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The Wolf Among Us – Episode 2 Smoke and Mirrors Review

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ss_dedc5e68e74788af4d714392a231d090d2511af9.1920x1080.jpgThe second episode of Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us, titled Smoke and Mirrors, takes us to a whole new level of awesome! This masterpiece of a world that Telltale created is still bouncing with vibrant neon colors, but all the characters this go round are coming in shades of grey!

This episode dives much deeper into the character of Bigby, and no matter whether you play as the nice guy, or as a monster you get to see a personal side to who Bigby really is. You really get to see a lot of the dark, fantastical world of Fables which you find yourself really questioning some of the decisions you have to make, right or wrong.  The writers of this episode did an amazing job of keeping the suspense up, but thrilling you with moments of ease and lush adventure.

Starting this episode you will pick up right where you left off with the shocking events at the end of Faith.  A lot of the drama and suspense in this episode revolves around how Bigby and the other Fables deal with the fallout, and thankfully, a lot of that is fully up to you and the decisions you make. The voice acting in this episode and overall game is top notch and probably some of the best Telltale has put out, which is saying a lot with the games they’ve done.

1392053246Want some villians?  Well, this episode has got plenty of them as they set the foundation for some really nasty ones who you will quickly love and hate all at the same time. SPOILER ALERT – One of the nasties in this game is named Georgie, a strip club owner and pimp with an absolute numbness to human dignity and need.  No matter how you handle Bigby’s interaction with him, through understandable violence or forced restraint, the scene plays out great both ways. A few of the major decisions from Episode 1 also have some nice moments of payoff in Smoke and Mirrors. Particularly how you handled Belle lying to Beast and who you chose to chase out of the bar result in very different scenes that shape both the story and Bigby as a character.

As great as this episode is/was with all the character developments, the one downfall is the overall story didn’t move a long quite as I hoped.  This episode leaves a lot of loose ends still unanswered from episode 1 which I was hoping to tie up, but instead they add more to the mix and leave you with even more questions.  There aren’t any big action sequences that would meet the expectation that episode 1 left after encountering the Woodsman which was a bit disappointing.

wa5Overall The Wolf Among us series continues to bring moments of joy while playing, but at the same time tears away at the multitude of emotions while dealing with people. Sadness is something you see quite often in Bigby’s life as he is alone in this journey, or so he feels. You quickly learn that he has more allies then he realizes after meeting some of the other characters in this game. Telltale makes it more than worthwhile to go back and replay the episode as a complete maniac or a restrained reasonable person.  This is really something I never wanted to do with any of the other adventure games Telltale has made, so good job for sucking me in even further Telltale.

Smoke and Mirrors is a fantastic second step in this already great story. You are going to get 90 whole minutes of memorable characters, scenes and some of the best but agonizing decision moments Telltale has ever made you think about before.  Even with the slight disappointment with the overall story not progressing like I hoped it would….I’m completely sold on this story and can’t wait to finish the rest of the game.

Writing Fantasy – Do’s & Dont’s

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writing-a-bookFantasy is a fun genre of fiction that uses magic or other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic and magical creatures are common. Fantasy is generally set apart and crosses paths with science fiction and horror as they all three have sub-genres in the fiction world.

Fantasy is one of those genre’s made up of many creative things and frequently includes elements from the Middle Ages.  Most fantasy is adventure based, with a conflict between good and evil which is usually the common theme of plot.  When you here fantasy you probably think of things like wizards, elves, magic, etc…Fantasy is often based on myths, legends, and folklore, that could stem across multiple cultures.

If you’ve thrown around the idea of writing fantasy then here are a few things to do.  

