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Pan-tastique — .:Guardian of Innocence:.
Published: 2015-07-19 21:28:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 257; Favourites: 3; Downloads: 0
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Some concept art on the renewal of the Guardians' costumes. This one's for James, and I must say that I absolutely adore the look of it. It's more historically accurate, yet still contains all the key features of Phineas' original costume.Related content
Comments: 15
He looks awesome! Say; when you write, do you end up in "I Just Write The Thing" mode where your characters take control based on what they think is best?
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Well, actually, that's the only way I write. I like to have real scenes, especially when they're emotional; that's when I take actions based on my character's feelings and personality.
I always tell myself to "put myself in the character's shoes"; I never write what I would do or say, but what they would. Every story I write is written from the characters' point of view, no matter if I write in first or in third person.
Writing like this makes me feel like the scenes turn out more "real".
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I see; makes sense. I've read stories about things like characters pitching a fit and forcing the author to rewrite up to the entire book, characters never being where the author intended and forcing them to rewrite to accommodate, authors crying after writing a death scene that the story called for but they didn't want to happen and characters scolding the author for making something happen.
On another note, have you ever heard of National Novel Writing Month?
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NaNoWriMo? Yeah, I heard about it... I've looked it up a few months ago, only to discover not EVERY writer is fond of the program. XD
What about it?
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I'm going to be part of it this year and was wondering if you've ever considered being part of it. It's helped several people get published; they have a list of several authors who went on to publish their works.
What exactly do the writers who don't like it dislike about it?
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I have considered joining, but I never have time in November, as I'm pretty much always busy with school.
Well, one of the articles I read was this one.
There are various quotes inside this article, for example: Editors and agents are already flinching in anticipation of the slapdash manuscripts they’ll shortly receive. “Submitting novels in Nov or Dec?” tweeted one, “Leave NaNoWriMo out of the cover letter … or make it clear that it was LAST year’s NaNo.” Another wrote, “Worst queries I ever received as an agent always started with ‘I’ve just finished writing my NaNoWriMo novel and …’”
and Yet while there’s no shortage of good novels out there, there is a shortage of readers for these books. Even authors who achieve what probably seems like Nirvana to the average NaNoWriMo participant — publication by a major house — will, for the most part, soon learn this dispiriting truth: Hardly anyone will read their books and next to no one will buy them.
You should probably read the whole thing yourself. NaNoWriMo is a good way to start writing, but I do believe that they shouldn't send that manuscript to publishers, but edit and rewrite it while taking time to do so instead.
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Makes sense.
And of course I'd edit it; I'm more concerned with just getting something down for NaNoWriMo. I painstakingly edit fanfictions that are basically "The Lion King" with character x as Simba, character y as Nala and so on, ones where no one really cares about editing whether they're the writer or the reader; I'd never be able to forgive myself for giving readers trash (they get enough of that with Twilight and its ilk). I take pride in being well-edited but it is easier for me to work on something when it's partly done; plus I have so many ideas that picking one idea and telling myself "You're only allowed to work on this for November" would help with focus. Also I'm planning mostly novels; despite the name of the event, NaNoWriMo is about writing novellas, not novels (the length is the main criteria here). But seriously; no shipping the "fresh from NaNoWriMo" manuscript for me.
Additionally unlike the people mentioned who write instead of read, I do both; I've made plans to add all of the English NaNoWriMo works that got published to my "books to buy" list (preferably e-book; not nearly enough time, space or money for all the good stuff out there). I also am consistently on the look out for books that prick my interest (fanfics too; anything good is worth reading after all) and at the beginning of this summer, went through the entire collection in the library at the school where my mom works for books I wanted and even got to read several.
The sneak peek I let you read is actually an example of how my writing normally looks right off the cuff; my mother is an English teacher at heart and a stickler for proper spelling and grammar (she once corrected a random flier's grammar) so I tend to start off with correct spelling and grammar or close to unless the character's speech patterns lend themselves to bad grammar or words spelled wrongly to convey pronunciation (like the "Uncle Remus" voice associated with the Brer Rabbit stories uses "jest" for "just" and "ain't" as a contraction; neither are correct but the dialect calls for them or else it's not authentic). NaNoWriMo is more for the purpose of focusing on a project rather than producing a manuscript to send off for me.
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Ah, I see. I'm glad to hear you share my opinion on the whole editing and revising thing.
I've made the mistake to publish my first book without editing, which left me quite disappointed as in retrospect I could've done better.
My mum doesn't understand why I'm completely rewriting Guardians of Light into Guardian: Protectors of Light instead of just changing the names; it just has to do with plot tweaking, correct character and scene replacement and grammar and spelling error-correction.
If you'd like, I could send you a few bits of the Dreamgirl story I'd been working on before putting it on hold for Protectors of Light, and perhaps of that story too; to get an idea of what my stories are like when they're not edited (I'm pretty sure Protectors of Light will get its own revision round once I've finished rewriting, as I already see the kinks as I'm putting it to paper. I fix most of those while typing it out, but I think a lot more will catch my eye if I take my time rereading it).
I just can't help it. I'm a perfectionist. XD
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Since it's your first book, just chalk it up to "mistakes to learn from".
And considering the approximate replacement chart you sent me, I can imagine how much tweaking you need to do.
Sure; if you'd like. Just sent it through notes.
Revising is probably the hardest part because that's when you have to make cuts and when the characters are probably making their opinions most known. Being a perfectionist is a handy trait for writing as long as you keep it under control; I'd recommended getting 3 opinions on your work at any given stage (there's a saying in England about how you should never be sure of an opinion being valid until 3 people share it) and no offense to her or you but I don't recommend your mom; since she doesn't understand why you're revising it from the fanfic version, she might give you a skewed opinion. The 3 opinions will probably help you decide when you're safe to stop revising though as many creators say, nothing is ever finished; they just ran out of time (or decided to stop in your case).
Once you have a more editted manuscript, you should have an easier time publishing.
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Alright, I'll try to find a good part to send you.
I wasn't really planning on letting my mother read it before it's been published, anyway. I've just got some kind of weird anxiety and discomfort about showing people in real life my work. I think I'll ask some people from deviantART if they're willing to help; with the benefits of having a sneak-peek of course.
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Great.
And I see. Just be careful about who you show it to.
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Say... would you mind helping me with it? Giving your opinion on small bits of the story I send you every once in a while?
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Gosh, thank you! I'll try to send you something from chapter one in a few moments. ^^
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You're quite welcome. And I'll be on the lookout.
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