Building Your Fantasy World: Magic (Part 1)
I’ve been writing fantasy for a long time.
I do not, however, think myself as an expert in fantasy writing (or writing in general, for that matter). 
With both of those things in mind, I’ve decided to start a little series of blog posts where I share my experience in writing fantasy books. I’ve done a lot of research on writing fantasy and taken courses at University in writing Fiction and I’ve read numerous volumes of fantasy books. I feel like I have something that I can share that will help other writers of fantasy create engaging, fascinating and awing fiction. I like reading great fiction, and not just fantasy. I enjoy being pulled into a world of realistic and interesting characters, a world of crazy and unbelievable circumstances where I’m wondering what is going to happen next at every turn of the page. I like being shown and not told and enjoy sophisticated plots and emotional stories. These things can all be attained in fiction though and there is something different about fantasy that keeps me coming back again and again and again.
The first thing I’d like to write about writing about is magic. If you are writing a fantasy book of any kind (urban fantasy, medieval fantasy, epic fantasy, Tolkien style fantasy or whatever) on of the things you must decide very early on is whether or not the world you are creating (the universe that your book exists in) has magic. If you decide to not have magic, make sure that you have a good reason to do so. There are many good fantasy books that don’t have magic in them. These usually appear as historical fantasy, but a book about heroes who slay orcs and dragons can be just as engaging with or without wizards in it. Have a reason to have magic in and or out of your book. That is the very most important thing I’ll say about magic in fantasy.
After you’ve decided whether or not you want magic in your world, there are a great many more things you have to consider. Here are a few things that you should think about before you start writing:
- Where does magic come from? Are there more than one kind of magic?
You need to decide where the power originates from. Do magic users draw power from nature and the natural world, like shamans, or do they rely on powerful artifacts like the wands of wizards? Are there certain ingredients or components needed to cast spells, like witches and alchemists or can spells be cast at anytime without help from physical or mundane objects? Does magic derive from the traditional elements of fire, earth, water and air? Is magic drawn from the gods, if so what god(s) give what power and to whom do they give it? Does magic come from within people, is it drawn from the soul or lifeforce or a person? Is magic drawn from the sun, the moon or the stars? Does your fantasy world use just one of these types or magic or a combination of them? - What are the rules and limits to magic?
Magic needs to have limits. It needs to have rules. Without these magic will seem unbalanced and unfair to your readers. Choose who can use magic. Can everyone and anyone use magic or do you need to have special training to obtain the power (like attending a Wizard college). What are the costs to using magic? Is a sacrifice of some sort needed (as in blood magic) or just ingredients like mentioned above in the magic of witches and alchemists? If there are ingredients of some sort needed, how difficult are they to find? If the power is found within the caster of spells, what energy must he pay to cast spells? Do the spells exhaust the energy in the cast or do they come from the environment and surrounding world? How much of a spell can someone cast? How often or how many times in a day can they cast spells? Do spellcastsers need to know certain incantations or magic words for spells to be cast or can they simply think what they want and it will happen?
- Who can use magic and why can they use it?
Can you protagonist use magic (this is a fairly important question for your book)? Do animals or creatures posses the ability to use magic? What is it like living in your world for those who can and can’t use magic? Are they honored, hated, feared or admired? Can these people (or creatures) use magic because of their birth or because of many years of training and practice? Where is magic learned from and can it be taught to anyone? Can people who are not magical become so? - How does magic function in your world?
Is everyone in the world aware of magic? If you book is set on Earth, who and how many people know about magic? How do people who don’t know about magic react to it? If magic is common knowledge to people, how do they react to it? How does magic affect laws and customs of a place? How does it affect the culture? Are there laws that limit magic to use outside cities? Are certain types of magic not allowed in certain areas? Has magic been outlawed all together in a country or kingdom? What sort of power is used to keep spellcasters and magic users within the law? Is magic used in law enforcement? Is it used in warfare, every day use, for labour, for entertainment or for education? How does magic affect the economy of a country or kingdom or even the real world that we live in (if that’s the setting of your story)?
There are so many things
to keep in mind, this is just a short list of things. Magic can make a book amazing, but it can also draw away from the readers’ experience. For example: if you stated that a mage draws his power from the sun you should be aware that he will be more or less powerful depending on where he is. Your readers will find it strange if this mage can cast spells of equal power at high noon on a sunny, summer day and in the dead of night two hundred feet underground. Another thing to consider for most books is the progression of magic.