  • Read a lot of fiction in the fantasy, science fiction, and horror genre’s. Soak up as much as you can about the way the books flow, plot layouts, structure, etc.
  • Do the real world research on any folklore, culture, and traditions those era’s had you want to pull into the book.
  • Ask questions, find writing mentors, learn new ways to bring an idea to the page.
  • If you are setting your story in medieval times or using elements from those times, research medieval life in the real world.
  • Plan your fantasy worlds before you start, figure out all the details you want the readers to know about.  This will help you during the writing process as it will become more natural and eliminate any doubt you might have on the topics.
  • Set limits for your world and hero / heroine of the world, as this creates obstacles within the story for readers to be evolved with and helps get to know the world.
  • Bring your fantasy to life with lots of detail.  Give the readers a chance to meet everyone in the book, and make them feel at home like they are actually in the world you are describing.

Here are a few things not to do when writing fantasy. 

  • Don’t disclose everything you know about the fantasy world you’ve made.  The planning you do up front is for you to make sure the story is told correctly, but that doesn’t mean that every detail you write needs to make it to the book.  All the prep you do up front will give the readers something real to look forward to and enjoy. Give the readers some play room with things that you know about the world but they don’t yet.  Let them come up with there own ideas and conclusions about a specific personality of a person, or maybe a place in the book.
  • Don’t break the rules of the world that you have planned.  This in a way will give the readers a false sense of reading and make them feel cheated like what your telling isn’t worth the time for them to read it anymore.
  • Don’t copy people, places, things from other fantasy authors.  Use your imagination to create this magical universe you want the readers to be a part of.
  • Don’t lose track of the story and where you are at with it. Map the book out, the ideas, and all the fun details you get throughout the days while prepping to write.  It’s fun to create worlds with magical tales to tell but don’t get so caught up with the tiny details that you forget to create the main plot of the story.
  • Don’t forget to save MULTIPLE copies of this story and the details, along with any planning materials you have along the way.  You don’t want to lose that work and not have a backup to revert to.

The Battle of the Gladden Fields

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AnduinThe One Ring Lost

The Disaster of the Gladden Fields was a battle at the beginning of the Third Age, in which Isildur and a group of acompanying Dunedain were attached by a large group of Orcs as they were marching home after defeating Sauron. The king and his three eldest sons Elendur, Aratan, and Ciryon were all slain and the Ring of Power was lost in the River Anduin. Only three men survived this battle, Ohtar being one of them, an esquire of the kings which was able to save the shards of Narsil.

With the death of Isildur, it impacted both Gondor and Arnor as it left both kingdoms seperated and isolated.  Arnor wouldn’t be able to completely recover from this loss of it’s nobles and knights until the kingship of Aragorn in the Fourth Age. Most importantly, Isildur’s death prevented him from passing on the One Ring to the Keepers of the Three, which he had passed on to his brother Elendur to be his chief reason for visiting Elrond in Rivendell.

After the War of the Alliance, Isildur remained in Gondor for one year, taking back lost lands.  He sent a large part of Arnor’s armies back to Eriador through the Fords of Isen to Fornost.  After getting the affairs of the southern realm in order, he handed the South Kingdom over to Meneldil and marched to Rivendell. He chose to leave his wife and son at Rivendell, but also came for counsel from lord Elrond.

ae12The Battle Ground

The Dunedain traveled northwards from Lorien, marching along a path that led to Greenwood the Great where Thranduil ruled. They had to change routes due to the flooding of the Anduin, which led Isildur to take the road on the eastern banks of the river. Isildur’s party was flanked as the enemy used the steep cliffs overlooking the river.

The Dunedain sang cheerful songs but as the evening drew close they began to hear the orcs in the nearby forest. The first onslaught struck quickly so Isildur called for his esquire Ohtar to take the shards of Narsil back to Rivendell for safe keeping.  The second attack from the orcs brought down the Numenorians great defenses, and Elendur convinced Isildur to flee and cross the Anduin if he could and find safety back at Rivendell.

