A doodle of Nerissa
When You Need to Write Something Bad
I was talking with my friend recently after stressing about how I feel the need to completely change the plot for my current WIP. We got off topic and I told her a Barbie fan fic that I had thought up (we are both have a lot of nostalgia for Barbie movies, 12 Dancing Princesses especially). She recommended I write a synopsis for this fan fic even though I would probably never actually write it (I did entertain the idea for a second after I wrote the synopsis tho).
Anyway, it was really fun to write and helped me get my mind off of the stress I was feeling towards my WIP. So if any of you are struggling with writers block, feel like you’re backed into a corner with a WIP or simply need a break, I highly recommend writing something that doesn’t matter at all to you. Write something silly for the sake of writing something that you know will go no further than when you are done typing or when you lift the pen from the paper. This was a life saver for me last night. Here it is, my synopsis for a Barbie fan-fiction:
Barbie would always have a story to tell Kelly to help her through any situation, a girl who never gave up and discovered the magic she held within, a girl who learned to paint her dreams until they came true and a girl who discovered the bravery she always had within herself.
However, as time went on, Kelly grew out of the stories Barbie would tell her. She stopped listening and no longer needed their guidance when she hit a rough spot in life.
Kelly is 19 now. She is in the middle of her studies at a top tier university and up to her elbows in things she needs to do. All this comes to a halt when she gets a call from her mom telling her that Barbie, her older sister, has died.
Kelly drives home to the funeral and goes up into Barbie’s room. She is surprised to find Barbie’s computer open and turned on on her desk, a playlist of long recordings pulled up. Sitting down Kelly realized she knows some of them. Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Rapunzel. Princess and the Pauper kinda rang a bell. There were so many more that she didn’t recognize though.
Kelly put the playlist onto randomize and heard Barbies voice echo through the speakers, next thing she knew she’s being sucked back into the stories she had listened to when she was younger.
As she tries to escape this world she finds herself in she discovers that there is more to Barbie’s death than meets the eye. And more to the stories she thought was no more than childhood fantasy.
Computer Desktop Organization
Here’s a link to the background I used in this image. I’ve been really busy the past few weeks, to the point where I haven’t really been able to do anything besides the odd daydream and note. Now that I’m in a break I wanted to use this time to get organized and prepared so I can keep a writing schedule even when I’m busy.
This is an desktop wallpaper that I transformed so that I can organize the docs and applications on my desktop. I can move things around and visually remind myself of things I am working on/still need to do and things that are done.
I originally got this idea scrolling through pinterest and thought it was an amazing idea. I used photoshop elements to make this but I’m sure you could use almost any other program as all I did was layer blocks and text on top of the original image.
I’m going to try this layout but I’ll probably end up making tweaks by the end in order to make sure it is the most efficient tool for myself. Hope this helps you get organized as well!
(Also, not sure who else does this but I named my computer Artemis. I really enjoy giving my electronics names and having the wallpaper match that name, hence the moon).
Ocean laughs and walking paths
Have I told you I’m a mermaid? She said, the words falling like liquid from her mouth. I laughed at the absurdity. She laughed too, her voice melodic in the way it rose and fell. Her blue eyes reflected the shoreline in the distance. Her laugh sighed into a wave and was silent after. Later that week, she walked into the ocean to be swallowed by the waves. I like to think she was telling the truth, that she swam off towards that horizon she so often stared at, but I know better.
Unicorns
Appearance: Large, lithe creatures with long horns protruding from their forehead that spiral into a sharp point. They range from black to white in color along with a variety of gray tones. They are never more than one color. They all tend to have an iridescent quality about their coats that comes through in the light. Their coats are short though their hooves are cloven. They have long manes and tales but they are often stylized to accentuate differences.
General Information: Unicorns are proud creatures, one of the few “pure” immortals. This means that they naturally have immortality without having to trade or give anything up. They are born with it. They age much like horses would, growing quickly over the first couple years to their full size and then spend the rest of the time growing mentally.