IF your protagonist can use magic s/he must learn in steps and progress towards mastering it. It is fine if half way through the book your protagonist can only conjure a small flame. It is not fine if at the climax of that same book s/he inexplicably vanquishes an entire army in fire as it tries to lay siege to a castle. Magic must have limits and it must be explained. Too often writers use magic as a crutch to save their heroes. Let the heroes save themselves (and others) by using magic. Let their cunning or bravery or skill save the day, not this great powerful force that has nothing to do with them.
Remember: magic can make or break a fantasy novel. Let it make yours or leave it out.
Happy writing.
The Writing Blues and More Dungeons and More Dragons
Writer’s Block.
The very words strike fear into the hearts of writer’s everywhere. No writer is safe from it: not playwrights, not poets, and definitely not novelists. It is a thing in whose shadow I live near or under for the majority of my time. There are always other things to do and when I do sit down and write, I find I can’t get something down on paper or into my computer.
I am, of course, suffering from writer’s block right now. I know where I want my stories to go, but I can’t seem to actually get my characters to go there. I can’t, for some strange (possibly divine) reason, write my books right now. I’ve been trying a few things to get my gears turning again, but to little affect.
I do have one idea that I think is going to be really helpful. I wrote a post called Dungeons and Dragon: The Song of Earth Style where I talked about creating a D&D campaign set in the world of my book (The Song of Earth). I am planning on starting a new campaign with my roommate to explore this new world, the world of Outcast, in an interactive adventure kind of way. I’m trying something a little different, something that is uncommon even within D&D: I’m doing a one player campaign. That means there will only be myself, the DM and storyteller, and one player who will act as sort of the reader. From there I’ll guide the player through the world and the events of the Outcast novel.
Hopefully this will get my brain driving again and I’ll be able to actually sit down and WRITE Outcast. I’ll let you know how it goes.
The Hunger Games – Book Review
I have to be honest, I was curious about what all the big fuss was about this book. A lot of my friends and colleagues (I just used that word to make myself sound more official) were talking about The Hunger Games and its upcoming movie, so when I saw the book on a shelf at the Supermarket, while I was there for an optometrist appointment, I bought it on a whim.
Disclaimer: It’s been a couple months since I’ve read this now, so if I don’t get everything 100% correct, cut me a little slack.
I soon realized what all the fuzz was about. I began reading the book while I was in the waiting area of the Optometrist office and could tell that the book was well written and engaging, as every popular book should be. I only read a few chapters though at that time and didn’t get into the real meat of the book until a couple weeks later when I picked up the book again one night to begin reading a bit more. I didn’t sleep at all that night and I don’t think I put the book down until I was finished it either.
With that said, I’m not actually thrilled about the book. I’m not totally crazy about it like I am some other books and like some others are about this book. It WAS engaging though, that can definitely be said. The world that Collins has created is wonderful and terrible as well as thought provoking. The part that I liked most about this book was that while Katniss, the protagonist, was participating in the Hunger Games I actually felt like her life was on the line the entire time. Some books don’t really get that across for me but this one did a really good job. People were dying a lot and there was danger at every turn and I kept turning those pages because I kept expecting something awful to happen right on the next page. That is the reason why I plowed through the whole book in one sitting.
I really, really liked how the first person narrator gave us a very bias account of the events in the story. In particular, the relationship between Katniss and Peeta. Katniss has her own view of their relationship and their kisses and such things, and it’s all a view of survival, of the game she’s playing, of the Hunger Games. She is playing a game with Peeta, and with everyone else, the entire time. The story would be an entirely different one if it was told through the eyes of Peeta.
One thing I didn’t like about this book is how Katniss, as a character, is totally oblivious to these things and there was something with Gale, her friend from home, and the end was all weird and super strange between those three and it felt like Twilight all over again. At the same time I adore how oblivious that character is.
I did not, however, like how I got cheated of a death at the end of the book. I fully expected Katniss to live through the Hunger Games. I would have been delighted and surprised if she died, but because this is popular Young Adult fiction, I knew she wouldn’t. The entire book they talked about only one person surviving the games and one person having to kill everyone else and then at the end [SPOILER ALERT] Peeta and Katniss both get off the hook. I did feel some foreshadowing brewing of course. Something in the next two books is going to happen because a sixteen year old outsmarted the government, but just looking at this book alone. Not impressed. I wanted blood. Sure, there was lots of blood, but I wanted more.
All and all it was a good book. I wanted to read the second one as soon as I put the first down, but that soon faded. I still haven’t read the sequel and I haven’t seen the movie yet. But I’ll eventually do both of those things.
The Importance of Being Earnest (not Andrew)
One of the avid readers of this blog (I know there are many of you…somewhere out there…) commented on my post “The Importance of Being Andrew” getting really excited because she thought the post was about the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest. It wasn’t.
