The seed of inspiration for Cherry Blossoms, admittedly stretches back to my Senior year in High School, when my English teacher at the time tried to show several Japanese live-action stories that were told without words. One, whose name I didn't bother at the time to commit to memory, took place between a man and woman amidst falling cherry blossoms, with some allusion to life and death... and well, I was more impressed with the visuals than what was (in my opinion) an attempt at story telling. Still, for whatever it was worth, the visual stuck with me.
Cherry Blossoms as it has become, and is becoming, didn't start to truly take shape until I was watching the behind-the-scenes of Blade 2. I'm a huge fan of Guillermo del Toro, particularly his storytelling sense. It was in the behind-the-scenes where he made an emphasis on trying to have a "realistic" vampire, or anti-vampire in that particular movie. It also married one of my favorite artists, Wayne D. Barlowe with Guillermo's style (which would happen again for both Hellboy movies). For all of the faults of the movie (particularly if you're a Donny Yen fan and wanted a substantial fight scene), there are moments in it which keep my attention, and those moments began the idea of what would become Cherry Blossoms.
It's always been odd to me that anyone would look at vampires as a desirable way to be, and or become. There have been modern attempts to dash that idea, but still the popular vampires seem to be very sexual, aggressive, and make it seem like being a vampire is truly desiring. I've never seen it that way though. It's always been, to me at least, a horrifying curse, something that dehumanizes the person that becomes a vampire and forces a type of life that can't be desired. I'd liken it to a plague or aggressive STD rather than something anyone would actually want.
So for me, the idea was less "cool vampire," as it was a journey into life of someone who was forced to become a vampire, and the life they had to give up as a result. I know I will fall short of that lofty goal in the end, but I think I can still craft a story that will be the seeds for another, better author, to explore it and fill in the gaps/correct the mistakes I make in my personal attempt.
Eventually, a basic story formed though, and with the visual from that Japanese short in mind, I started trying to learn about Japanese cultures and legends, specifically the less talked about aspects. Samurai and ninjas are fine, but I'd rather let that be done by someone who has a better affinity for it, and more knowledge on the subject. To me, it's more fascinating to go into the roots of a culture and find a few items that rarely, if ever, get discussed. For me, it's less to create a fantasy Japan, as much as it is a fantasy world based around some Japanese culture, with my own twists to suit the story. The trick, of course, is trying to avoid putting too much emphasis on Japanese iconography and keeping the eyes on telling the story.
I'm nearing completion of chapter 8, which will bring to an end Part 2 of the story. As it stands, Cherry Blossoms is moving quite fast and is quite short. I do believe that it will expand more in the rewrites/edits, but I've always known it was going to be a rather short story overall. To me the issue will be pacing more than anything else. If the pace doesn't get too fast or too rushed, I think I'll do just fine. I'm averaging about 10 pages a chapter, which should increase during Part 3 as it reaches the climax, so it should easily get over the 200-page mark. Subsequent rewrites will likely get to 250, maybe 300. Regardless of it's length, I do believe it will be all it needs to be. And even if it's a quick read, that's still a good thing.
David Barentine
www.wotps.com
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Day 2
Writing around work is always a bit taxing, but I've managed to lock away an hour or two before I go in and another hour or so when I get back, which has truly helped in the current story, Cherry Blossoms.
I've had the story "in potentia" for almost 5 years now, and only recently really sat down to take a stab at actually writing it. Since I can't do anything without a bit of a personal challenge, I based it off of the Japanese Hanami, which, coupling with a few days before, different locations, and time for the ending, comes out to about 18 days. So I'm trying to cram and work out 18 chapters for the book with every chapter as a day. Being the first draft, I'm getting through about a chapter every other day, which has been quite nice. Likely, come the first rewrite, everything will expand greatly.
Today I managed to finish chapter 7, which is almost the last chapter before the story starts to truly spiral out of control. I hate sticking to only one element, so the story combines vampires, mystery and fantasy, with a heavy emphasis on building to extreme danger, yet on a backdrop of life and games. I'll get more into it in the coming posts. Suffice it to say, Cherry Blossoms is finally starting to take shape, and I am thoroughly happy to see this kernel of an idea blossom (pun intended) into something more substantial. I have always felt that if you don't enjoy the actual writing you're doing, and the processes within it, the story won't be fun for the reader. I can't say I write with the largest vocabulary or the greatest eloquence, but I do believe I write fun/serious yarns.
On a more, technical note, I have finally purchased an iPad2. I truly have been taken with the idea of self-publishing, since I am more and more looking at the industry as heading to e-books and towards the self-publisher. Moreover though, fantasy as a genre is increasingly niche, and increasingly hard to get a foot into the traditional markets. I fear my chosen genre, for all it's possibilities, is hampered by an increasing demand for other genres and is losing out. Self-publishing may eventually be the only way.
We will see.
David Barentine
www.wotps.com
I've had the story "in potentia" for almost 5 years now, and only recently really sat down to take a stab at actually writing it. Since I can't do anything without a bit of a personal challenge, I based it off of the Japanese Hanami, which, coupling with a few days before, different locations, and time for the ending, comes out to about 18 days. So I'm trying to cram and work out 18 chapters for the book with every chapter as a day. Being the first draft, I'm getting through about a chapter every other day, which has been quite nice. Likely, come the first rewrite, everything will expand greatly.
