Character Fan Art

No doubt you have heard of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians- a favorite of mine, honestly- well, have you heard of the spin-off series, Heroes of Olympus?  Oh, it’s a wonderful series!  Building off the characters you know and love, and adding new deep meaningful characters you’ll come to love.  I mean how could you not love him?:  

(Actually, no one really likes him.  His name is Octavian, and he slaughters stuffed animals.  He DESTROYED Percy’s panda bear!)  But anyways, this might come off as surprising- since I just made it sound like I know the series inside and out- but I have not read Heroes of Olympus.  There is some content within it, that neither myself, nor my parents wanted me reading.  However, another person I know reads it, so I have SEVERAL insiders (not to mention I look stuff up about it all the time, I know, probably not good, but just look at the amazing artwork).  Below, is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Oracle of Delphi.

 

Now, I have been staring at this beautiful artwork, just dying to get to know these characters.  After all, you just can’t be satisfied with just hearing their stories, you have to know them.  But, I was going to not read the series, and I was determined not to- honestly, after awhile, I feel like it became a game to see how long I could “hold out.”  I eventually beat it, and no longer had a desire to read the series- well, you know, as little of a desire as I could possibly have.  So, I turned my mind to a project.  I decided I needed to study some certain books and tv shows, to learn how they mastered specific elements of storytelling.

  For example, one of them was Once Upon a Time, I studied several episodes to discover the pattern they used to revealing/creating twists to their stories.  I found books or tv shows that would help me to learn how to master and apply each element, but then I came upon characters.  And no characters have struck me as more alive than when I scanned through my findings of Heroes of Olympus.  I suddenly came to a terrible conclusion, I had to read from the book with the best characters to master the element, but the series, was Heroes of Olympus.  I was in distress for two days I think, just thinking over, and over again, ‘No, there has to be away around it.’  But, nope, there was no way.  But then finally, I decided I needed to find out why I thought it was the only option.  So, I sat down, and opened the amazing artwork of Heroes of Olympus.  

  Meet Leo Valdez!  Repair boy, bad boy supreme, and Captain of Argo II (that’s what he calls himself).  

And his girlfriend, Calypso, daughter of the Titan, Atlas- and imprisoned on the island of Ogygia.  

  The first step I did, was ask myself, ‘Why do I think these characters are the only ones I can learn from?’  I thought about it for a split moment, and quickly answered that it was because they were the only characters who I saw truly come alive even though I hadn’t even read it.

 Then I asked myself, ‘Why do they come alive?  I haven’t even read it, and they’re more alive in my mind than any other character I’ve ever read about.’  After scrolling through a bit longer, I came to the stunning

realization that it was because there was all this beautiful artwork which I could look at, and that is what made them come so alive, along with the things my friend had told me (to the right, is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades).

  So, with the realization, I came to the conclusion, that if I wanted my characters to become “alive” in this way, it would have to be up to artist’s.  (Below, is Hazel Levesque, and her boyfriend, Frank Zhang.)

 But I didn’t want to just leave it up to artist’s to decide if they wanted to draw up one of my character’s or not.  I decided I desired to figure out what made them want to draw these magnificent characters.  

  So, I went to my sister, Riah, who’s an artist, and asked her, “If you could draw one character from any book, what character would it be?”

                                                                                                               

 She thought for a moment, and answered that she would like to draw a character she had recently read about named, Sage.  Here is the conversation that followed:

  “Why do you want to draw Sage?”  I asked, prodding her for answers.

  “Um, because in the book he’s described as having raggy clothes, and messed up hair, and I just think it’d be interesting and different to draw.”  she answered, shaking her hand through her hair as she describes Sage’s.

  An idea, and realization began to sweep over me, as I asked my next question, “Is Sage like homeless or something?”  

  “He’s a peasant.”  

  “Does he get into a lot of trouble, and real mischievous, and good on the streets?”  I asked, smiling as I drew closer to my conclusion.    

My little sister nodded.  “So, you would say, his personality fits his description?”  

  She nodded once again, sealing my victory!

  You see, I had cracked the formula.  The reason why an artist would draw a character is because their personality fits their description, and their description is clearly set apart from everyone else’s.  Thankfully, that afternoon, we were going to the library, so I could test my theory.  

  I rushed over to the books of Percy Jackson, and snatched the first book of Heroes of Olympus off the shelf.  I flipped open to the first page, to see if there was a description.  There was, it was Piper Mclean’s description.  As I read it, I realized that Rick Riordan- the author- described the standard necessities, such as eyes, and hair, but then expanded.  

