Mythical Creatures Part 2

NOTE: I created this post to the best of my knowledge on this subject and have provided personal opinions and suggestions on each creature. In no way am I an expert on this subject and am learning still. Please keep this in mind while reading, thank you.

This is a continuation of creatures typically seen, heard, and read in fantasy type novels, video games, television shows, etc. If by any chance you come upon a mythological creature that has human features, you can change it to make it more animalistic in appearance so long as the base of what the creature truly is remains, such as a sphinx. It has a lions body with a human head, instead of a human head or even a lion, why not give it a goats head or a dragons head to give it that more mythical feel to the creature.

Part 1 Mythical Creatures Part 1

Part 3 Mythical Creatures Part 3

Part 4 Mythical Creatures Part 4

Part 5 Mythical Creatures Part 5

Part 6 Mythical Creatures Part 6

Alphyn

Now this creature here has been known to have some differing of appearances. The creature is known to be wolf like but has varying legs. Some have this creature with having lions legs and paws, others have it that only the front legs are either eagles talons or goat legs and hooves. It has a tail of a lion but sometimes is described with having beaks instead of sharped fanged jaws of a wolf. It also has been mistaken for a griffon at times but note this creature does not have wings so it can not fly.

Freybug

Think of a dog but born of magma. There is no fur but it has sharp piercing fangs and claws, and with eyes of fire. Sometimes this creature is described to breathe fire.

Hellhound

This is another creature up for interpretation but it has always been either a dog or a wolf with pure black fur and eyes as red as blood. Some describe the creature with having fire wrapped around its feet like a clydesdales long hairs about its hooves, a spade or spear shaped tail, or it is either fully on fire or dead like. What I mean by dead like is there is no fur, no skin, just bloodied muscles with a skull helmet of a wolf. Some have even described it breathing fire.

Imp

This is another creature up for interpretation. You can either go the route of demonic description or animalistic description. Some who have come to describe imps go a more demon route but a bit small. They enjoy playing tricks on people so very similar to sprites in that regard. They have red skin, horns, spear shaped, spade shaped, or scorpion tail, webbed wings, hooves for feet, claws, or talons, sharp clawed hands with small tusks protruding from their mouths. The animal route is either a monkey or a lemur with webbed wings and horns of a goat or a ram. So think of a flying monkey from wizard of oz and there is an imp.

Jorogumo

Basically, a giant spider capable of turning into a woman. The male version is called a Jukujikun. Some lately have taken to describe the creature to be more spider like in appearance then human, such as using reference from spiders native only to Japan. Some have even described the creature as being able to breathe fire.

Leviathan

This creature, like the kraken, can be up for interpretation. You can either go the route of a reptilian serpent or a massive sea creature similar to a megalodon or a mosasaurus with large, webbed, fins and piercing fangs.

Naga

This creature is another one up for interpretation but the main appearance of a naga that always stays the same is part snake. Many have stripped away the more human side of the creature in favor of a more, well creature like appearance. On land it is more reptilian, similar to a bearded dragon or an iguana. In the sea people have described them to be more fish like but still keeping the snake appearance while decorating it as a lion fish, a puffer fish, or a beta fish.

Shedu/Lamassu

This is another creature similar to a sphinx. This is another creature to have different appearances. Some have used the body of a bull or a lion but the head has always been a lion with either hooved feet, lions paws, or reptilian claws. Another beautiful feature of this creature is the colorful rainbow wings.

Tarasque

This is another creature up for interpretation. The creature has normally been described as being a massive turtle with a dangerously spiked shell. It has six legs and a long spiked tail. The head can either be similar to a snapping turtle or a lion and you can either give it paws similar to a lion or a reptiles.

Xenobeast

Now this is quite the creature as it has been described in numerous ways but the feature that has always stayed is the six legs, a spiked back, a set of pincers on the side of its mouth, and plated scales. You can definitely go the reptilian route with describing this creature if you want. You can always go a bit more by giving it a scorpion tail or a barbed tail to make it more dangerous if you want. The feet has always been interesting to me as they only have two nibs per feet, always clawed and sharp but I doubt they are capable of climbing or grabbing.

