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I’m a bit busy these days so I thought I’d repost an old Doodle Blog for your enjoyment.
One of my distractions lately has been this little gentleman to the side. His name is Tars Tarkas, after the 11 foot tall, green, four-armed, tusked Martian warrior from the Mars novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs. He’s at the zooming, climbing then snoozing then starting the whole cycle again – stage. I wish I had his energy.
When I was first asked this question the answer that immediately sprang to mind was: “It depends.” For our fantasy-adventure, graphic novel trilogy, The Sorcerer’s Children, I had been reading a lot of Celtic mythology, fantasy and non-fiction history. In that case, the setting or world swirled around in my head with the history of it coalescing into a quartet of main characters caught up in the fallout of events that transpired a thousand years before they were born. For our science fiction adventure graphic novel, The Adventures of Astrodog, I remember watching a docu-drama about humans expanding into outer space and noticed nobody had any pets. I promised my dog at the time, Sam, if I went to space I would take him with me.
So, in each of those cases, the ideas sprang from interests I was investigating at the time. Even though The Sorcerer’s Children isn’t a retelling of any particular Celtic myth it does share certain motifs, symbols and characters. Also, while including a healthy dose of mystery, romance, magic and the forgotten to unexpected consequences history can leave in its wake.
The tone of The Adventures of Astrodog was meant to reflect the old-fashioned escapism of cartoons from the ’70’s like Johnny Quest or Scooby-Do. A pair of children led by their hard-boiled, mystery-sniffing dog uncover interstellar conspiracies and cosmic skullduggery while living on the moon. All in the name of fun.
In my novel, the setting has a role to play in the events of the story. As well as the time period and the characters themselves. In some cases it would be difficult for me to say what came first but it is worth it to know that it all comes down to what works for you. With all the elements we’ve discussed, the main goal in the end is to establish a connection with your reader. In every great story I’ve read, plot, setting and characters have come together to create a tale that can move me to tears or provide me a wonderful escape into an enchanting world.
You can join our characters of The Sorcerer’s Children and The Adventures of Astrodog in their fantastical stories by clicking here. We look forward to hearing your own stories of adventure.
Whether in novels, films or comic books, modern storytelling is often divided into Genres and Sub-Genres. One of the challenges I’ve faced as an author is understanding what “Genre” my novel falls into as I’ve included elements from more than one. In terms of marketing, every writer needs to understand where their story sits whether you’re traditionally or self-published. The more of a “Mash-Up” your novel is the more complicated it can be to categorize. Genres actually help readers find your book as people go looking for what they like first and foremost. And if you mis-categorize your book you can end up with a lot of disappointed readers and poor reviews.
Using my own story as an example, I would categorize it as a Paranormal Historical Thriller. I recently heard of the sub-genre “Gaslamp Fantasy” which I feel would also apply. There’s magic and monsters and evil spirits set in 19th century England. So, you see what I mean”Gaslamp Fantasy” can be said to be related to “Steampunk” or maybe “Historical Fantasy“.
Though I wouldn’t use Steampunk to describe my book it could be said to contain Steampunk elements. So, maybe that’s its “Sub-Genre“. Which leads then to the term “Mash-Up” where we can throw together different tropes or characteristics from numerous genres to create something unique and, one hopes, cool. Unless, if possible, you go too far…
Think Lady Renalda Crosswise – Post Apocolyptic, Space Pirate Princess Mage Detective has a future? Don’t like to see fantasy and science-fiction mashed-up too closely together or are for piling it in on? Now, the doodle of Lady Renalda Crosswise doesn’t have any relation to the story I’m working on but you get an idea how some writers love to stretch a readers’s expectations. Gothic Horror can now encompass Urban Fantasy elements and procedural mystery. A detective story can have a science-fiction setting with a romantic subplot. A political thriller can involve zombies and alien invasion. Not to mention the plethora of Shapeshifter Romances out there these days. I guess there can be almost any combination as long as a writer or artist has the creative chops to follow through. Yet, is there a boundary to such mash-ups? I haven’t seen it but wonder if someone else has. Do you think that genre-expanding, mash-ups are a mess cluttering up literature or they’re just another trend that pushes the boundaries of the genre envelope?
