In an effort to get through my first draft, I put a few worldbuilding projects on the backburner. And I’m glad I did.

One of those projects was to develop a calendar. Now that I’m in the editing phase, it needs done now. Or else making fixes during later revisions will be a pain.

I first mentioned the madcap idea of creating my own calendar for Five Rings and went into detail with the actual days of the week here. Read the rest of this entry »

Things are starting to feel a lot more like home again, wouldn’t you agree?

Tokyo 1

Magical~
Messages back and forth.
Drawing in the dark.
Little screens of the big world
Over the ring of fire.
Glimpse the ocean.
Different world,
Staying to left sides.
Rule obeyance
High respect
Cigs at children’s height.
Micro toilets.
Vending machines.
Pride in people’s work.
Buildings in the hissing rain
Overwhelming
But if we can do this,
Then we can do anything.
Eleven hour lag.
AM-PM open.
Nervous.
But so many ‘good mornings’
And bright smiles.
“Ohayo,” we’d say back.
And I could find my ichigo drink
That I would never have again.
Person in the way.
“Sumimasen,” we’d say.
We could get our snacks
We’d found were full of bean paste.
It was trial and error.
But we could get umbrellas.

I thought I’d share this poem. It was written in reaction to my first day in Japan. Hope you liked!

Pull up a chair. Have I got a grotesquely long-winded story for you….

Once upon a time, before this blog came into existence, I was experimenting with software that magically ‘helps’ you write your book.

When I first installed Dramatica Pro v4.0 on my computer, I was shocked to see “What is the title of your story?” as the very first question in the ‘linear StoryGuide’: “The step-by-step process to conceptualizing your story”.

There were no tools to help me brainstorm a possible title, no hints to help, and no tips to figuring it out. Just an old-fashioned blank line with a flashing cursor, awaiting me to enter something to proceed to step two.

After racking my brains for a good hour or two while rolling back and forth on my bed like a human steam-roller, I entered ‘Untitled’ and proceeded.

Step two left me confronted with another dastardly question: “Briefly describe what happens in “Untitled”, including the Beginning, Middle, and End.”.

Another flashing cursor. This time in a great big empty page-sized box. I think my brain was also blank with nothing but a flashing cursor at that point. Although maybe the word ‘error’ made an appearance or two.

One thing’s for sure: Dramatica Pro doesn’t pull its punches. I ran away with my tail between my legs that day. I simply wasn’t ready for it.

But let’s try it again:
“What’s the title of your story?” Read the rest of this entry »

Pull up a chair. Have I got a grotesquely long-winded story for you….

Once upon a time, before this blog came into existence, I was experimenting with software that magically ‘helps’ you write your book.

When I first installed Dramatica Pro v4.0 on my computer, I was shocked to see “What is the title of your story?” as the very first question in the ‘linear StoryGuide’: “The step-by-step process to conceptualizing your story”.

There were no tools to help me brainstorm a possible title, no hints to help, and no tips to figuring it out. Just an old-fashioned blank line with a flashing cursor, awaiting me to enter something to proceed to step two.

After racking my brains for a good hour or two while rolling back and forth on my bed like a human steam-roller, I entered ‘Untitled’ and proceeded.

Step two left me confronted with another dastardly question: “Briefly describe what happens in “Untitled”, including the Beginning, Middle, and End.”.

Another flashing cursor. This time in a great big empty page-sized box. I think my brain was also blank with nothing but a flashing cursor at that point. Although maybe the word ‘error’ made an appearance or two.

One thing’s for sure: Dramatica Pro doesn’t pull its punches. I ran away with my tail between my legs that day. I simply wasn’t ready for it.

But let’s try it again:
“What’s the title of your story?” Read the rest of this entry »

Pull up a chair. Have I got a grotesquely long-winded story for you….

Once upon a time, before this blog came into existence, I was experimenting with software that magically ‘helps’ you write your book.

When I first installed Dramatica Pro v4.0 on my computer, I was shocked to see “What is the title of your story?” as the very first question in the ‘linear StoryGuide’: “The step-by-step process to conceptualizing your story”.

There were no tools to help me brainstorm a possible title, no hints to help, and no tips to figuring it out. Just an old-fashioned blank line with a flashing cursor, awaiting me to enter something to proceed to step two.

After racking my brains for a good hour or two while rolling back and forth on my bed like a human steam-roller, I entered ‘Untitled’ and proceeded.

Step two left me confronted with another dastardly question: “Briefly describe what happens in “Untitled”, including the Beginning, Middle, and End.”.

Another flashing cursor. This time in a great big empty page-sized box. I think my brain was also blank with nothing but a flashing cursor at that point. Although maybe the word ‘error’ made an appearance or two.

One thing’s for sure: Dramatica Pro doesn’t pull its punches. I ran away with my tail between my legs that day. I simply wasn’t ready for it.