Zburator

I may have found the best description ever, wolf headed dragon. The head is very much a wolf but the body is either to be wolf like or it is fully wolf. The body can be described to be fully reptilian or partially with massive webbed wings. There are no paws only reptilian claws. The tail can also be described as on fire or just normal reptile like while the creature itself is capable of breathing fire.

Lochness/Nessie

This creature can be mistaken for a leviathan. A sea creature with a long neck and tail and simple fins similar to a blue whale. It doesn’t have gills so it will need to go to the surface of the water for air, sharped fangs, and you can decide of the scales, reptilian or fish like?

Jaquins

This creature is a cross between a jaguar and a macaw. Aside from their wings, they have feathers on the back of their legs and on the end of their tails.

Well here is another list of mythical creatures and again, this isn’t all of them. The next list I will actually focus on dragon creatures, so any dragons that are on these two lists I have will be removed and placed in the third list instead to help keep track. As a reminder your story can be the most fantastical of worlds or the most terrifying. It all depends on what you have in mind for your characters to face or trust.

If you guys have any questions about what I just went over please feel free to ask. I hope you liked my little insight on mythical creatures, I honestly can’t wait to hear some of the other creatures I have missed. If your favorite is not on this list please let me know so that I can add them as soon as I can. Please stay tune for next Wednesday for another post. Thank you all so much for reading and please have a wonderful day.

While Writing: What to Listen to?

This weeks post I think is going to be a pretty short and simple one, what should you listen to when writing?

Now I have heard some authors have surprisingly been listening to music with lyrics when writing such as pop, hip hop, country, etc., and honestly I have no idea how. Some even have television shows and movies running in the background while writing. I’ve tried a few times letting shows, movies, and video games play in the background and they are so distracting. Sometimes I accidentally write the quotes from those mediums while I am supposed to be writing MY story. So I am here to suggest what to listen to when writing your stories, whatever they may be.

Soundtracks

 

Now soundtracks, especially from movies and video games, can be some of the coolest, amazing, and epic things to listen to. I especially prefer to listen to soundtracks from fantasy based mediums because they not only have epic music within their track but also some sweet, somber, lighthearted, and mellow music within the track. It is a mixture of things to help you get in the mood and if there is a specific song on that track that really helps for you to write certain scenes in your story you can always play it on loop to help with any immersion needed. You can also try Game of Thrones but to me there is just too much mellow and somber music, of course the show is much darker then certain other fantasy shows and movies, but without a proper diverse soundtrack it can get hard to be in the mood especially if your scene isn’t even a tense scene. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings also has many lighthearted music to go along with your writing if you are looking for some relaxing air to your writing.

Orchestra

 

If you aren’t looking to listen to soundtracks from movies, television shows, and video games then don’t worry you also have conductors and orchestra groups too. You have groups such as The Philharmonic, Two Steps from Hell, Lindsey Stirling, Taylor Davis, the works. You have an assortment of musicians out there to listen to and what is awesome, if you listen on YouTube or Spotify, they recommend more music like what you are listening to so you will have an even bigger selection.

So now that you have things to listen to when writing, what will you give a try?

If you guys have any questions about what I just went over please feel free to ask. I hope you liked my little insight on music to listen to, I honestly can’t wait to hear what you listen to when writing. Please stay tune for next Wednesday for another post. Thank you all so much for reading and please have a wonderful day.

Before and After Writing: Titling Your Book

All righty then, I’m sure some of you are wondering, I’ve gotten my journals to jot down everything I need to write my story, characters are figured out, worlds created, and the first draft of my story is done, until you realized, what should my title be?

It’s simple really, right now you just finished your first draft of your story, only have a temporary title ready. It isn’t until after you have fully fleshed out your story can you give it a proper title. The temporary title is something you aren’t fully in love with, it is only there as a placement holder nothing more. Just something to let people know that the title right now is just (Blank), I’m hoping to have something later after my story is more polished. I only say this because if you just create a title now while you are writing your story and you let people know what it is, you may get some negative feedback about the title, how it just doesn’t grab them or the title just doesn’t fit the synopsis you gave them.

Here is an example from my experience:

My first title was Valhalla Warrior of the Gods. After I threw my earliest draft of this story on Wattpad, some have come out not liking the title at all. I’ve heard it isn’t grasping, it is unoriginal, and it does nothing for my story. I was bummed out for a while because I liked it of course but I was forced to look for a new title and so far, no it isn’t easy.

