For the King

"Yes, that is everything I'm taking with me," Amelia snapped , making the serving goblin flinch.

"If you insist..."

"I do insist!"

That last retort made Nell in her crib start to cry. Amelia sighed. "Now, see what you've done? Leave us!"

The goblin gave a quick nod, and scampered away while Amelia picked up the whimpering toddler. As if the pregnancy hadn't been enough punishment, now for the past year all it seemed like Nell could do was cry, and Amelia was rubbish at making it stop. Why couldn't she stop crying for once?

Amelia didn't particularly want a child, but it was the only solution she could think of at the moment. It took one time of "forgetting" to take her tonic and weeks later she discovered she was pregnant. Surely, the king would never want to marry her then.

But alas, she was still the one chosen to be his next bride and Nell would be left behind, forgotten, along with Amelia's lover.

At least she wouldn't have to listen to the constant crying any longer.

Or Mother's incessant yapping.

"Your beauty has finally blessed this family! You'll raise our people up again," Amelia mimicked as she rocked Nell. The child's mop of brown and blonde curls bounced upon her tan head.

King Edric was known to be kind, joyful, and fair. But, after his wife passed away giving birth to their second child, he was a different man. He'd withdrawn himself for some time. Then, returned to his playboy ways previous to his marriage with men and women constantly coming and going from his bed chambers. Apparently, he  - or perhaps his advisors -  decided it was time to find another wife, and Amelia was the lucky woman chosen. He wasn't very kind when he found out she had a child a year after his proposal. 

Mother disagreed. She said it was completely in his right to be upset and was gracious enough to let the child live and still agreed for Amelia to be his wife. As long as the child didn't come to the castle. 

"But what about what I want?" Amelia asked and looked at her reflection in her full length mirror standing in the corner. If you were to remove the baby on her hip, Amelia was the perfect image for royalty with her long blonde hair and stunning red dress. Beauty was powerful and Amelia was used to using it to her advantage. But now, it was being turned against her. All of the kingdom gossips were saying Amelia was to be the most beautiful queen they'd ever seen. That was, until his oldest daughter, Princess Eira, took the throne. 

Amelia had never seen either princess, but heard the rumors of Princess Eira's beauty. She'd see for herself in only a matter of days. Then she would be queen. 

A queen who was trapped in a cage not of her own choosing. A beautiful and luxurious cage. But a cage none the less. 

King Edric had ruined everything.

Finally, Nell's cries softened and she lay her head against Amelia's shoulder. She glanced at the crib, tempted to put the toddler down, but knew once Nell was back in there the crying would begin again. 

Nell wasn't so terrible when she wasn't crying. Or eating in that sloppy way of hers. Or soiling herself. But moments such as this, perhaps she wasn't all that awful. Amelia had reluctantly grown to care for Nell.

No. Care was too strong of a word. Fond. Yes, she'd grown fond of the child, and now she would never see her again.

"It's not fair," Amelia muttered. Regardless of whether she cared for Nell or not, the child was hers. The only thing Amelia ever had all to herself. The only choice she'd made for herself, and ever would make now that she was to be queen. 

We all must make sacrifices for our people, and for the king, Mother said. Amelia never sacrificed anything until now, and didn't want to start. When King Edric found out about Nell, she'd tried to appeal to his fatherly instincts for she'd heard he loved his daughters deeply. At first, she thought it worked. But in the end, Nell was not to come to the castle. 

"The king will pay for this," Amelia told her reflection. She placed a hand on the glass and it wavered as though the glass turned into water. Through the reflection she saw the other world. The green grass, the fae who lived there, and the sparkling flowers. Amelia used to hide in the mirror world as a child when she wanted to escape Mother. She planned on leaving it behind but perhaps...

A knock came to the door and the goblin popped her head inside. "I've been sent to fetch you. The king is waiting."

Of course he was.

"What are you looking at?" the goblin asked.

Amelia's eyes darted from the mirror, to the gnome, to Nell. Without giving it another thought she grabbed the gnome by the elbow and dragged her to the mirror. She shoved Nell into her arms and pushed the two into the glass. The goblin let out a small yell as she found herself standing in the mirror world. 

