Developing concepts--where to begin

Developing Concepts-

I develop my ideas through a variety of means.  Some of which seem rather simple, others a bit more complex.  Now the following details somewhat how I can go about developing these things.  I'll make sure to interperse some pictures throughout so you can somewhat see what I mean at time. 

Where to start?

Simply, with an idea.  Always start with an idea.  How do these ideas come about?  That always varies.  Sometimes it is drawing from my own personal experiences.  Sometimes it is through watching a movie, reading a book, or listening to song.  Very rarely is my mind simply focusing on the present.  This can be both a curse and a blessing.  My mind is always wandering thinking about the possibilities.  "What if....?" is perhaps my most thought phrase.  Any simple little thing can represent itself as a trigger.

For instance I was listening to this Taylor Swift song: Speak Now (live performance video) over the summer while I was driving up to the "cabin" in Oakhurst.  Now the song is from the perspective of someone who wants to break up the wedding, but I got to thinking "what if...?"  What if it was the bride that wanted someone to speak now?  What if was an arranged marriage that neither the bride or the groom wanted?  What if it was completely onesided, with the groom forcing the bride to marry him?  What would cause that sort of situation to happen?  What if this story took place in a different world where the groom was the prince and the bride couldn't possibly refuse?  What if the bride was in love with someone else?  What if this was a retelling of a fairy tale?  One thing led into another and suddenly I had a full-fledged idea for a future novel.

Now the important thing I found is that I need to keep track of all these ideas.  I have a separate computer folder and I have a journal, my "Novel Ideas" book, where I keep a written record of these ideas (pun intended).

 Character Design-

Character design is an interesting topic to me.  I like to leave things open to the reader for interpretation, but it still helps to have a visualization of these things.  So I create some rough sketches/concepts to help "give" these characters life.  Sometimes I'll create a full-fledged character profile (typically only for main characters), but most often I just start with a single thing: what purpose does the character have?  From there, I search to discover if the character has more of a story to tell.

I tend to draw with a more "cartoon" style and as such my designs are limited as such.  But things progress.  To help illustrate my process I will share some information about my big project of the moment: my novel tentatively titled Melody.

 Let's start with this  over here ->

This is different representations of a character of mine, Ari. She is a member of my novel's version of a mermaid like species.

This species has several different forms some of which are more humanlike than others. This first picture was a representation of her normal appearance, which in someways is somewhat elvish.



The second picture is a "too comical" version of the first monstrous stage she can enter.



The third picture is a "too vampiric" version of the same concept.



Now you can see a random have doodle of a gavel.



This last picture is a profile of the most monstrous stage of appearance.  As you can see they are rather general, but they certainly get the point across.

The above is some labeled sketches in regards to certain characters as well as some of my random commentary.  (I like to label things)

I create sketches for various clothes/jewelry as well, including the following on amulets. Each of the major races/older countries have an amulet handed down through the generations. The Dragonheart is the one that belongs to Saria, as heir to the throne of her country. It's a dragon wrapped around a large diamond blowing out a fire made out of sapphires (the dark stone in the tail is a larger sapphire). You can also see an idea for a falconclaw (which clutches a gem) and an oyster/pearl motif, among others.

Background Design
I think this is my favorite part of designing: building, landscape, and city design.  For now I'll just post the designs as well as my commentary on the designs.  

 On the right of this section you can see my concept for Ortiaf, a city centered around a university at the edge of the mountains. If this concept was actualized, I think those buildings would collapse because they're so crooked. But you can still get the general idea.



Below that is when the Roserian Guard take over a Raider camp (If you couldn't have guessed). You can see how they are building a camp on the edge of the cliffs. On the cliffside you can see a carved staircase as well as a cave or two (where boats would come to help fuel the town that was nearby).

This top one (in red) is my finalized concept for the Roserian castle's ballroom. Below that you can see some plans for the staircase you see at the left as well as one of the earlier drawings. You can see a color version of these designs  here in this commission. The bottom right is a bedroom design.
Now this picture posted below is a design for another city.  This is what I typically do in that my designs are a combination of sketches and words.  I'll let my somewhat sloppy handwriting speak for itself, but you can still get a general idea.

 
Conclusion

What can you take from all of this?  Something different works for everyone, but I find that this is what works for me.  Experiment and find what works for you.  Whenever I'm struck with an idea, I find someway to record it.  As you can see through these pictures, I wrote/drew these in a variety of notebooks that I eventually sort through and collected the relevant parts into an overall notebook where I place anything and everything related to Melody.  Do what makes sense to you and ultimately you'll love the result!

The Little Things

I have increasingly realized the importance of the "little" things in life.  Take for instance writing.  It's something everyone does pretty much every day.  And yet realizing how much I've written in the past month, I realized just what this simple activity does for me.  To illustrate, at the beginning of September I had to purchase a new journal because I finally finished my old one.  Looking at it today I realized that in a little less than two months I filled well over 50 pages of the book.  50 pages!  

