Hey there! It’s Victoria again! You know, that random fourteen-year-old that wrote about Christmas a few months ago? Well, here’s my return.
This time, I’m going to do what I’ve been told many times that I do best – ramble about my writing life! I have dozens of stories, and attending a class presided over by PJ Sharon, one of the regular authors here, really isn’t stemming the flow of brain juices. And I am perfectly okay with that! Speaking of Paula, she suggested I discuss my works in progress for this particular post. So, here goes!
A few weeks ago, I had my most recent idea. It began with a word, which developed into a phrase, and soon enough, a full-fledged plot came rolling onto my shoulders. This idea is called The Philomancer Diaries, and has spawned itself in a rather unusual way: a webcomic. This will be my first attempt at one, so wish me luck!
I’m usually more one for long-winded novels, in the third person, with a fair cast of characters, and a rather serious plot, peppered with humor, and filled to the brim with mood whiplash. This comic will be narrated by the main character, and will therefore be in first person. It has one main character, and a handful of supporting characters. It starts out primarily humorous, but it will get serious, as is my nature. So, this will be quite an undertaking, and I hope that I can manage it!
The basic plot came to me with one word, as I said above. That word just popped into my head in the middle of the night. That word is philomancer. What is a philomancer, you ask? Well, so does Microsoft Word, with its zig-zagging red underline. Philomancers are wizards/witches/etc. that control love. The darkest of the dark arts. Now, I also mentioned above that there was a phrase that came from it. That phrase was: “Only the most talented of necromancers can become philomancers.” This tale will follow Morana Spellacy, a necromancer from a family of evil necromancers, who prefers to stay on the straight and narrow because she thinks jail cells are disgusting. She finds out that she was born with an innate talent for philomancy, and will therefore be the first new philomancer in three-hundred and sixty years. She will be taught by a three hundred seventy five year old goblin, who has been the world’s resident philomancer since he was sixteen. That’s all I can really say about it, but there are a few plot twists I have planned out, and I’m really excited about it.
The Philomancer Diaries, however, is not my main work at the moment. It’s just the only one I’m making any progress on, whatsoever. The other work I’m putting my all into is tentatively titled Tenebrae, but affectionately nicknamed Cringe City. It will consist of two books. When I have these all nice and written, if I ever get around to publishing them (which I sincerely hope to someday), the first one I write will be published last. You see, there’s a big secret going on. One that I am not going to share by any means. The second book more or less details exactly what we were missing in the first book, so everything about that one has to be kept to myself and the people I consult about it. The first one, however, I can ramble openly about.
It follows a boy named Corbin, his friend Peregrine, and his sister Avalon, through their lives from age 16 to about 22. Peregrine wants to be a superhero so bad, but seems to have fallen short of his goal, probably due to his lack of powers. Oh, yeah, there are powers in this world. You see, humanity has progressed, and another denomination of humans has arisen – evolving humans. I’m still working on finding a sufficient scientific name for them, but I’ll get it eventually. Every now and then, there’s a kid that’s a little bit different born into a family of normals. Maybe they float a little. Maybe they glow in the dark. Maybe they can jump into your mind and make you do whatever they please. It really depends on the situation. New laws have appeared, new law breakers have appeared, new law enforcers have appeared. For one, vigilantes are now legal, although they are uncommon. The setting is fairly futuristic, but there are serious Victorian elements thrown in there. It’s not steampunk, but you could certainly say it is steampunk inspired. The first book basically follows a kid living his ordinary life in this world… basically. But that’s it. I’m not giving anything else away.
Now, I barely started a ramble with this. Normally, I’d go on and on and on. I have at least 20 other plot bunnies dancing around my head, 3 additional full-fledged stories in the works, with characters, chapters, plots, and the whole nine yards. But, I’ve been going on far too long as it is. Hope you have a great February!
Have you ever had a story that required a different medium than you were used to in order to tell it? What do you think of Web comics?