But this blog post is!
For my final project of 2nd year acting at TRU we had to prepare a 1o minute long 3 part monologue from a play of our choice. Naturally, I chose Earnest. I chose (and cut and paste together) three monologues that Jack (AKA Earnest) delivers throughout that play, finishing with the moment he realizes who he is and his real name and finishing with the famous line that is the title of the play. It was a wonderfully fun experiment indeed. I’ve always been very fond of the play. I was first introduced to it in my first year of University at Dalhousie in Halifax and instantly fell in love. Wilde’s wit, puns, banter and comedy are too golden to resist. It was a very fun piece to perform. Actually, now that you mention it, I remember right after I read it for the first time for my Introduction to Theatre class I thought of directing the show. I still think that would be a wonderful thing to do.
That’s for the future though. For now Western Canada Theatre, the local theatre company in town, is putting on Oscar Wilde’s play next season! I do say I’m rather looking forward to watching it (I’ve never actually seen it performed before, only had the pleasure of reading it myself). I think it would be delightful to see it performed live by professionals (I have seen the most recent movie, of course).
That’s all for now. If you haven’t read that play yet, you most certainly must do so and as soon as possible.
Happy Reading,
Andrew G. Cooper
An Easter Surprise
I must apologize for my temporary silence here. The combination of the final week of classes for the year, exams, my performances in Director’s Festival, Easter Weekend and beginning work out at the Wildlife Park has left me with little time to write. But fear not! I have found time to write anyways, even if it is while I am at work (I’m currently sitting at my desk at work, typing this out on my phone).
Now that you’re aware of a bit of the business going on in my life at the moment, I’m sure you’d love to hear a story. Well, I do have one story to tell you (unlike the character I play in “Feeding the Moonfish”).
I woke up, however reluctantly, on Easter morning and began preparing myself for exiting the bed. I was unable to do so, however, because I was being bombarded with cries of, “wake up!” and “look! Look!”. I was able to swim through the groggy haze of my morning mind when my ears heard the word “chocolate,” and soon after began looking around the room I slept in.
There was nothing in sight.
I was staying at my partner’s parents’ house for the weekend. They had invited me over for Easter dinner since my own parents reside in Alberta (closer than Nova Scotia, like the last few years, but still pretty far).
I put my glasses on and they I saw it. There was a trail of bright tinfoil wrapped chocolate Easter eggs leading from the bed in guest room in the basement.
I quickly got my pants on.
Once somewhat dressed we followed the trail of eggs from the bed around the corner, out the room, up the stairs, down the hall until we came across a small pile of chocolate treasure. I lacked any sort of basket or device to carry all the small chocolate goodies as we followed the path of chocolaty goodness, but I was innovative enough to grab my shoe as I passed the front door and use it as a makeshift egg carrying contraption. It was rather successful.
I hadn’t had anything like that done for me on Easter for longer than I can remember! It was a very fun and pleasant surprise.
See at my house, on Easter morning we’d get chocolate then all go to church together and be forced to wait until AFTER three hours of church to eat our candy. It wasn’t really all that bad. We would just listen about the Christian Easter story be told three different ways in three different classes then get to go home and enjoy what the “Easter Bunny” brought us…even though I’m pretty sure we all knew s/he didn’t exist because Easter was about Christ.
This was all fine and dandy until one year when I was about thirteen we all walked to church together, we lived right across the street from the chapel, and when I returned home I found my little sister Ada…and none of my Reese’s Pieces chocolate! She had snuck home while we were all sitting quite at church and had raided my basket of my most prized and favorite treat! I was outraged! Surprised! and angry that I hadn’t thought of that myself!
At least she didn’t eat my Kinder Surprises…those were always the best.
F*ck Yeah League Support
So if it hasn’t already become aware to you, I’m into a lot of what people refer to as “nerdy” things. Along with my writing and vlogging I also really enjoy playing video games. One game that I enjoy particularly is League of Legends.
It’s become really popular since I started playing it. It’s kind of a big deal in the gaming community. Anyways, I started a blog on Tumblr devoted to the role called “Support” in League of Legends. You can check that out here:
fuckyeahleaguesupport.tumblr.com
I’ve created a few internet memes there, it’s a rather humorous place if you’ve ever played the game and would understand the jokes. I’ve also been uploading videos and tutorials to my gaming channel. You can find that here:
So if you’re not interested in video games or Support or League of Legends, you can just disregard this. But seeing as this is my blog I really wanted to share this with people! Here are some videos from the above mentioned channel.
Link and Zelda Cosplay (Costumes Extravaganza!)
