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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 21, 2018 23:04:29 GMT -5
I've read fantasy books that do not have ways of making you feel like you're in their world, or that their world could possibly exist. It's cool when authors go crazy with ideas and creative spaces but it can feel very distancing to read about a place that feels so up in the air. I'm currently reading a book now that's based off of Indian mythology and it's beautiful but lacks a lot of the writing to make it feel impactful. I'm having a hard time reading through it because a lot of it gets confusing or so offhandedly thrown at you that I don't feel invested in the story.
Thank you! I'm glad I'm managing it. It's a good middle ground between Curse and my other project, The Forest of Kalmera which is a VERY fantastical/heavily fantasy inspired world. I think you would call it "High Fantasy?" I like to think of Curse as being more realistic than my other projects (including this one) simply because the world is mostly familiar and it is the cursed that serve as the fantastical elements (and I try to ground them through a harder magic system with consequences for using powers and being able to explain their differences through SOME science) while Starborn has characters + environment that can't be explained through science (but is grounded in familiar lore and the zodiac signs) and then Kalmera is just...well none of it is familiar. I mean for goodness sakes the native trees that grow there EAT PEOPLE AND ANIMALS, there are NO HUMANS (besides one) AND ALL the creatures are new too! lol
Whoops I rambled x.x' apologies!
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Post by ~Sapphire~ on Oct 23, 2018 11:16:50 GMT -5
Ugh yes, I love good worldbuilding so it's always a shame when it gets in the way of the story. It's why I read about as much contemporary as I do fantasy. You just have to look for the sweet spot of books that manages to get the balance right.
Kalmera sounds really interesting! I guess one of the main differences between Starborn and Curse is that the mythology in Starborn is pretty well known, while in Curse Shadowface discovering the Cursed lore is a major plot line in itself. Both approaches are interesting, but it's really cool to see how you write a world that's magical from the start, if that makes sense.
Ah, no worries x'D
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 28, 2018 22:19:26 GMT -5
Mᴏᴏɴ - - mintedstar/fur🦇 Katanaheart ᴛᴜᴇsᴅᴀʏ Dingoleap ѕωιƒтƒαℓcση @jasper Winona Novi ~Sapphire~
aries: the ram
"Aries has been called the 'Prince of the Zodiac,' the 'Prince of the Celestial Signs,' and the 'Leader of the Host of the Zodiac.'
In Chaldea, where the constellation is supposed to have originated, the ram simply represents the favorite animal of shepherds. Despite this, Aries is associated with a wealth of lore and legend. This might be because of the position of the three stars that make up the constellation in relation to the sun during certain times of the year.
'If,' says Plunket, 'we find Aries equally honored by several nations in very early times, either these nations happened to observe and mark out the sun's annual course through the heavens at exactly the same date, and therefore chose the same date, or we must suppose that they derived their calendar and knowledge of the zodiac from observations originally made by some one civilized race.'
In mythology Aries has always represented the fabled ram with a fleece of gold. In the story, two children of the King of Thessaly named Phrixus and Helle are subjected to horrible abuse by their step-mother. The god Mercury took pity on them and sent them a ram to escape from their mother's wrath. On the back of the ram, the two children ran over land and sea, but unfortunately Helle fell from the ram and perished.
There is also association to the ship Argo from Greek mythology and the celebrated Argonautic expedition which set forth in search of it.
It's been theorized that the stellar symbols were intended simply as a record of this famous expedition. Even as good of an astronomer Sir Isaac Newton is who held this view, a man named Maunder on the contrary claims that there was nothing in the story of the neighboring constellations to support the legend of the golden fleece.
Curiously enough Aries is the leading sign in all the systems of astrology which have come down to us through the Greeks, and it figures as the leading sign in most of the explanations of the constellation figures which are on record. Maunder considers that this fact proves that these astrological systems, and these theories concerning the constellation figures, not only took their rise at a later epoch, but that when they did so, the real origin and meaning of the designs (shapes, symbols, ect.) had been wholly lost."
- Star Lore: Myths, Legends, and Facts by William Tyler Olcott pg. 53 - 55
A special treat from me: the completed playlist for STARBORN. Starborn Playlist
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 28, 2018 22:22:55 GMT -5
Ugh yes, I love good worldbuilding so it's always a shame when it gets in the way of the story. It's why I read about as much contemporary as I do fantasy. You just have to look for the sweet spot of books that manages to get the balance right. Kalmera sounds really interesting! I guess one of the main differences between Starborn and Curse is that the mythology in Starborn is pretty well known, while in Curse Shadowface discovering the Cursed lore is a major plot line in itself. Both approaches are interesting, but it's really cool to see how you write a world that's magical from the start, if that makes sense. Ah, no worries x'D And it's hard to do, to find that sweet spot! Kalmera has been a very fun challenge. (: Yeah, I didn't think of it like that; different approaches to achieving the same balancing effect. I hope it continues on through the original works! o.o' <3
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Post by Katanaheart on Oct 29, 2018 1:19:43 GMT -5
*Hears the word Chaldea.^
*Thinks of Fate: Grand Order.*
Anyway, other than that, rather interesting lesson! And ironically I’m not too familiar with all of their ties to Greek myth. (Aquarius, Cancer, Gemini, and Leo are the only ones I know well; off the top of my head.)
