*Magnify*
    March     ►
SMTWTFS
     
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Archive RSS
SPONSORED LINKS
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2294440-personal-journey
by cenvil
Rated: 13+ · Book · Other · #2294440
A place to write down my thoughts and experience while learning about life and writing.
I started writing in 2023.
As of the time of writing that would be 2 weeks ago.
But My journey started way earlier.

many years ago I started playing fantasy games. Especially JRPG's, and action adventures.
Those often have massive stories and I keep turning back to them.
I love the world building, the way things work like magic and skills.
Then came Anime and Manga. Those were an expansion on my view of Fantasy stories. In particular the Isekai Genre.
I love how creators can come up with stories of different worlds where a character has to start from scratch.
The biggest thing for me in those stories is when the main characters has no clue what is going on. He/She has to learn about the world together with you.

And so after years of reading, watching and playing, I started combining certain parts of different stories together in my head. I couldn't stop thinking about it when in the shower, before going to sleep and even while watching a movie.
So after many years of shyness and being pretty anxious, I finally started moving out of my comfertzone.

I do so much more now then before. Play music as a DJ in online streams, produce my own music, interact with many people and now I can add writing to it as well. Even though its an aside activity its still fun to write what comes up and maybe create a story that at least 1 person might enjoy :)

And why not write a bit about the troubles I go through, the things I learn, the people I meet and so on.
So yeah. welcome in this blog :)
Previous ... -1- 2 ... Next
September 6, 2023 at 8:23am
September 6, 2023 at 8:23am
#1055246


Hey all,
It has been a moment since I last posted here.
Main reason being life or just not giving me the time to sit down and write here.

But now that I put my self to it, lets get this going.
In the time that I have not posted I think I wrote 5 chapters of my story Celestial Retribution.
Apart from the fact I am amazed I got to chapter 10 and almost have chapter 11 done, there is something else developing in the background.

Ever since I started the story I wrote down the full history of the universe to give myself limits inside the story.
I have been thinking and naming the main characters that would join the MC's on their journey.
I thought about the locations when that would become relevant in the near future.
The short of it, is that I now have a pretty good foundation of what the red line of the story is and have certain plot points in mind that I will write to story to.

But as I have been writing what is going on I noticed that, at first, I could just write it and see where things go.
But now, with the upcoming chapter (11), I start introducing a new character. This means that unlike with the MC's, that I threw bits of myself in, I need to come up with a new personality. But not only that. More than ever, I need to be aware of where things are. Roads, buildings, rooms, etc, etc. And on top of that I need to be aware of the timeframes. How long does a walk from X to X take. That can be country to country in scale or inside cities from one building to the next.
I'm not even talking about trying to not cross roads when explaining how someone gets from one end to the other end of a city.
It would be awkward when first the a road leads straight through a city and later it it doesn't.
An example can be read in chapter 9.

But all in all it is fun to write it all and through not many have read it yet, I do share the story try to get people to read it how might enjoy a fantasy story.
But most of all, I am the one enjoying to write. Creating that completely new world. New laws, new people, flesh them out.

Is it weird to think about how much and in what way I can torture someone for their backstory?

Anyway I hope you guys will enjoy my book.
If you have any feedback, corrections or just want to speculate about the story or talk to me, You could join my discord at https://discord.gg/XpMFWEwqhH

Thanks for reading and till the next post.

Cheers

August 20, 2023 at 7:58am
August 20, 2023 at 7:58am
#1054344
Hey folks.
I just altered the chapters a small bit to have a bit more visual information about the surroundings of the characters.
Additionally I also added some extra lines to make the mood of the scene a bit more clear including the relationship and some hints for the story.

It is not much but as I was translating the story to Dutch for my mother, who wanted to read it, I found some parts that lacked information :)

So if you want, check it out.

Otherwise I hope you enjoy the story.

Cheers
August 19, 2023 at 10:36am
August 19, 2023 at 10:36am
#1054315
So, recently a colleague of mine told me Google Bard released in Europe.
For me the most important part of that was that it was available in the Netherlands.

As it came to my attention the same time I was going start writing again I thought this was a good moment to try it out for my ideas, names and other inspirations for the story.

