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]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/12894027/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/12894027/ Tue, 08 May 2007 22:56:33 PDT [link]) are all kinds of awesome.

Also, tomorrow is my last day of classes for at least a year, it seems.

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Refueled myself by reading and playing Final Fantasy after seeing a Celes art piece, got to talk to someone new who is really interesting... Got to make beef stew (added too much water, but negated some of the problems with my last stew)...

All in all, I'm going to bed happy. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9696345/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9696345/ Fri, 11 Aug 2006 21:57:09 PDT
I think it's because, geographically, towns are important to me, but it's not the people that are important, but the places... I don't know. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9670836/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9670836/ Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:11:17 PDT
Uploaded some old stuff, and something I just worked on. It feels good to write in the first person, to really put my voice out there. But at the same time, it is sort of difficult.

Still, when I've been having all these problems working on the pulp-themed stuff, it's good to write something I have confidence in, to express my emotions.

I was getting too far away from the emotions. It's nice to bring them back into the forefront of my mind. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9669685/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9669685/ Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:22:35 PDT
My #1 problem is being bogged down with nothing to carry the person on.

This occurs most often when I don't have other characters around.

So, to fix this, what? Add characters in, or have a singular character reflect on another. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9668572/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9668572/ Wed, 09 Aug 2006 18:48:44 PDT
Granted, the re-write needs a re-write, it's changed so drastically, but it's getting there. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9663014/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9663014/ Wed, 09 Aug 2006 11:10:27 PDT
Almast - wake up, storm? Works with the lightning affinity, and prophecy (sky, birds? Hawk? Introduce Dikapolis the Eagle?)

Xaxian - does she have an affinity? Earth, maybe? Explanation in swamp?

Dragon disciple?

In other news - Dean Johnston is throwing out a bag of old comp stuff, which includes a hookie laptop, a zip drive...

And a gameboy color, with Kirby in it. The sound is shot, but I hooked it up to speakers. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9655733/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9655733/ Tue, 08 Aug 2006 21:22:35 PDT
Imparting complex, but basic action takes up a lot of space. I think this is good, because providing these details, giving a full understanding of simple movements, is interesting to me.

But it's not really fun to read, and it's not fast paced.

I was working on this image I had of Almast waking up from being really roughed up, and getting used to his surroundings. It took several pages to get any motion going, though, and in the end, it might be better to just ramp it up and not deal with the details so much.

The problem is, as near as I can tell, that while something visually appealing takes a short amount of time in an anime or movie, it takes just as much time as a larger action in a story.

For instance, seeing Almast weakly raise his hand and grab his pendant until his hand bleeds takes about 5 seconds of real time. Maybe 10 seconds.

But it takes

"He angrily, stubbornly, commanded his body to move, and he felt he could lift his right hand somewhat. He raised it to his chest, and he felt something familiar. A small pendant. He wrapped his hand around it, feeling the sharp edges of it. The tarnished silver pendant was of a dragon in flight, its wings and tail somewhat sharp. He squeezed it hard enough for the pin pricks to draw blood, drawing strength from the familiarity of it."

in writing. Anything too much less, and I feel like the signifigance is lost. Anything more and it gets dulled down. I feel that, at least at this stage of drafting, there isn't a better way to show that action.

But is it worth showing the action? Visually, we see the pendant if it's animated or filmed.
We see him grab it, and we see his blood. But with words, it's somewhat slower.

I still like the idea I have, but I need to change it to pace it faster. The pendant should be a slowing down part, not the speeding up part, and in the current configuration of the work, it's a faster part. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9653978/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9653978/ Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:16:04 PDT
Essentially, when I lay in bed or nap, I get ideas that float around. Going to try following these more, because I feel like some of the really good scenes I have are a result of me doing so... ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9612750/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9612750/ Sat, 05 Aug 2006 23:04:12 PDT ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9612718/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9612718/ Sat, 05 Aug 2006 23:00:03 PDT
The slow reveal doesn't work in short stories.