They use telepathy to talk, so it is very hard to listen in on any private conversations they may be having. They are usually paired with a Fae counterpart upon birth, who serves them until either the Fae or the Unicorn end the contract. The Fae learns from the Unicorns and the Unicorns in turn receive aid from the Fae.
They live mostly in Golain, and after a population surge following the near extinction of their species due to Unicorn hunting by Humans they now have strict laws against reproducing in order to ensure their population doesn’t get out of hand.
Unicorns are known for being slow about getting things done, with the inherent mindset that they will have the rest of time to complete whatever it is they are working towards. As such you have a group who is incredibly knowledgeable due to the sheer amount of time they have spent on the Earth, but not at all motivated.
The tales of them being attracted to virgin’s are true but it isn’t limited to female virgins. Their horns also serve as a universal anti-poison receptacle, which was part of the reason they were so often hunted down.
Rusalki
Rusalki are originally from Slavic folklore.
Appearance: They appear as how they looked when they died. Ghost-like in nature their forms are devoid of any and all color and have a slight translucency about them. However, they are still tangible and can interact with the world around them. They usually look drenched, as though they jumped into a pool with all their clothes on. They can be born from any species on Elocia so their form varies.
General Information: Rusalki (the singular is Rusalka) are born from a death, usually when someone is murdered by drowning and are more often than not female. The person who died forms a contract with the the Minor God of violent deaths, they can take revenge on whoever killed them in exchange for never being reincarnated.
For every person they get to exact their revenge on 100 years of servitude is added to their list. Most of the time the Minor God doesn’t ask anything of them, but when they call any Rusalki serving their sentence must heed the call.
When not heeding the call of the Minor God the Rusalki are left to their own devices, wandering the world as they please. This is where their conflicting folk tales come from. Some decide to help others while others decide to harm them.
When a Rusalki’s contract is up, they simply stop existing. Souls go to the afterlife to be reincarnated, but for the Rusalki their soul is destroyed, never to be reborn.
Most Rusalki don’t regret their decision, as the contract made is outlined in a fair and just manor. However their are some who made a rash decision and later come to regret their choice. Unfortunately for them there is no known way out of the binding contract.
As a Rusalka needs a certain set of parameters to be met before they can be born there are usually very few on the Earth at any one time, and sometimes there aren’t any at all. The highest recorded number of Rusalki at any one time was fifteen. The average number of Rusalki on Earth at any one time is three.
When the Word Doesn’t Exist
When writing a fantasy story, it is not unusual to stumble across the need for a word that doesn’t actually exist within any language. This is how I go about creating words that don’t actually exist.
Throughout this explanation I will use the example that I recently struggled with finding an appropriate word for. In this case I wanted a word that meant something along the same lines as “people” but would also address the fact that it wasn’t just human beings, but all manor of mythical creatures.
Method #1: Re-purposing
The first is re-purposing a word that is already in existence, but simply giving it a different meaning and sense to it within the story. This can very often work, and based on the way you use it can really save you a lot of time. In my case I was simply considering using the word “species” in order to address the general mythical population of my world. The short coming of this method is that if not done correctly then the reader will associate this word with it’s original definition, and will not pick up on the new meaning that you are assigning it. However, working within the language that you are already working in can be very helpful to readers, especially when it comes to being able to pronunciation and already having a basic understanding of the word.
Method #2
The second is one that I really like, in that I search the word that I am looking for and finding it in many different languages. I usually use google translate despite how unreliable it can be but wordreference and linguee are also great translation sites to help you find more accurate translations. In this case I started with species. My second language is French so I usually begin with that. In this case, species in French is éspece. I then went on to other languages finding the translations to be: gnèithean, tane, mau ‘ano. I usually like to include at least one language that doesn’t use the roman alphabet. In this case, tane is Japanese but simply using the roman alphabet. Usually google translate provides this below the actual kanji.
Once I have all of this information I begin trying to combine these words together to create a new word. I came up with things like: tespau, tapean, spane, and spèce. I could have played around with these a little more but I didn’t really like anything I had come up with. I really like this method a lot though, as it uses the same word over and over again from different languages, which to me feels like a concentrated version of the word.