Now, with the release of the 4th chapter of my story I really see the helpfulness of AI in my writing.
Currently I am using it to come up with certain names for people, families, villages, towns, regions, religions, cities, area's, countries and on and on.

I even try to ask Bard things like "Give me a name and backstory for a town that is situated in a small bay where traders often come and go and where the climate is mostly warm and not much difference in the seasons".

This would give me a good starting point to base my own story on and I will or might not drop stuff from what Bard gives me.
It is highly inspirational and after hearing people say that AI will eventually take over all our jobs and hobbies..... I don't agree.
There is a sort of human element to not only stories but also the music production (which is my hobby) that AI just can't replicate.
There really currently no way for a computer to be as weird as we can be XD

Anyways, what do you think about using AI in whatever venture you are putting your heart in?
Do you despise it or do you bless it?

For me, I think if you use it to help, inspire and compliment your own vision of what you want to achieve, you should go for it.
But when using it to cheese the system, so to speak, that can or will be harmful.

So. What do you think?

August 16, 2023 at 6:39pm
August 16, 2023 at 6:39pm
#1054196

Hello all,
It has been a while and I am really trying to get back into writing parts of my story again.

And today it finally happened.
My book "Celestial Retribution has 3 chapters and a background story on the universe.
Soon there will be a 4th chapter added and I want to add some class definitions to solidify certain things for the world.
I hope you guys will take a moment to read the story so far and when it releases the next chapter :)

It will probably release somewhere around this coming weekend.

There will be more updates again and will make a blog post regarding my long break of almost 2 months.

For now I just wish you all a great day and till next post.
July 31, 2023 at 6:12pm
July 31, 2023 at 6:12pm
#1053395

Hey guys, It has been a while.

First and foremost reason for that is my trip to Japan for 3 weeks.
I have been back at home for just over 2 weeks now and everything is back on track.
Funny enough I will be departing for a trip to Austria next Saturday and drive my new EV through the mountains. (Really looking forward to that.)

Secondly I have been working on my Music and Radio show.
Introducing a new section where I invite guests to do a 1 hour guest mix and been working on my social media part to get more exposer through consistency.

In regards to my Celestial Downfall Story, I will probably be working on it from a different angle.
Recently I have been listening to the Game Of Thrones audio book and been carefully listening to how the things in the story are told and how perspective changes are done.

Really interesting to see how I can/will implement it in my own writing.

That's it for now though.
Hope you guys are all doing well and looking forward to writing the story again.

Cheers and have a great day ^_^
June 9, 2023 at 9:05am
June 9, 2023 at 9:05am
#1050850
Hey all,
I haven't given any updates in a while on this blog.
Not about my personal journey nor anything about the story of "Celestial Retribution .

But don't be afraid, I am not gone and for those that follow me, already know I have done some work.

So, as there been a lot of things happening lately, I will talk about the most important thing.
The story.

So I have added 2 chapters and tried to keep them short.
I didn't want to make the chapters to long as it was with my first drafts. They went on for too long and divided them into sub chapters.
That might work, but it felt like anyone reading it would have to set aside a lot of time to read it fully.

Now I don't mind sitting down and writing that but I wanted to make it easier on myself as well.
Instead of constantly changing all kinds of things in the story, why not limit myself in my options?

So I set forth to start thinking about the journey in 4 layers.
- 1) The overall world story
- 2) Continental stories
- 3) Regional stories
- 4) Character stories

For now it is working for me.
I set the limits of the world first and I can make sure the characters and events within the story stay inside those limits. And if I see I have forgotten edge cases I will expand the limits if needed. BUT I will keep the logic in tact. I can not break any logic.

Then I try to stay aware of the continents. Not so much on what is going on it there but more the climate. What is happening there. Is it tropical? Is it an ice world? or is it normal grass fields? that will influence what I will write for the characters and it's another limitation for me to not fly off the rails XD

Regional stories are more focused on towns and cities that are related to the where the story is at that time.
Doesn't mean it will limit to only nearby villages or cities but also things related, even if it is on the other side of the planet.

And finally the character stories.
That is when I dial into the chapter and start thinking about the 3 above. What would be possible when continuing on from the previous chapters to were I want to go towards.

