Thoughts on Writing

[k_a_webb]

Unsurprisingly I have a lot of these. When I was trying to work out what story I was going to write/post (I ended up posting, because I couldn’t think of what I wanted to write) I realised once again how many ideas I have. There are things I want to write but sometimes the words just don’t come out right, so I end up moving on for the day/week/month/year, and then occasionally it just ends up not happening at all. I hate that most of all, but it’s mostly due to my forgetful nature (which is why I always try to write things down) and I, sadly, don’t think there’s much I can do about that.

The other thing I have trouble with, even though I have a love of names, is naming characters. I think that’s because I don’t often come up with a character and then give them a name. A name will jump out at me, followed by the character (or characters) who want it, so I can end up having major problems when I have a story but no name for the character. Often I just search through my list of names and one jumps out at me. It’s just occasionally that I sit on a story for ages because I have no names. Sometimes I pick a name just to post a story and then realise later that it was the wrong one. I could really do with longer lists, but I never seem to get round to doing it.

I was thinking earlier, before I started writing, about characters and the effect they have on stories. Mostly it was because, and I have no idea why it came to mind, I was wondering how different the Brotherhood stories would be if I made Kara male. Of course that means I’m now really tempted to play with the idea, even though I’ve barely written anything for the original storyline. (I know where’s it’s going, but I want to go playing in the other houses first, because I’ve never visited them before. One of them is a shadow house, but I’m not certain about the others.) I really do love changing things about.

Another thing I’ve been working on is how the fae used books from Earth as inspiration for their worlds. I’m talking about fiction, rather than non fiction, and I’m a little worried it may come off as fanfiction, when that’s not what I’m aiming for. It’s just that the fae took a lot from Earth, because it was a world they visited often, so they had a lot of ideas that they wanted to play with. (Of course I’m also inspired by other writers. I take a lot from everything I read and I always have, so sometimes I’ll be inspired by a book to write a new story, although normally most of my ideas come from dreams.)

The final thing I’ve been thinking about is the race names for the World Walkers collection. I basically just put words together, like Night Leaves, and then go playing with a translator until I make something that looks pretty, like Nox Gadael, so they technically don’t mean anything now. Normally I use Gaelic, Welsh, Latin and Greek, but I often end up using a mix of them together. Nox Gadael I think is Welsh and Latin, but I can’t remember now. The problem, again, is coming up with new ideas. I do have some new races to write about, once again named using the a translator, but it’s not enough. Anyone want to help?

Mirrored from K. A. Jones Writing.

Comments

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>>The other thing I have trouble with, even though I have a love of names, is naming characters.<<

If you can give me a character summary and a hint about their culture, I can try to find some possible names. Same with race names.

As for the mishmash, don't feel bad. I wound up with "Gloria Mundos" as the great mountain on the planet Lesbos, because characters got into an argument over different names and just crammed pieces together. *headdesk*

>>Another thing I’ve been working on is how the fae used books from Earth as inspiration for their worlds. I’m talking about fiction, rather than non fiction, and I’m a little worried it may come off as fanfiction, when that’s not what I’m aiming for.<<

Then start by showing the fae as they discover those books and talk about borrowing ideas from them. Some possible sources:

1001 Arabian Nights (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights)
Beowulf (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf)
Children's and Household Tales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Grimm#Children.27s_and_Household_Tales)
Les Contes des Fees (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_d%27Aulnoy) (Fairy Tales)
The Epic of Gilgamesh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh)
The Faerie Queene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene)
Fairy Tales Told for Children (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_Tales_Told_for_Children._First_Collection)
The Gods of Pegana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Peg%C4%81na)
Journey to the West (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West)
Mahahbarata (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahabharata)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Midsummer_Night%27s_Dream) & other Shakespearean fantasy plays
The Nights of Straparola (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nights_of_Straparola)
The Odyssey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey)
Pellucidar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellucidar)
Phantastes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantastes)
The Ship of Ishtar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ship_of_Ishtar)
A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wonder-Book_for_Girls_and_Boys)
The Wonderful Visit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wonderful_Visit)