*throttles something*

On to draft #3. I'm just glad I've learned how to -not- get torn up about having to re-write a piece, and also that I'm not so in love with my own words that I keep on when everything is telling me to stop. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9560589/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9560589/ Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:00:31 PDT
It's interesting, to say the least, how much I learn by mulling over my problems. The longer I dwell on things, the most I mull out why character choice impacts my prose, how reader believability is called into question, and other things.

For example, Breyan. Breyan works well in three situations.

Short prose pieces, primarily first person or at least oriented inward. His backstory is sort of questionable but clear in these, and they're about his current thoughts. Nothing really amazing here, but they're fun to write, and easy to write.

Significantly longer works, where there can be a slow reveal and sort of an open character growth.

Short works where the reader already knows the character.

For my current goal (short story, stand alone), #3 is completely out, as is #2. In addition, since most markets I am working at are "pulp," which dwells on action primarily.

Unlike Almast, who is fine being placed in the middle of something, Breyan is difficult to hedge out. In addition, Almast has a better supporting cast (Conleth, Kayra, Xaxian, Destin if I ever flesh him out more), which works well for short stories.

Interestingly enough, the big problem with Almast (his confined, snap-shot nature) plays the the advantage in this writing type. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9524603/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9524603/ Fri, 28 Jul 2006 15:39:26 PDT
Breyan is a difficult figure to prepare in a short story. His changes, the degrees of his personality, require a novel style setup, or at least introspective pieces.

Since my current goal is to do some short stories, this is a problem.

Hm. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9483512/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9483512/ Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:50:23 PDT
Brayz has nothing written about him thus far. I have a few stories, but they're trash, garbage.

Brayz's key trait is he is constantly recreated to fit any situation I feel a need. If Breyan is me as I always am, and Almast is me as I am right now, Brayz is a sort of future sense; he is vague.

He exists in sort of the medium; he is emotion and logic swirling about, mysticism at its finest. The ego, struggling between the two.

But at the same time, I sort of feel that he's... I dunno. As this journal seems to show, he's not really a factor.

This is interesting. I thought I had a lot to write about him, but I don't.

The best I can come up with is, "Breyan, but without the physical fighting, and maybe mysticism."

It seems like the injection of the traits that makes Almast difficult can cancel out Breyan's good traits, if you imagine that he's directly between the two.

Weird. I guess I found something out through this. I'm going to try to write something with Brayz, though, just so I have something on record. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9482747/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9482747/ Mon, 24 Jul 2006 19:35:04 PDT
Breyan is pure emotion. Writing about him requires me reaching deep into myself, struggling with every emotion I've felt, and then letting it raise through me, through my soul, and given shape.

If Almast is the snapshot of me, Breyan is the Platonic me; no matter what happens, those emotions are always a part of me, and always will be. The themes of isolation, alienation, body-type difficulties, etc are things that everybody feels, but most importantly to me as a writer, are given a literal shape.

Breyan is passion; he is love, and anger, and everything. He exists in a state of constant conflict, and he desperately tries to understand his situation a little better, although he can't ever really master it - much like any other person, he is unable to master it.

Breyan is attractive to some people, or at least interesting, because a lot of my writings about him are first person, or so close to him... His emotions shine through constantly, making him approachable.

He is also the Id; he is the character that possesses most of the sexuality of the characters. He wants to find love, because he feels he's incomplete without it; the other two feel like love should help them, but find it a secondary thing.

Breyan needs acceptance, and one of my big fears when writing for him is that he'll never find it. Every character I connect him with is using him, or simply benefiting from him. He is never an equal, always a lesser or a greater.

There are a few exceptions, but I think the big thing is that Breyan must accept, like everyone else, that he might never be genuinely happy - he needs to take what he can get.

Thus, Breyan is the most passionate, the most concerned with emotion, and the most accessable of the characters. In M;TG terms, he is red/white; his emphasis on emotions, fire, and society make him the ideal sort for that kind of combination.

The problem with writing for Breyan is a lack of context. In order to give a good context I have to start when he is really young, which can be interesting, but I'm not sure if I want to do that. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9479210/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9479210/ Mon, 24 Jul 2006 15:26:44 PDT
Essentially, the problem relies in the combination of two traits: context and emotion.