I don't really think about what will be in inside the chapter but rather try to find a good moment to end it. The next story beat I want to get to doesn't have to be in 1 or 2 chapters. Things can happen and I want that journey to be as believable as possible. No rushing it and no forcing.

So yeah, that is where my head is at while writing my story.

Now, I have not only been thinking about what the story would be for the MC and his merry band but also the other elements of the world.
For example, I have tried to work out what the MC's class will be (think of mage, warrior and the likes) and what race they are. With the race they also have a set of traits that should fit with the their power potential and the class they eventually take up.

So for that I wrote down a class description in my google doc so I can review what the class is if I ever forget AND make sure the people that have that class stay within the limits of that class.

So below you can read what I put down about 1 of the class called "Battle Mage".
I tried to keep the terms a bit generalized so people would quickly be able to have an idea of what it could be. (maybe they heard about the name before in some game or tv show.)
But I do wrote the details from my own ideas. So they will overlap with other default traits that every fantasy story uses but can also diverge pretty far. Therefor, keep a mental note that this is MY interpretation of the class in this world :)

Btw, At the end you see the terms "Ignisara" and "ignisari".
Ignisara is an island where the "dragonkin" race come from. Humans with dragon like features like scales at certain places, tail, etc.
Ignisari is the plural of of people from that race :)
Just so you know.


Battle Mage

This class is mainly specialized in offense.
They usually use medium armor but depending on their focus they might end up with lighter or heavier armor though this is rare.

For battle mages there are usually 2 types.
- Focus more on ranged offensive magic
- Focus more on physical magic buffs and close single target magic

Battle Mages usually are the most flexible type of fighters on the battlefield.
They can quickly switch from close physical combat to ranged AOE (area of effect) magic.
This makes them the most wanted soldier on the field.

Within the class, battle mages can specialize in certain styles.
Some try to spread out their focus to the entire class.
This means they can be reasonably good at ranged as well as close combat but overall will be good in everything but never peak at one.

There are many specializations within the battle mage class though many prefer to use the standard choice of: more power equals less speed and vice versa.

Those who focus on physical speed often wear lighter body armor.
Because of their speed they are less likely to be hit by powerful attacks that ,usually, are slow and easily dodged. If they also focus on magic more than close combat, they use their casting speed and light weight armor to get in, do damage and get out. A well trained Battle Mage like this can wreak havoc on the battlefield.

Those who focus more on power don’t necessarily use heavy armor. The amount of power they focus on is usually well balanced with their magical abilities. Though they do less damage in general with their magic, they can enhance their weapons and body to be stronger in moments where it counts. Thus dealing more damage at close range.

If you put this class to the extreme you can have a warrior that can, in theory, defeat complete armies on his own. The battle mage class is said to be one of the hardest classes to master for there are so many stats to focus on. But if done right, there won’t be many that can match them.

Battle mages are said to have originated from the island of Ignisara. Home to Ignisari who have a near perfect relationship with aether. This makes them best suited for having high physical strength, defense and magic power right from the start.












May 31, 2023 at 11:05am
May 31, 2023 at 11:05am
#1050330

Hey all,
The past week I have been working hard on the story and its content.
Some of you might have read my questions I posted on the newsfeed and I had some really awesome comments.
So with the lack of updates on the story I'm really happy where I am now.

With the insight I got I can now comfortably say that I am really seeing the world of "Celestial Retribution taking shape.
With the use of ChatGPT and the world map generator that gave me a nice map of the world, I can see, in my mind, where certain events will take place.

I had a nice watch on this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcKMbVXpRRA
Its called "On Worldbuilding: Place Names — countries, cities, places" and it helped prevent me from just using random names that sounded cool.

For instance with the use of chatGPT I asked it to "give me some names for coastal city that freezes over in the winter but can be warm in the winter"
It came up with 15 examples and after a few times generating 15 new ones I found my name.
Another example is a city that would be in a warmer region of the word where the, due to the seasons, the wind would often play into the harbor.
In my mind I thought this would cause more noticeable tides which ChatGPT used to come up with the name "Tidecrest city".