But let’s try it again:
“What’s the title of your story?” Read the rest of this entry »

Pull up a chair. Have I got a grotesquely long-winded story for you….

Once upon a time, before this blog came into existence, I was experimenting with software that magically ‘helps’ you write your book.

When I first installed Dramatica Pro v4.0 on my computer, I was shocked to see “What is the title of your story?” as the very first question in the ‘linear StoryGuide’: “The step-by-step process to conceptualizing your story”.

There were no tools to help me brainstorm a possible title, no hints to help, and no tips to figuring it out. Just an old-fashioned blank line with a flashing cursor, awaiting me to enter something to proceed to step two.

After racking my brains for a good hour or two while rolling back and forth on my bed like a human steam-roller, I entered ‘Untitled’ and proceeded.

Step two left me confronted with another dastardly question: “Briefly describe what happens in “Untitled”, including the Beginning, Middle, and End.”.

Another flashing cursor. This time in a great big empty page-sized box. I think my brain was also blank with nothing but a flashing cursor at that point. Although maybe the word ‘error’ made an appearance or two.

One thing’s for sure: Dramatica Pro doesn’t pull its punches. I ran away with my tail between my legs that day. I simply wasn’t ready for it.

But let’s try it again:
“What’s the title of your story?” Read the rest of this entry »

Pull up a chair. Have I got a grotesquely long-winded story for you….

Once upon a time, before this blog came into existence, I was experimenting with software that magically ‘helps’ you write your book.

When I first installed Dramatica Pro v4.0 on my computer, I was shocked to see “What is the title of your story?” as the very first question in the ‘linear StoryGuide’: “The step-by-step process to conceptualizing your story”.

There were no tools to help me brainstorm a possible title, no hints to help, and no tips to figuring it out. Just an old-fashioned blank line with a flashing cursor, awaiting me to enter something to proceed to step two.

After racking my brains for a good hour or two while rolling back and forth on my bed like a human steam-roller, I entered ‘Untitled’ and proceeded.

Step two left me confronted with another dastardly question: “Briefly describe what happens in “Untitled”, including the Beginning, Middle, and End.”.

Another flashing cursor. This time in a great big empty page-sized box. I think my brain was also blank with nothing but a flashing cursor at that point. Although maybe the word ‘error’ made an appearance or two.

One thing’s for sure: Dramatica Pro doesn’t pull its punches. I ran away with my tail between my legs that day. I simply wasn’t ready for it.

But let’s try it again:
“What’s the title of your story?” Read the rest of this entry »

It seems we bloggers sometimes have a civic duty to fulfill here in the blogosphere: to go horribly off-topic in the event that we are tagged with a meme. Not that being tagged is like jury duty or anything…
heheh…
At any rate, this viral meme has spread its way to me thanks to good ol’ wizardsmoke. He deserves kudos, though, as he went through the strenuous effort of tracing the meme’s serpentine path, and found that it—-rather amusingly—-originated from the evil that is LiveJournal. Perhaps the true source of evil could be LiveJournal in my story; the evil hidden Zero-ith Ring. lol.
Anyway, here are the rules (There’s always specific criteria for these memes…):

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

Easy enough. Here’s what’s sparked my interests lately: Read the rest of this entry »

It seems we bloggers sometimes have a civic duty to fulfill here in the blogosphere: to go horribly off-topic in the event that we are tagged with a meme. Not that being tagged is like jury duty or anything…
heheh…
At any rate, this viral meme has spread its way to me thanks to good ol’ wizardsmoke. He deserves kudos, though, as he went through the strenuous effort of tracing the meme’s serpentine path, and found that it—-rather amusingly—-originated from the evil that is LiveJournal. Perhaps the true source of evil could be LiveJournal in my story; the evil hidden Zero-ith Ring. lol.
Anyway, here are the rules (There’s always specific criteria for these memes…):

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

Easy enough. Here’s what’s sparked my interests lately: Read the rest of this entry »

It seems we bloggers sometimes have a civic duty to fulfill here in the blogosphere: to go horribly off-topic in the event that we are tagged with a meme. Not that being tagged is like jury duty or anything…
heheh…
At any rate, this viral meme has spread its way to me thanks to good ol’ wizardsmoke. He deserves kudos, though, as he went through the strenuous effort of tracing the meme’s serpentine path, and found that it—-rather amusingly—-originated from the evil that is LiveJournal. Perhaps the true source of evil could be LiveJournal in my story; the evil hidden Zero-ith Ring. lol.
Anyway, here are the rules (There’s always specific criteria for these memes…):

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

Easy enough. Here’s what’s sparked my interests lately: Read the rest of this entry »

