theravenpiper
The Ravenpiper
Fantasy writer, Free software user, Parrot Rescuer, Collection of Pacific Northwest First Nations Art
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Alexander T. Erickson, "Grandmother's Winter Moon"
My major purchase while in Terrace'
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What to look for in an ergonomic keyboard
I urge writers & anyone else who spends long hours at the keyboard to invest in ergonomic keyboards. Here's what to look for: https://linuxpromagazine.com/Online/Features/Keys-shells-and-layouts-find-the-right-keyboard-for-your-needs
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The answer to most questions from writers
How long should a chapter be? How many points of view can I have? How thorough should my character descriptions be? Should I give my chapters titles? Can I use a prologue? Can I start slowly, rather than with an action scene? Are swear words all right? Questions like these are asked almost daily in online writers' groups. Behind them is a deep-seated longing for simple answers.
Sadly, though, the ones who ask rarely find the security they crave. To such questions, the most honest answer is, "Try it and see." The frustrating truth is that such questions can rarely be answered in the abstract, only in the results. And to complicate everything even further, the answer for one person may not hold true for another. At best, you can occasionally get a rough idea of the odds.
Just try it and see.
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Tagged by gwenllian-in-the-abbey my 9 favorite books I read in 2023.
(I don't know that these are my absolute favorite, but they are ones I remember, which might mean something.)
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Only a Housecarl Dances
(In The Bone Ransom, the elite housecarls dance to learn dexterity and footing. Hearth Guards are local militia, and much less well-trained)
The Dance Master calls before the day,
Arise, recruits, and earn your pay.
Dance until your lungs burst,
Till thighs and knees all gripe,
Now dance, housecarls, dance,
Dance through the pain and the pipes.
Hearth Guards' snores may fill the dawn,
But we are dancing, dancing on,
Arms in the air, swords on the ground,
As spry as a salmon, bounding like a stag,
For only a housecarl dances,
Dances well – such is our brag.
Then when you shudder in the shield wall
You will rouse to the piper’s call,
To join the jig of blood-play,
And dance where you belong,
And you’ll survive the reel of battle,
Because you danced in the dew and the dawn.
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Why I Don't Use Character Sheets
Raised on role-playing, many fantasy writers begin with character sheets. I don't, because:
1. Character sheets tend to be full of irrelevant detail that will never find their way into the story, or don't fit naturally.
2. Unlike in role-playing, characters in fiction need to be developed at the same time as the plot. You need characters for whom your events are meaningful, not just random ones.
3. In your thoughts, characters continue to evolve. Put them on paper, and they tend to stop developing.
Given these considerations, character sheets are often busy work. They give the illusion of progress, but tend to be minimal use.
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My New Coinage (Just Horsing Around)
The other day, I recalled that our word "fee" comes from the Old English feoh (cattle). It's a reminder that wealth was once measured by cattle in early Germanic cultures.
Inspired by this example, and not wanting to fall back on the usual D&D coinage of precious metals, I decided to base the currency in my fantasy on horses, which in other cultures is a sign of wealth. So now I have dobbins, the old clipped coins from a more rudimentary currency, and other denominations ascending from colt, cob, and stallion and ending with mares.
I knew those Old English classes I took in university would come in handy some day.
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A Quick Way to Coin Fantasy Names
Choose any five words. I use xkcd-pass, an app for generating random input for passwords, named after the well-known web comic, but going low-tech and opening the dictionary at random works just well. Then move the syllables and letters about.
For instance, say I get the words:
cherub unproven defrost ammonia overflow idiom
From this selection, I can coin:
Frostflow Cheridio Amoniom Provenia Defrove
I don't know for sure yet which of these are people or places. But as I type, I suspect Frostflow might be a small village, and Amonion some sort of high priest. For now, I will just store them in a file I can scan when I need a name. I'll decide then if any of them is any good, although off-hand, Provenia seems prosaic. Perhaps if I change a letter or two? Already, I want to put an "s" at the end of Deprove. I'll decide such things as I need to.
And if I want a different feel to the names? I'll use another language's dictionary, perhaps French):
reine marbre printemps chasseur cheval
What do you make of this selection?
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Cracked Characters
Increasingly, I practice a lesson taught by the late Avram Davidson. All my characters are at least a bit cracked. Most don't know it. They think their eccentricities are completely normal.
