My Mind… Is A MULTIVERSE!
4th of July was... peaceful. Fireworks were nice... gunshots included.
Back on track, how is it possible for me to keep
these projects of mine all together?
Simple, Microsoft OneNote.
That program saves my life every
time. Other than using Scrivener, I keep all my project notes in OneNote. It’s
a neat program… like keeping notes but digital, but I advise one should never
neglect the pencil/pen/paper/notebook method. Things can get disappointing if
your work is not backed up.
Trust… I had a few ‘scares’.
What I do is backup files on a
cloud or external hard-drive (thumb drives included) and I continue to back up (rewriting
backups) periodically. I remember when I feared losing a manuscript through
Scrivener and almost having a meltdown. It was one hell of a nightmare farce.
I said many times that no matter
what I am doing, I am always brainstorming. From sunrise to sunset, something
is brewing inside the skull of mine, and when one idea stands out from the rest
(frequent ideas growing and growing) I hurry and note it down. The ideas may be
small… some even big… and I just keep them categorize in a set notebook within
OneNote, for you can make as many notebooks as you like… tabs and all. I got into
the habit of bolding/italicizing words, underlining too, as if I am writing a
wiki or something. Notice how such simple formatting of ‘key words’ help me
when looking up things in my notes or refreshing memory. Can even link from
other resources/references, for I at times pull from already made notes via
MSWord when not up to rewriting something already written.
While I may be decent-good in the
writing department, character art and all of that is a bit low-low. My
deviantArt page is not all that great, but I do like to share whatever I come
up with. A few hints to what I am doing too linger there. I wish I had the time
to get back into designing characters, but for now that is a skill, I can always
improve on. Besides, writing is also an art form… right?
My Beloved Shadara
As for Shadow Genesis: Inception,
hauling everything from SG:V1 was pretty easy. In the process of transferring
notes (even from paper), I also went and revised every single bit that was
needed in order to properly reboot. Day by day, even after work, everything
went through a makeover. Changing how magic works (called Magi) and its evil dark arts is a breeze given resources (not much to change from the current novel really). Many names of places, races, and people have changed (names derived from actual names + meanings through various cultures). Also learning a bit on... economy and stuff (not everyone is wealthy). The effort I put into this will show itself in SG:I
and future books to come. Call it a big update. I swear I will not put myself
through that again… that is for sure.
Oh wait… there is the Slicka reboot
project.
… dangit.
Redoing the geography, few got
confused on the map of Shadara when revealed. Some thought it small. If one
ever looks at our very own map of earth and its variations, one will see
various layouts from detailed to simple. Traveling in Shadara is no easy
foot-trek. Airships are there, waygates, horses, ships on sea… the methods of
transport are there, and getting from point A to point B is just like traveling
from one town to the next, or city to city, state to state… continent to
continent.
I hope I made sense there.
 |
| Old representation of Shadara (when it was called Shadow Realm in SG:V1 |
What I am trying to say is that the
amount of time it takes to travel from one part of… say from the southern point
of Darkgear to its northern tip. Let’s just say it equals juuuust about the
same in one traveling from Florida to Canada (can even throw in the fact
Murkshroud is also part of Darkgear)… with an east to west of similar
equivalence when traveling from North Carolina (my state) to California!
 |
| New representation! (Simple look) |
Yes… it’s that big… more than meets
the eye; Transformers!
Is why I am also making sure the
time taken to travel when characters move about in the story is accurate.
Shadara has no sun, and their ‘Night’ is day while night-night is a phase
called a Siesta. It’s a unique system I also have noted and fixed so I don’t
muck up when time changes in plot… plus they have their own sense of time,
calendar, seasons, the works.
I am contemplating on adding ‘snow’…
but… really pining over that one because I have a crazy/beautiful idea with how
that can be implemented given how things are temperature-wise… with the added
fact Shadara is a world defying all logic (fantasy after all) with the other
realms having the usual sun/moon song and dance.
Also debating on having Shadarans
speak a common ‘world only’ language different from the common (English)… but
that’s just an idea that may not even work out. Shadara has a diverse crowd,
many races, cultures, and languages. The common Shadaran tongue is universal in
that realm.
… confusing I know… or is it?
I have also gone nuts on animals,
mixing species to create new beasts, making sure they ‘glow’ just as much as
the world around them. Since Shadara is a ‘Nightrealm’, things are nocturnal by
nature, but have a physiology that glow via markings and so forth. For example:
I have a few serpents that have flickering light patterns about their scales,
and big cats that have distinctive glow patterns… even some beasts that
teeth/claws glow, even some skin parts. Plants glow too! Trees, rock, soil,
even fruit… all of them give off their own unique light. I aim to make things
unique and sensible in that world including its sky. People can actually ‘see
in the dark’, without the need for ‘night vision’ like some animals (and those
of mystic spells) possess. Not every spot on Shadara is ‘bioluminescent’
however. So I take back on ‘everything glowing’… which means some places are…
gloomy and dangerous perhaps? Check out SG:I when it hits soon!
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