"She's your job now," Amelia said and placed a hand on the glass, it wavered, and once again became a mirror showing only Amelia's reflection. She took the tiara which lay on her nightstand and placed it upon her head. 

"Ansel!" Amelia yelled for another servant. Within moments he appeared at her door and bowed.

"Yes, my lady?"

"That silly goblin forgot to be sure my mirror was packed up with my other things and seems to have disappeared. Take it down to the carriage," she ordered.

He bowed again. "Of course, my lady."

He found another servant to help and they took the mirror away. 

She would do it. She would become queen. 

Anything for the king.

Yes! I finally have written a flash fiction piece again! In February I was battling major writers block, and I almost lost that battle again here in March. But I'm back with flash fiction!

I also decided in my novel writing to return to what I call the "fairy tale mash-up" where I have a combo of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Rose Red, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Yes, it's a lot. But I think it's going to be really fun.

To get into the mindset, I wrote this piece about the main antagonist, Queen Amelia. This story takes place about 10 years before the novel will begin. Sometimes it's difficult for me to figure out my antagonist and have a clear picture of them, so writing a quick back story like this helps! I hope you enjoyed it!

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My Writing Process - Outlining vs. Discovery Writing

Welcome to the second in the "My Writing Process" series! The first post was about brainstorming. That's simply getting your ideas together. Today, I'll share with you my thoughts on actually planing out a novel and the story. 

There tend to be two categories writers place themselves into for this. There's the outliners and the "pantsers." (AKA- discovery writing.) Either you plan your novel out, or you just wing it.

The reality is, most writers are a mix of both. I know I am. It also depends on the project I'm working on. Some books I feel like I need to know exactly what happens when. Others, I let myself figure it out along the way. Although, I tend to go for more outlining. For the project I'm working on at the moment, I'm winging it a bit more than usual. Which is slightly scary. Some elements of this book I knew I had to know exactly what happened. The rest, I'm only planning one step ahead of where I am currently in my writing process. I have the first few chapters plotted out, but the everything else I have no idea!

Outlining

When I outline my novel, there are a few different methods I've tried. 

The 9 Block Method

I found this one through the YouTuber KatyTastic. (One of her vidoes is below) You divide your book into three acts, each with three sections, and three chapters in each section. This would create roughly 27 chapters. (It sounds confusing, I know. But it isn't!) All of these roughly are just about setting up, creating conflict, and resolution. Beginning, middle, and end. Act one is setting up the story, act two is building up the conflict, act three is the climax/resolution. Then each act has a bit of a "mini" story inside of it with set up, conflict, and resolution.

Katy explains it far better than I do, and when I first started to outline this way, I had to refer back to her videos several times. (You can watch one of them here!) Now that I've gotten the hang of it, it's easy. It's a fairly commercial method of putting together a story and I like to use it when I'm getting stuck on plot. (I'm TERRIBLE at plot. Give me fun characters and witty banter all day. When I have to actually decide the things that happen to them and how it all fits together, it's the struggle bus for me.) It helps me to see how I can keep the story moving as well as eliminate things which don't add anything to the story.

The Snowflake Method

This one is about starting small, then getting bigger and bigger. You first start with a simple, short sentence, summarizing your novel. Then, you write a paragraph. Then three paragraphs (particularly if you're doing a 3 act structure.) Each paragraph having roughly five sentences each. 

Once that's done, you move onto creating something similar for each of your main characters. 

You can probably see where this is going. You keep going until it gets bigger and bigger then you're ready to write your novel. I'd continue, but you can follow this link to learn more. This method is good for people who like to take notes and write things out, vs. having a bullet point outline. I like to use this when I'm focusing more on my characters vs. the plot points.

Classic Story Structures

There's also several structures for classic story lines. Rags to riches, quests, the hero's journey, voyage and return, rebirth, and overcoming the monster. If you look at different genres and compare their story lines carefully, you'll see some basic plot structures and it's a good way to get yourself going. Figure out where the main "beats" of your story need to be, then go from there. You can see many of these on my Pinterest board. 