This is going to be my first post in a new series of posts that will be explaining more specifically and in detail the costumes and how they were made from the post Dressing Up, but not Cosplay. I’ve decided to name this small series of posts: Costumes Extravaganza! (It’s a cool name, be excited).
So here on the right we have the first view of the Link and Zelda costume that my Twin and I designed and made.
First thing’s first: the shield. It’s kind of the centerpiece of the costume. It was really simple to make. We just took a big piece of thick blue poster board and cut it out like a shield. From their we cut out lots of small pieces of cardboard to decorate the shield boarder and the symbols in the middle, painted them then glued them on. Easy peasy (a little time consuming, but fun). We used a hot glue gun and normal dollar store acrylic paint.
The sword was bought from…I think it was Value Village. It was just a plain plastic all black and grey sword. That we just painted over with the same paint and I added a Triforce to the handle.
The actual costume was a little (not a lot) more tricky. The tunic is a simple dress (also found at value village). We really lucked out there because we didn’t have to alter it or sew it in any way. Link’s cap is made out of a pillow case. We did cute that and sew it to make it look more like a cap and less like a pillow case. Underneath the tunic is a simple white longsleeve shirt with a few buttons on the neck. On my left arm (Link is left handed for those of you who didn’t know, the only games he’s right handed in are ones on the Wii) is a simple medical wrist brace. Each hand is also sporting a pair of brown leather winter gloves with the insulation cute out and the fingers cut off at the second knuckle.
For this costume I sported real tights, white in color and tight in design. And the boots are just cheap slip over boots worn over my sneakers. Three belts were required to complete the tunic. One around the waist, one over the left shoulder and one looping around the back connected to that one. All brown and leather.
To complete the costume, just as an added touch, I cut out three squares from brown fabric and tied then to my belt with beige strips of cloth. Two I filled with scraps of fabric (for my bomb bags) and one I filled with some loose change (my rupee bag). All in all it was a fun project, it was inexpensive and relatively easy to make, though wee bit time consuming. Lots of fun though!
I’m a Dance Teacher!
So I teach dance. That should be apparent from all the videos I upload and all the writing I do about dance.
Right now I’m teaching at the University and at a little Dance Studio on the North Shore in Kamloops called Sista’s Love to Dance. You can find their website here.
Speaking of their website! I’m on it! I got really excited and thought I would show everyone this:
So that’s exciting!
Another piece of exciting news is I just started teaching Swing Dance here in Kamloops. I teach in the same studio, but I have an entire class of my own. It’s called River City Swing and it’s just starting off but I’m hoping to keep doing six week classes in different styles and difficulty levels and eventually put on fundraisers and dances and just give people the opportunity to have a lot of fun dancing.
I have a facebook page for this please check that out too! You can find it here:
www.facebook.com/RiverCitySwingDancing
It’s all very exciting and fun. :) If you’re interested here’s the video from last Thursdays drop -in Hip Hop class at the University.
Choreography by: Andrew G. Cooper
Hip Hop Class of TRUDance Club at Thompson Rivers University.
Tie-thulu Awakens! (How to Tie a Lovecraft Knot)
A short how to video demonstrating
the technique of tying the Lovecraft necktie knot in four steps
Dressing Up, but not Cosplay
So I’m not a costume designer. I know how to sew, but only enough to patch my own jeans. I’ve never been cosplaying, though it has interested me, and I doubt boast at my superior costume making skills.
That being said, I do enjoy dressing up on Halloween and sometimes for themed parties. Maybe it’s my inner actor coming out, but I just love to be in a costume and be in a roll so I jump at every opportunity I can to do so. I should, however, mention that most of my more brilliant costumes were inspired by, assisted by, or made by my twin. She is much, much better at the whole costume thing then I am and when she’s helping me my costumes turn out waaaay better.
(By the way, my twin Zelda in the picture of me as Link. I decided I was Link from Legend of Zelda II, when they’re brother and sister).
So in the past for Halloween I’ve dressed up as Link, Dr. Horrible, Two Faced, The Mad Hatter, Scorpion and many more. On top of that you can see me as Jafar, Gaston, a pirate, a hill billy, a transformer, a knight and in pants made completely out of Magic Cards.
I’m tired of typing now. I’m just going to leave all the pictures below for you to admire. : )
(It should be noted that I did not make or even design all of these costumes and some of them were in use for work or productions in which I was involved and the credit should be given their, not to me).