Im loving how I can use the power of AI for basic questions that prevent me of going to name generators that often just keep repeating names over and over.

During the last week I also learned about how to go about time lines in the story itself.
A few awesome people commented on my question and cleared up a lot of unknowns for me and changed the way how I think about referencing timelines and scales.

For my self I will keep a timeline, but that's more to stay consistent and make sure things happen chronologically, in logical order and spacing instead of at random times.

I'm currently working on the second chapter and trying to make it something of a flashback chapter with a small twist in why it is.
So be sure to keep an eye out for me posting an update about the chapter later.
I'm guessing the new chapter will be out this week. So stay tuned ^_^

I also just want to extend my gratitude to some members here.
- Gaby ~ Keeper Of The Realm
- s
- Scifiwizard Retired
- 227mastodons

You guys have been very welcoming here on WDC and have helped me overcome a lot of anxiety that I had not more then 1 month ago.
Partially because of you guys, and the friends and family, I have been opening up a lot and even get comments on how I have changed so much in the last few weeks.
its been a big change and even though I have yet to do 1 final hurdle (making video content with me in the spotlight) I have almost come to the place I wanted to be at the end of this year.
Its been amazing so I just wanted to tank you guys ^_^

For now I will get back to thinking about the story.

See ya in the next entry :)

Cheers

May 25, 2023 at 5:50am
May 25, 2023 at 5:50am
#1050069
Hey guys,
It has been a couple of busy days for me and that left me hardly any room to really post here or work on the story.
Let me update you on 2 things. First I want to give a bit more info on something that was asked about in a previous blog post and lastly update you regarding the story I'm writing

The effect of mental strength
So I was asked a while ago what my personal growth was doing to my music hobby. What kind of effect does it have on that.
As of last week I have the perfect example for that.

So, last week me and a mate of mine went to the studio where Armin van Buuren records his radio show called "A State Of Trance".
You might know him and his show, but for those that don't let me quickly tell you.

Armin van Buuren is on of the best and biggest trance dj/producers around and he has been the host of his radio show for more then 1100 episodes.
His show is basically the holy grail for artists in the genre to be feature in.

So as we were there in the studio, a dj took the decks and was introduced as the top A&R of the Armada recordlabel.
This guy played a small set and afterwards got interviewed real quick by Armin.

One of the questions was "I am 16 year old Armin and nobody knows me. I have a track I want to release on Armada. What do I do?".
The answer was rather easy to predict and even though I knew it already, hearing it from someone you would think is almost unreachable for a random dude with a track that is shy and introverted, it hit a snare inside my mind.

His answer was "Get yourself in places and locations where you can reach out to me or people that have connections. And get my Instagram."

When he finished, he walked over to where I was standing and started talking with some people I didn't know.
My mind was racing at that moment. I was punishing myself for not having the guts to walk up to him and just ask.
I was mentally beating myself up for having some kind of wall I couldn't seem to climb over.

That is, until I did what I do best, relativize everything. I calmed down, took a breath and stepped up to the guy.
As always with this stuff you know all the panic wasn't worth it. He was a cool guy and when I told him I was following up on his advice he was happy to see the enthusiasm for the music and trying to help others with my own show.

That is, to this day, still a big achievement for me.
A month a go I would probably never have stepped up to him.
And even if nothing comes from this achievement, it is still a win in my book.
Like the saying goes "If yo don't shoot you will never score".

Celestial Downfall Update
So with being very busy trying to set up a community platform and get ready for livestreaming my music, there wasn't much time for writing.
But yesterday there was time and I got to write more about how the universe, it all takes place in, was created.

During the writing of the first 3 chapters I got an increasingly clearer view of how the world would work, the races and the magic system.
One of the things I already have some ideas about is what traits each race has.
Sure enough there are some default things like beastkin having better sense of smell and elves having better magic capabilities.
But there is one race that is always my favorite. Dragonkin. Though I think Draconian sounds better.
(Draconian is often depicted as a dragon with human like features while Dragonkin is the oposit. I feel there is no rule here and will probably refer to them as that. But the race name is to be decided ;) )

This is my idea for draconians. (To get an idea of what they look like picture this: https://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/mediawiki/images/7/71/Race_-_Au_Ra.png )
The race comes from an island in the center of the world map that is located on the equator.
It is always warm there and the nature is thriving on the island.