The Pros of Outlining

You have an idea of where your story is going, and it helpful if you find yourself stuck or from keeping your book from taking it's own course. I especially find it useful during the revision phase because then you can weed out what is and isn't needed in your book. But we'll talk about revisions in a later post.

The Cons of Outlining

Some people get married to their outline and don't let their story grow and breathe. Personally, I found this to be the fatal flaw in the ending of the TV show How I Met Your Mother. The creators had a specific ending in mind when they first plotted out the TV show. But as the show grew and changed, the ending did not. So, when we got to the finale, it was a disaster. Years later, I still become irrationally angry if I think about it too much, because everything else was so well done!

Others don't like to outline because they feel like it constricts them and they can't be as creative as they'd want. 

I always say, feel free to outline as much as you want; just be sure you're willing to be flexible. 

Discovery Writing

There's not a whole lot to say about this method, other than it's the "figure it out as you go" philosophy. You start writing and see where it takes you. This lends itself to being more organic. It's easy to say that this is more "creative," which I don't agree with. There's definitely creativity in outlining as well. 

The Pros of Discovery Writing

No bounds! No limitations! Do what you want! Discovery writing is awesome for people who don't like structure. If a random plot twist comes to you, you don't have to worry about re-doing that outline you worked on for hours and hours. You just go with it. Sometimes the surprises can be the best parts of your book.

The Cons of Discovery Writing

You may not know where your book is going. For me, this is the scary part because it's easy to get stuck. This is the beauty of planning. If you don't know what to write, you can just take a look at your outline and see what's coming next. 

It's easy for your book to lose track of where it's going. You may find yourself with scenes you don't know what to do with, characters who don't have a purpose, and when you get to the end you have no idea how to tie it all together. 

Overall, a majority of writers are a mix of the two methods, or it will vary with each project. I had one book where I had it heavily outlined and I relied on it for every step of the way! For projects like the one I'm currently working on, I have some details set and a few moments I want to be in the book, but beyond that I'm just seeing where the characters and the story takes me!

Brandon Sanderson, a popular epic fantasy writer, says he very much relies on his outlines. But then I've heard of authors such as Agatha Christie who claimed she didn't know who the murderer was until she reached the end of the book!

Basically - you do you. 

My Writing Process: Brainstorming

A few weeks ago, I had posted on my Facebook page asking what people would like to read about on my blog. One of my friends said she thought it'd be interesting to read about my writing process. 

I decided to do a writing series where once a month I share one element. I'll be breaking it up into seven categories. They are:

• Brainstorming
• Outlining vs. "Pantsing"
• Characters
• World Building and Setting
• Drafting
• Critique Partners and Beta Readers
• Revising

On social media once, I remember in regards to writing process, one author (I can't remember who! I'm sorry!) said they know how to write THIS book. Then, when they start a new book, they learn how to write THAT book. Because each project has a life and process of it's own. 

I've found this to be true. While I do have certain tendencies with each project I'm working on, they are all vastly different from one another. One aspect of my writing process may have worked for one project, but it may not work for another.

That being said, I'll be sharing my process for the most current novel I'm working on simply because it's the freshest in my mind. I'll refer to previous projects as well, but my focus will be on this one. 

If you follow me on Twitter/Instagram, you may have noticed I've been chatting about this new idea for the last several weeks and referring to it as "Vampire Snow White." Mainly because I don't have a title for it. I'll refer to it the same way here and sometimes shorten it to VSW. However, beyond my basics of the process, I won't be revealing anything else about this book such as plot points, character names, etc. Because you know...

WHEW. Talk about a long intro. But, from here on out with the remainder of the series I should be able to get to the point quicker.

Here we go! My brainstorming process.

Image originally found on my Instagram @eehornburg

Getting Ideas

Interestingly enough, the way I got my idea for VSW was from a writing friend of mine. Someone had shared something with her about "What if Snow White was a vampire?" and she shared it with me saying "This sounds like something totally up your alley." Well... she was right. The character, the setting, how I could tie in vampire lore with the classic fairy tale - for some reason it all "clicked" in my head.