Inheritance – Book Review
I have been invested in the Inheritance Cycle for years now. I read Eragon (which I enjoyed immensely) when I was about twelve and have been keeping up with the books ever since. All the same, I was tentative about reading this book. Brisingr (the third book in this series of four), wasn’t really up to par for me. Looking back I think: maybe it’s because I’m growing older or maybe my taste in fantasy is changing. Really what it was is that book (Brisingr) was far too long. It had some very good parts, but it was way too long. Then I read the acknowledgements in the back and the author said he make the series into a “Cycle” of four books instead of a Trilogy because he had TOO much to say and he had already cut a lot of Brisingr out…which surprised me because I thought it was already more than 100 pages too long.
This book (Inheritance, the one this review is actually about), was not the same. I was much more impressed with it that I was with Brisingr. It is a long book (a whopping 849 pages!) and took me a while to get through with my busy schedule, but I enjoyed it all the same. Unlike the previous book, this book kept me wanting more. With Brisingr I felt like I was just turning pages to finish the book, but I needed to know what happened next in Inheritance. I still love the characters. The parts with Roran were captivating and interesting. The protagonist and his love interest Arya share some very good moments. Angela, the witch, remains elusive and mysterious (and in my opinion far too much at the end of the book). The story was good too. Just when things were getting a little slow paste they throw in the whole Vault of Souls thing from the first book and WHAM! excitement all over again. There are still parts in the book that I, personally, believe should have been left out, but I really liked it all the same.
There was one thing that bothered me during the entire book though. The bad guy was too strong. King Galbatorix, as the author described him, was far too powerful. I couldn’t see a plausible way for Eragon to beat him. They didn’t have a way either! They were just going in their blindly thinking something would help them. Then (and I was relieved by this) they found [SPOILER ALERT] a bunch more Dragons to help them and I was convinced there was hope. But then the author made him out to be unstoppable all over again. I was honestly worried that Paolini was going to give us some unrealistic ending where all of a sudden the protagonist became strong enough to defeat the enemy for no reason and without explanation OR that something wishy washy and lame like “light and truth prevailing over evil” would happen. It didn’t. What really made Eragon able to defeat the evil King (he’s called a king in the book, even though he’s the leader of an Empire…which would make him an EMPEROR!!) was unexpected and something that really impressed me. I through me for a loop and that alone made the book really good.
Now: this thwarting of the ultimate evil that all four books was leading up to happened on page 719. The books ends on page 849. That is 130 pages until the end. When I realized that I was like: why is there still 130 pages after the climax?!?!
It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. It was still engaging and interesting but I feel like there were way, WAY too many loose ends. What happens with Murtag and his dragon? What’s Angela’s story? Why the hell does nothing happen between Eragon and Arya!? (that last one I was the most disappointing in, especially after they told each other their real names…)
Anyways, good book. Good series. If you can make it through all the reading (and it’s a lot) I would recommend it.
Leap into Chapter One on Leap Day!
So my good friend and fellow author, Danielle Pederson, is having a extra super special day today (Leap Day!) for her upcoming book Lasera and I want you to get involved!
For Leap Day 2012 (today!) she’s allowing readers to take a look at the first chapter of her new and upcoming book. I’ve parts of her book and it’s fantastic. Her writing is inventive, engaging and creative and her characters are lovable and lifelike. The world of merpeople that Danielle has creative within our own is full of magic and suspense. This novel is definitely worth the time to check out. Because I know you’re interested, take a look here:
All of the information is on that page as well as links to her Facebook, Twitter and an awesome radio interview she did. If you have the time please support her and her new book!
Thank you all and Happy Reading,
Andrew G. Cooper
Dear My Girlfriend’s Cat
Dear My Girlfriend’s Cat,
We’ve known each other for a while now and there’s just a few things I’ve been wanting to get off my chest. I understand that you have a rather close relationship to my girlfriend (in all honesty you sleep with her almost as often as I do), but I want to make it clear that the contents of this letter must remain between us. If this letter has somehow fallen into the hands of said girlfriend, I make a formal request that you please stop reading now. Thank you.
Now I’ve got a bone to pick with you Cat. Oh yes, you know how it is. You know what you do. You’re all nice and cuddly and fun when she’s around, but as soon as she leaves your true colors (which if you weren’t already black as night, would be black) come out! You purr and play and prance when she’s around, but when it’s just you and me you get your claws out! Claws!
For gods’ sake that right there alone isn’t fair! Why must you always use those death bringing claws on me! When she’s around you slither about and show off your overly cuteness. You knead me like bread and then as soon as she leaves the room: BAM! Claws again! What is it with you and those damn things!? And noooooo! I can’t retaliate, of course not! She’s on your side. If I ever so much at look at you wrong she’s on my case about it! “Hun, why do you always look at my cat like that? Leave her alone! What has she ever done to you?”