Isildur cloaked himself with the ring, and made a run for the valley parting ways with his armies and tried to cross the river. Unfortunately the rivers waters were flowing to hard and Isildur being exhausted got tangled in the reeds and in doing so the ring slipped from his finger. Nearby Orc’s caught sight of Isildur in the waters and out of fear quickly shot him and fled.

eiszmann42Wake of Destruction 

Only Ohtar, Elendur, Estelmo, and a handful of men survived the battle. Isildur’s body was never recovered, and was presumed captured and mutilated by Sauron’s forces  The orc army that ambushed the Dunedain were scattered among the lands by a relief force but they were to late.  Estelmo after being recovered spoke of how Isildur and Elendur related to each other about the One Ring. Isildur remarked: “I cannot use it. I dread the pain of touching it. And I have not yet found the strength to bend it to my will. It needs one greater than I know myself to be. My pride has fallen. It should go to the Keepers of the Three.”

Probably the biggest fall of the Gladden Fields was the union of Arnor and Gondor were broken by blood, and Isildur never managed to give the ring of power to the three.  Elrond, Galadriel, and Celeborn if given the chance probably would have destroyed the ring of power long before Sauron would have gathered his spirit and refortified Mordor.  But we all know how this story ends as Sauron does finally fall to the hands of many brave souls, and one very important little hobbit named Frodo.

Mind Mapping a Novel

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Writers-Block

Are you struggling to start your book?  I struggled with this idea for a long time before I dove into the deep end of the writing pool, and then when I dove in it was a bit overwhelming and at times felt I was drowning.

Many people don’t write books because they simply don’t know how to start.  They possess an idea for a book, but they don’t know what to do with it. They can’t imagine how they get from initial idea to finished manuscript which isn’t a small feat at all so don’t think I’m playing this down.

It wasn’t until I began using the “Brain Dump” method to get my ideas that were just floating around that space in my head, to the paper so I could have a visual.  Some call this mind mapping, but for me this is just an old fashioned Brain Dump.  Whatever you like to call it doesn’t really matter, just the methodology and way it’s used. Brain dumping will take you from a few grand book ideas, to a detailed book outline you can work from to make a manuscript.  This ultimately becomes the go to place for when you need a guide to take you from start to finish of this novel you’ve dived into.

It’s funny how our brains work as we have an analytical and creative side, so mapping those ideas out for a book when thinking about that can be tough.  Basically mind mapping allows you to bring the two sides of your brain together in one location so that all the thoughts and information are easily visual and accessible. Once you’ve learned how to wrangle those thoughts it’s time to take a look at the actual brain dump.  This is the point where the thought has to become a reality.  So….how do you make the brain dump happen?

Well multiple ways, but my favorites are using a large white board to map out my ideas and plot pieces of story together.  My journal is always a go to, though lately it’s littered with sticky notes from ideas I need to go back and form into the story section I need it in.  Another favorite is the sticky note and poster board which is always fun for me as you get to move the sticky notes around and write on the poster board as well.  Maybe this is a super writing nerd kinda thing, but this is very relaxing and enjoyable for me and that’s why i’m writing this post.  I’m hoping this sparks some ideas for you as well and lights a fire so you can get to moving on that great book idea you have.

Think of the brain like this and hopefully it will help you picture what needs to happen.

Brain Dump Process

  • Creative Right Brain is where the ideas flow from and all the magic happens.  The fun stuff clicks on this side of the brain.
  • Analytical Left Brain is where the organization of all that creative material you just dumped to the paper happens.  This is where the structure of the book comes from and where your – table of contents, and outline of the book will look like.

If you’ve lined everything out and keep a good record of the book and use this process then you can produce some very detailed information and great chapter outlines for your book.

Now let’s look back at the Sticky Notes and how they will help you map this book out. This is the easiest way to make a mind map of your book.