Also what would be your guess as to why Aries is never the leader in most media now a days. Shadow?
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Post by phantomstar57 on Oct 29, 2018 10:36:52 GMT -5
If world building is done correctly, most everything is figured out before the story begins. It is this huge pile of info that the author refers to as they write. And oh boy am I glad I did all that when I was a lot younger! I refer to all that material all the time working on my Book III, but not every bit of it appears in the books, not even in the glossaries. Most importantly, in the story, you SHOW the world thru your character's senses so the reader learns the information that way, without huge story stopping info dumps. It becomes a slow journey into the world, where one learns about the characters. their culture and world. In my case not only did I have a different planet, and culture, but aliens who are not humanoid. If the world building info stops story flow it has not been handled right. Use the characters to share the information by either discussing it or arguing about it, or experiencing something that necessitates delving into the culture or seeing the world they live on. Backstory helps too in the form of flashback in that the characters are remembering something-an event, a lesson and emotional experience. And in the end, you can have a Glossary or appendix at the end of the book, to place information about the world and culture for the reader to reference or read after the story is done. So far here, you're doing a great job!
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Post by Dingoleap on Oct 29, 2018 15:56:06 GMT -5
Ooh, interesting Star Lecture, Shadow! I’m loving learning about the mythology behind the zodiac signs and constellations! It’s a super interesting way to break up the chapters!
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 29, 2018 19:55:07 GMT -5
*Hears the word Chaldea.^ *Thinks of Fate: Grand Order.* Anyway, other than that, rather interesting lesson! And ironically I’m not too familiar with all of their ties to Greek myth. (Aquarius, Cancer, Gemini, and Leo are the only ones I know well; off the top of my head.) Also what would be your guess as to why Aries is never the leader in most media now a days. Shadow? The Fate series does their research for their heroes!! I wasn't either. A few of them sound familiar, but most I had no idea how linked they were. I didn't put this in the lecture, but Aries also has EGYPTIAN ties. There was one temple found where the path leading up to it was adorned by giant statues of creatures with ram heads. There's more but that stuck out to me. There is a picture of it in the book with two whole pages of text!! Honestly, I'm not too sure. Maybe because people like to break tradition, or look more at the zodiacs inherent personality traits instead of their history to decide what roles they should play in media. PLUS (this is just me thinking off the top of my head) with Aries being associated with ARES, the god of war, Aries is probably usually depicted as a hot-headed character interested in conflict and nothing else. So they let Leo lead generally, as he is associated with the symbol of the Lion, being golden and all.
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 29, 2018 19:59:36 GMT -5
If world building is done correctly, most everything is figured out before the story begins. It is this huge pile of info that the author refers to as they write. And oh boy am I glad I did all that when I was a lot younger! I refer to all that material all the time working on my Book III, but not every bit of it appears in the books, not even in the glossaries. Most importantly, in the story, you SHOW the world thru your character's senses so the reader learns the information that way, without huge story stopping info dumps. It becomes a slow journey into the world, where one learns about the characters. their culture and world. In my case not only did I have a different planet, and culture, but aliens who are not humanoid. If the world building info stops story flow it has not been handled right. Use the characters to share the information by either discussing it or arguing about it, or experiencing something that necessitates delving into the culture or seeing the world they live on. Backstory helps too in the form of flashback in that the characters are remembering something-an event, a lesson and emotional experience. And in the end, you can have a Glossary or appendix at the end of the book, to place information about the world and culture for the reader to reference or read after the story is done. So far here, you're doing a great job! If I'm being honest, I did not have ALL of the world building figured out when I started writing Curse. (bad shadow, bad) Then again I started Curse thinking I was never going to finish it or that I would get bored of it, and now here we are, only two chapters away from the end! I tend to get too excited and begin writing my stories before everything has been worked out, but I ALWAYS have a base made up before I dive in at least. That's why drafts exist x'D I couldn't have said it better myself, Phantom. The story has to feel natural, even if it's essence (characters, setting, flora and fauna) isn't. Thank you so much for the high praise. ^^'' <3
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 29, 2018 20:01:22 GMT -5