What has she ever done to me? You know very well what you’ve done to me Cat! Like that one time I got up around 2:00 am for a glass of Apple Juice and right as I was approaching the top of the stairs you pounce out at my feet like I was a mouse. Nearly made me fall headfirst down into the basement! Almost killed me!
Now there’s no denying your cuteness. Just look at that picture! You’re ADORABLE! And that’s why my girlfriend is still on your side. But I’ll expose you, oh yes I will. She doesn’t believe me yet, but she will.
You bite me, claw me, hiss at me and try and kill me! But that’s not even the worse part. The worse thing you do is the hiding. When you stealth around her house when I’m there and just wait for me to enter the room to scare me. And by far the worse place for this is her room! Because you’re black (and thus, obviously, evil) you can hide in the shadows of her closet and you get me every, single, damn time! Just look at those two pictures! You’re hidden perfectly in the first one and then BAM! Those eyes pop out and you let out a yowl like a Banshee! Makes me jump every time!
Cat, you’re a master of stealth, deception and assassination. I hope that one day I can expose you for what you really are. She’ll see things my way soon enough.
Sincerely,
Your Owner’s Boyfriend
8,888: the Magic Number
As you can see from my fancy bar graph here my blog hit 8,888 views a few days ago. I thought it was a fun number and something I could show off to you guys.
Thank you everyone for your support so far and for taking the time to read this blog. There will be more awesome content coming soon, so stay tuned!
The Reign of the Un-dead: An Analysis of the Life-in-Death Plot Mofif in Classical Fantasy
An essay I wrote for my Classical Fantasy class last semester:
The Reign of the Un-dead: An Analysis of the Life-in-Death
Plot Motif in Classical Fantasy
Life-in-death is an increasingly prominent, but incredibly powerful plot motif in fantasy. In contemporary fiction, creatures being alive in death, or returning from the grave, have become stock characters for fiction, horror and fantasy alike. We see this in zombie movies, vampire book and television series and ghost stories again and again. But where did this tradition originate and are there examples of this plot motif that don’t comply with the contemporary stereotype?
I think it would be only appropriate to start with Mary Shelley’s wonderful and gripping book Frankenstein. Though Frankenstein does fall closer to the horror genre than that of fantasy, it was after all written to be a ghost story; it shows one of the first great appearances of this plot motif and one that has been popularized in contemporary fiction. Frankenstein’s creation was animated from the corpses he stole from a graveyard and therefore he is alive in death, or, in other words, life has returned from the grave. In this tale Frankenstein’s creations is generally viewed as a monster, murderer and an abomination. The monster is something to be feared, something that causes terror and disaster wherever it goes, though on the inside he was originally innocent. This feeling and tone of horror persists with the life-in-death motif throughout its course through literature. This is usually plain to see because the creatures who are alive in death or have returned from the grave are usually the antagonist of the story they are in.
Next, we turn to Brom Stoker’s classic Dracula, in which the title character personifies the life-in-death plot motif. Stoker was the first to use the word “un-dead” in his novel, and I believe his use of the word is responsible for its modern context. Dracula continues Frankenstein’s monster’s legacy by embodying the role of the antagonist in the story and causing fear in his life beyond the grave. This fear continues with stories of zombies or ghouls in movies like Night of the Living Dead and countless zombie movies popularized since then.
Another, much more common, example of this plot motif is ghosts. Fables and lore of ghosts have been around for thousands of years, before the time of written history perhaps, in different cultures all over the world. Many figures throughout literary history have seen their dead companions return to the world of livings as incorporeal spirits or “ghosts”. Perfect examples of this date back to Shakespeare’s time in his well-known plays Hamlet and Macbeth. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol are both great example of these figures called ghosts who are alive in death and have returned from death and the grave.
A Christmas Carol is a curios example of this however, because the ghosts—at least the first to ghosts of Christmas—are not something to be feared or that cause terror, as is popular with this motif. They are come to Ebenezer Scrooge to instruct him and show in the error of his ways, and thus this is an ascent narrative (which is another thing that is not common with stories related to the un-dead). Even the third ghost, who’s presence is indeed frightening, reveals himself so Scrooge will become a better version of his self. Read the rest of this entry
TRUDance: Do It Like A Dude – Jesse J
A bit of Hip Hop class at the University tonight. Thought I would share it with everyone.
Props to Valerie Schmidt for her awesome choreography. Enjoy the dance!
Editing Your Manuscript
So I’ve been editing my own personal manuscript for sometime now and thought I would share a thing or two about the editing process with you, in hopes that something I say may inspire you to better edit your own manuscript. I’m not at all saying that my way is the ‘right’ way to go about the editing process, nor that you should even try my approach to editing, but if I can inspire you to try something new, or even to change a few words to better your manuscript, then this post will be successful.
