Readers may have noticed that there is no real example of the two gods fighting. Yes, Rhinesvelt does destroy a fragment of Helskor that manages to drive him insane, and yes, Rhinesvelt also briefly fights a group of humans who do hold Helskor's power. But you never see the two gods attempting to destroy each other directly. As the Day of Whispers became an established reality, these two beings rarely entered combat outside of this one day.
Before this, the gods had to learn the rules of their imprisonment. They had to test out their abilities. Part V, now titled "Plight of the Gods", will go into these details. There will be at least two of these battles, one occurring near the beginning of the book, the other near the end. Much about these battles has been written already. You could say they are complete, and I hope it is done well enough so that you can visualize the epic scenes I am imagining. These are not the only examples of fighting in the story, and there is one particular struggle that will likely trump both. I expect the fifth book to be the most exciting out of the six, even as the sixth wraps up the story and holds its own plethora of surprises.
Compared to the book before it, I am far more excited as I write this content. Writing is not as difficult. Still, the plot of the book remains under construction and will likely take several months to complete.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Republishing and a Prologue
Looking through book four, I noticed some minor grammatical errors that I wanted to fix. However, after file conversion and looking at a kindle version of the document, I noticed several errors with the indentations as well. The book should update with these problems fixed by tomorrow. Also, I have completed the beginning prologue of the next book, and it is looking pretty good. The narration at the beginning is almost poetry itself, and after it follows a conversation I'm sure many wish they could have read during book three. I myself am excited for what is to happen, which certainly speeds up the creation process.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Poetry Over the Years
As a growing poet who has progressed since his college days, I have
made a few observations about poetry that I would like to share.
The Goal of Poetry:
The intentions of the author are quite important. The possibilities are also vast. Normally, poetry is a reassembling of language in order to create greater emotion, feeling, meaning or value. But this still does not highlight specifics, and a great deal of poetry is used to convey a specific feeling or idea. There is also the use of epics, which are used to create and move a story.
Language Used:
When analyzing the language of a poem, first ignore the structure and put everything into one line (or paragraph) of text. Are there rhyming words? Are there like-sounding words? Is the language flowery or redundant? How are these words ordered? Does the poem sound like natural speech? Analyzing the language can tell you a lot about what the author is trying to do, and is especially important in free verse poetry that does not follow a set meter (something I usually specialize in).
Organization of Language:
This is the focus on structure. Is there a meter present? What do the stanzas look like and how are they organized? How many lines are in the poem? Are any of the established rules of structure broken? Language which may not sound particularly well may flourish in a properly delivered poem. However, while creating rules for such a delivery does create a certain form of expression that you may desire, it will ultimately reduce the language you are capable of using. This is especially true if you wish to use rhyming words, or techniques like iambic and trochaic meters.
The End Result:
Poems that are easy to read and just roll off the tongue are going to be read multiple times. Certain lines are going to be catchy, and the actual content does not always matter. Even made up words, when strung together melodically, will be a joy to read.
Poetry can be really technical, but not convey much emotion or meaning to the reader. Sometimes we sacrifice something that sounds amazing in order to stick with the established format we are going for. This is especially true for poems with a set number of syllables per line, though if meter is present, there may be a valuable trade-off.
Rhyming poems with a consistent meter are ultimately the easiest to read and say out loud. They are also some of the most challenging things to write, especially if you are writing something rather long and wish to avoid repetition. This is all worth it though if you succeed, as these written works are likely to become your favorites (or at least that is the case for myself). One trick to writing these poems is to increase the number of syllables each line possess, reducing the total number of lines while sharing the same amount of information. However, you will eventually run into problems when the rhyming words at the end of each line become too far apart.
My personal favorite poems to write are free verse. I feel I can best take another individual on a journey if I am not limited by the usual confinements. I also follow set patterns occasionally, like a fixed syllable length and the reuse of certain words on different lines. I especially like using words that sound similar, but do not actually rhyme, and I may have these at the end of a line or put together. I also frequently employ the technique of using multiple words with the same beginning sound or letter.
Hopefully this will help someone out there who is trying out new forms of writing. I wholly encourage people to give the different types of poetry a try, many of which have not been listed. Even if you are not looking to express yourself, it definitely improves how you are able to comprehend language.
The Goal of Poetry:
The intentions of the author are quite important. The possibilities are also vast. Normally, poetry is a reassembling of language in order to create greater emotion, feeling, meaning or value. But this still does not highlight specifics, and a great deal of poetry is used to convey a specific feeling or idea. There is also the use of epics, which are used to create and move a story.
Language Used:
When analyzing the language of a poem, first ignore the structure and put everything into one line (or paragraph) of text. Are there rhyming words? Are there like-sounding words? Is the language flowery or redundant? How are these words ordered? Does the poem sound like natural speech? Analyzing the language can tell you a lot about what the author is trying to do, and is especially important in free verse poetry that does not follow a set meter (something I usually specialize in).
Organization of Language:
This is the focus on structure. Is there a meter present? What do the stanzas look like and how are they organized? How many lines are in the poem? Are any of the established rules of structure broken? Language which may not sound particularly well may flourish in a properly delivered poem. However, while creating rules for such a delivery does create a certain form of expression that you may desire, it will ultimately reduce the language you are capable of using. This is especially true if you wish to use rhyming words, or techniques like iambic and trochaic meters.