My Favorite Brain Dump Process:

  • Grab yourself a large poster board or poster boards, or even a large white board will work. Get yourself a big stack of sticky notes….multi colored is what I like to use as I color coordinate topics to specific colors.
  • Take a single sticky note in the middle of the poster board and write your topic on it, or a book title, just depending on what you are working on.
  • Write all the related topics you can think of on sticky notes and place them anywhere on the poster board.  Sounds like chaos I know, but don’t worry about where you place them , or  about organizing them, unless you are absolutely sure the topics relate to one another.
  • Fill the board with as many topics as you can possibly think of as this is the “Brain Dump” phase and when you think you’re done, look again as you will more than likely come up with more topics after taking a break, or a step back.
  • At this point I like to take a picture of the board for reference purposes in case I have to take a break or get pulled away for something.  They are called sticky notes, not permanently held in spot notes.
  • Ok now comes the organization of the topics.  The analytical side of the brain is ready to be worked right? Look for related topics. Pick up the notes and move them around. Take a close look at what you have grouped together as they just might become the chapters of your book. More than likely, this will be the groups with the most information lumped together.  Just remember this is your book and your board so move things around how you feel fits best, and don’t be afraid to break apart groups into multiple chapters if one is too large. Just make sure you use a different colored sticky note to mark that chapter and don’t forget to name the chapter.
  • Use each of the sticky notes you have grouped together under a chapter as a sub-topic that you want to write about in that chapter.  This is where the fun begins as writing guides and book maps are a must at this point.  Sub-plots of a story can make things confusing if you don’t.

 

Ok now get ready to write as it’s going to take a lot to get that story from your head to paper so what are you waiting for?  Sit down, start slow, think it out and enjoy the process of making that next best book anyone has ever read!

NBI 2016 Coming To A Close

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As we come to a close on the Newbie Blogger Initiative “Lite” for this year I first and foremost want to give a big shout out to all our new bloggers who joined with us this year!!!!  This was a crazy month but I’ve seen some great stuff being posted from everyone so I tip my hat to you all and give you props for stepping out of the box and writing with us and say welcome to the gang.

List of our 2016 Recruits –

Go give them some love and likes as they publish some fantastic stuff!!!!

Vagrant Zero at Just East of West
Zyngor at Pleasant Gamer
EGrey at The Wild Core Chronicle
Kluwes at I’m Not Squishy
Shadowz at Shadowz Gaming Blog
A2Zeo at A to Zeo
Mingnon at Cookie Cutter Monks
Sparko Marco at SparkoMarcoGaming
Chordian at Chordian.net
Elio at Static Refresh

 
I also want to say thank you to all the supporters who have helped each year to keep this thing going. The troops rallied together this year and we did start a bit late, but this year has been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed being a part of it.  NBI has a strong community of gamers, writers, and content creators who enjoy connecting and that is what makes this group fun and cheeky to be a part of.  As we come to a close for the NBI event, I leave you with this last tid bit for the months to come while you type away creating those blogging masterpieces.

Blogging with a schedule is tough but if you like to keep up the pace and continue to grow, you’ve probably developed a system for staying on track. Staying consistent is the key to a blogging schedule and what I use works for me so I hope it helps spark some ideas for you.

Before You Get the Wheels Turning 
Think consistency, consistency, consistency…. because blogging in a way is like exercise but for the brain and the hardest part is….STARTING the engine. Once you’ve kicked some momentum into gear…usually after a few cups of coffee, it’s probably not hard to get going. Just like exercise though it’s one of those things that at first you usually have to force yourself to do, but it becomes more natural over time.  Remember Consistency is key.

Do You Have a Planner? 
I’m an old fashioned kinda guy and go analog for writing things down when I plan. Whether it be in my Moleskine, or a sticky note that later goes in my Moleskin that is where most of my planning happens.  This becomes a reference point for me if I’m writing something that I can’t quite get to that day, or maybe it’s a larger piece I’m writing and want to keep track of where I’m at.  To me having something I can check off in a Moleskin is a great sense of achievement… you know… I just made a check mark by a task right.

Make That Schedule Happen
I’m a planner so I tend to know how many posts each week that I’ll be able to get out.  I on average blog twice to three times a week and usually publish about 6-8 posts a week.  Now, that varies depending on what I have going on but I’ve committed to blogging twice a week for sure.  This may be completely different for you…it may be once a month, once a day, or whatever you fancy.  Being a planner means I like to choose one day a week and plan out some posts in advance so that I have a constant feed to work on, which helps me from falling behind on my schedule. I only recommend scheduling for a week at a time because you probably won’t know the specifics of that week until the week before. By making your specific schedule for the following week on whatever day you choose, it gives you some flexibility in posting. If you end up with some free time and want to post more than what you schedule, well that’s just a bonus for the readers.