After trying species I went through the same process with a different word. This way I could get some different ideas about what I was writing and a slightly different meaning. This is really fun to play around with and I highly recommend it. Use different letters to begin the word, take different aspects and put them in different orders until you have a word that you think fits what you were going for.
Method #3: Word Jumble
The third and final way that I use to come up with a made up word (and I also use this for location names) is by writing a sentence and then removing words or letters. This can be done in two ways, either by simply smooshing all the words together into a single word, taking things out to keep the word from being too long or by eliminating any repeating letters until you have a much shorter list to work with as you will.
In my case I went with the second option, but I have used the first to name some of my countires. For example Lothose is compressed from logos over pathos.
I began with the phrase: “Folk who live on earth”.
I then got rid of the letters that repeated. This left me with: Fkwivnart
I then rearranged the letters a few times until I came up with a word that I liked. This ended up being: Finawat.
It’s up to you if you want to use all of the letters or only some. I chose to only include some in this one as it created a word that had the sound I was looking for.
The Dreaded Grammar
The final thing that you have to do is decide what grammatical function this will serve. In this case it is a noun. But it can be turned into a verb like any word by simply adding -ing to the end: finawating. I don’t really know what that would mean but by simply adding on common endings to a made up word you can easily create a word that functions within any grammatical sense. You want and adverb? Add -ly. Verb? Add -ing or -ed. Adjective? You can probably just leave it as it is and put it where the adjective would normally go: She is finawat. What does that mean? who knows! But as the author it is your job to ensure that your reader understands what this made up word is supposed to represent.
Merrows
Appearance: They are usually long limbed creatures, with large eyes and skin ranging from gray to tan to blue that camouflages with their surroundings. As time has gone on and this has become less necessary, their skin has changed to more vibrant blues, though the original colors remain. They are very human in appearance, though they have flat, fin like feet and webbed fingers. They also have gills on their necks and sharp, shark-like teeth. They have no body hair to help with being more aerodynamic. They are double jointed in the knee to allow for more powerful strokes when swimming.
Merrows are aquatic creatures, living in the ocean. They are a mixed species, born from one Selkie parent and either a Mermaid, Siren or Sea Witch. These Merrows are considered first generation Merrows. They can also be born from two Merrow parents. These are considered second generation Merrows, whether they have had only one generation of Merrow parents or ten.
As they are a mixed species they only live a short time compared to their parents, living only a short amount of time, from 60-70 years. This has made it hard for them to establish any real community within Elocia. Very often there will be a surge in population before it quiets down. There are a few smaller populations with a steady amount of Merrows, but these are few and far between.
Merrows, like their Selkie parent, rely on a sealskin to be able to exist underwater. Any Merrow born on land is simply considered a human as they are usually never bonded with a sealskin which prevents them from ever attaining their water breathing form.
Merrows born below water are immediately bonded to a sealskin as without it they would quickly die. They are kept wrapped in the cloak until the point where they are ready to move around in which it is then wrapped around their shoulders like a cloak.
Whatever “form” they are born in will most likely be the one they remain in as the transformation process between the two of them is very painful. It is not unheard of for first generation Merrows who are born in the human state to be given out for adoption to human parents. These children usually grow up to have a crippling fear of water as whenever they go into any form of water they feel the pain of the attempted transformation that is impossible without the cloak.
When Merrows who are born underwater mature and stop growing they get their cloak specially formed to fit their head so that it is less likely to fall off or to be lost. A very real fear for parents is their child’s hood falling off and them drowning.
Their main population is found in Enea, but they have smaller populations scattered throughout. They prefer to keep to themselves in small communities. As they are a short lived species they, like many other short lived species, tend to live in a lower income bracket as they cannot get the work experience that longer lived species can get.
Have unanswered questions? Feel free to message me!
