the snowflake project

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tigana is a wide reaching novel that spans many groups of characters, some of whom never even manage to exist together on the page, despite their tenuous connections in the plot. Its intricacies are something to marvel at, its themes bold and layered like a really good dip. In the afterward, Guy Gavriel Kay himself claims the potency and number of the themes he wove into the story intimidated him – suffice it to say, he managed to pull them together quite well.

Magic is something I always pay a lot of attention to in a fantasy story, and Tigana’s magic is fascinating. Without giving too much away, the setting is a land of many nations, carved up between two invading tyrants, themselves both sorcerers. The wizards of the land must hide their ability or face death. It’s so much like Star Wars that I almost can’t believe it. Order 66 and all that.

This book plays with the once universal black and white dichotomy between good and evil in fantasy fiction. And although it doesn’t turn that concept on its head, certain the edges become blurry.

Definitely give this a read – or if you like audio books, listen to it as I did. Simon Vance is a talented reader.

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Yikes. 10 days since my last post. That’s a few too many. But in order to make up for my tardiness, I worked extra hard this weekend and finished the final two character charts.

Here’s Aryenne’s.

Here’s Torik’s.

So, now that I’m on the final step of the process (prior to actually WRITING the novel, that is), and because of the nature of the work from here out, I’m going to be changing the format of the snowflake project’s blog (what you’re reading right now, for those of you who are keeping track).

I’ll still be talking about the novel and my various wrestling matches with its content. I’ll still be posting content as I write it elsewhere on the site – I promised to write a novel online, and that’s still what I’m doing here. However I want to use this blog for more than just a platform to announce when I’ve written another 500 words. That would get super lame, extra fast.

So this is going to become a proper blog. I’ve got a few topics lined up that I hope will spark some discussion and help bring in a new cadre of readers. You’ve already seen some of this with book reviews (via Goodreads), and one political rant (I promise I’ll keep those to a minimum). Expect more like that – but probably with a bit of a narrower writing focus.

By no means whatsoever am I qualified to give writing advice – and you certainly shouldn’t treat this blog as a “how-to”. I’m just a guy trying to write a novel. I intend to share that with you, as well as other aspects of my life I hope might hold your interest.

So please, email me with questions or ideas for stuff I can talk about here. I’ll either talk about them, or I’ll throw up a post that says I don’t have a clue – and hope the comments section comes alive with useful information nuggets for all (I always order the 10-pack and ask for 2 sauces).

Here it is, at long last – the final segment of step 6 of TSM! As usual, access it here, directly, or go to the Long Format Synopsis directory page to start from where you last left off.

Sorry for the delay in this post – I’ve had very little time in the last few days to devote to anything other than my day job. However, I have finished Kos’s full character chart, and I’ll be posting it very soon!

Part 4 (likely of 6) is live. Read it here, or start from the beginning.

By mid-week next week, the whole synopsis will be up for you to read. I’d love to hear what you guys think of it. If you see problems, don’t hold back – I want to hear about them!

There are all kinds of elements and minor characters that don’t even get a mention that keep cropping up in my head when I think about the story. For example – I’m looking forward to inventing some fascinating insults for the drill sergeant on the conscription ship to use.

I’ve started filling in Kos’s character chart. I have a fairly clear picture of him in my head now (visually speaking). The questions the chart I’m using forces you to answer are very interesting. Can’t wait to share it with you!

The third installment of the Long Format Synopsis is up. Read it here, or, if you need to catch up, start here.

I’m now FINISHED writing the Long Format Synopsis – but part 3 isn’t the end of it. I’ll keep releasing content every weekday for probably a few more days before the end is reached. The total size of my *ahem* four page synopsis turned out to be just shy of 5,000 words. 19 manuscript pages.

I’ll now be starting in on the complete character charts. I’m looking forward to giving some serious flesh to the inhabitants of Kos’s world.

Part 2 of Step 6 of TSM is live – you can read it here.

If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, it’s probably a good idea to start with it instead.

I’m almost finished with Step 6. I think one more good day of writing should wrap it up. I wrote over 500 words over lunch today, and if I can do that again tomorrow, I think I’ll have it done.

Then it’s on to Step 7. I’m going to use the character chart outlined in The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Vol. 1. I find it to be very complete.

Stay tuned for more LFS tomorrow!

I’m not quite finished writing Step 6 of TSM, but that doesn’t mean I can’t share it with you.

I’m going to be releasing it in stages so as not to overwhelm you with a huge wall of text (I’m approaching the end, and it’s measuring up to be about an hour and a half’s read). I’m putting it on different pages to make things a little easier for everyone. There’ll be links at the bottom of each page to get to the next one – if the link is broken, that means I haven’t published the next page yet.

You can find the Long Format Synopsis through the menu via the Story Bible. For those of you with less patience for menus – find it here.

I use Goodreads to manage the books I read. I have an ever evolving “to read” list there, and I sort it by average rating, reading the highest rated books first. That way I’m always reading something that comes highly recommended by its audience.

I’ve started up a book club of sorts (aka a group) on Goodreads, and my idea is to have people in the group reading books chosen by the same methods all at the same time. Anyone can suggest a book to be voted on to the list, but only the top books will be read. If you want to participate, join Goodreads and my group: Put the Best Book Forward.

I’ve added a plot summary from Aryenne’s point of view – you can find it on her character page.

I’m finding this exercise to be instrumental in developing the edges of the story. Kos’s journey as a hero is fairly straightforward – if I had started writing with only his story in mind, I’m sure the result wouldn’t be as rich as I can now see it becoming. Writing out these character POVs has really made me eager to start actually writing the novel itself – but there are three more steps to go (I’m going to skip step 9 – if I start providing too much detail before actually writing, I may not be as eager to tell the story afterward).

As I write this post, I’m already 1/3 of the way through step 6, which I’m finding is more or less directing itself as I write it.

I’ve added the description of the final major race in Kos’s world to the Races page. Technically, the Griind were not created by The One God, and shouldn’t qualify, but they are certainly important enough to the story to be included in my notes on races. I’ve been developing the Griind as an evil race for about 6 years. Their peculiarities are influenced by a lot of other fictional evil races – the Zerg in the Starcraft universe, the Borg from Star Trek, vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc. I think there’s nothing more terrifying than an enemy that doesn’t just kill you, but recreates you in its own image.

Those of you who are more observant may notice that I left out the physical description of the Griind breeders. That’s because I haven’t completely decided what they’ll look like. I only know they will be beastly and monstrous.

Anyway – let me know what you think!