An example from real life that sticks in my mind:
In the last few years of Fritz Leiber's life, I visited him several times. At the time, he was living with his second wife Margo on the edge of the Tenderloin district in San Francisco, and if he had ever been on a farm or in the woods, it must have been decades ago, and very briefly. Yet in one cupboard, he had wedged a long, sharp axe, covered in dust. Seventy-five years ago or more, his father had told him that a man should always have a sharp axe handy, and he always had. Never mind that he never used it. To me, this little detail helps me see Leiber as a person. If I ever wrote a story with Leiber as a character, I would definitely include it.
Now, an example from fiction:
In Roger Zelazny's "This Immortal" (aka "And Call Me Conrad"), the main character, a former terrorist and currently a major bureaucrat, explains that he is late for an official function because he stopped by a party for the young daughter of a friend. The narrator adds that the excuse is true, but has nothing to do with the story. Zelazny later explained that he threw the detail in just to briefly indicate that the hard, active narrator had a gentler, more thoughtful side.
When I write a character, that's the sort of detail I like to add.
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Single File or Multiple?
To me, it only makes sense to have separate files for each chapter, all in one directory. Here's why:
1.) Although I have backups, separate chapters mean the damage done by file corruption is minimal.
2.) Separate files are quicker and easier to rearrange. Copying and pasting in a long file is tedious, and makes slips easier.
3.) Separate chapter files also mean faster reactions, although on a recent computer, that's not so important.
4.) In LibreOffice, I can use a master document to make one large file should I need one.
I can't think of a single reason to use one file, unless you're hopelessly disorganized.
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The Agony of Titles
Most writers find that coming up with titles is difficult because most of us lack practice. If you use chapter titles, book titles become somewhat easier because you've had 30 or so to practice on.
It still ain't easy, as Long John Baldry used to sing. But as he also sang, "But don't you know I like it that way."
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The Agony of Titles
Most writers find that coming up with titles is difficult because most of us lack practice. If you use chapter titles, book titles become somewhat easier because you've had 30 or so to practice on.
It still ain't easy, as Long John Baldry used to sing. But as he also sang, "But don't you know I like it that way."
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The Agony of Titles
Most writers find that coming up with titles is difficult because most of us lack practice. If you use chapter titles, book titles become somewhat easier because you've had 30 or so to practice on.
It still ain't easy, as Long John Baldry used to sing. But as he also sang, "But don't you know I like it that way."
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View notes
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The Agony of Titles
Most writers find that coming up with titles is difficult because most of us lack practice. If you use chapter titles, book titles become somewhat easier because you've had 30 or so to practice on.
It still ain't easy, as Long John Baldry used to sing. But as he also sang, "But don't you know I like it that way."
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The Best of Anonymous
This is the start of what has been called the greatest anonymous poem in the English language:
"From the hag and hungry goblin
That into rags would rend ye,
And the spirit that stands
By the naked man
In the Book of Moons, defend ye."
- Anonymous, "Tom o' Bedlam's Song"
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Inspiration vs. Perspiration
Inspiration leaves writers excited and fulfilled. Thanks to those feelings, they often end up believing that inspiration is needed to write well.
However, in the cold morning after (or week after, or month after), telling inspired passages from those that were labored only painfully is usually impossible. But don't ask me; ask a reader if they can tell which passages were written which way.
What you labored over can be just as effective as the things you dashed off in the rosy glow of inspiration. Sometimes, it can even be better, because you took more time with it and were more critical.
Even more importantly, perspiration is easier to come by than inspiration. It's just not as much fun.
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Four Sources of Writer' s Block
1.) Lack of knowledge: The skills needed for writing fiction are not taught. We don't even have a common set of words to discuss skills like plotting. Writers have to learn their craft by themselves, so it's not surprising that new writers are sometimes unsure how to develop a story. Go study works you admire or detest, and you may find a solution.
2.) The Mystique: Writer's block is often treated as a mysterious, powerful force. But if you redefine it as a problem to be solved, writer's block often goes away. You may be helpless against a mysterious force, but problems can have solutions.
3.) Ignoring the Hint: Writer's block can be a hint from your unconscious that something doesn't work. Re-plot, and the block often goes away.
4.) A Sense of Belonging: To many, writer's block is proof that they are a writer, which is more important to them than actually writing. Ask anyone who makes a living by writing, and they'll tell you that the quickest cure for writer's block is a deadline. When you're under pressure, you don't have time to role-play.
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