The Divine Madness
The Divine Madness is the ship where most of the characters live and where most of the story Merrow takes place. When I had originally started this story I knew that I wanted to base if off of the Mark VI patrol boat in the US navy just with a lot less… ammunition.
What I had liked about the boat was that it was large meaning it could house a good number of people, it was capable of going 40 mph, unlike most house boats which are built for a cruising speed of around 10 mph. It is also sits high up in the water which would allow it to traverse shallow water.
The issue I recently ran into is that I only had a general idea of what the boat looked like and honestly had even less of an idea of how they worked. With all that in mind I set out to make a floor plan for the ship and here is what I ended coming up with.
I couldn’t find any specific schematics for the mark VI patrol boat, which makes sense, but there is a great video on youtube that I used to get a better idea of what it looks like.
Unlike the reference, the Divine Madness is made out of a rich, dark wood with metal trimmings.
On the very top level is the control room and steering location. I have simplified this greatly, and at any time there really only needs to be one, but preferably two people in the control room steering and navigating the ship. Usually, Claude would be in charge of navigation and either Galya or Quince would be steering.
There is room for a third to track weather and monitor the overall ship. This ship is meant to go incognito for the most part, so any usual communication devices you would normally find on a ship isn’t actually there.
The entrance to this is on the upper deck. On the lower deck is the entrance to the main living area. Directly down the stairs is the kitchen/eating area as well as a bathroom. This room also contains a lot of storage. This is where Cynthia lives as well as Alec works and eventually where Nerissa will also live and work.
On the right hand side where the number two is, is the stairs down to the engine room. This is where Keala spends most of her time. She can also monitor the engine from upstairs in the control room but being a much more hands on person she prefers to stick close to the inner workings of the ship. There is a rarely used hatch to access the lower deck from the engine room.
On the left hand side where the number one is are stairs leading down into the cabin where everyone sleeps. There are only four beds in here as well as a large shared closets and trunks for each member of the crew… at least those that need it. Cynthia as a fire sprite doesn’t have clothes and Galya as a rusalka is physically unable to change her clothes. The only ones who actually sleep in the cabin are Quince, Claude, Alec and Keala.
I am still working out how I want to power this ship. In working in a magical world I know I don’t want it to be gasoline, but there are so many possibilities that I haven’t been able to decide which one works the best.
This floor plan is in no way set in stone, I plan to learn more about boats and how they are set up to make sure that I’m not writing anything that is glaringly wrong. Changes are sure to come, but for the time being this is what I have.
Research is an integral part of writing, even in fantasy writing. It is also an amazing opportunity to learn more about things that you have never heard of.
Watching the Storm
And all he could remember, was watching the storm roll in. Him and his dad, standing at the top of the driveway like a couple of idiots as the they counted the slowly approaching thunder.
They had laughed as the wind picked up, and assured one another that it was going to be a good one as another flash of lightning sent them counting once more. Their voices raised against the wind and their eyes searching for the next quick burst of brilliance in the dying light of day.
The first drop of rain was ignored, cast aside as a trick of the mind. He had been the one to feel it. It was his dad that felt the next two, and him the next three. Confirming the coming of the rain.
If they hadn’t been blinded by the last flash they might have been able to see the wall of rain that was rapidly approaching their viewing point. When it did hit them, they were soaked within seconds. They laughed, arms outstretched as they welcomed the storm before pushing their long wet hair out of their eyes. Not that it would help them see any better.
They counted a few more times, then came the idea of going inside. Where it was safe. Where they could sleep.
They walked down the driveway backwards. Facing the storm head on as it collided with their small existence. And joking gave way for a brief second of awe as the storm swallowed them.
There was a burst of light followed almost immediately by a crack of thunder. They stopped dead in their tracks, each looking to one another. Their silence colliding with the storm around them.
They were quite as they went to bed. Changed into a dry pair of pajamas he stared out his window at the retreating storm, as each flash brough a longer and longer delay to the distant rumble of thunder. And as he fell asleep to the soft percussion, all he could remember was watching the storm roll in.
Which Hannah Smith 