My Titles So Far:

Valhalla Warrior of the Gods(The very first title. My character, Valhalla Onnika, lives in Asgard with Gods and sometimes goes on specific errands for them and the Valkyries that guard Valhalla.)

Valhalla The Red Warrior(Not sure about this one because it might be too simple. My character, Valhalla Onnika, wears red.)

Valhalla Lady of Fire(I like this one because it makes mention of what the main character is in a way. My character, Valhalla Onnika, is a fire sage, meaning she has magic over fire.)

Valhalla The Dragon and The Raven(As much as I really like this one, there is all ready an existing book with this exact title. I like this one because I symbolize the two main characters of my story into the title. My first main character, Valhalla Onnika, has magic over fire but it isn’t simple magic it is magic taught to her by dragons. The second main character, Prince Alistair Hilliard II, is a royal and the crest of his family is a raven upon a violet field.)

Valhalla The Fire and the Raven(A different iteration of the last title.)

Valhalla The Red Dragon and the Violet Raven(I basically kept the title I really liked but added colors to it, not sure about this one either.)

Valhalla The Red Fire and the Violet Raven(A different iteration of the last title.)

When titling your story, this is how I do it: If your story is going to be a series of books then come up with a series name first and it WILL be a good idea to look online if another book has the same series name. I only say this because it would be best to avoid a possible lawsuit and to avoid readers getting confused with two different books with the same name. Second, come up with a name for the book itself. Again look online to make sure there is no other book with the same name. Maybe a theme to go along with each book.

For Example: J.K. Rowling has a book series called Harry Potter. The first book is called The Sorcerer Stone. The second book is called The Chamber of Secrets. The third is The Prisoner of Azkaban. The fourth is The Goblet of Fire. The fifth is The Order of the Phoenix. The sixth is The Half-Blood Prince. The seventh is The Deathly Hollows. Each book is titled after a certain object, place, tale or person that is vital in each of those books. The series name, Harry Potter, is after the main character. The first book, The Sorcerer Stone, is titled after a very important object that Lord Voldemort, the villain of the story, is trying to steal to obtain a fully fleshed body. The second, The Chamber of Secrets, is a place hidden deep under the castle that holds a deadly basilisk controlled by the spirit of Voldemort. The third, The Prisoner of Azkaban, is on Harry Potter’s godfather Sirius Black who escapes a prison for Wizards, seeking vengeance on the one who betrayed him and Harry Potter’s parents to Lord Voldemort. Do you see a theme here? Just about each title is connected with something Harry Potter must discover what that is that will inevitably lead him to Voldemort, to either prevent the villain from getting or just discovering what he needs in order to combat the villain.

Second Example: George R.R. Martin has a book series called A Song of Ice and Fire, some of you may know it as A Game of Thrones. However A Game of Thrones is the name of the first book, not the series. The second is called A Clash of Kings. The third is A Storm of Swords. The fourth is A Feast for Crows. The fifth is A Dance With Dragons. The sixth is The Winds of Winter with the final book not released yet being called A Dream of Spring. Each book is titled after certain events and historic tales that took place in the past. The first book, A Game of Thrones, is based on an event between specific key characters planning, scheming, and conniving for the right and ability to sit on the iron throne. A line in the book is when you play the game of thrones, you play to win or you die there is no middle ground. The fifth book, A Dance With Dragons, is titled after a book in the story. The book is about a war with dragons where the Targaryan royal family are thrusted in a war with each other for the right to sit on the iron throne. The Targaryan’s ride actual dragons that no longer “exist” in the world of Westeros. The theme for these titles so far is being able to sit on the iron throne or fighting to sit on it to be the true ruler of Westeros. The series name has been theorized since its inception. The series name, A Song of Ice and Fire, may be Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryan, two of the many main characters in the story, coming together but as for how it was titled may be Samwell Tarly, another main character in the story who wanted to be a Maester, a teaching like person that is a witness and discoverer of history, being in his old age wrote or is writing the actual history of what is going on in the books and titling the book the history is written in A Song of Ice and Fire. Pretty interesting huh?