The End Result:
Poems that are easy to read and just roll off the tongue are going to be read multiple times. Certain lines are going to be catchy, and the actual content does not always matter. Even made up words, when strung together melodically, will be a joy to read.
Poetry can be really technical, but not convey much emotion or meaning to the reader. Sometimes we sacrifice something that sounds amazing in order to stick with the established format we are going for. This is especially true for poems with a set number of syllables per line, though if meter is present, there may be a valuable trade-off.
Rhyming poems with a consistent meter are ultimately the easiest to read and say out loud. They are also some of the most challenging things to write, especially if you are writing something rather long and wish to avoid repetition. This is all worth it though if you succeed, as these written works are likely to become your favorites (or at least that is the case for myself). One trick to writing these poems is to increase the number of syllables each line possess, reducing the total number of lines while sharing the same amount of information. However, you will eventually run into problems when the rhyming words at the end of each line become too far apart.
My personal favorite poems to write are free verse. I feel I can best take another individual on a journey if I am not limited by the usual confinements. I also follow set patterns occasionally, like a fixed syllable length and the reuse of certain words on different lines. I especially like using words that sound similar, but do not actually rhyme, and I may have these at the end of a line or put together. I also frequently employ the technique of using multiple words with the same beginning sound or letter.
Hopefully this will help someone out there who is trying out new forms of writing. I wholly encourage people to give the different types of poetry a try, many of which have not been listed. Even if you are not looking to express yourself, it definitely improves how you are able to comprehend language.
Thinking About the Calendar
I actually forgot that the months I created were in alphabetical order. I find that even if I did create a system of rotation for name design, there would be no obvious way to tell the ordering. It is also impossible to create a perfect system since twenty two can only be divided evenly by two. I could not create the system I want with 22 months, but I have already determined that there needs to be 22 months. So I might as well leave things the way that they are now instead of burdening the reader and myself.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
The Dream Dweller Archive and Other Updates
I figure I should resurrect this blog simply to mention a few important details.
2. The previous three books have been updated as well. The covers have seen a seen a relatively big change. Occasional typos have been corrected, and the Appendices section of the third book has received a major update. Mainly, some of the content was removed and added to the next book while the calendar and dating system has been overhauled. Besides mentioning the lengths of the year, there are actual months now that follow a set pattern. I may update the names of the months so that the naming system makes better sense. The ending of each month followed a pattern, but the beginning was left up to me. If this gets changed, there will also be a rotating set of beginnings that work with the endings. I realize that such a change should have been implemented before the new stuff was published, but this is likely to improve the work overall.
1. At last, the fourth book of the Epic of Old series has been completed. Each work has been longer than the last, and this is no exception. Anyone wishing to get absorbed into this world of mine should have no trouble after this next installment. You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KVXTRPA
2. The previous three books have been updated as well. The covers have seen a seen a relatively big change. Occasional typos have been corrected, and the Appendices section of the third book has received a major update. Mainly, some of the content was removed and added to the next book while the calendar and dating system has been overhauled. Besides mentioning the lengths of the year, there are actual months now that follow a set pattern. I may update the names of the months so that the naming system makes better sense. The ending of each month followed a pattern, but the beginning was left up to me. If this gets changed, there will also be a rotating set of beginnings that work with the endings. I realize that such a change should have been implemented before the new stuff was published, but this is likely to improve the work overall.
3. Work on the next book has already been started. Originally, the contents of the current fourth book were either going to serve as the first half of the story or be sprinkled throughout as the information became relevant. However, the content of that section grew so much that it was best to separate it entirely. This means that I have a jump-start with the next book. The current material is 14 pages, and it is pretty well organized into an outline. One of the chapters is already halfway done. Part Five is currently titled "Plight of the Gods".
4. The book cover for Part Four has the created map in its black and white version, but this does not mean the map is actually complete. What I am doing is slowly converting the picture into an Excel version that will become incredibly easy to edit. It should improve future efficiency, but the time it takes is so long that it may not be worth it. Honestly, I should have worked in Excel from the start. The map has received enough updates as to look quite different to the one previously shared on the blog, so I will eventually share it once I am done.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
My Introvertedness
I have always considered myself shy and introverted (the shyness a fear of judgement, the introversion my loner attitude), yet I never quite realized how much introversion played a role in my life. I thought it had more to do with my social situation than my tendency to get lost in my own thoughts. I'm not anti-social, but my social requirements are clearly different from the average person. I came to understand myself a bit more after reading the article from http://www.carlkingdom.com/10-myths-about-introverts. It pretty much summarizes information from one of Marti Laney's books, "The Introvert Advantage". I'm thinking of reading the book myself after I finish my current book. It should help me understand (at least scientifically) why I have always acted the way I do. I could be sensitive to dopamine.
Update
I was successful at creating the globe, but there were some issues. I cannot freely move it, it is always stationary in the program. I can change the perspective, but it will always remain a picture (I really want one that revolves. The big issue that I became painfully aware of is that my map needs to be a rectangle instead of a square. I need to greatly increase the polar ice caps and then trim the top and bottom of the map. I will post an updated map and the globe version once it's complete.
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