(Piper Mclean, Jason’s girlfriend)

  (Percy, and Annabeth)

  He described the clothes she wore, and the the way that her hair was chopped unevenly, and her kaleidoscope eyes.  Then he went on to explain the first impression someone would get from seeing her:  That she didn’t want to be noticed.  Thus, through the description, a belief of Piper had was revealed (of course, then the narrator went on to say that her effort didn’t work, because she was gorgeous).  So, with this new found knowledge, I created rules for myself when describing a character:

1. Go further in depth of description with hair and eyes
2. Create a first impression               

3. Set them apart from the other characters
4. Describe the clothing they wear
5. Match their description to their personality                       
6. Implant a belief about the character from the description

                                                                             

Fatal Flaws

“I don’t know, Percy, but every hero has one.  If you don’t find it and learn to control it… well, they don’t call it fatal for nothing.”  -Annabeth Chase (The Sea of Monsters)

  Today’s post is about hamartias.  Now, you might be wondering what a hamartia is, and for that I will answer this:  Hamartia-  A fatal flaw leading to the downfall of a hero or heroine.

  But in this post we are going to be calling them fatal flaws.  Fatal flaws were first introduced to me when I read The Sea of Monsters in the Percy Jackson series.  Annabeth Chase was explaining to Percy fatal flaws after she had just learned what her’s was:  Hubris, deadly pride.  After reading this, I began to give each of my characters a fatal flaw, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with that.  

  In the Percy Jackson series they claimed there were only seven fatal flaws.  Well, studying more upon this claim, I have actually found ten.  I have decided to share these ten fatal flaws with you, and give you an example for each flaw.  There will be examples from, Lord of the Rings, Sherlock, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Michael Vey, Tales of Goldstone Wood, and The Hunger Games.

Ambition-  A strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work  Ex. President Coin (The Hunger Games)-  Here is a spoiler:  President Coin dies because of her ambitions.  Coin has been locked up in district 13 for all her life, and she has suffered through much loss.  She blames President Snow for her pain, and wants to take over Panem and continue the Hunger Games.  To succeed, she gets all of the rebelling districts on her side, and it even looks as if she is with the good.  But then in the last few chapters it is revealed that she is power-hungry and vengeful.  She is overly ambitious with a demented mind intent on killing the children of her enemies.  

Curiosity-  The desire to know a fact or about an unusual object, and can usually not be suppressed  Ex.  Peregrin Took (Lord of the Rings)-  If you have ever seen Return of the King you remember the scene in which Pippin (Peregrin) takes palantir, not being able to suppress his curiostity.  In this act, Pippin puts his own, and everyone else’s lives in danger. “You always have to look, don’t you?!”  -Meriadoc Brandybuck in Return of the King

Fear-  An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat  Ex. Prince Lionheart (Tales of Goldstone Wood)-  Prince Lionheart is  reasonably afraid on his adventure like anyone else.  Naturally, he cowers when he faces a dragon, and fears the mob when they want to kill his only friend.  But he takes this fatal flaw a step further when he turns over the heart of his love to the dragon, and exiles his only friend in the face of danger.  This ruins his love, and completely alters the life of his friend, while he becomes lonely and unlovable.  

Feeling Inferior-  Feeling of little or less importance or value  Ex. Ron Weasley (Harry Potter)-  Ron always felt inferior to everyone around him.  His quidditch teammates, family, and friends- especially Harry Potter himself. This leads him to doing some stupid things, like not trying his hardest at quidditch, and refusing to talk to his best friend when he needs help.

Holding Grudges-  Clutching onto the feeling of resentment harbored because of some real or fancied wrong  Ex. Regina (Once Upon a Time)-  Regina’s- a.k.a The Evil Queen’s- fatal flaw is holding grudges.  She holds grudges like you would not believe.  For an example, a tragic accident happened to her when she was about twenty years old, the little girl who had caused it was about the age of twelve.  After seven years or so, when the girl was nineteen years old, she FINALLY acted upon her resentment.  Which she had been planning to do for years, but hadn’t yet.  In order to kill the person she held the grudge to, she took over an entire kingdom, and killed her own father, mother, and her most prized possession.  

Personal Loyalty-  Devotion and reverent allegiance to a loved one, an object, or a belief  Ex. Samwise Gamgee (Lord of the Rings)- In Lord of the Rings we see continually that Sam is extremely loyal to Frodo Baggins- sometimes we wonder if he is a little too loyal.  We see several times that Sam would die for Frodo, or worse.  Those with the fatal flaw of personal loyalty are dangerous because they would destroy the world to save their friends.

