Take Me To Paradise

We are crawling in to the last weekend of National Novel Writing Month 2020.

Maybe you’re stuffed from Thanksgiving.

Maybe you’re stuffed from just attempting to write a book. 

Regardless of where you’re at on you’re noveling journey, let’s look back on where the story takes place.

Or, more importantly, a place you wish you could have included.

Maybe the bulk of your story takes place in one room, or one house or city.

Did you ever wish you could find a way to take it somewhere else?

What might have happened there, if you’d done that?

How might the arc of the story have shifted if the background was totally different?

Is there anywhere your character or characters wish they’d gone?

Tell me all about it.

Transport yourself into the paradise that is your mind, and then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

I wish I could have basically included anywhere else in this story. I got to see a little of the city they’re trapped under, and a bit into Vaeda’s home city, but most of it takes place in that damn cave. It would have been cool to explore some of the other places people were from. There’s the whole list of city and country names I did, but none of them ever got seen. Well, not until the development stage, anyway.

I also think it’s safe to say all of the characters would have rather gone somewhere else. Whether off to their hometowns or not, anyplace has to be better than a cave, right? Especially with the lack of sight and everything going on in the book, it would have been cool to spend some time in a place that had a little more life. Then again, I don’t know if it would have had a different impact than I’d wager on the story itself. The lack of sight whilst building trust is one of the most endearing parts of the story, I think.

But there is much more to this little world of Kadiux, which I’m not even sure was named in the actual text. There’s so many other places I would love to explore, if I ever came back to this world, or to Vaeda. Vaeda’s become a bit of a friend, now, so I wonder if he’ll be coming back to make himself known again at some point. Especially with this little power of his. Perhaps his next adventure will just take place in some place that has a little more color.

Use This #WritingPrompt To Help You #GetWriteOnIn To Your Story's Historical Influences

Whether you are crawling your way toward the finish line of National Novel Writing Month 2020 or just doing your best at pumping out a manuscript, let’s talk about where this story of yours takes place for a minute.

Previous prompts have had us looking at historical influences, whether fictional or factual, to help us bring our settings to life.

So, let’s go back to the piece of history we focused on at the beginning of our stories.

How has that piece of history impacted where your story takes place?

How might the general population be different if this event hadn’t happened?

Would the entire arc of your story be different, if the history of your setting had seen different days?

Worldbuilding can be fun, or it can be kind of a pain.

But the more time you spend treating your setting like you would a friend, the more active your setting will come across on the page.

So immerse yourself into the history of your world, then get write on in to your daily session.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

When I first responded to this prompt at the beginning of the month, I focused on Hardmoure, my main character’s homeland, because we never got to go there. I wanted to develop some importance there because it strengthened my character. A lot of the development I’ve done has gone to the places around where the characters are trapped as opposed to the caves where they’re stuck. The Lanniswell Hollow has plenty of history, which is partially looked upon throughout the text. But it has definitely seen its share of darker days.

The magic around the Lanniswell Hollow prevents any of the prisoners from leaving. The walls take away the memories and the sanities of the prisoners. It has definitely changed and shaped the setting, and not in a good way. It withholds all the pain from the past prisoners, and influences the despair within the caves. This would certainly change the mood down there, if it were different.

Although, that being said, the entire story would definitely be different if things were not the same. If the prisoners were allowed to think for themselves. If the idea of removing hope was not its sole purpose for existing. The caves of the Lanniswell Hollow hold many secrets, but they’re more than happy to share them. They’re just not sure if anyone else will ever truly be ready to listen.

If These Walls Could Talk... Just What WOULD They Say?

Depending on when you watch this, there’s only 10 days left of National Novel Writing Month 2020.

So close, but so far.

That same statement can be ushered at almost any given time during the novel-writing process, so NaNo or not, let’s talk about today’s prompt.

We’ve given our settings different historical stories and emotions to help us strengthen them, but today, we’re going to have a conversation with the walls.

Take the room of whatever scene you are currently in, and let the walls tell there secrets.

Could this potentially be the scene of a crime?

Or a place where a celebrity baby was born?

How many different people or experiences or stories have these very walls seen?

There’s so much about history and past energies that can be said about a place, so have some fun interviewing the walls, then get write on in to your daily writing session!

See you tomorrow!

My Response

From the Lanniswell Hollow

There have been many souls that have passed through my hallways, none of which have ever seen the light of day again. I have existed here for thousands of years, and was untouched until the civilians of Raelevarre. They understood that I had power within me that they couldn’t find anywhere else. My untapped power allowed them to fuel their greed and suppress those they deemed unworthy. They have abused every offering I have to take the souls of the people who have come through here.

I wonder at times if I believe in the idea of hope myself anymore. I miss the silence. All of the screams from the people who have died, whether naturally or by the hand of something or someone else, echo the empty hallways that house the bodies. I am the one who is left to hear the screams, nobody else. It is I who must remember, time and again, day after day, all of the horrors that have existed within my domain.

If things were up to me, it would be different. My power, to prevent the mind from wandering into psychosis, has so much more use than how it has been used throughout the years. It seems as though the people above forget that I have thoughts and feelings myself. You wouldn’t think that much, since to you I’m nothing more than a cave. If you could hear the screams I did, I’m sure you’d think differently.

Strengthen Your Worldbuilding Skills With This #WritingPrompt

All right y’all.

Halfway through the third week of National Novel Writing Month 2020.