We did a bit of the genre-bending with our graphic novel adventure series The Adventures of Astrodog by taking the trope of kid detectives and transporting them to the moon and having them led by an investigative dog. You can pick up a copy of those colourful stories right here. Keep pushing those creative boundaries and join the adventure!
For a couple of my current favourite writers in the “Gaslamp Fantasy” genre, check out:
C. J. Archer at: https://cjarcher.com or Tilly Wallace at: https://tillywallace.com
So, what’s the most-asked question people in creative occupations hear from others? It’s: “Where do you get all your ideas?” That question or a variant is one that every creative will be asked at one time or another. For myself, it’s not necessarily difficult to answer. I’ve found for me, my ideas often begin with another question: “What if…?” Kind of simple, I know but I’m not one to believe in any special star-blessed talent from above. The doodle below demonstrates the danger that approach holds….
That’s about it in a nutshell and why the question “What if…?” comes in so handy. If you sit around waiting for a Fairy Godmother to bestow some divine inspiration you’re going to be waiting for a long, long time. It’s what started the ball rolling for my novel. A sort of – “What if X happened to Y at this place and time?” “How does that affect their life and relationships?” “What happens when Y‘s choices cause others to oppose them?” And on and on. One question leads to another and by answering them you create a story
So, basically, in my opinion, for most stories and in many cases this applies to other creative media,”What if…?” is the foundation from which our ideas spring. Try it for yourself and see what unfolds. You might be surprised.
Such a beginning was also the springboard for the graphic novels of our fantasy-adventure series The Sorcerer’s Children and the sci-fi series The Adventures of Astrodog. You can follow the What Ifs of those stories by clicking here. Don’t wait until a Fairy Godmother inspires you. Join the adventure now!
Jumping into the life of a novel writer, I’ve discovered there are generally two main approaches to the task. This is where the terms “Plotter” and “Pantser” come into play. However, if you’re like me, you fall in between these two camps. Yes, that means you’re a “Plantser”. Below, I explain, via doodles, the most popular paths used in creative writing journeys.
Ah, The Plotter. There are, of course, pros and cons to all approaches. The Plotter’s dedication to research and world-building can lend a depth and breadth to their storytelling that ensures an immersive ride for the reader. The con would be for those “writers” who spend years doing research and never seem to get down to the actual writing; their novel is always “in the works”. However, if you like a truly solid outline in place and research to back it up because it smooths out your writing process…You may be a Plotter.
Have you got a fantastic idea burning a hole in your head so intensely you dive right into writing? You may be a “Pantser” or someone who “flies by the seat of their pants”. A Pantser is open to an organic unfolding of their story from their original idea; they let the characters drive the direction of the story. It’s an approach that is wide-open to truly creative storytelling. On the con side, the Pantser can sometimes have trouble concluding the story or produce a plot-hole ridden story that without some serious editing may find themselves in world of confusion. Still, they do get down to writing right away.
You can also be a combination of the previous two methods. Yes, you can be a “Plantser”! I’ll admit that’s the category I find myself falling into. When I first started writing my novel, (set in late 19th century England), I didn’t do a lot of research. I just began writing. Due to an abundance of personal reading, I had enough familiarity with the period to begin writing without spending time researching. Checking on the historical accuracy came with the follow-up edits. Editing I’ll talk about in a whole other post. If you’re a writer or aspiring writer, what description do you think comes closest to you? As an aside: Don’t worry if you don’t think you fall into any of these categories. They are generalities after all.
I’ve found YouTube to be a great resource for beginning writers and where I first heard of the terms above. Whether you’re looking to publish traditionally or feel self-publishing is for you, these are some of my favourite Writers online today:
Jenna Moreci: funny and chock full of advice, she’s found at:https://www.youtube.com/c/JennaMoreci
Meg Latorre: Great advice with a background as a literary agent, she’s found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKeBsBrWDtIBrnrCkxHo5MQ
Bethany Atazedah: consistently, detailed advice that can be eye-opening. She’s found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPCRTrY4fiQXF9JXdNtr7rw
Mandi Lynn: lots of great advice and admirable business acumen. She can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY5S1UKi_vbqDLHSReCSWqw
Derek Murphy: great writing business advice for free and for a fee but it’s all good. He can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCn6njwgR9SqJ8d-5R0teEFA
Of course, there’s tons more to be found. It’s wonderful to know that for the modern writer there are innumerable sources of help available at your fingertips. It’ll help you discover more than if your a “Plotter” or a “Pantser”.