Power-  The amount of authority one gets over their own life, someone else’s, or an entire population  Ex. Dr. Hatch (Michael Vey)- This Dr. Hatch guy has a huge lust for power.  He is seeking to create an army of electric kids, and build up the trust of the governments in each country.  After he has succeeded in both, he will attack the world and shut off all it’s power.  He will kill all the normal humans off, and become the king of electric children.  And he is totally succeeding so far, there is no other person who surpasses his lust for power.  

Pride-  A feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired  Ex. Sherlock Holmes (BBC’s Sherlock)-  Sherlock Holmes is EXTREMELY proud and arrogant in the amazing show of Sherlock.  His best friend, John Watson, continually reminds him so, calling him a clever, arrogant brat.  To display all his cleverness to the world, he continually does stupid things to show that he is right.  For example, in the first episode, Sherlock was forced to eat one pill out of two- one would kill him, the other was harmless.  

  But right as he was about to, he realized that the gun- which was pointed at his head- was a fake.  He put the pill down, and was going to leave but his attacker asked him if he knew which pill was the right one.  Sherlock turned back around, and foolishly went to eat the pill, just to prove he was right.

Selfishness-  Lacking consideration of others  Ex. Torstyn (Michael Vey)-  One example of selfishness, is Torstyn.  There was once when he and his so-called “friends” were eating, and a boy began flirting with one of the girls.  Torstyn, being protective and all, fried his brain.  Then a doctor came over, and asked what happened- also asking if they would call nine-one-one- and Torstyn promptly refused, going back to eating his spaghetti.

Vanity- Excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance or achievements  Ex. Daylily (Tales of Goldstone Wood)-  Daylily is explained as a very beautiful girl.  Every boy wants her, and she is respected for being the baron’s daughter. But when she spent five years under the breath of a dragon, she is only- well, maybe not quite only- concerned with the fact that she is not as pretty as she once was.  

People in real life can have fatal flaws too, for example, out of these ten, my fatal flaw is ambition.  I get more ambitious than what is good for me, and sometimes takes on too much.  A friend of mine has pride, and another one also has ambition.  My sister, Leah, has the fatal flaw of curiosity.

What’s your fatal flaw?  

Music Inspiration

So, I’d like to let you all know, that in the moment I am sitting here typing up this post our internet is down.  Now, when I first heard this, I thought, “This is great.  No distractions, no internet.  I’m going to be writing with no interruptions for hours!”  After hearing this, I took out my laptop, and made my way into my little cove, ready to power through some stories.  I open up my laptop, and I open up all the tabs for my stories that I needed open, I took out my notebooks, then I opened up the music…  It didn’t turn on.

  Of course, I forgot that the music I listen to while writing is on the internet.  All the Lindsey Stirling, Piano Guys, and Peter Hollens, waiting to ooze inspiration and emotion, just wasting away in the cyber world of computer chips.  You know, I thought that it’d be fine.  So I go back to my story, and read the last sentence I wrote, readying myself for some serious writing.  I put my hands over the keyboard, and… they didn’t do anything.  My fingers just wouldn’t dance for the story.  Then I realized, you can’t dance without music!  So, of course I’m not writing.  After four months of getting use to listening to this music while writing, I have forgotten how to write a story without the little songs in the background.

  Now, I know what you’re thinking.  You’re probably asking yourself why I couldn’t just turn on the radio, or a cd.  Or why I couldn’t just use Itunes.  First of all, I don’t have Itunes in my bedroom.  Second of all, I don’t have any Lindsey Stirling, Peter Hollens, or Piano Guy cd’s.  And third of all, the music I have on my computer is sorted in several different categories.  For example, if I am wanting to write an action scene, I will listen to my ‘action music’- you know the fast upbeat stuff.  And the same with everything else, a sad scene, I listen to my sad music, a happy scene I listen to my happy music, and you probably don’t need me to explain any further.

  Anyways, I did not realize how dependent on I’d become on music, so I veered away from my stories, and wrote this post instead.  But alas, I must go back and try to power through writing without music.  Just hope I can suffer through.

Editor’s Note:  The music came on!

I See Fire

 Crystallize

Skyrim

Mission Impossible

Charlie Brown Medley

Overcoming Writer's Block

All writers have problems with writer's block.  Students, who have to stay up through the night for creative juices to flow, even has writer's block at points.  I, myself, have had to go through writer's block several times in the beginning with Twelve Dawns Rise.  So I have had some practice overcoming it (sometimes it can be truly gruesome), and I have some methods I can share with you.  These methods don't always work, but they have always been most effective for me.  So, here are five ways to overcome writer's block.