 

Remember this is just what works for me so you have to find what works best for you. Sometimes though it’s easier to use another idea instead of recreating the wheel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed all the content that has come out of our writers this year during the Newbie Blogger Initiative.  Go connect with them, and we will see you out in the digital community somewhere.

Sincerely,

Iogro Merrybelly

The Wolf Among Us – Episode 1 Faith Review

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BigbyCigaretteFable.jpgThis game quickly took the top list of favorites in my book second only to Telltale’s The Walking Dead series.  They came very close to knocking The Walking Dead out of my number one spot but not quite.

Telltale tackled a very well done adaptation of Bill Willingham’s Fables which centers a story around Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of a magical New York City which is populated by fairy-tale toons.  Fables is a very dark fairy-tale so not one for the children but the way Telltale pulled this story into it’s unique game play design is fantastic.

Over the next few weeks we will take a look at this five part series on The Wolf Among Us and as I was saying this is one of the best adventure games I’ve played.  The first episode of this series is called Faith which slaps you smack dab into the middle of a mystical version of New York.  You now have to fill the shoes of Bigby Wolf, the sheriff of Fabletown and Telltale does a fantastic job building on it’s choice and consequence game system.

images (2)This was a relatively quick episode to play but easily a two hour chunk of time you need to really see everything in this first episode.  The game drops some majorly hard bombs on you early on with the decisions you have to make, but being a big bad wolf made it a little easier to rough some Fables up.  Action and adventure are some of the main themes of this first episode but at the heart of things comes a mystery.  This is what makes this game such a joy to play is the wide use of emotions and rich story surrounded by well done characters.

If you’ve played any of Telltales games you know how the game system works as it’s not only decision based, but reaction based as well.  You’ve got to be quick when watching what needs to happen next and make sure you think quickly.  Each decision has a different outcome so it makes you want to come back for more just to see what they are. These actions aren’t just limited to Bigby as the world ded with is scattered with crazies and very entertaining characters.  Tad of a “SPOILER” alert but this first episode revolves around solving a murder which hasn’t happened in Fabletown for quite some time.

images (1)During your search, you’ll come across a rather interesting toad who refuse to hide himself from the human world, a member of the Three Little Pigs with a bit of a drinking problem, and an abusive woodsman with a startling revelation regarding Snow White. Since it’s based on characters that pretty much everybody knows, The Wolf Among Us is able to toy with our expectations and delivering some very surprising and entertaining character developments. It’s amazing how the dialogue swings between funny, absolutely tragic, brutal, and magical all over a course of the two-hour episode.

Even the entrance and presentation of Faith brings a very successful highlight to the harsh and strange world you see. All of this episode’s crazy interactions are met with a fantastic 80’s neon lit color style.  While you step into the alternate New York City, you get to experience a clash of both magic and gritty decision making that brings you quite close to the story and characters.

Bigby’s story arc has some very large moments of decision making which really pulls you into the characters past and present.  Bigby has a very complicated story which ties into so many of the stories characters it’s quite difficult at times to know what decision to make.  This made me want to go back multiple times to look over all the decisions you could make and replay each scenario.  This is one game and adventure that I will definitely go back to play over and over again.

Newbie Blogger Initiative 2016 – Writing With Focus

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Starting a blog is easy for the most part as the tools you can get now days makes the startup pretty seamless.  What isn’t so easy is staying focused while writing as it takes time, and time is the killer for most writers.  Either we don’t have enough of it, or we lose focus over a period of time and get frustrated with what we were trying to accomplish.  I’ve been down these paths quite a lot before but over the years it’s helped me learn how to stay focused, or at least narrow it down so I can enjoy writing.