Magic in this world is based on the absorption and generation of Aether. Every creature absorbs Aether from the air though some races do that more efficiently then others.
Every creature also generates Aether internally and like the absorption, some races do that more efficiently then others.
You can see the Aether generation like how o2 is created by plants and trees from Co2.
Plants grow and by using energy in that process they generate Aether.

This all means that the Draconian race has lived, and thus evolved, in a place where there is a abundance of Aether in the air and therefore don't need to internally generate a lot.
So their Aether regen is low.

There are locations in the world that are desert or desertlike like where nothing grows and thus also has a massive lack of Aether in the air.
Putting a Draconian on a massive disadvantage when placed in such location.

Draconians are in general, physically and magically, the stronger race out of all.
But their Aether regen makes navigating the world difficult a times.

The Draconians have evolved to have both sexes work together for survival.

The man are, most of the time, the front line fighters.
They are stronger and often larger than the females.
Their aether regen however, is somewhat lower then the females and because of that they started to focus more on physical strength boosted or combo with magic.
This way they spent less Aether and can do more.

The females are a bit weaker but more usually more nible and faster but this comes at the detriment of their sturdyness.
They have a high aether regen in general and focused more on the big scaled magic attacks. Be it single point or Area Of Effect (AOE) when these fighters pop up, explosions will follow.
They are usually a bit smaller then the males but make up for it in fire power and their speed to get in and out of places and situations fast.

Overal Draconians have a great sense for aether and can feel the flow of it in the air.
When there is enough they can, with enough training, notice movement almost 1 to 2 kilometers away.
They have somewhat lesser eyesight but It is generally more wide and closer then, for example, humans that have more narrow field of view and can focus on 1 thing furter away.

But I am rambling on to much here though. I am pretty happy with what I have at the moment.

Let me know what you think of the Draconian draft :)

I will be posting the first draft of my "History of the universe" on the world in Celestial downfall.
First I want to finish a little bit more but really curious to know what you think of the way I tried to logically and somewhat scientifically couple all systems together :)

For now I wish you a good day and see ya in the next entry.

May 22, 2023 at 2:04am
May 22, 2023 at 2:04am
#1049957
Saving a life(hopefully)

Sometimes things happen that stay with you for a while and it doesn't matter how insignificant they might be, they stay.
This weekend something happened that might stay with me for a bit. And also makes you feel humbled a bit as well.
We might be big and strong human beings and we might be protected from the moment of birth, but not all living things on this planet are that lucky.

When going out for the final walk with my 2 dogs I saw something on the middle of the road when I walked out of the street I live in.
At first I didn't think anything of it but when I got closer I couldn't take my eyes of it.

The dogs heard something coming from the direction of where the thing was and started to curiously come closer every so slowly.

When my own curiosity peaked I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight.
Shining the light on the strange thing on the road I was surprised it was a small baby bird.
At first I just hoped that the bird was scared and didn't move so I looked at it while the dogs tried to explorer what it was. (of course I had the leash tight so they wouldn't do anything. They were really nice for the little birdy)
So I kept walking but saw that it wasn't moving from its place in the center gutter of the road.

Now, I know the road is big enough for 2 cars to pass each other comfortably but I also know, from personal experience, the left or right tires when nobody is on the road is often rolling along that gutter.

While the dogs where doing their thing near a tree we always go to, I kept looking to see if the little birdy moved at all.
Sadly it didn't and I started to get worried.

Should I move it? But what about its mother? Should I take care of it? No I couldn't do that. But what if it stays there?
Knowing I would be driving this road the next day I would never in my life forgive myself if I would see it dead in the place I left it.

After some thinking I did what I could to help the poor thing.
Went he pooches were done I walked back to the bird and the dogs again were very interested.
That is when the bird tried to ... run away, I guess. It tried to move and flap its small wings but it has not yet the capacity to fly and walking was also far from being anything to save himself. It jumped in sort of the direction away from me but it stumbled and sometimes lay there on the ground like it was in some sort of panic and it lay there out of breath.