Third example: Morgan Rhodes has a book series called Falling Kingdom which is a little funny because it is also the name of the first book. She is using the book title, Falling Kingdom, as a series title as well which is fine, she is not the only author to do that. The second book is called Rebel Spring. The third is Gathering Darkness. The fourth is Frozen tides. The fifth is Crystal Storm while the sixth book that will be released soon is going to be called Immortal Reign. Seeing as the series title and book one title is the same, we will skip over the reason for a series title here. The first book, Falling Kingdom, is what you expected, A kingdom falls by the hands of another for reasons of keeping the wealth for themselves as other kingdoms struggle to carry on. There is also some jealousy there too. The second book, Rebel Spring, is a group of characters from the fallen kingdom gathering in secret along with a third kingdom that was betrayed coming together to fight back against the kingdom that ruined and possibly destroyed their lives. The third book, Gathering Darkness, may be about a terrible force coming to destroy the land or possibly the world. I am only guessing the third title because I have yet read the series as a whole but I am working on that.

So after your story has been polished enough to where it is time to think up a title, come up with a series name first IF the story is going to be a series of books and/or think up of a title for the books and those after. Right now I am not sure if I should keep the series name Valhalla because, like with The Dragon and the Raven, their is another book series with the name Valhalla but the author has it as The Valhalla Series. The series is not named after a character but it seems to be a Historical Fiction based on Norse Mythology.

 

 

Here are some examples I found when I was venturing through a book store. It was completely by chance and threw me off for a bit. Here I would hear about Production Companies, whether movies or video games, and Musicians freaking out about their products having the same name as something else suddenly start throwing lawsuits at each other to gain royalty fees or just force the other to change the name but here are books keeping the same name. J.R.R. Tolkien has The Return of the King and Brian Windhorst has Return of the King. The difference here is the “The” in the titles, one of them doesn’t have it and of course the covers and genre themselves are also different. Perhaps these two titles can get away with it but what about these other two books, Christopher Paolini has The Inheritance Cycle and N.K. Jemisin has The Inheritance Trilogy. Clearly one has more books then the other but both are in the genre of fantasy with very different book covers and titles. The difference here is one series is a cycle while the other is a trilogy. This is what I mean by things could get confusing especially to readers looking to read one of these books for the first time. At most I can call my series the Valhalla Chronicles but I am still not sure. I tried looking up another series name but I can’t think of anything else besides Valhalla especially when she is very much the forefront of my story. For now I will keep Valhalla as the series name but the first book title is still being a big work in progress.

Be patient and research your title well. I think title generators are pointless especially as it is literally throwing random words together to make a title that may have nothing to do with your story. For now if you are still writing your story then just focus on your story and your characters, the title can come later and it is not something you need to worry about right now. I say this because if you decide to look for a book agent, all fiction stories must be done before they will even read it or even consider representing you. So as I said, take your time, think, and write, write, write.

If you guys have any questions about what I just went over please feel free to ask. I hope you liked my little insight on titles, I honestly can’t wait to hear about your title ideas. Please stay tune for next Wednesday for another post. Thank you all so much for reading and please have a wonderful day.

Before Writing Part 4: Who Is Your Character

NOTE: I created this post to the best of my knowledge on this subject and have provided some personal opinions. In no way am I an expert on this subject and am learning still. Please keep this in mind while reading, thank you.

I’m pretty sure it is easy to say who is evil and who is good but why are they evil and good? Is it because you say the villain of your story is evil? Is it because the heroes of your story say they are evil? What makes the hero of your story good? George R.R. Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire books, made a great point in one of his interviews, although we saw the villains of our history as villains, they truly saw themselves as heroes for their nation. Kim Jong On really sees himself as his countries protector, protecting his people from the evil Americans that are cannibalistic, tortures, etc. In your story what makes each of your characters themselves and unique from others?

History is written by the victors. – Winston Churchill

As terrifying as some people find this quote, I find it very interesting. It means that there is something more to our history that was or may be hidden still. Are you willing to write something intriguing and mind blowing in your story?

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Before writing your story you need to establish your characters. There are at least 12 Character Archetypes. Now you may be wondering, what is a character archetype?

Character Archetype – In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature. An archetype, also known as universal symbol, may be a character, a theme, a symbol or even a setting.