My personal manuscript (The Song of Earth), the one I’ve been editing for the last year or so, is currently sitting at about 115,000 words. It’s not a HUGE task to tackle, but a rather daunting one all the same. After I finished my first draft there was a number of different approaches I took to the editing process:
1) Get the big picture right first:
I just looked my first draft over again, black pen in hand (I don’t write in red or blue myself, just black). With Just a simple read through I was able to pick up the bigger picture of things. I found minor mistakes in my plot’s timeline, some character inconsistencies, and entire scenes of the book that either didn’t flow with the rest of the story or just didn’t fit in the book. Getting these big things figured out first is very important, after that you can move onto the more minute details.
2) Focus in on the little things:
Reading my manuscript through a second time I was able to look at the smaller things more commonly associated with editing: grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure, showing instead of telling, using all five of the senses in scenes, engaging dialogue, etc.. These are the things your readers are going to notice first, far before they notice that one of your characters took 36 hours instead of 48 hours to get from point A to point B or other things of such sort. You need to look at your writing, your style and the structure of your work. Spelling and grammar isn’t enough. You have to make your manuscript glow before you let others start reading it, which is probably the hardest step (at least it was for me).
3) Let others read and edit your manuscript:
Some writers let people do this as they go along, some don’t let people see their work until it’s published. I like to share my manuscript with readers (what I, and many others, call Beta Readers) at this stage. When you have your manuscript glowing, after you’ve rewritten it at least twice, start sharing it with your Beta Readers. Find a diversity or age, gender and location in people when doing this. I have been doing a little bit of this as I’ve gone along (my twin has been helping me edit and write the book the whole time I’ve been working on it), but this is where you really go for it. I’ve recently discovered a wonderful way to do this: Google Docs.
Now I don’t usually promote any particular website or software, but this is a great thing for any writer who wants to workshop their work. You simply post your manuscript, give your Beta Readers permission and access to view and comment on it and let them go at it. Instead of printing it off five or ten times and having to sift through so many different manuscripts to rewrite and edit it all again, you can have everyone’s comments and opinions all in one place. It’s easy for everyone, especially you.
As for myself, I’m currently on the third stage of editing. I have selected eight Beta Readers (the number eight has magical significance in my book, so I thought it would be fitting) and I’ve created a Google Doc that I will be updating chapter by chapter for them to read.
Good luck editing your own manuscripts and happy reading.
MMXII – The Long Procrastinated and Fairly Generic Post to Start the New Year
Hello the inter-webs!
As you’ve probably already realized (at least I certainly hope so) we’ve recently entered the two thousand and twelve year of our lord! Welcome to 2012 AD! (I’m a firm believer that Anno Domini and Before Christ are vastly better sounding then Common Era and Before Common Era). In a year from now we can be reveling in how unsurprised we all are that the world didn’t end in December!
I have many exciting and stupendous plans planned for this year, hopefully some of which you can participate in and/or enjoy. This is where I ramble on about how exciting my book is and how well it’s been coming along and how I want it to be published this year:
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This is where I talk about how exciting the new semester at University is and how I’ve been enjoying my classes and am excited for TRUDAT and possibly TRUDance in the upcoming months:
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This is where I talk about the entirety of my plans for YouTube (inclusive of all three of my channels):
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I also recently got another job teaching dance. I’m teaching Hip-Hop here in town. Not sure if you (whoever you are that is reading this) really cares about that but I was excited enough to share it so though it was worthy of your thoughts. I’m also taking a Science Fiction class at University, an upper level English Credit, which should be fun to blog about after all the times I mentioned my Classical Fantasy class from last semester.
This time of year always gets me thinking about what I want in life. I haven’t done the whole New Year’s Resolution thing for a few years, but I do like setting goals and aiming to achieve them. That is something I do on a very regular basis. If you don’t have any New Year’s Resolutions this year yet, I would encourage you to think of a few things that you really want and set a goal to make those things remain within your grasp by the end of the year. If you’re not up for that, at the very least do some soul searching and find a few goals for yourself. Treat yourself to trying to do something you really want and going after it! The worse thing that would happen is you’re left with exactly what you have now, so there’s no loss in setting and chasing after (working towards) goals.
There will be more exciting posts breaching the walls of this blog in the future, I promise you that. So if you stick around and read a few more things that I post you should be in for a bit more of a treat than this dry and boring and generic and redundant-use-of-synonyms-filled post.