One of the questions I hear a lot from new bloggers is am I doing this blog thing correctly?

That question is very broad but when you break all those pieces down into why you started your blog and even why you started writing…..that question becomes pretty easy to answer.

Doing this blog thing comes down to personal preference overall but be willing to focus your material and niche so you can reach an audience.

These are just a few things I’ve stumbled over and even sometimes fallen on my face while writing and blogging.  I’m no professional by any means, but I enjoy what I get to do with my little corner of the internet and I want to make it the best I can.

One of the ways to improve your blog is step back and examine all of the aspects of what your blog brings for readers.  Do you have a vision for the blog, or at least an idea of the direction you want to go?

The more you narrow your focus, the more you broaden your audience.  This is where vision and an idea of where and what the blog will look like helps.

Before you begin writing, consider your subject (what you want to write about), then figure out the the theme (your angle and area of focus), then put it into action and figure out what you want to accomplish.

What subject or subjects are you writing about, and what are you passionate about?  If you can bring those two ideas together then you’ve made a huge step as that’s something most writers struggle with for years.

Take a look at the theme of your site and writing style as well.  Think of it as a subset of your main topics and figure out what that looks like for you.  Ask yourself: What will my writing “VOICE” be? Will it be tackling the humorous side of things, or maybe you take a more practical approach to writing.

Lastly, take a look at what you want your blog to accomplish overall.  This is the main goal of this little exercise so take some time and look at what impressions you want to leave the readers with.  Ultimately the question is why am I blogging and how does it bring enjoyment to my life?

For me writing is a passion but connecting with people is a bigger passion and that is where my enjoyment and focus comes from.

One of my writing mentors gave me this little nugget years ago and quickly became a favorite quote and one I stuck to when I was struggling with writing.

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”         – Louis L’Amour 

 

 

Scream The Pilot Review

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mtv-s-scream-tv-show-reimagines-ghostface-for-a-new-story-new-cast-new-format-new-rules-486221Ok, so let me start this post by saying I’ve thrown the idea back and forth for years now of whether I do film & TV reviews.  It’s always come down to NO not right now as I’ve just got to much going on and I didn’t want to add to an already full plate.

So why the change you ask?  My change has come due to that once full plate becoming less full as I’ve finished up some major projects that I’ve finally finished.  This has freed up more room to write both on this site, and for my book series I’m working on.  Honestly, I’ve always wanted to do film & TV reviews and now that I have the extra time I’m jumping on board with one of my favorite genre’s so I hope you enjoy the post as I look forward to this new journey.

With my first ever film & TV review write up, we start with the new TV adaptation of Scream which is brought to us by our old friends MTV!

Now I know I’m coming into this show a bit late as it’s already finished up with season 1 and has been renewed for season 2 which airs on May 30th this year.  MTV’s Scream takes the very popular and familiar movie franchise title and brings us into something new.  This isn’t a continuation of the story from the movies, nor is it a TV remake, as it involves different characters, location and backstory from the films. Instead, this creation brings us back to the original tone of the films without being about the same people or places.

Personally I was a huge fan of the Scream films so when I stumbled across this TV gem I was rather ecstatic to begin watching it.  Though I had my doubts and questions as most TV adaptations of popular films are just strange at best.  Regardless, Scream has brought us right back to the original movie. The opening sequence, featuring Bella Thorne, brings us back to 1996 with the Drew Barrymore sequence in Scream, as a high school girl, home alone in her big house, finding herself being watched, and contacted.  Now things have changed over the past 20 years so instead of a phone call they’ve replaced most of the interaction with this mysterious watcher by texting.  Things just go very badly for her once she starts replying back to these mysterious texts.  It’s an entertaining sequence, due to some fun iPhone issues involving Siri not understanding you put into the middle of a horror scene.