Archetypes:

The Ego Type: The Innocent, The Orphan, The Hero, and The Caregiver

The Soul Type: The Explorer, The Rebel, The Lover, and The Creator

The Self Type: The Jester, The Sage, The Magician, and The Ruler

The Innocent – Motto: Free to be you and me
Core desire: to get to paradise
Goal: to be happy
Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong
Strategy: to do things right
Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence
Talent: faith and optimism
The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.

The Orphan – Motto: All men and women are created equal
Core Desire: connecting with others
Goal: to belong
Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd
Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch
Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships
Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretense
The Regular Person is also known as: The good old boy, every man, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbor, the silent majority.

The Hero – Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way
Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts
Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world
Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken”
Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible
Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight
Talent: competence and courage
The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.

The Caregiver – Motto: Love your neighbor as yourself
Core desire: to protect and care for others
Goal: to help others
Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude
Strategy: doing things for others
Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited
Talent: compassion, generosity
The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.

The Explorer – Motto: Don’t fence me in
Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world
Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life
Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness
Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom
Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit
Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul
The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.

The Rebel – Motto: Rules are made to be broken
Core desire: revenge or revolution
Goal: to overturn what isn’t working
Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual
Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock
Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime
Talent: outrageous, radical freedom
The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.

The Lover – Motto: You’re the only one
Core desire: intimacy and experience
Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love
Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved
Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive
Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity
Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment
The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.

The Creator – Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done
Core desire: to create things of enduring value
Goal: to realize a vision
Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution
Strategy: develop artistic control and skill
Task: to create culture, express own vision
Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions
Talent: creativity and imagination
The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.

The Jester – Motto: You only live once
Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment
Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world
Greatest fear: being bored or boring others
Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny
Weakness: frivolity, wasting time
Talent: joy
The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.

The Sage – Motto: The truth will set you free
Core desire: to find the truth.
Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world.
Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance.
Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes.
Weakness: can study details forever and never act.
Talent: wisdom, intelligence.
The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.

The Magician – Motto: I make things happen.
Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe
Goal: to make dreams come true
Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences
Strategy: develop a vision and live by it
Weakness: becoming manipulative
Talent: finding win-win solutions
The Magician is also known as: The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.

The Ruler – Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.
Core desire: control
Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community
Strategy: exercise power
Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown
Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate
Talent: responsibility, leadership
The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.

There is also the basic of Character Archetypes:

The Hero – The hero is always the protagonist (though the protagonist is not always a hero). Traditionally speaking, the hero has been male, though fortunately there are more female heroes appearing in contemporary literature. The hero is after some ultimate objective and must encounter and overcome obstacles along the way to achieving this goal. He or she is usually morally good, though that goodness will likely be challenged throughout the story. Heroes’ ability to stay true to themselves despite the trials they must face is what makes them heroic. That and the fact that they are often responsible for saving a bunch of people.

The Mentor – The mentor is a common archetype in literature. The mentor is usually old, and this person often has some kind of magical abilities or a much greater breath of knowledge than others possess. Mentors help heroes along their journeys, usually by teaching them how to help themselves (though mentors sometimes directly intervene in extreme situations). The mentor often ends up dying but is sometimes resurrected or revisited even after death.

The Every Man or Woman – The every man character archetype often acts as the stand-in for the audience. This character archetype is just a normal person, but for some reason, he or she must face extraordinary circumstances. The every man can be the protagonist or a supporting figure. Unlike the hero, the every man does not feel a moral obligation to his or her task; instead, these characters often find themselves in the middle of something they have barely any control over. Unlike the hero, the every man archetype isn’t trying to make a great change or work for the common good: these characters are just trying to get through a difficult situation.

The Innocent – Characters representing the innocent archetype are often women or children. These character archetypes are pure in every way. Though often surrounded by dark circumstances, the innocent archetype somehow has not become jaded by the corruption and evil of others. These character archetypes aren’t stupid: they’re just so morally good that the badness of others cannot seem to mar them.

The Villain – The villain wants to stop the hero archetype from achieving his or her goal. The villain is often evil, though there is often a reason—however warped that reason may be—why villains are so bad. Villains often want nothing more than to control and have power over everyone and everything around them, probably because most of them are secretly strongly motivated by fear. Villains are often the moral foil of the hero: that is, their main vice will parallel the hero’s main virtue.