Or, potentially halfway through your novel.

Or maybe just halfway through life, who even knows at this point?

I hope you’ve hit a stride, wherever you are in your book, but whether you have or haven’t, maybe you just need a little boost for your writing session today.

The last few days have had us focusing on our love for our characters and plots, so let’s show some love for my least favorite thing about writing books:

Our settings.

And hey, if I can find something love in a setting that is a cave where my character cannot see a thing, I’m sure you can find something to love about wherever your book takes place, too.

Is this a place you’d live, if you could?

Would you at least want to visit it and see what it’s like in person?

If it actually exists, have you been there? What would you do if you could visit, or how has a real-life visit affected the shape of your story?

Love the world you’re in, then get write on in to keeping it moving forward.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

You know, this book has really grown on me. Especially having it take place in a cave. That’s been a really weird and really up and down thing for the writing of this. It’s one thing to have a blind character, I think, but another to have them all trapped in a place where they can’t see. Especially one that’s filled with so much general darkness and despair as with the Lanniswell Hollow.

That all being said, I feel like there’s so much life in the caves. So much life potential, anyway. Caves in general have so much life in them, which is something I learned out in New Zealand and exploring some caves of my own, as well as whatever cave episode was part of the Planet Earth documentaries. Sometimes there’s life within the darkness, even if we can’t see it. It can be a scary-ass-looking life, but a life all the same.

I think that’s still what Vaeda’s searching for in all of this. What they’re all searching for. Just a life outside of the darkness that’s holding them back. To connect with whatever inner power is meant to guide them forward. They can find everything they need and more, all within themselves, and all because of the caves of the Lanniswell Hollow.

Halfway Through #NaNoWriMo, Where We At?

Congratulations, everybody!

We are officially halfway through National Novel Writing Month 2020!

I don’t know if you’re actually in NaNo whenever you’re watching this, but if you’re writing a story at all, chances are, you’re going to feel some frustrations sometimes.

Today’s writing prompt is going to be the last of us letting out those frustrations as we take them out on our settings.

We already know everything that drives us crazy about our characters and plots, but what about where the story is taking place?

Is the location coming through crystal clear?

Are you like me and absolutely detest anything that has to do with building up your settings?

Are there any other disconnects going on because of these frustrations?

I know I’m feeling a large wave of emotions this year, so I’ve certainly enjoyed my time letting my story know all about the frustrations I have with it.

So let your setting know how it can shape up, then get write on in to your daily session!

See you tomorrow!

My Response

I am frustrated with the fact that I CANNOT SEE MY SETTING!!! I actually thought I was doing that to myself as something as a favor when all of this started. You know, if the character can’t see it, then I don’t have to either. My lazy author ass should have known better by this point, to be honest. This is not my first book, and I should have known it wasn’t going to work like that once I actually went to go get write on in.

But I just feel like this story is making me WORK for it!! Every other story just comes so naturally and I just have so much fun while I explore it. There are so many aspects to this one that I love, but it’s weird that I don’t really have the opportunity to explore the surroundings like I normally do. It makes me feel like there’s just a darkness over the story, which there kind of is in a lot of ways, but it’s just harder than I thought. I wish the setting, as with the characters and plot, would just speak to me more than it is.

I can’t figure out the layout of the caves and I don’t know how to get anybody out of them. The characters aren’t the only ones who have no idea where they are in all of this. I’m trying to channel Vaeda to find the hope to get through this story myself, but the caves also depict despair and sadness, so that’s probably not helping. I feel like the story is trying to make me feel the way the characters do. How method of it.

Use This #WritingPrompt to Help You #GetWriteOnIn to Setting Connection

If you are anything like me, bringing the “setting” of your to life can be challenging.

I’ve recommended before to think of your setting as a living being, and that is our focus for today's three-paragraph prompt.

Any"where" you are in this journey — whether it be NaNo 2020 when this comes out or anytime thereafter — put a focus on the main location of the story real quick.

If the city, town, cruise ship, etc, that your story takes place in could talk, what would it tell you?

Choose one event that has shaped the history of your setting, and embellish on it.

The fifteen sentences today should see you exploring a war.

Or surviving a storm.

Examining the first civilization.

Or the maiden voyage.

Anything you want.

Think about everything your setting has been through, and write out some cool history, just for the fun of it..

Then get write on in to your book.

See you tomorrow!

My Response

The city of Raelevarre wasn’t always known for the darkness found within its borders now. Before the likes of men came around, the landscape was the most attractive part of this city. In fact, the beauty from the mountains caught the attention of men in the first place and encouraged them to inhabit the place. If Raelevarre were a person, she would say she loathed the day she was tainted by human kind. That she would have been better off if she’d stayed remote for the rest of time.

If Raelevarre were a person, she would cry over the blood that was spilled across her story. The wars that occurred, the battles that strung out over her land. Men fought over things like gold here, things that shone in the rays of the sun whenever they caught in the best light. Raelevarre, as a living being, does not understand all of the pain and torment created over things that glint in the sunlight. If she were ever to have any control, she’d have stopped this madness.

And yet, beneath this city, in tunnels and caves spread out into a spiderweb beneath her, people lay trapped. Bodies rot into skeletal dust as pain and torment permeate every corner. If Raelevarre were a person, she’d beg for the freedom of the people trapped within her. She’d plead for the injustice that occurred within her out of her control. She’d do everything in her power to free every captive.