I was hoping it would stumble itself into a nearby bush but it didn't and it went onto a crossing.
That was the moment I pulled off my jacked, cupped my hands in it and picked up the bird.

At first it struggled a little bit but then it stopped. At first I worried that I did something wrong but I heard the soft chirps of a the little baby bird coming from my cupped hands.

I walked to a grass field with a large bush along the side and picked a spot with an opening at the side to place it. At first I tried looking at nearby tries if I could find a nest. That way I could place the bird near its nest but sadly I couldn't find it. So chose a a location as far away from the road as I possibly could.

When I got to location I lowered the little sweety and opened my still cupped hands and anticipated it would jump out of my hand right away and stumble into the bush or at least stay right next to it in the tall grass.

But that didn't happen.
It stayed in my hand and as much as I wanted to push it out, it kept crawling back in. This was tugging my heartstrings now. How could a little bird that was so scared just a min ago, be wanting the protection and warmth of my hand. *Cry*
I knew I couldn't take care if the little thing nor did I want to take it out its natural environment.
Sadly I realized that the chances of the little thing surviving the night or the next few days, under the shade of the bush or not, were really slim.

Eventually I did push him out of my hand and, for everything that is holy, hoped it wouldn't chase me. That would probably make me tear up.
Even thought that didn't not happen, the view of the little thing in the tall grass next to the bush looking at me and softly chirping didn't help my building feeling of guilt either.

I do believe I did the right thing thought cause nature is hard.
This wasn't and won't be the last little birdy falling out of the nest. But I like to think I at least give this little one a bit more of a fighting chance.

I have no clue where he is right now.
I didn't really go back to check either, knowing he most likely is somewhere else now.
But wherever he is, I hope he is being the little bird that he should be *Care**Care*


May 17, 2023 at 9:29am
May 17, 2023 at 9:29am
#1049705
So, It is time for an update that is overdue.

I have been working on ideas for the fictional world my story would take place in.
I have been thinking about the characters and their backstories, their motivations, personalities.
I have been building the world and things that are in it. Cities, Towns, Locations that have or had a historical impact on the world
And last but not least, I have been trying to figure out a better and more logical scenario for WHY the story happens in the first place.

The prologue and chapter 1 draft that is up at the moment is all based on a write as I go kinda mindset.
Having an idea, I just set out to write it and see where it would get me.

Now that I have written down a lot of stuff, thought a lot through, I keep trying to figure out a logical way why the world(s) are how they are.
The reason why things are set in motion. The reason why the MC is the MC and not be falling back to the overly used "he is special" kind of MC.

Even when for years I have just been imagining stories when in the shower or before I went to bed, laying there starting at my ceiling, I always got stuck on the logic parts of it.

"Would a main character really just be special?
No, that won't do. The MC should have something out of his control."

This mainly got me to the obvious conclusions of "The MC is bestowed some power by a god and he becomes the chosen one in a new world"
Well..., isn't that way to easy?
Sure enough many fantasy tv shows/cartoons and manga/anime can get away with it, but not me.
I want something reasonable. Something people would understand. Something that can be explained no matter how complicated it might be.

So with all that in mind, I finally think I connected the dots for my story.
That will mean I will probably be rewriting the prologue as well but I think it will be better for it.
And don't think I will be just using some "god" that is all powerful to be the start of anything.
No, I will be going back further to even the reason there are "gods" in the first place. The reason humanity is where it is. What came before.
Cause it will all be directly influencing what is happening in the MC's story.

I also did some research in my spare time on writing tips&tricks and "rules".
And hope it will make for an interesting story to come.


So that's what has been happening for the story.
I will come back here and write more about something that happened in my life recently that may or may not be of influence to my music career in the nearby future.


Cheers all and see you in the next entry.

18 Entries · *Magnify*
Page of 2 · 10 per page   < >
Previous ... -1- 2 ... Next

© Copyright 2023 cenvil (UN: cenvil at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
cenvil has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.

Log in to Leave Feedback
Username:
Password: <Show>
Not a Member?
Signup right now, for free!
All accounts include:
*Bullet* FREE Email @Writing.Com!
*Bullet* FREE Portfolio Services!
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2294440-personal-journey