Other basic archetypes include :

The Ally – The hero will have some great challenges ahead; too great for one person to face them alone. They’ll need someone to distract the guards, hack into the mainframe, or carry their gear. Plus, the journey could get a little dull without another character to interact with.

The Herald – The herald appears near the beginning to announce the need for change in the hero’s life. They are the catalyst that sets the whole adventure in motion. While they often bring news of a threat in a distant land, they can also simply show a dissatisfied hero a tempting glimpse of a new life. Occasionally they single the hero out, picking them for a journey they wouldn’t otherwise take.

The Trickster – The trickster adds fun and humor to the story. When times are gloomy or emotionally tense, the trickster gives the audience a welcome break. Often, the trickster has another job: challenging the status quo. A good trickster offers an outside perspective and opens up important questions. They’re also great for lamp shading the story or the actions of the other characters.

The Shapeshifter – The shapeshifter blurs the line between ally and enemy. Often they begin as an ally, then betray the hero at a critical moment. Other times, their loyalty is in question as they waver back and forth. Regardless, they provide a tantalizing combination of appeal and possible danger. Shapeshifters benefit stories by creating interesting relationships among the characters, and by adding tension to scenes filled with allies.

The Guardian – The guardian, or threshold guardian, tests the hero before they face great challenges. They can appear at any stage of the story, but they always block an entrance or border of some kind. Their message to the hero is clear: “go home and forget your quest.” They also have a message for the audience: “this way lies danger.” Then the hero must prove their worth by answering a riddle, sneaking past, or defeating the guardian in combat.

There is so much to consider when creating your characters from struggled heroes to righteous villains, and caring friends or mentors. You can look at tons of references around you from your favorite movies to what is written in our history books, but of course it depends on who you want the focus of YOUR story to be.

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Next, what I think is very interesting and fun is character alignments. Let me guess, what is character alignments?

Character Alignment – Alignment was designed to help define role-playing, a character’s alignment being seen as their outlook on life. A player decides how a character should behave in assigning an alignment, and should then play the character in accordance with that alignment. A character’s alignment can change.

Lawful Good – A lawful good character typically acts with compassion and always with honor and a sense of duty. Such characters include righteous knights, paladins, and most dwarves. Lawful good creatures include the noble golden dragons.

Neutral Good – A neutral good character typically acts altruistically, without regard for or against lawful precepts such as rules or tradition. A neutral good character has no problems with cooperating with lawful officials, but does not feel beholden to them. In the event that doing the right thing requires the bending or breaking of rules, they do not suffer the same inner conflict that a lawful good character would.

Chaotic Good – A chaotic good character does what is necessary to bring about change for the better, disdains bureaucratic organizations that get in the way of social improvement, and places a high value on personal freedom, not only for oneself, but for others as well. Chaotic good characters usually intend to do the right thing, but their methods are generally disorganized and often out of sync with the rest of society.

Lawful Neutral – A lawful neutral character typically believes strongly in lawful concepts such as honor, order, rules, and tradition, and often follows a personal code. Examples of lawful neutral characters include a soldier who always follows orders, a judge or enforcer that adheres mercilessly to the word of the law, and a disciplined monk.

True Neutral – A neutral character is neutral on both axes and tends not to feel strongly towards any alignment, or actively seeks their balance. Druids frequently follow this dedication to balance, and under Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules, were required to be this alignment. In an example given in the 2nd Edition Player’s Handbook, a typical druid might fight against a band of marauding gnolls, only to switch sides to save the gnolls’ clan from being totally exterminated.

Most animals are originally considered true neutral, because they lack the capacity for moral judgment, guided by instinct rather than conscious decision. The 4th edition introduced an additional alignment called “unaligned” for creatures not sapient enough to make decisions based on alignment, even that of neutrality, which is also used in 5th edition.

Chaotic Neutral – A chaotic neutral character is an individualist who follows their own heart and generally shirks rules and traditions. Although chaotic neutral characters promote the ideals of freedom, it is their own freedom that comes first; good and evil come second to their need to be free.

Lawful Evil – A lawful evil character sees a well-ordered system as being easier to exploit and shows a combination of desirable and undesirable traits. Examples of this alignment include tyrants, devils, and undiscriminating mercenary types who have a strict code of conduct.