4b4d74cc81fd4685c6bbeab93fa121f5From there, as the show unfolds we get to meet the cast and overall feels like a Scream movie, but different and same all at once.  Weird I know, but the parallels to the first film’s characters; Sidney, Billy, Stu, Randy and Tatum in Emma (Willa Fitzgerald), Will (Conner Weil), Jake (Tom Maden), Noah (John Karna) and Brooke (Carlson Young), as these kids from “Lakewood” begin to realize a killer is among them. The show throws some other characters into the mix, including a mysterious new guy in town Kieran (Amadeus Serafini) and Audrey (Bex Taylor-Klaus), who was the victim of some recent cyber bullying.

Probably my favorite character of the series is Noah, the socially awkward film, game, and horror geek – aka Randy if you were watching the Scream movies.  Noah brings us one of the best Film to TV translations of all time when he says, “You can’t do a slasher movie on television,” because ultimately slasher films happen quickly.  TV needs to pull things out and stretch them over a long period of time to bring us the same story. Scream at least has the benefit of including the whodunit aspect of the films that did set the series apart from most others in the slasher genre. The show introduces plenty of characters who could be the killer, even as some of it – including important town history involving Emma’s mom Tracy Middendorf, who actually had a role as the babysitter in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

If you haven’t watched the show – Checkout the Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP-dU21LXMw

Ok so all in all, the pilot series was a win in my book!  The show had me hooked from the get go, and has me curious who the killer is.  This is quickly becoming a favorite go to show and I can’t wait to see where they go with things!

scr.ee tags:

#Slasher & TV

 

Creative Writing – What, How, Why of a Fantasy Novel

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Writing a fantasy novel is great fun – you can literally let your imagination run wild.  It’s a little different when writing a novel set in the real world as unlike books set in reality where you can use real life as examples, you’ll have to invent everything in your new fantasy world.  Do you enjoy writing, are you working on a fantasy novel, or have you had the notion to start one?  I hope the next few minutes while reading this helps you no matter what stage you might be in for writing a novel.

One of the best things you could do to kickstart things is read as many classics as you can find!  No matter the type of book you begin writing this will give you a good idea about what works and what doesn’t.  Remember though that reading other peoples works is something to help with idea spawning and relax your mind.  You must take note not to simply copy the ideas you’ve read from any of the good old classics or other pieces of work you find.  If you find yourself dealing with elves, half-lings and orcs whilst being a reluctant hero on a quest to destroy a powerful item, it’s probably best to scrap it and start again. It is true that all stories are a combination of those the reader has encountered over the years. But, you should always try to find an original angle and it certainly should not be obvious what the source material was. Reading the classics will also allow you to discover how well-crafted characters interact with each other as the story progresses.

Tip 1. Use established myths and legends as the basis for your fantasy world. Think about what your fantasy world might be like.  Do your studying and find out what your world and culture is most like….Is it Celtic, Roman, a medieval world or a blend of multiple cultures with your own twist on it? Once you’ve chosen, go and read about the myths and legends that relate to those cultures. The mythological creatures and characters and their stories will give you a great basis for your new world.

Tip 2. Get to know your imaginary world – you need to be able to describe it in detail if you are going to convince your readers, for the duration of the book at least, that it exists. Be thorough and detail everything you can possibly imagine about the world you are creating.

  • Physical – what does your fantasy world look like? Think about and make a note of:
    • the colour of the sky
    • what other planets can be seen from the surface
    • whether the air is breathable
    • what the plants look like
    • what creatures live there
    • whether there are seas
    • what the landscape looks like
    • futuristic world or something older
  • Residents – decide who lives in your newly formed fantasy world. You should spend time thinking about how they look, what they eat, how they move, whether they need sleep, how they speak to one another etc…
  • Society – what kind of society exists? Do they need money to buy things? Is there a complex system of politics they follow? Do they have a police force, a king or president? Is there a religion?
  • Special powers/magic – Do the residents have any special powers or use magic? If so, what are they and why do they exist? Does everyone have use of them or only certain people?