It seems we bloggers sometimes have a civic duty to fulfill here in the blogosphere: to go horribly off-topic in the event that we are tagged with a meme. Not that being tagged is like jury duty or anything…
heheh…
At any rate, this viral meme has spread its way to me thanks to good ol’ wizardsmoke. He deserves kudos, though, as he went through the strenuous effort of tracing the meme’s serpentine path, and found that it—-rather amusingly—-originated from the evil that is LiveJournal. Perhaps the true source of evil could be LiveJournal in my story; the evil hidden Zero-ith Ring. lol.
Anyway, here are the rules (There’s always specific criteria for these memes…):

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

Easy enough. Here’s what’s sparked my interests lately: Read the rest of this entry »

It seems we bloggers sometimes have a civic duty to fulfill here in the blogosphere: to go horribly off-topic in the event that we are tagged with a meme. Not that being tagged is like jury duty or anything…
heheh…
At any rate, this viral meme has spread its way to me thanks to good ol’ wizardsmoke. He deserves kudos, though, as he went through the strenuous effort of tracing the meme’s serpentine path, and found that it—-rather amusingly—-originated from the evil that is LiveJournal. Perhaps the true source of evil could be LiveJournal in my story; the evil hidden Zero-ith Ring. lol.
Anyway, here are the rules (There’s always specific criteria for these memes…):

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring summer. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

Easy enough. Here’s what’s sparked my interests lately: Read the rest of this entry »

The elemental order:

What appealed most to me about elemental systems is how the idea is possibly as old as storytelling itself, and fortunately, the Five Rings helped my story come together to make a whole lot more sense.

Analyzing the pseudoscience, I started to wonder if there was any significance to the order of the elements; it seemed like there was virtually no consistency to what order the elements were presented in as I did research.

But, with a little more research in that direction, I found that various sub-cultures had at least attempted to make sense of the elemental order.

The astrologists seem to think it’s Fire first, then Earth, then Air, and finally, Water.
Fire = Aries, Leo, & Sagittarius.
Earth = Taurus, Virgo, & Capricorn.
Air = Gemini, Libra, & Aquarius.
Water = Cancer, Scorpio, & Pisces.
Interestingly, most astrologists still feel the classic elements are necessary to properly interpret an astrological chart.
There are mysterious problems I see with this setup, though. Like why is Aquarius, the water carrier, associated to Air?

According to Tarot readers, it’s Water, Air, Fire, and Earth, corresponding respectively to Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles. Frankly, I’m not sure what ‘Air’ has to do with ‘Swords’, etc. And I can find no explanation as to why this elemental order was chosen over another. If anyone can enlighten me, please do. Read the rest of this entry »

The Five Rings system is an elemental system.

Elemental systems:

Long ago, people viewed everything as being made of some kind of blend of Earth, Fire, Air, and Water, and most gods were embodiments of emotions or elements.

The four element system with traditional elementals:
Gnome = Earth
Undine = Water
Sylph = Air
Salamander = Fire

People were highly superstitious regarding these elements for centuries. Therefore, this idea is deeply entwined with our past. I found it interesting even Pope Alexander III had a tunic made of salamander (fire lizard) skin, which he highly prized. Times have certainly changed. Read the rest of this entry »

Why is fantasy getting so popular all of the sudden?

Discussing it with my wife, she made an interesting observation: Maybe the popularity of fantasy is booming because our culture was getting too saturated with reality TV?
Hm. I read somewhere the more rational the world gets, the more irrational fantasy needs to be.

Fantasy is one of the oldest forms of storytelling. We used the fantastic to attempt to explain the world when science could not. But, now that science can explain a great deal of the workings of our world, where does fantasy fit in?

We dream in fiction every night. So fiction must be important to our everyday lives, somehow. My wife jokingly said, “I don’t know anyone who dreams in non-fiction!”

I fondly look back on my early childhood, remembering what it was like to live within the constraints of my imagination without impunity. As I grew older, role-models made it clear I was expected to cast aside my childish ways. The problem with that was, any innocence I loosened my grip on could not be regained. The imagination I have left is what survived being smothered by grown-ups, and what survived the harsh sting of the real world. Read the rest of this entry »

I wanted to post an overview of what I’m planning in the near-future, because I’m getting antsy (!) and I feel like typing a casual, yet somewhat pertinent post.

Through negotiations with my lovely wife, a Wacom board is officially on its way and
should arrive some time this weekend! I will finally be able to do the finishing
touches on my map and post the (long overdue) map-making tutorial.

Afterwards, I think I will go into designing a timeline, talk about the concept of
‘five rings’, talk about how I go about creating key scenes (and bridging those scenes
together), and then go into what I’ve discovered works well with the editing
process.

At some point, I figure I’ll start up an official wordcount and start adding characters and
cities to those empty webpages (on that right side, over there->) as I go. I may do
illustrations for some characters and make more maps, etc. Read the rest of this entry »