Recent content by Kevlar

I just wanted to get us all pooling ideas and tossing around different methods of organizing a draft (especially a first draft). I think it would be beneficial to all of us. Personally I came out with a new system I'm trying out for my "Children of Winter" project. I have a folder for my...

I won't talk about what makes me good because I try as well as possible not to engage in the practice of being my own judge. Instead I'll talk about what makes me unique. While I do try to work on smaller and less ambitious projects on the side, that one which is dearest to me is nothing less...

I didn't so much read this as "put in sex scenes" as "don't avoid the subject of sex". If it comes up, don't bury it (unless of course it's a children's story). Doesn't mean you have to force sexual content, just means that there isn't any reason to run from the mere mention of sex in a book...

I had this same hurdle, though it had nothing to do with race (I only have humans) and everything to do with nationality or even regionality. I'll tell you how I dealt with it and perhaps that will give you some ideas. There are three main languages spoken just in the kingdom most of my story...

Why not make it be the parts of fantastic creatures and occult ingredients? 1. A manticore's poison. 2. A griphon's tongue. 3. A korrigan's beard hair. 4. Ashes of a phoenix. 5. The finger bone of a troll. 6. A sprinkle of hemlock. 7. A branch of yew. 8. 2 cups whale oil. 9. Mix into dragon's...

Yeah I have to agree here. Unfortunately our society is still rather chauvinistic, it's just hidden behind a veil of the politically correct. The idea that all of society views women as men's equal is naive and idealistic considering the long-standing bias. That doesn't go away in a few decades...

White's land, black's ocean. I do eventually plan to make the map pretty, though I'm also hoping to have one in a topographic style where I can pick out individual mountains. Having tried that multiple times before I know I'm destined to failure, but you can't win if you don't try. Trust me it...

My brand new WIP map. Other than eating and working out I spent most of my day in Photoshop doing this. Close up the coasts are still VERY undetailed, this map is 2.5% of the full size one.

Though there is more to this world these three continents are where the action takes place. Well, the action just takes place in a little corner on one of them for now, but hey I have fun doing maps.

Most states/provinces do actually allow you to drive with one functioning eye, as far as I'm aware, though restrictions may apply or a handicapped certificate may be handed out. In fact, if memory serves, the FAA has licensed thousands of one-eyed pilots. Losing an eye does not have nearly as...

The internal design of your character is paramount, and should always take precedent over the aesthetics. Characters don't need to be pretty or good at fighting for us to love them (in a book at least, I'm sure Hollywood will tell you you need at least one of those). What we love about...

I think it does have some effect, yes, but a larger one would be the themes and particulars of your story. I'll use A Song of Ice and Fire as an example. Definitely not a children's series, but here are all the viewpoint characters of the first book, along with the ages they were in A Game of...

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm still on the fence, but I've got some better ideas circulating in my head. I'm thinking of a bit of a hybrid of the two. I can find a way for him to come across Breyolin while having left of his own accord. This will mean the plot points I've set up still stand...

The thing is the exact way Talinos leaves the forest is going to have a large bearing on future interactions. When the king of Felesia is murdered and the murderers go after his heirs and calls a moot (meeting of the nobility) Talinos will be heading into the forest to find Feliedron. When he...

I've come to a bit of impasse. The more I analyze it the more I doubt the beginning I've created. It's only the first chapter or two I'm concerned with; the rest I'm happy with on the conceptual level. I'm going to explain my beginning last, first explaining the most important main character for...