This is not how I usually get ideas. Here are a few suggestions to help you get your brain going:

• Keep asking "what if...?" A lot of my stories even before VSW have been inspired by fairy tales. I just expand on them. "Yeah, but what if this character was...?" Or even asking "why?" Something like "But why would mere jealousy cause the evil queen to want to go as far as murdering her step-daughter?"
• Searching around on the Internet. You'd be amazed that just from casually browsing the Internet. the story ideas I find. Whether it's an interesting article, a picture I thought was different, a quote I find, etc.
• Pick a theme you are passionate about or would like a book to be about. For the most recent novel I've completed, the initial idea came from elements in my life which I was experiencing. Which, made me think of it being a contemporary/modern day/literary novel. But, I've learned that while I like reading those sorts of books, I'm awful at writing them. I thought "okay... how do I make that fun and in a genre I do like?" BOOM. My story was created.
• Write what you enjoy. I once tried writing a straight contemporary novel without any magic, sci-fi, fairy tale elements. IT WAS TERRIBLE. There are books of that genre I genuinely love - but for the most part what I enjoy reading and writing are Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Once I realized I should stick with that, finding ideas and brainstorming came much easier. Some people can jump around genres and each one turns out awesome. Which is fantastic! But it's not me. 

Research

I love this part. It gives me an excuse to watch TV, movies, documentaries, and take too many trips to the library. 

• For VSW I started with researching the original Snow White tale itself. It is my favorite, so I'm familiar with all of the different versions. But, I hadn't read much about what inspired these folk tales in the first place. Let me tell you - it was the best thing I've done VSW. I found different elements which will for sure be appearing in my plot and character development.
• Learn about other cultures. Considering Snow White is a German tale, my next step was to find out more about German folklore and vampire mythology. Sure enough - Germans have their own version of the vampire. This will help make my vampires in this book more unique compared to the saturation of vampires we see in other literature. 
• Netflix (or your streaming provider of choice) is amazing! I added to my list different movies, TV shows, and documentaries which I thought would be helpful. Some of them have been paranormal types, others have been more historical for my backstory, some have been simply something I think would fit the tone and mood. 
• Seek out people in your circles who can help. I know other people who have studied German culture, have read a lot more paranormal stories than I have, and know more history than I do. I go to them to help bounce around ideas and they direct me to other resources.
• Use your library! Mine is pretty small, so they don't always have enough books to go in as much depth as I'd like. But, they are connected to several other libraries in the area and the librarians help me find other titles which I may find useful and have them delivered to our library for me to pick up. 

Tools I Use

• Old school pen and paper. My brainstorming can be messy, confusing, and all over the place. Being able to have a notebook and a pen or pencil where I can erase, cross things out, draw lines and arrows, help me to sort everything out. Typing something out on a computer or tablet doesn't give me the freedom to do this as much. 
• Pinterest. When I have a new project in my head, I create a secret board and it becomes my virtual dumping ground for all of my ideas. Websites I've found in my research, photos and drawings I find interesting, maps, etc. 
• Visions boards. This could be in place of Pinterest. Only, it's a physical board instead of a virtual one. Writers have it displayed near their work area so they can reference it as they write. I can definitely see why people would find this useful and also fun to create. But, for me, Pinterest is the version which works best. 

Reading Books in Your Genre

This is one of the big things I've learned the last few years when it comes to writing.

• You need to read what other people have done in the genre you're writing. Some authors don't read books in their genre as they're writing because they don't want to steal ideas. Which is completely legitimate! But - they are still very familiar with that genre. They've read it in the past, they'll read it in the future, they know of other authors to whom their work is comparable to, etc. You need to the styles, pacing, tropes, etc. Learn who "the greats" are in your genre and learn from them. 
• You should absolutely read a variety of genres, and I think we can take elements of other books into our own.  I think that's awesome, useful, and helps to make your writing more well-rounded. But, you need to know your own genre as well. 

So, there you have it! Those are some of my thoughts on brainstorming and how I start to get ideas for my novels. This post is long enough - I think I covered everything! How do you brainstorm for your creative projects? Is there anything you'd like to know more about?