For instance, lets examine Almast for a moment. In Frozen Iliz, I realized that Almast works best if given a context, but not emotion. As my last journal indicates, emotion is the emphasis of what I'm working for.

The problem with Almast, I think, is that his emotions are held really, really close to his chest. They're secrets primarily because he's ashamed of them, I think; he holds to logic, to magical power, for some reason I can't really get at. The interesting thing is that this doesn't make him bad - in fact, it makes him a great character because he does have depth like this.

The problem is it doesn't make him a good main character.

Tragedy, suffering, etc, make good main characters, but only when the reader is close enough to them to feel it. The main character is sort of the focus of the reader - not only that, but he is a guide, the sympathetic character, the "attractive" character.

Almast is a great supporter, but his nature is difficult to create affinity with the reader, or to maintain this writers interest.

The reason, I suppose, has to do with the Triumverate. These are the three characters I focus on, chiefly; they are all allegories for myself, or for traits of mine, sometimes overplayed and stretched out. They can almost be seen as the Id, Ego, and Superego.

Almast, we know, is logical; he is the Superego of sorts. But what is really interesting is that he is the most like me at the moment of writing; Almast is ME, but he is a snapshot of a specific moment. There is no change in the gradual sense, but he suddenly shifts.

Almast is fundamentally taken from a combination of my love of control and self-definition. Almast has the abilities to be a defensive figure, who while tenacious, tends to win by out-thinking. Furthermore, his role in the world is self-made.

Now, I won't go into too much detail about it, but in M:tG issues, Almast is White and Blue. He has the physical and t he purpose of white, and the mysticism of blue, but he lacks passion. With my desired focus on emotion, this is a problem.

So, essentially, the conclusion I have reached in the last journal, and further explored now, is that Almast isn't sufficient to write about.

In part II, I'll sorta discuss Breyan, and why he both works and doesn't work as a main character. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9432471/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9432471/ Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:03:18 PDT /;.,
lkf;sd
lkd

Enough banging.

Writing lately.

About Almast.

Want to sell it, hrm.
Which means… I need to think.

What draws ‘em in?

What is Almast’s motivation?

He has none.

I have none.

What is my motivation?

I have none.

I want to…

I want to continue to exist.

I want to be loved.

Well, fat chance there.

I wanted to teach.

Why?
Academic, supposed to be smarter.

I am smart.

Smarter than a lot of people.

What can I do with this?

I chose English. Why?

Reading.

Books.

Keep me sane.

Escapism? Entertainment?

UNDERSTANDING.

A place in the world.

A sympathetic place in the world.

Understanding more about the world.

I want to show that there is more than the now.

That there is a past.

That there is a plan? Maybe.

I want to show people what right and wrong is.

Not in the Christian sense, because I do want that.

But I want them to know what evil is. I want them to know what sadness is. I want to strike at the thing that binds us all together. I want to get at what is human.

Can Almast do this?

I don’t know. Almast is me.

I have no motivation.

He has none.

Well, not true.

We have big motivations.

I want to open eyes.

Almast wants to… Inspire.

He wants to pick things up.

He wants to slay the dragons of the world.

Dragonslayer.

Breyan is a dragon slayer; in my mind, the dragons are the problems in the world.

He puses himself onward.

What do I do when I connect to Almast, and write about him?

I’m unhappy.

Why? What is it about Almast that makes me unhappy?

Is it the fact that he is weaker?

It’s the fact that he isn’t as firey. He isn’t as emotional.

Whenever I write Almast, he comes off as dark, and logical, and entirely removed.

I need to either switch to Breyan, or Invest in Almast more.

What can I do to make Almast angry, to get him emotionally involved

I throw him in situations, but what carries him from one to another?

A desire to know more, a desire to feel more.

Bleh, I need sleep. ]]> ~braro http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9428761/ http://braro.deviantart.com/journal/9428761/ Wed, 19 Jul 2006 16:23:41 PDT
Writing is about evolution, in a way. Besides, I'd rather be writing something I want than not writing something because I'm sticking with one thing.

Anyway, the biggest solid chunk of Iliz is in my scraps; reviews are appreciated, as always. ]]> ~braro