Ooh, interesting Star Lecture, Shadow! I’m loving learning about the mythology behind the zodiac signs and constellations! It’s a super interesting way to break up the chapters! It's honestly been a surprising bit of fun diving into this wealth of knowledge. It's a nice break for me as well, AND I get to refresh myself on the ideas I had for this story! I'm so happy you are loving learning about it all, I was afraid no one would be interested, and that I was just going to do it for myself. x'D
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Post by Katanaheart on Oct 29, 2018 20:22:19 GMT -5
*Hears the word Chaldea.^ *Thinks of Fate: Grand Order.* Anyway, other than that, rather interesting lesson! And ironically I’m not too familiar with all of their ties to Greek myth. (Aquarius, Cancer, Gemini, and Leo are the only ones I know well; off the top of my head.) Also what would be your guess as to why Aries is never the leader in most media now a days. Shadow? The Fate series does their research for their heroes!! I wasn't either. A few of them sound familiar, but most I had no idea how linked they were. I didn't put this in the lecture, but Aries also has EGYPTIAN ties. There was one temple found where the path leading up to it was adorned by giant statues of creatures with ram heads. There's more but that stuck out to me. There is a picture of it in the book with two whole pages of text!! Honestly, I'm not too sure. Maybe because people like to break tradition, or look more at the zodiacs inherent personality traits instead of their history to decide what roles they should play in media. PLUS (this is just me thinking off the top of my head) with Aries being associated with ARES, the god of war, Aries is probably usually depicted as a hot-headed character interested in conflict and nothing else. So they let Leo lead generally, as he is associated with the symbol of the Lion, being golden and all. Ironically the two main portrayals I’m thinking of, Aries is not a headhead in either of them. But neither is Aries the leader. So I don’t think it’s any portrayal of their significance to the god of war. They’re just forgotten as Leo is more popular. And that is interesting regarding the Egyptian ties!
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Post by Dingoleap on Oct 29, 2018 20:34:08 GMT -5
Ooh, interesting Star Lecture, Shadow! I’m loving learning about the mythology behind the zodiac signs and constellations! It’s a super interesting way to break up the chapters! It's honestly been a surprising bit of fun diving into this wealth of knowledge. It's a nice break for me as well, AND I get to refresh myself on the ideas I had for this story! I'm so happy you are loving learning about it all, I was afraid no one would be interested, and that I was just going to do it for myself. x'D It’s always great to learn something new, especially when it’s something that’s not really common knowledge. My little heathen self is enjoying all the astral knowledge. Would I be correct in assuming that there’ll be a Star Lecture for every zodiac? It’s a great way of keeping all your readers interested, too! Keeping yourself interested in your own story is important, haha, so I’m glad you’re finding it beneficial!
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 29, 2018 20:38:06 GMT -5
Katanaheart - Well Leo will not be a leader in this story! :'P Dingoleap - There will be a lecture for each zodiac (which means you can assume there will be at least 12 chapters + the others that don't have lectures involving the zodiacs) as it pertains to each chapter. Generally I try to pick a topic that has some significance to an upcoming chapter, even if it's as insignificant as a location.
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Post by Dingoleap on Oct 29, 2018 21:06:06 GMT -5
Awesome! So much knowledge still to come! Oh, that’s cool! I suppose there’d be a lot of research involved, huh? As someone who’s a little addicted to research, I find it immensely appealing.
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 30, 2018 0:24:01 GMT -5
ALL THE KNOWLEDGE
Luckily I got all I need in the book I've been using, so mostly it's just reading and then finding a way to turn what I read into something you all can understand. Most of the time the book is understandable, but the techy/scholarly speech can get a bit much lol
I think the hardest part for me is narrowing down what parts to post about and which parts to leave out!
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Post by Dingoleap on Oct 30, 2018 0:37:13 GMT -5
ALL OF IT.
Oh, neat! I love books like that, y’know? All the information you need in one place. They’re so handy. And so juicy to read. Unfortunately the terminology in books like that does get all thick and clunky.
Oh, I bet! Honestly though I’d be glad to sit and read entire chapters of good info. I love it.
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 30, 2018 1:16:23 GMT -5
Usually I'm not into info books like this but it's just so interesting to read about the origins and connections that all these ancient symbols have. ( I LOVE origin stories in general which is probably why I can read this and not get bored xD )
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Post by Dingoleap on Oct 30, 2018 1:30:51 GMT -5
Origin stories are pretty cool! I’d love a book like that. I watched a movie recently in which one of the characters had a gorgeous antique-y book on witchcraft and pagan practices and I spent the whole movie drooling over this book. And yeah, I agree, those academic-style texts can be hard to read.