Happy Reading everyone,
Andrew G. Cooper
The Moon’s Serenity
The second real poem I ever wrote. I was fourteen at the time. It too was for a girl:
The Moon’s Serenity
The Moon’s Serenity The sound of crashing waves echoes across the moist air; rainfall gently drizzles against the surface of the water, creating a soft and soothing rhythm. As the innumerable twinkling shards of beauty appear high in the heavens the wind kindly rustles through the lush meadow in the land beneath. The moon’s serenity creates an unimaginable aura that hugs all it touches with calm irresistible arms. Trees of the forest sway tenderly with hoods formed by the moon’s illuminating shadows. Even the dust of the earth and the sand of the sea seem to dance under the silver glow of the sky. Unusually friendly darkness surrounds the hum of the winds and scent of the sea and woodland, inviting wanderers to lose themselves in its sensation. Beneath the moon’s serenity spaces harmonize themselves with each other, causing unexplainable aptness. The presence of the sky’s orb exerts reassuring delight to its realm. Abruptly the darkness alters into malevolence, now pulsing out shades of catastrophe and malice. It rouses the water violently and the downpour starts to descend with smashing force; the earth and sand are whipped about in the obscurity. The storm begins to beat heavily upon the shadows cracking the tranquility like glass. Turmoil disrupts below the shining heavens with disaster and difference, all is seemed to be vanquished. Though gradually a brilliant light emerges from a distant, forgotten place and the dimness progressively withdraws. Sawing radiance breaks over the mountains, enlightening the valley below. The light restores hope to all parts of existence, slowing bringing more peacefulness as the flaming sun rises once more into the earth. Let serenity endure in your heart through the darkest hour of the night; let peace still your soul. Let us, as we go on, never forget the sun will rise after all hours of darkness.
The Silver Chair – Book Review
I think it’s only fitting to return to the genius of C. S. Lewis since my first book review was a book by C. S. Lewis.
The Silver Chair is one of my favorite books in the Chronicles of Narnia series (they’re ALL fantastic and if you, for some strange reason, have not read them yet, you really should). It’s a wonderful tale that’s a perfect example of a descent narrative.
We get to see lots more of Eustace, who was introduce in the previous book (Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and we get to see a new character: Jill. They’re constant bickering is a wonderful addition to the book.
The book is rich with characters and wonderful beast. Everything from a sleepy owl, to a deaf dwarf, to giants and witches, earthmen, gnomes, salamanders and pessimistic marsh-wiggles. The book was adventurous, surprising, filled with wonder and a very good read.
I particularly liked how Underland was depicted in this book. At one point when the earthmen (who live underground in a place called Underland) were talking about the Overworld and how they were so surprised that any one at all could actually enjoy living there and how there was no ceiling just a great empty abyss above them I actually thought for a moment how silly we all are to live above the ground when so much of the earth is beneath the surface.
Then I remembered all kinds of wonderful things like plants and mountains and the sky and I thought I rather liked living up here on the surface. But that just goes to show how beautifully written this book is. It really is a masterpiece, as is the entire Narnia series.
I adored the part at the end of the book when the children return to Aslan’s country and they see the King come back to life and they talk about death. It’s poetic and really speaks truth about human life and nature, which is one of the things I really enjoy about Lewis’ books.
The Importance of Being Andrew: an Experiment
Jan 26
Posted by Just Coop It
So on the bus on my way home from work today I read a few interesting articles about the importance of online presence on my smartphone.
To be honest, there was no knew information in those articles that I hadn’t discovered or thought of on my own in my early days of expanding the glorious name of Andrew G. Cooper on the internet, but it did give me an idea. I want to do an experiment to see how many people are part of my following. I’m going to post in the various social media and web-based outlets that I have a request people to leave feedback. I want to see how many people are actually reading what I write on the internet.
So: IF YOU ARE READING THIS, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW!
If you comment, I will be able to tally how many people have read this (obviously).
One more thing: I want to know how many people, just from being part of my tribe, would buy my book if it was published this year. For those of you who don’t know about my book it’s a Young Adult(ish) Fantasy novel entitled The Song of Earth. It’s really good. So if you’re awesome and would be interested in reading a lot of what I have to say (enough to fill a 120,000 word long book) then in the comment that you’re going to post below, please say so.
In review: comment below and if you would actually buy my awesome book, say so in your comment.
If you ever get mauled by bears I hope they stay away from your face because I think you're cute.
Posted in Novels, Writing
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Tags: adventure, andrew g. cooper, author, Blog, Book, books, Children, comment, experiment, Fantasy, Magic, Novel, publish, Publishing, reader, Reading, speculatory fiction, The Song of Earth, web log, website, write, Writing, Young Adult