Thursday, April 5, 2012

Amythra Follow Up

Okay, I'm done with the Amythra story and I'm working on an outline for the next story. I wanna introduce a lot of ideas, but I think I'll start with the characters.

What will make this next tale different is two things. 1: Since this is based on a setting for an RPG, I'll actually be making the characters using Active Exploit rules (uh...which means I should probably work on finishing my take on Active Exploit rules). 2: I'm starting with a town south of Annalow called Elexia, a lumber village which...uh...honestly, it better designed than Annalow. Blame this one on Mandra. She's not one for city planning and I'm not gonna touch Annalow. It's not MY town. I worked on Jerrow, which was hardly used, and Elexia. I think she's planing for it to be like Ankh-Morpork from Discworld. Not really set in stone, but there are district locations.

Amythra taught me a few things. The biggest lesson was I should really outline these stories if I'm going to write them. Amythra had absolutely no plan when I began except I knew the island girl would be dealing with the loss of her brother to the war and that she'd be exploring Annalow. I pulled Anna Goldeyes from the novel I've never published because I knew her well and knew she was the strong kind of character needed to pulled Amythra through her trouble, but even that came out tinny and thin.

Another lesson learned was the "Quest" given to the main character wasn't any big deal. That was a mistake. Characters are driven by their own desires, sure, and Amythra had a desire for her brother back, but the setting for such a question should have had grander stakes.

Enough of the bad. As for the good, I'm quite proud of my word work, though it's in desperate need of proper proofing, and not my seat-of-the-pants approach, but aw well. What can you do?

Next week, while I work on the outline a little better and test out the chemistry of the companions, I'll release some extra world building info, and try to do it in a more fashionable way than before.

Leave me a comment, or something. Let me know someone's reading this.

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