Now this isn’t at all typical.  I've noticed an increasing pattern.  When I started journal writing oh over about a decade ago (yep, I was ten at the time.  For those of you counting, I only mean I only really started my journals 11 years ago) I wasn’t the most prolific writer.  I loved being creative and writing silly little things in my precious journal.  My first “real” journal spanned over several years and didn’t really cover much of the day-to-day things of my life.  I didn’t want to write down anything I would risk someone else (meaning one of my brothers) reading.  So this little book was filled with tons of entries of little “nothings.”  My second journal again spanned over several years ending if memory serves me correctly my junior year of high school.  

I started a new journal when I went to France the summer of 2007.  I was a fairly naïve sixteen-year-old who was anxious to explore the world.  That summer began the first episode of serious writing, for I didn’t want to forget a single minute of that trip.  I wrote faithfully every day for just over a month.  But, this pattern didn’t last for long.  I quickly forgot about my precious little book and thus this “French” journal lasted me for another three years until I was a freshman at BYU in 2008.

My next journal, the “Otter,” covered my first two years at BYU.  It was at this time that I decided that this was a more important endeavor for me.  That journal was not the happiest of the bunch – despite its cute little cover.  

The next journal, the “Fairy,” spanned only a single year.  This journal represents a lot of change, and yet even though I finished filling those pages feels somewhat incomplete.  Perhaps this feelings persists simply because I it only details one aspect of my life and details a rather incomplete story. 

Now onto my current journal—the sixth that I’ve kept over the last 21 years of my life.  I’m already almost a third of the way through this book and I’ve only had it over a month.  What does this mean?  Perhaps simply that I’m writing a lot more.  Writing is certainly a saving grace for me.  This also represents just what has changed in my life in just the past two months since I moved out to Michigan.

Moving out to Michigan was neither the hardest or easier choice I ever had to make.  The hardest choice will forever remain stark in my mind; the easiest are soon forgotten as the next easy choice is placed before me.  The Michigan move was certainly a significant choice and I don’t even now understand the full ramifications of it—if I ever will.  I just know I’ve been thinking about what I want in life a lot and I realize where I am meant to be going and I want a record of how I’ve changed.

The last two months had both the significant ups and downs and frankly I love basically every minute of it.  Without the bad, I certainly wouldn’t be able to appreciate the good.  I have been writing a lot more in general – including all of my little fictional applications of life.   Over the last few years I have certainly written an increasingly amount – I have well over 400 pages of material to testify of that.    I have much left to learn and I’m more than willing to embrace that journey, it’s just interesting to see how much things have changed over the years.

Tangled sketches!

A little Flynn Rider (Eugene Fitzherbert) and Rapunzel for you!

Perspective

Perspective is a very interesting topic.  One's perspective is always changing and yet one's interpretation is always different from another.  This one word inspired this:

"The stars glimmered through the clouds, pale against the bright gleam of moonlight dancing upon the seawater.  The bay was calm, the water barely lapping against the shoreline.  The light bounced off of the snow banks, illuminating the night with a beautiful glow.  Yet, I couldn't do much more than acknowledge the beauty.  I didn't feel the least bit appreciative of the scene at the moment.  What good is beauty when you are virtually a prisoner in your own home? 

Unable to see anything else, what did it matter in the end?  Unable to become a part of the scene before me, what other purpose did it serve but to mock me?  Its very existence did nothing more but to remind me of what I did not have."

Long time, no blog!

I'm in a new chapter of my life and as such life has graciously offered me the gift of a new slate.  As part of this new beginning, I wanted to revamp this little blog. 

This will primarily be a writing account and will be a compilation of  old and recent pieces.  Plus it will be a fun little exercise to see how my writing has changed over the years.

To start an older poem, titled "The Storm" (written in April 2006, so I was fifteen at the time). 

The Storm

     A silence, a pause
     Quiet surrounds the space,
     The breath before the plunge
     The necessary, dangerous plunge
     Deciding the fate, the destiny
     Of the wandering people

     Clouds cover the sky
     Darkening the atmosphere
     Escaping the cares
     Escaping the dangers,
     Dangers of the world,
     Troubles forgotten

     Winds rush forward
     Reaching toward exhilaration
     A breath of life,
     Revitalizing, energizing
     With this brings death
     Destruction in its path

     Rain pours, rushing to the ground
     Tears of sorrow, pain
     Sadness caused from the world
     From the evil, temptations brought
     Fear for the souls, scattered
     Scattered alone in the world

     Thunder breaks the silence,
     Giving a mighty cry,
     Reeking of despair
     Lightning flashes by
     The few glimpses of light exist
     Blinking out quickly

     A storm erupts
     Pent-up emotions 
     Feelings of the earth
     Releasing its sorrow
     As the war between good and evil
     Begins in an almighty lurch