Neutral Evil – A neutral evil character is typically selfish and has no qualms about turning on allies-of-the-moment, and usually makes allies primarily to further their own goals. A neutral evil character has no compunctions about harming others to get what they want, but neither will they go out of their way to cause carnage or mayhem when they see no direct benefit for themselves. Another valid interpretation of neutral evil holds up evil as an ideal, doing evil for evil’s sake and trying to spread its influence. Examples of the first type are an assassin who has little regard for formal laws but does not needlessly kill, a henchman who plots behind their superior’s back, or a mercenary who switches sides if made a better offer. An example of the second type would be a masked killer who strikes only for the sake of causing fear and distrust in the community.

Chaotic Evil – A chaotic evil character tends to have no respect for rules, other people’s lives, or anything but their own desires, which are typically selfish and cruel. They set a high value on personal freedom, but do not have much regard for the lives or freedom of other people. Chaotic evil characters do not work well in groups because they resent being given orders and do not usually behave themselves unless there is no alternative.

Although meant for a table top game, it also can be put into stories to best help where your characters stand. Are they so good that they will stop at nothing to save the people around them or are they so neutral that they will do nothing or see no fault with the supposed enemy? Are they so evil that they will do anything to see their goals achieved which means sacrificing the people around them or are they so chaotic that they don’t care and just want to see the world before them burn?

So many things to consider when creating your characters it will always depend on what you do. Don’t make them so naively heroic where everyone will just automatically agree with them and don’t make them so terribly evil that it is just obvious they need to be stopped. Give your characters reasons for why they are doing things, is it trouble with the regime that they are harming the people just so they can keep themselves happy, uncaring for the little people? Are the people so sinful that the villain is willing to destroy to start the world over in a better image? Tell me, why are you characters doing what they are doing in your story?

Note: You can also keep things a secret until a certain point in your story, so you don’t have to spell it out to readers just yet.

If you guys have any questions about what I just went over please feel free to ask. I hope you liked my little insight on who your characters are, I honestly can’t wait to hear about your heroes and villains. Please stay tune for Monday for another post. Thank you all so much for reading and please have a wonderful day.

Jotting Down Ideas

As fun as it is to just start writing your story, it is a bad idea to start something without at least a good or decent plan. What are your characters names? What do they look like? Where do they live? Is there religion? What is the history of the country?

There is a lot to consider when not only world building but also making sure what each chapter is going to entail. Will you start a chapter introducing a character? Will there be a small fight or a large scale battle? Will a character die? There is so much to think of and write but there are of course a few things you need first: A journal to write in and a pencil, hopefully one with an eraser.

You can always go to your nearest store to get them or you can go on Amazon. Try to get as much as you can, not just for back ups but in case a new idea for a new story pops up you have a journal just waiting to hold your ideas. As you can see I have 7 journals and funny thing is, I still need more because these damn ideas won’t stop coming! There is of course just using your computer but the risk there is it turning off and never coming back on again and you will loose all your ideas, that is not good. There is also places to hold your ideas like Dropbox or if you have a Google account there is the Google Drive, I use the Drive to hold my stories.

Another fun use for a journal is not just for writing ideas but also sketching out possible symbols for your characters to use either for magic or any other great weirdness you can make up. It is a good idea to have an idea of what these symbols will look like, you don’t have to be a professional artist to draw just sketch some stuff out to at least know what they will look like. Remember, consistency is key.

Here are some ideas that I jotted down in my journals in no specific order:

1. Calendar
2. Character names & appearances
3. Countries
4. Cities
5. Religion
6. History(Both World Creating and City Creation)
7. Time Line(Just before the book starts to the end of the first book)
8. Royal and Noble Family Banners
9. Race and Fantasy Creature Description
10. Languages and Alphabet
11. Levels of Magic
12. Family Tree
13. Symbols(Any Kind)

And this is just the start. A few things can come up during the writing story process that you just didn’t think of before and it happens, don’t let it get to you. Just jot the idea down as detailed as you can and remember no matter what you will be going over your story a lot. Once you get to the end it doesn’t mean it is the end, go over it as many times as you can until you say, okay now that is everything.

