No Mary Sueness

I just did the Mary Sue Test on Nimue and Arthur. They both scored a low 7 points. The test says:

0-16 points

Most likely Not-Sue. Characters at this level could probably take a little spicing up without hurting them any.

Also, Briallen (from Vale of the White Horse, original fiction/ rpg character) scored 20:

17-21

Probably not a Mary Sue, although a character can go either way at this point. Fanfiction writers should pay attention to ensure that their characters aren’t getting too Sue-ish. For an RPG or original fiction character, however, you’re probably perfectly fine.

Cool. The Mary Sues will not get to me!

Fun research

Every person who ever tried to write a story that is not solely based on their own experiences probably knows that research is a must.

Personally, I love doing research. I will admit that mine is usually not as thorough as, say, Juliet Marillier’s…She gets to travel to Transylvania and Ireland and all sorts of nice places… and I don’t travel to a foreign country before I make it my new book’s setting. If I ever get a publisher who pays for such things, I will gladly travel the world!

 And yes, I use a lot of Wikipedia, fully aware that information on the internet is not always a hundred percent accurate.

That being said, I do try to get my information as accurate as possible. The fun about research is that you get to study a wide array of different subjects. A few of my favorite subjects so far:

• The Inuit mythology and culture
• The art of glassblowing (and the more ancient techniques, and how to dye glass)
• Vocabulary and grammar rules of the ancient Goths. It’s sad that the website I used seems to be offline now.
• The tribes of Great Britain, especially during 45 AD and even more specifically about the Dobunni tribe, the Uffington White Horse and Uffington Castle.
• The effects of melting permafrost, acid rain and climate change
• Iron Age skills like baking bread, weaving and the building of roundhouses
• Iron Age environment in the Dutch county Drenthe
• EVERYTHING about the Yde Girl/ Het meisje van Yde. And I mean quite literally, everything that there is to find, from factual information to shady articles on European prehistoric sacrifices and an interesting audio drama. And for this I actually did go to the museum, since I actually live nearby for a change. Het Drents Museum has a lovely collection of prehistoric things, but the actual Yde Girl is the most wondrous of them all.
• Survival skills: how to cross a river, how to build many different kinds of shelter, how to build fire, how to hunt and catch fish, how to prepare or cook caught game/fish. This is really big theme in Island in the Mist (especially in the second book) My favorite site is http://www.wilderness-survival.net/ Bear Grylls was also very helpful.

So, to you, writers…Do you like research? What is or was your favorite subject?

New cover art and other such things

So, a rather productive day today, only not with Het Eiland in de Mist. I decided to FINALLY lulu-fy (new word!) Plain Flowers, as chances are small that I will be doing much revising on that book anyway. 

I also decided to finally order a new copy of In Licht en Schaduw, because I have no clue where my old one is, and I really don't want my first book ever to be only a digital file. Luckily for me, the whole package was still stored on my Lulu.com account - and I promptly hated the cover art I had created for it back then. So, not bothering to edit anything of the actual story or chapter layout, I went and painted a new cover art. It was only two hours of work, and still rather rough around the edges, but in general I would say it is an improvement. The backflap text was also made of nonsense, so I blotted down a few different lines about the story altogether.

Als de vijftienjarige Mare een ontmoeting heeft met de mysterieuze Steffan, raakt haar leven in een stroomversnelling.  Herinneringen aan een ander leven steken de kop op, en al snel wordt ze meegezogen in een avontuur dat haar ver van huis brengt. Langzaam ontdekt ze een oude familiegeschiedenis en de donkere geheimen die daarbij horen. Wie is de gemaskerde Vorst, die haar opjaagt? En wat kan zij doen om te voorkomen dat een bloedige oorlog weer opnieuw oplaait?

 (When the fifteen-year old Mara encounters the mysterious Steffan, her life rapidly changes. Memories of a different life begin to pop up, and soon she is pulled into an adventure that takes her far from home. Slowly she discovers an old family history and its dark secrets. Who is this masked Sovereign that is chasing her?  And is there something she can do to prevent a bloody war from rising up once again?)

It sounds so much cooler than it actually is, of course. I'm almost tempted to rewrite the entire book. Almost...XD

Plain Flowers just looks the way I had intended, though I admit I was never eniterly satisfied with the cover art. And yet, I could never be bothered to really work on it, so whatever, haha. And look! I made a logo: Shinyverse Press <3

There are many tales about mysterious travellers.
Many stories of a young hero rising to the throne.
Hundreds of legends about prophesies.
Don't believe a word they say. My name is Daffodil. I'm here to tell the truth.

The outlaw genre of fantasy

Occasionally, I meet writers who write epic fantasy. That is, of course, perfectly fine. I’m more into urban or historical fantasy, but I’ve totally had my share of high fantasy novels. What I don’t understand is the notion that writing epic fantasy is somehow “different” from other genres. During my years of doing Nanowrimo, I’ve spoken to many Dutch participants who were writing their novels in English. Which is cool; I’ve written one novel in English myself and absolutely enjoyed it…However the reason they often give for this is not that they enjoy a challenge, but that “fantasy sounds better in English”.

Huh?

I don’t buy it. English is a little more exotic to us, so “alien” terms may come across as more natural in another language. But I think the reason for feeling that fantasy is better in English, is simply because there is more English fantasy out there. The English speaking world is gigantic, books don’t even have to be translated for other people to read them – English has become the lingua franca for large parts of the western world. As a result of this, Dutch publishers publish a considerable amount of translated work and a relatively small percentage of original Dutch fantasy literature.

Today I read a comment on a writer’s forum stating that “one never has too little substance when writing epic fantasy” – what he meant was that an epic fantasy tale never has the problem of ‘running out of plot.’ And a while ago I read an online discussion where someone said that it was no good sending your fantasy manuscript to a manuscript assessment agency, because fantasy required a different style of writing: an abundance of words, long, descriptive paragraphs of the scenery or battles, or even someone’s attire. 

Again, I say: huh?

Is fantasy really a law to itself? 

Sticking to your novel

So, this school year is wrapped up! My final presentation went very well, but I’m glad that it’s over. Summer vacation at last! I can’t quite comprehend the many days of free time I suddenly have. I have a few projects planned, like my herbal medicine course and doing some exercises to just work on myself. But mainly I want to focus on writing.

I’ve managed to do a lot of necessary rewriting the last two days. I’m glad I finally took the time to just do it, because I had the feeling I wasn’t getting any further. The first few chapters seem rather solid now (and there was much rejoicing). The beauty of rewriting several times is that you can keep adding little layers, until one time you read a scene or two and go, hey, this is getting pretty good!  It may still be the first draft, but at least it’s Draft v.1.2!

That’s a good feeling – like all the hard work and all the struggling is paying off. It gives me the energy to continue, to stick to the novel until it’s finished. I think that’s the most important part of writing a book. Not to have a solid, polished story from the beginning, but sticking to what you do have; writing, deleting and rewriting, adding layers and changing small (or big!) scenes…Because one day you’ll take a look at it and nod to yourself approvingly. (Unless, of course, it’s becoming clear that there is No Future for the story, and the best thing is to bury it and proceed with something else. I’ve done this, too.)