace though I doubt I'll be done a chapter before newyears though.

If anyone knows a good name for an elf, let me know. Not that anyone reads this but just in case.

Damn. Headache. I should really write my stories in the daytime when I'm not exhausted. I digress. (just wanted to use that word). And with that I leave you.

~Koshi~

A Rant Of Sorts

I was talking to my friend a few moments ago. We ended up talking for more than three hours. At about two a.m. I finally hung up the phone, but the cogs in my head kept turning. I found myself browsing the Internet for a dozen minutes in search of someone intelligent to continue my train of thought with. Only a short while after searching did it dawn on my how hard it really is to find someone on the Internet willing to have an intelligent conversation with you.
And so I am left with a head full of ideas and no one to bounce them off of at two thirty in the morning. Of course it is then that I have a blog now. Left with no other option, I decided to type mindlessly about what thoughts go tumbling through my head.
I believe I know why so many authors choose to write books about every day events. I feel as if I have the same sentiment at this moment. I had a conversation with my friend the provoked a whole chain of epiphanies having to do with my own personality and her quite opposite one. Then just as the conversation was getting interesting for me, my friend started falling asleep. Naturally I needed someone similar to myself to talk to in order to solidify and justify my ideas. Having not yet met someone who likes to mull things over the way I do, I naturally felt I had to get these thoughts out of my head in one form or other and decided to write it.
Then begins the trouble with just simply writing things. To the reader, there is little to no context given. Only a vague sense so that the point is nearly missed entirely. The most logical way to write out your thoughts then, would be to create a similar situation, perhaps one more exaggerated to prove the point, in which the same conversations or themes could be explained. And there is the birth of the story.
I would write this way myself were it not for my unfathomable laziness and complete lack of dedication. The mere thought of having to create a life for new characters is already giving me a headache. Perhaps its the lack of sleep though. I chose this quicker method in stead. Blogging. Basically, it is like talking to oneself. I write it as if I'm in my own head (Yes I do tend to think in this type of phrasing in my head, but I would never really speak as I write).
Strangely enough, though I write as if I'm talking to myself and I take comfort in the fact that the counter on the bottom of my page is so low, alluding to the fact that I am the sole visitor on my site, I still check for grammar and spelling and context references as if someone else were about to read it. I've done it countless times in other posts. Apologizing for delays and such just because there's always that chance that someone out there will read this. I don't know if I want them to or not. Well on the bright side I've been writing again. Or at least I've been planning what I'm going to be writing.
Now the lack of sleep is really kicking in. Seeing as I need to find a job and I need to wake up early in the morning to do so, I think it is long past the hour I should be asleep. Pains in my wrist and temples only confirm my previous statement. I am going to sleep.

~Koshi~

Haha, Guess What?

Well, here I am, a few weeks after writing a good portion of my story (well, at least considering my will power and attention span it's a big chunk of text) and I decided that I absolutely hate the beginning of my story. It seems to me to be a bit boring. Nay, very boring. Some dude coming into a city. Well to be fair most of my story beginnings are very dry. Starting stories isn't my forte. I'd write so much better if everyone would just automatically know what I was thinking and so I didn't have to introduce my characters. I'd just go straight to the middle and plough right on through until the end.

Oh well, whining about it won't do very much. I've considered starting in the middle and then writing from there, but I'm not very sure where the middle starts and since I've only ever once actually finished a story, I'd doubt I'd ever get around to writing the beginning leaving my oh-so-many readers confused and annoyed at my lack of explanation. (I know, I know. Run-on sentence. It's a blog. So sue me.)

So I've already got a vague concept on how else to start the story, but it's not all very clear. One think I've also got to start doing is coming up with names for things and minor characters. In all I've got about 14 characters roughly sketched out--three of whom have names. I don't have names for much of the cities and landscape I've got my little party trekking through either.

Oh and the number one thing I've got to figure out is why exactly my party's going on this big quest they're on. Kind of important. You see, I've got what they're doing pretty much all planned out; I just don't know why they're doing it or what's going to happen after they get through the first huge hurdle. I've got a bucket full of little clips of plot and bits of conversations in my head--the hard part is figuring out how it all strings together.Usually when I write stories, I have exactly the opposite problem. I have the big picture but I don't know how to develop the feeling I want.

I do hope I can overcome this problem for this story. I'm rather fond of most of the characters. Actually making up characters is my favorite part of story-making (excluding coming up with their names). Really what I enjoy about writing is having people discover the personalities of my characters. I guess that's actually my main inhibitor of my writing. I want people to picture my characters exactly how I do and spend so much time trying to work in the little details that it drives me ballistic. I never got how authors would just make up a background for their characters and then never tell anyone about it and not include it in their writing.