#1. Go to a Writing Friend-
Usually, one of the first things I do, is seek out my neighbor (who really isn't that hard to find).  She is one of my closest friends, and always knows the insides and outs of my stories- because no matter how much I refuse to tell her, it still spills out somehow.  But anyways, she will usually be able to help me by asking questions and giving me inspiration along the way.  I also have another friend of mine who I sometimes e-mail to ask for advice.  Or I search for my younger sister.  While, she's not much of a writer, and honestly it never really helps, I find it very entertaining to see her try.  But it's great having a writer friend who will help you.

#2.  Write from the Middle-
This method works very well for me.  I actually feel a little stupid at first, trying to write something which I don't really understand because I haven't reached there yet, but it always helps.  I have never once used one of the scenes I wrote to overcome the block, I have always rewritten it, but it helps to get the creative juices flowing.  Jump ahead to a key scene that you know will eventually happen, and begin spewing out random words and pen down the scene.  It usually creates a mess, but then you can rewrite the scene later after you have actually arrived at the scene.

#3.  Surround Yourself with Different Scenery-
When I am writing, I am usually shutting myself up in my room late at night sitting at my desk.  But when I strike a block, I usually find that moving even down to the floor helps me.  It's really as simple as that, just moving a few feet can explode a dam and the story will just flow out like a flood after that.  Part of the reason why I can't wait to drive!  What better way to overcome writer's block then jumping in a car, and driving down to an ice cream parlor, bookstore, or library.  Plus, who doesn't want to drive?

#4.  Leave-
Leave you story and go occupy yourself with something else.  Browsing the internet, reading, bike riding, archery, practice piano, anything you like to do.  Sometimes I end up taking week long breaks, but by the time I come back, I will have a whole new assortment of ideas.

#5.  Find the Beginning of the Block-
Did you see that quote up on top?  The one said by August Booth, from Once Upon a Time.  August is an author who was helping a sheriff solve a missing person mystery while giving her writing advice.  :)  Doesn't he sound cool (no, actually he's annoying)?  But I have used this advice several times, and it works- even if you have to go through the process ten different times.  I usually go back in my mind, and search for the beginning of the block, once I've found it, I copy and paste it into another document.  With the block now gone, I can continue writing with a different perspective or idea.  It works really well, and probably my favorite method.

Now, I haven't written a post on here for almost a month- due to school- but I have not stopped my progress on Twelve Dawns Rise.  In fact, I am now done with my first draft!  Over a year after the idea first sparked, I have finished the first draft.  That was definitely a victory for me!  But it is far from complete, a friend of mine has suggested some major changes that I am going to go through with, so I have now begun the second draft of Twelve Dawns Rise.  Of course, the change is going to effect the title, so I will be changing the title of Twelve Dawns Rise soon.  Anyway, hope you all have a beautiful day!  

Giving Character to an Inanimate Object

One of my favorites elements in a story is when the author gives an inanimate object character.  I never even realized this until recently, so now I will be entering it into my stories.  It really is very simple to place character to an inanimate object, you just have to incorporate it into your story.  Now,  how do you do this?  It is very simple.  For an example, I will be using my home s the inainmate object. 
   1.  What are some characteristics of your home?
Inside my home, there are many different characteristics.  But one example, is the flooring of my room.  When you take your first steps inside the room, it creaks terribly loud.  This is what I would like to call, character to an inanimate object.  What are a few characteristics in your home?
   2.   Create a home for your character, and give it features
The home of your character is very important to know.  You do not need to map out a home, but I sometimes will search home layouts on the internet, to scan down an idea of my home's design.  Next you need to give it characterisitics, you can succeed in this by copying the one's from your home, or create new ones. 
   3.  How can you weave the features into your plot?
You do not need to always weave these features into the plot of your story, but it can be useful.  If you are writing a mystery, or adventure story, this could be an interesting and sued to find informatiuon or an escape.  Or there are times where they use the characterisitc of an object, to express their sadness.  Ex.  Vicki stared at the rubble, which use to be her trailer.  She hated that thing, but she couldn't help feeling sad.  She remembered how she had memorized which boards to place her feet on, to sneak out quietly.  (The example was from the Left Behind Kids series; however, it wasn't completely correct because I do not hjave the book in my possesion at this moment).