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Post by phantomstar57 on Oct 30, 2018 11:35:44 GMT -5
If world building is done correctly, most everything is figured out before the story begins. It is this huge pile of info that the author refers to as they write. And oh boy am I glad I did all that when I was a lot younger! I refer to all that material all the time working on my Book III, but not every bit of it appears in the books, not even in the glossaries. Most importantly, in the story, you SHOW the world thru your character's senses so the reader learns the information that way, without huge story stopping info dumps. It becomes a slow journey into the world, where one learns about the characters. their culture and world. In my case not only did I have a different planet, and culture, but aliens who are not humanoid. If the world building info stops story flow it has not been handled right. Use the characters to share the information by either discussing it or arguing about it, or experiencing something that necessitates delving into the culture or seeing the world they live on. Backstory helps too in the form of flashback in that the characters are remembering something-an event, a lesson and emotional experience. And in the end, you can have a Glossary or appendix at the end of the book, to place information about the world and culture for the reader to reference or read after the story is done. So far here, you're doing a great job! If I'm being honest, I did not have ALL of the world building figured out when I started writing Curse. (bad shadow, bad) Then again I started Curse thinking I was never going to finish it or that I would get bored of it, and now here we are, only two chapters away from the end! I tend to get too excited and begin writing my stories before everything has been worked out, but I ALWAYS have a base made up before I dive in at least. That's why drafts exist x'D I couldn't have said it better myself, Phantom. The story has to feel natural, even if it's essence (characters, setting, flora and fauna) isn't. Thank you so much for the high praise. ^^'' <3 I didn't have everything figured out when I started the 1st book. A decade before I even conceived the 2nd.. I had many things worked out, but some of it, when my world view changed in my 30s, suddenly everything in the culture that I could not make work, fell into place. By time I published the 1st book, I had most of it all worked out. But once the world structure is in, that doesn't mean it does not shift, or new info is added. I guess what I meant by having the world built before one starts, is the basic frame, planet/world and basic culture structures should be set. A lot of answers to culture and history came to me as I wrote, which i added to the plethora of maps, list, and other info I worked out. I probably should have said one should have almost everything worked out before that 1st book is finished and ready for publication I know I added a lot of info and worked out issues in the dozen ot so edits leading up to the final draft.
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Post by phantomstar57 on Oct 30, 2018 11:39:04 GMT -5
That said you do a grea job placing the Star info in between chapters, which is very interesting!
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Oct 31, 2018 1:33:10 GMT -5
Origin stories are pretty cool! I’d love a book like that. I watched a movie recently in which one of the characters had a gorgeous antique-y book on witchcraft and pagan practices and I spent the whole movie drooling over this book. And yeah, I agree, those academic-style texts can be hard to read. ohmygosh that sounds fantastic o.o
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Post by Dingoleap on Oct 31, 2018 2:16:12 GMT -5
Oh, it was! I want one. I’m just... in such a mood for rainy days and old bookstores and books filled with obscure knowledge at the moment
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Nov 1, 2018 20:11:07 GMT -5
So am I. I'm hoping to spend some time at my local library soon. I need it!!
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Nov 1, 2018 20:23:54 GMT -5
Just a heads up to everyone that it might be a good bit until the next chapter is posted. It's overhaul time for writing for me this month and Starborn is not my first priority, BUT I PROMISE IT WILL COME. Who knows, I may need a break and come back to this to finish the next chapter. In fact I bet that is going to happen. It sounds like me. x'D
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Post by Dingoleap on Nov 1, 2018 20:25:17 GMT -5
I wish I had a local library.
Ah, good luck with NaNo!
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Nov 1, 2018 20:27:08 GMT -5
<3 my heart goes out to you, friend.
Thank you!! I NEED ALL THE LUCK I CAN GET. D'x
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Post by Dingoleap on Nov 1, 2018 20:30:45 GMT -5
It’s hard at times. It’s a good thing I’ve got a kindle to read off
*throws luck at Shadow* I’d join you if I wasn’t so focussed on editing atm!
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Nov 27, 2018 22:08:57 GMT -5
NANO IS ALMOST OVER AND CURSE IS ALMOST FINISHED
Finally, the gates of time will open for my other stories x'D
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Post by Novi on Nov 28, 2018 13:47:23 GMT -5
wheee much excitement~ i was going to try NaNo, but couldn't figure it out ^^" all well. i also didn't have the motivation to write despite having lots of story ideas running through my head. lol
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Post by » ѕнαdσω ⚔️ on Nov 28, 2018 21:03:51 GMT -5
Yeah motivation can be hard to find ;-; I didn't get to 50k, but I still wrote some, and I'm happy with that!
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