Anyways, the point of this post actually was just to say that I will be re-writing what I have done so far (actually it's more like scrapping than re-writing) and that despite my desire to do away with what I've written all together, I will keep it up just for the heck of it.

Haha, boy did I get off topic. Oh well. I'm off to write more of my story. So please be patient and toodle-pip for now.

~Koshi~

Chapter 1: The Knight

Chapter 1: Part 1

(Quick not from Koshi: I may play around with naming things. Most of the names of places as well as character names are just there so I can call them something. I'm not incredibly decisive when it comes to naming things. Anyway, without further ado, the story)

In the country of Avalask, autumn had set over the countryside. The hills and forests were alight with the fiery hues of the season. The animals were fewer now and so the city folk of the capital, Toronas, were drawn out further from the safety of the city borders in order to bring fresh meat to the market. As the days grew colder, the usually packed roads and crushing crowds of Toronas' main streets dwindled to a steady flow of people hurrying to get from one destination to the next.

One particularly frigid morning, just before sunrise, the roads were nearly deserted. People huddled close to building walls, sheltered slightly from the wind, and whispered to eachother as a mounted rider urged his horse quickly though the maze of alleys. His heavy wollen cloak was wrapped tightly around him, attempting to keep the icy tendris of the comming winter wind at bay.

The rider slowed his steed to a walk as he neared where the city slums met the outer castle wall. Both the inner and outer castle gates were shut and barred, a sign of the distrusting times that had befallen Avalask. A city guard scrambled clumsily out of the guard hut, holding a lantern aloof and attempting to peer under the rider’s cload.

“Who’s this then? State ye’ name and business sir,” he crowed as he drew nearer. “Kale, Knight of Avalask, called to see Commander Grevald,” replied the rider in a deep clear voice. He showed the guard an opened letter bearing the seal of the commander. The man nodded once and hurried back to the guard hut.

Kale pulled his cloak still tighter against him as his steed stirred restlessly under him. Kale reached out and patted the horse’s neck, whispering promises of a hot meal and dry housing. Just as the dawn light began to creep over the city, the gate before Kale creaked open to reveal a mounted castle guard, distinguishable by the gold trimmed armour he wore under his heavy green cloak. Kale dropped his hood to properly greet the knight, revealing his short black hair and clean-shaven face. He also drew back his cloak showing his sheathed sword engraved with the Toronas crest which proved his knight status. The guard nodded curtly to Kale, then turned and lead him into through the maze of alleys leading into the castle.


Alright I think that's all I'm going to write for part one for now. I may just do an edit and add a little more to it tonight... maybe. But right now I am hungry and I have class, so I leave you at this. I'm actually not that fond of what I've got so far, but I do know where I'm going with this story and I do rather like the plot, even if I know that the exicution won't be that great. Oh well. Until the next part then.

The Purpose

Well. A blog.
I'll say I'm not really one for these kind of things, but I need somewhere to ramble every once and a while so this is as good of a place as any. Please don't expect anything coherent to come out of this blog. I'm not usually one to talk and so I guess I'll use this blog to vent my frustrations against people and society in general. Nothing personal, you're all nice people I'm sure.
To be honest with you I don't really have anything to talk about. Most of the time I won't have anything to talk about... Usually I write things like this to kill time or to avoid doing work (Don't pretend you don't do stuff like this).
So today will be one of the (hopefully?) many times I'm just writing babble to kill time. Procrastination is one of the things I'm best at. I've got an assignment due tomorrow, and so of course instead of dutifully working out answers I'm writing a blog about absolutely nothing, no surprise.
Maybe I'll write a story...

Actually I've been meaning to write a story for a while. I'm just so lazy that I never get around to it. I've got a whole bunch of story lines floating around in my head. However I'm not very skilled with words and so often find myself giving up after writing only a few sentences. It's ironic really. I write stories to distract myself from work, and then when stories get to hard to write I find other things to distract myself from writing a story.
Well I guess I should at least try to write one anyhow. I mean, it's about time I get something done right? Don't expect anything I do to be Tolkien standards though. What I'm posting up here's first draft. Maybe if I get far enough, I'll post a more refined version on Elf Wood. (Yes, that's right, I write fantasy stories. For some reason me and present day don't get along to well. Maybe its the way I word things....)
I guess I should start the story in a different post. That way its more distinguishable from my inane ramblings. Right then, story time here we go....

*Edit: ummmmmm taking longer than I thought. I'll upload the story in parts. And it won't be soon soooooo no need to sit there waiting...*