If you guys have any questions about what I just went over please feel free to ask. I hope you liked my little insight on jotting down ideas, I honestly can’t wait to hear how you jot ideas down. Please stay tune for Monday will be another post about creating races. Thank you all so much for reading and please have a wonderful weekend.

Before Writing Part 1: World Creating

You probably have a great idea for a story right? Ready to grab that pencil or tap those keys? Well you shouldn’t yet. As much as you want to start writing your story, for now just jot those ideas in a journal, you need to do something very important before starting it especially if that story is Fantasy.

Before writing, before characters, before all of that fun stuff it would be a good idea to create the world your story is going to be in. Where is the country your characters will be active in? How big is the country? How many cities does this country have? How many races does this country have? etc.

Before mapping everything out why not actually think about how your world is created. You can either go the way of religion where the world is created by an entity or many or you can go the way of science where the world is created by asteroids smashing into each other or something like that. The best examples are literally right here on the Internet. You can look up the different mythologies, NOTE: Some are very, hilariously weird, and the many active religions as well, NOTE: Yes each religion has something different about how the world was created.

If that is not your forte, as I said a moment ago you can also go the way of science and see how our world was created that way and how other planets in our system were created as well. In one our moon was created after an asteroid hit the surface of our planet and in another the human race was created when the blood of a titan mixed with the water of our planet. There are literally so many possibilities you can reference off of, not to mention the religions made up for video games and other medias, but for now focus on our mythologies and our many world religions before needing or wanting to jump into all ready made up religions.

 

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How I Created Midgard and Hada Cuentos:

It was really fun when I created these two worlds of mine. For both Midgard and Hada Cuentos I took our world map, threw it into Photoshop, created a layer on top of it, and only traced the continents I liked the shape of for these specific worlds, grabbed the warp tool, and began shaping them to look a certain way. Once I got an outline of one I began creating another by still looking at our world map and studying other Fantasy based maps such as Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Falling Kingdoms, etc. NOTE: If you don’t have Photoshop, don’t worry. Go to a nearby store or Amazon and buy a graph paper book or any sheet of paper that is large enough and can trace, and if possible a world map, and try creating your world that way.

After the countries are created I go to a website called Inkarnate so I can get started on what the terrain of the lands will look like to how big a forest I can have to how big the mountains can be to how vast a dessert will be. The possibilities are endless.

NOTE: For Inkarnate you will be recreating your worlds on that site, it is also a free beta at this time. You can find video tutorials of the program on YouTube so you won’t have to worry about what the hell it is you should be able to do.

Once the terrains are created then you start placing cities, castles, towns, etc. Where is anything on your map? I say it is a good idea to know exactly where things are and keep things consistent or else once you get to writing you may actually get confused and lost along with your characters. Know which way is North, South, East, and West. Remember this is your world so make it how you want it to be, large cracks in the world? Make it so, how was it created? This is how, etc.

Another way to create your world, and this is thanks to S.H. Ing, NOTE: She is a traditional Fantasy map creator herself, she has a big box of lots of kinds of dices, shakes it up a bit, then tilts it over, and drops the dices on a big sheet of paper. Where ever the dices land whether in big chunks or small, she leaves them be, and traces around the dices, making sure not to knock any of them out of place, and BAM! Countries are created. Find ways to make the world for now, it doesn’t have to be professional, remembers J.K. Rowling created most of the mapping of Hogwarts on a thin napkin. The way how I see it that will also work too, so long as you know where things are now.

After you have placed your towns, cities, camps, etc. for your characters, map out the important cities so again you know where your characters should go. Don’t map out all of them, if your characters aren’t going to every city in your world then that is fine, map the ones they will. It will also be nice to map out their homes as well. Do they live in a castle? Do they live in a forest or mountain? How many floors or tunnels does it have? Where do they go for training or studies? You know have fun. If your not an architect, as I said that is fine, it doesn’t have to be perfect you just need to know where things are not only for yourself but for your characters as well.

Once the world, land, buildings, and lore behind each are created, the next fun step in creating is the race of people and beings themselves.

If you guys have any questions about what I just went over please feel free to ask. I hope you liked my little insight on creating Fantasy Worlds, I honestly can’t wait to hear how many of you created yours. Please stay tune for Friday will be another post about how to jot ideas. Thank you all so much for reading and please have a wonderful day.