Way back in 2019, I went through a “dry” period. I struggled to do more than doodles at times and was feeling disenchanted with the visual art world. To get past that I decided to try expanding my skills in a different direction. To be accurate, I’ve always been a writer but is was secondary and supportive to my illustrative pursuits. However, at that time I thought putting the focus on writing a novel might help me get around my artistic block. And I had an idea. A good idea, so how hard could it be. (Insert your laughter here.)
Knowing myself, I went looking for a notebook that would help support my goal. I found the NotePro Notebook from Blueline at the local Staple Business Depot. Now, I could have simply loaded up on notebooks found at the Dollar Store. The NotePros weren’t the cheapest thing out there but they had several of the characteristics that I liked.
They come with hard, supportive covers.
And a spiral spine that lets the book lay out nice and flat while you’re writing.
I also decided to stick with the convenience of writing the story long-hand. That’s right. I was going to write the whole story by hand and make it extra pretty by using coloured-ink pens…because, you know…. In any case, not relying on having the computer fired-up allowed me to write whenever the inspiration struck.
I went through a LOT of different colours and seven and a half NotePros. Writing in cursive after years of simply typing was a reminder of times past.
Here’s an example of a Character Sheet set up to keep track of the characteristics of the large cast. Though I confess, I haven’t stuck with them.
In addition to the hard cover and spiral spine, NotePro came with some extra little perks I liked. A set of plastic pockets for keeping loose notes and my ruler/bookmark that came in handy at times. Also, some labels and divider stickers that I also liked to use. Considering how many of the notebooks I used the labels were a little nicer than just slapping on a piece of masking tape.
You might think from this write-up that I’m affiliate for Blueline but I’m not. I just truly liked there NotePro Notebooks. Knowing myself and my desire to write my story, I knew by setting myself up with the tools that would make it easiest to continue would best ensure that I followed through with my goal. If you’re like me, sometimes you can get distracted by little things like a floppy notebook that makes it a pain when you’re trying to write while sitting on the couch or on your back deck. Not an issue with these items. However, if there too expensive (I thought I had saved the price tag but seem to recall they were over $5/per) and you don’t care about the surface you’re scratching out your Magnum Opus on, hit that Dollar store for materials. It’s all good. For subsequent drafts, I did graduate to my laptop but for myself, starting this way really helped to get the ball rolling. Also, simply allowing myself to write the story without a hard and fast agenda for it relieved me of a lot of pressure. The goal was simply finishing the story. So, what are some of things you do to encourage yourself in a particular task or goal? I’m not just talking about writing either.
Presently, I’m taking things further and you can look here for more news on my “Writer’s Journey”. The possibilities for new authors these days are astounding. I look forward to sharing those stories with you. Also, don’t think I’ve given up on illustration. I’ll still be producing original art for our Redbubble Shop, the Gallery and beyond.
Well, I didn’t expect to be here at this time. It sometimes seems as though 2021 is trying to live up to 2020’s legacy for crappiness. Not to be too negative or anything but one’s web site going Ka-Blooey is not something we were wanting to deal with at this time. Admittedly, an overhaul of the site was on the schedule but like a month from now. However, Fate had other plans and here we are. We hope you like the new look. We’ll continue to tweak and change things as we go from here.
One thing that I’ll grant to the pandemic lockdown is that it enabled me to finish my second novel, start seriously editing the first while outlining and beginning the first draft of the third. It’s a series that is shaping up to be four books in all and I’ll be previewing parts of it here as I go along on this journey. So, stay tuned for that. As a teaser, it’s a Victorian gothic, supernatural thriller with a strong romance to it.
There will of course be monsters in it, ’cause I love me some monsters. It’s a prose novel but I’m thinking of including some illustrations as well. At the very least you’ll be seeing some character art here when the time comes. So that’s in the works for me right now. Our other cool products will continue to be on offer. We’re adding more for YOUR enjoyment. It’s kind of like a public service we’re offering, if you think about it.