Today I managed to finish chapter 7, which is almost the last chapter before the story starts to truly spiral out of control. I hate sticking to only one element, so the story combines vampires, mystery and fantasy, with a heavy emphasis on building to extreme danger, yet on a backdrop of life and games. I'll get more into it in the coming posts. Suffice it to say, Cherry Blossoms is finally starting to take shape, and I am thoroughly happy to see this kernel of an idea blossom (pun intended) into something more substantial. I have always felt that if you don't enjoy the actual writing you're doing, and the processes within it, the story won't be fun for the reader. I can't say I write with the largest vocabulary or the greatest eloquence, but I do believe I write fun/serious yarns.
On a more, technical note, I have finally purchased an iPad2. I truly have been taken with the idea of self-publishing, since I am more and more looking at the industry as heading to e-books and towards the self-publisher. Moreover though, fantasy as a genre is increasingly niche, and increasingly hard to get a foot into the traditional markets. I fear my chosen genre, for all it's possibilities, is hampered by an increasing demand for other genres and is losing out. Self-publishing may eventually be the only way.
We will see.
David Barentine
www.wotps.com
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Design for Danra
 |
| Danra |
David Barentine
http://www.wotps.com
Day 1
For future reference, I will attempt to make this blog less about my personal life as much as the "life" of my books (in reference to sales attempts and availability), the "life" of the writing (in reference to the daily grind of trying to do the actual writing), and the "lives" of the characters in the worlds I'm creating (hopefully for some insight into the process of the worlds I'm attempting to create.
Over the past 17 years now, I have been writing, with very few stoppages in that time. That said, I've only got three books now to truly call "complete." I'm working on the current one, "Cherry Blossoms," as I write this blog. It has been a wonderful process in the actual creation process, though frustrating at times, and in the design process, of which I have designed almost all of the characters and creatures I write about.
That said, the selling of these books has been... to be nice, frustrating. I originally started writing one book, which eventually turned into seven 1st drafts of a long series of books. At each rewrite, the books have expanded and new stories have emerged. As such, while I love the created storyline, it is, to be honest, practically unsellable. From a business standpoint, selling one book is difficult enough to get a worthwhile return on investment, even from an established author. 7 or more for a series from an untested author (even if they are worthwhile) doesn't make practical sense business-wise.
I understand this, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.
This blog, I hope, will mark a journey that in many ways is long overdue, but also I don't think I could have taken years prior. I attempted to write stand-alone books to flesh out the world and also gain a foothold on the worlds I was writing, and it was in that particular endeavor that I became a much better writer and also realized just how daunting a task this world I've lived in for 17 years will be to sell.
So I hope that this can, in some way, be a learning curve for anyone reading it to learn from my mistakes and miscues, and hopefully avoid them. At the same time, it would be nice to just talk about what I actually do. For 17 years I have answered the question: "What did you do today?" with the same sort of answer: "Got some writing done today." It's frustrating to know that I can spend months (and in the case of the larger story, years) working on a project that can be read in a few hours, but it is more frustrating to never be able to talk about it with greater intimacy. After all, talking about it requires a genuine interest first and foremost, which sadly I can't say is the case. They are interested, but only in the finished product, and not necessarily because they'd pick up one of my stories on their own if they didn't know me.
So hopefully this will be a worthwhile venture for anyone who reads it, and also a nice way to just talk out what is going on in my day-to-day with greater detail.
We'll see how it goes.
David Barentine
http://www.wotps.com
Over the past 17 years now, I have been writing, with very few stoppages in that time. That said, I've only got three books now to truly call "complete." I'm working on the current one, "Cherry Blossoms," as I write this blog. It has been a wonderful process in the actual creation process, though frustrating at times, and in the design process, of which I have designed almost all of the characters and creatures I write about.
That said, the selling of these books has been... to be nice, frustrating. I originally started writing one book, which eventually turned into seven 1st drafts of a long series of books. At each rewrite, the books have expanded and new stories have emerged. As such, while I love the created storyline, it is, to be honest, practically unsellable. From a business standpoint, selling one book is difficult enough to get a worthwhile return on investment, even from an established author. 7 or more for a series from an untested author (even if they are worthwhile) doesn't make practical sense business-wise.
I understand this, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it.
This blog, I hope, will mark a journey that in many ways is long overdue, but also I don't think I could have taken years prior. I attempted to write stand-alone books to flesh out the world and also gain a foothold on the worlds I was writing, and it was in that particular endeavor that I became a much better writer and also realized just how daunting a task this world I've lived in for 17 years will be to sell.
So I hope that this can, in some way, be a learning curve for anyone reading it to learn from my mistakes and miscues, and hopefully avoid them. At the same time, it would be nice to just talk about what I actually do. For 17 years I have answered the question: "What did you do today?" with the same sort of answer: "Got some writing done today." It's frustrating to know that I can spend months (and in the case of the larger story, years) working on a project that can be read in a few hours, but it is more frustrating to never be able to talk about it with greater intimacy. After all, talking about it requires a genuine interest first and foremost, which sadly I can't say is the case. They are interested, but only in the finished product, and not necessarily because they'd pick up one of my stories on their own if they didn't know me.
So hopefully this will be a worthwhile venture for anyone who reads it, and also a nice way to just talk out what is going on in my day-to-day with greater detail.
We'll see how it goes.
David Barentine
http://www.wotps.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)