Tip 3. Make your characters believable. This is one of the most essential parts of the book if you want to hook and keep readers interested in the story. A great way to achieve this is to apply logic to every character in every fantasy world you create. This means creating a set of rules that apply to the world and the character. The rules can be based on either real life or they can be simply invented by you.  Remember if you are creating the rules of the world, don’t let a BOX hold you back from being creative.  Sometimes creating our own ways is just the push we need to make that next step in our creative writing.

Tip 4. Make sure you keep careful notes of all the details you invent for your new fantasy world. This will help you maintain continuity throughout the novel. There are many ways of doing this, some writers like to have a set of cards with the details on, others set up spreadsheets; so play around with different systems to find one that suits you the best.  I personally use a book mapping chart I created in excel that helps me track all major parts of the book I need.  I hope these few steps help you get started, or give an idea of what steps to take next in writing your new fantasy novel!

Remember, have fun!! That is the first and foremost thing I can say when writing… Have Fun and lots of it!

The Walking Dead Game – Season 2 – Episode 2 – A House Divided Review

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The Walking Dead Season Game Season 2 ClementineHello everyone,

Back again this week and were taking a look at A House Divided which is episode two in this fantastic game series.  I can’t say enough about this game, action, and story line you get pulled into.  While episode one “All That Remains” focused on character development and plot building, “A House Divided” pulls everything in and brings us a very violent story that destroys the relationships we saw built in episode one.

We continue down the path of Clementines amazing character and learn more about the dark path her story is taking, but this episode has taken a turn on character importance as well.  We learn about a new addition to this fantastic story and his name is Carver, a villain with a quiet and terrifying menace.  Like The Governor in The Walking Dead comics, Carver is going to have major, memorable ramifications on Clementine and the people of this episode.  Carver is smart, calculated and very controlling which is what makes him so threatening in this story arc.  Carver is after power and control and he’s set the stage for a very nasty future that Clementine and her group will have to face for many episodes to come.

images (4)As we saw in episode one, Clementine had some very interesting character growth and it was a very intense portion of the game.  Episode two is no different as when we see someone in this story change for the worst, it’s never far off that we will run into someone who is much worse. Over this episode’s two-and-a-half-hours Clementine makes a ton of big decisions about her group’s fate, especially during the stressful and bloody 30-minute finale, while reconciling and damaging relationships along the way. Short of Lee Everett, nothing has changed Clem in quite the same way as the catastrophic events Carver puts into motion during this episode.

“A House Divided” may be the biggest episode of The Walking Dead yet in my honest opinion, both in terms of the ground covered and the variables you encounter along the way.  Again, the story is made up of a lot of conversations between the multiple parties involved, and they take wildly different directions depending on who’s alive to have them and how you treat others. You may not see certain settings, have entire conversations, or interact with certain people depending on where you take Clementine by the end of the episode’s five-day stretch.

images (3)On Clem’s journey north to find safety and a missing friend, she also ends up in some of the best action fight scenes the game has seen.  This game series has always been a master at creating drama, and tension in the fight scenes and this episode has just brought those emotions to a brand new level of extreme. The only downside is It’s still concerning to see sudden frame rate drops and animation stutters during these sorts of sequences on the platform systems, but PC has preformed beautifully so that is my go to platform for this game.

Through most of this episode we get to see a very different playing field that Telltale has created with the decisions that are made throughout.  The majority of scenes throughout this episode feel like they’ll each have lasting consequences on Clementine, or even a new group of trustworthy survivors. Depending on whether Clementine gives herself up or tries to sneak away to find backup, she’ll have entirely different game play options, conversations, and choices in separate locations.

images (1)This episode has seen immediate important shifts when big decisions are made instead of wondering when that one specific dialogue choice will come back to help or hurt you.

This episode has seen some big changes, but one thing has not changed, the writers have again blown us out of the park with the story and characters.  A chilling and introspective speech about regret, family, and letting go stands out as one of the franchise’s strongest character moments.  The best part of this episode for me, are the things that aren’t said that come out so clear.  All in All this is one of my favorite moments in the series and I can’t wait to play the next episode.

Until next time!