Midnight Manor takes place in a world where monsters and legends exist as part of our world but separated by secrecy. So far I've gotten by using basic generic monsters and a few hodge-podge creations of my own from stuff I already knew, but learning more legend and lore wouldn't hurt anything either. I've already thought of a good line, "You know those old wives tales? Those are our history books." And if that's true and since the main bad guy is a creature of legend and history I should have a good idea of other legends and history of the area I'm trying to represent.
So my focus lately has been English, Scottish, Irish, and Greek folklore and legends. But mostly Scottish since that's where the Academy is. I think it would be good to bring in more history and legends into the book to add texture to the culture of the monsters.
So far I've only been able to study English, but they have some really good ones. I'll share my favorite for today. I got it from "English Folktales" edited by Dan Keding and Amy Douglas who went all over England and composed these old oral stories into a book. This is my retelling of one of those stories.
The Old Woman Who Lived in a Vinegar Bottle
Once upon a time there was an old woman who lived in a vinegar bottle. One day a fairy heard the woman bemoaning her lot in the world so she took pity and granted the woman her wish to have a cottage. The woman, so glad to have her own cottage, forgot to thank the fairy.
The fairy liked to travel and every now and then would stop by to see how the old woman was doing. However; every time the fairy came back it was only to hear the old woman complain about how she still didn't have enough and how happy she would be if only she had a little bit more. The fairy kept granting the thankless woman her wishes to have more and more property and even noble titles until finally she was the queen of a whole country. But it still wasn't enough!
The woman, now so full of pride and entitlement, couldn't see why she should have to look up to or answer to anybody, even other countries. After all her country was so small, why shouldn't it be the biggest country in the world? So the next time the fairy came by and the woman whined that she'd be happy only if she became the empress of the world. The fairy, finally fed up with the old woman’s ungrateful attitude, stuck the woman back into her vinegar bottle where she belonged.
A very good story. I highly recommend getting in touch with the storytellers roots in the old oral traditions. They hold the answers to why we human believe many things and act in many ways. Haven't you ever wondered where the phrase "Knock on wood" came from? You should look it up. Then you'll know why we do it whenever anyone doesn't want to be jinxed.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Timing is key
So I'm having a really really hard time FINDING time before I go back to school to finish everything I want to. I still have books from the library I need to review and return, a manuscript to finish rewriting, and oodles of packing to do by Saturday when I go back to good old BYU.
Midnight Manor Update. I've finished going over my hard copy print outs. It needs some new funny scenes here and there to help balance it out and a bit of rewording here and there and I need to completely redo the ending, but other than that it's going along great. I have my characters established and a good idea of what I want the finished product to feel like. I need to get to know my characters a little better. But that's a project I could easily save for when I'm at school and have an odd free evening or two.
The books I'm using for research now include many mythological books and some philosophical ones, Confucius, Socrates, and Plato hello, and one fun book that I finished yesterday called, "The Desert of Souls," by Howard Andrew Jones. Very excellently crafted book and reminiscent of the the Arabian Nights. (Another book I need to finish.) I loved the story, there was intrigue, forbidden romance, sorcerous powers, and best of all a heavy dose of action/swashbuckling adventure. My favorite kind of book. Another serious with many of the same qualities is the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. Also highly recommended, but if your of a more sensitive nature you probably should skip the demon parts. Trust me, you don't miss any crucial plot points there, just a lot of sensual and disturbing images you don't want to revisit. But hey, they're demons, what did you expect?
One thing that struck me about the "Desert" book was the simplicity of the language and the setting descriptions. It made me think that maybe I have TOO MUCH in Midnight Manor as far as words go. That's actually on my to do list once I am positive I have all the scenes. I'm going to go through and cut things back to the bare essentials and then build the book back up again into a mostly perfect form. That's the idea anyway. I also liked that the book was written in first person like my book so that inspiration will be very helpful. I'm been struggling with first person because my natural point of view is third person. But Midnight Manor really would work best in first so what can you do?
These have been the further ramblings of a first time novelist.
Midnight Manor Update. I've finished going over my hard copy print outs. It needs some new funny scenes here and there to help balance it out and a bit of rewording here and there and I need to completely redo the ending, but other than that it's going along great. I have my characters established and a good idea of what I want the finished product to feel like. I need to get to know my characters a little better. But that's a project I could easily save for when I'm at school and have an odd free evening or two.
The books I'm using for research now include many mythological books and some philosophical ones, Confucius, Socrates, and Plato hello, and one fun book that I finished yesterday called, "The Desert of Souls," by Howard Andrew Jones. Very excellently crafted book and reminiscent of the the Arabian Nights. (Another book I need to finish.) I loved the story, there was intrigue, forbidden romance, sorcerous powers, and best of all a heavy dose of action/swashbuckling adventure. My favorite kind of book. Another serious with many of the same qualities is the Obsidian Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey. Also highly recommended, but if your of a more sensitive nature you probably should skip the demon parts. Trust me, you don't miss any crucial plot points there, just a lot of sensual and disturbing images you don't want to revisit. But hey, they're demons, what did you expect?
One thing that struck me about the "Desert" book was the simplicity of the language and the setting descriptions. It made me think that maybe I have TOO MUCH in Midnight Manor as far as words go. That's actually on my to do list once I am positive I have all the scenes. I'm going to go through and cut things back to the bare essentials and then build the book back up again into a mostly perfect form. That's the idea anyway. I also liked that the book was written in first person like my book so that inspiration will be very helpful. I'm been struggling with first person because my natural point of view is third person. But Midnight Manor really would work best in first so what can you do?
These have been the further ramblings of a first time novelist.
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