Four Character Sheets to the Wind

Image courtesy of [bplanet] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I wrote earlier about a character sheet I was working on. The lovely Belinda Crawford sent me a Scrivener template with a nice character sheet included. It is based off the Snowflake Method and has been tremendously helpful in wrangling this series into shape.

Starting with the 10 step method (9 because I deleted a step), I laid out the overall plan for the entire novel series. Each character is getting a character sheet detailing their plotpoint from start to finish. From there, I am going to break down all the points for the overarching plot into segments. From there, I will take each segment and do the Snowflake method AGAIN until I have one novel. I will then begin work on the first novel and work my way through.

This is an incredible amount of work, but when I have it done, it will be grand and glorious.

At least I hope.

In designing my world, magic is a big part of it for the main characters. It’s not so well known to the world at large, but for the characters who use and interact with it, I really needed to lay out the system and what makes it tick. I found Mette Harrison’s 12 Questions to Ask Yourself about your Magic System and I am using the HELL out of it. I might even post a blog entry at some point with those 12 questions answered.

Regardless, I’ve been doing a lot of research thanks to the copy of The Dictionary of Demons: Names of the Damned by Michelle Belanger I drove all over Columbus to pick up. (The Sawmill location didn’t have it. Only Easton did. The Easton store ate me.) Research into minor and common demons has been slow since Michelle’s book only talks about the major demons (for the most part). The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits
by Rosemary Ellen Guiley is pretty sweet. And then there’s good old Google. Between them, I’ve hashed out part of my storyline for the big series I want to write and the plotline for a gritty YA novel I saw a submission call for.

Bonus points if you say they’re set in the same story universe.

I’m not sure how often anyone follows what I’ve written here on the blog or if any of you are interested in my journey in writing, but I might be quiet for awhile. I’m going to be writing some novels.