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Topics - JustinCarmony

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Writing Group / How do you come up with Names for Characters?
« on: January 23, 2010, 10:45:57 PM »
When I envision my characters, I typically envision their characteristics and personality. I detail out them out in my head with little difficulty. I can think of their motivations, their feels, all with ease.

Then I go to write them... and I don't have a name. It can be so frustrating, because I love almost all the names of characters I've read in books. I have a hard time giving my own names, thinking they aren't up to par, but I can't come up with anything. I know I can always go back and change it later, but it always seems something that bugs me.

What do you guys do to come up with names for your characters? Do you find often you change them later? What sources of inspiration do have for names?

Thanks. :)

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Brandon Sanderson / Stormlight Archive Fansite: Roshar.net
« on: December 14, 2009, 02:35:05 AM »
I had a chance to drive down to Salt Lake City for the TGS signing and hear about the Way of Kings. I was blown away with the depth of what they are planning to do with the Way of Kings and the series as a whole. On the drive home, I thought about all the cool things that will be in the books, how much information there will be. I always loved books that had fansites that put together all the different information.

Well, I'm a big believer of if you have a great idea, go ahead and do it. I'm a professional web developer for a living, working on large websites. I looked around and didn't see anyone making a fansite for the Stormlight Archives & the Way of Kings. So I thought I would throw one up. I guess that is what happens when a web developer gets excited about something.

The website is http://www.roshar.net/ and I'm planning on throwing up a wiki and some sections for all the juicy tidbits that come out. For forums, I'd rather just point them to the Time Waster's forums. :) If anyone is interested in helping out, let me know. :) Hopefully we can make it into something cool.

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Writing Group / World Building & Map Creation
« on: December 04, 2009, 06:15:53 AM »
After reading many of the awesome forum posts here, and searching for specific things, I've found a *lot* of great information. I've had the desire to try to write a book for a long time. I've had idea after idea pop in and out, and I really enjoy the process of writing. I've been dumping my thoughts into notes, and I've compiled a few dozen pages, and I am starting to feel the world I am working on form and take shape. I've found a lot of great resources here, and they've all helped me make more progress in a few short days than weeks and weeks of just thinking.

There is one topic, however, I haven't really found an answer to: maps creations & geography. I'm starting to have ideas on different areas of the world, how to piece them together, how different people would react to each other. How do I help document these layouts so they aren't lost in the voids of mind forever? Do you just make *really* crude sketches of a world on paper? How do you ensure that your world seems realistic from a more scientific manner? (climates, wind patterns, weather, etc) Where do you think its a good place to draw the line of "outlining your world" and "obsessing of the little details of migrating swallows, and whether or not the shapes and locations of my continents are realistic in regards to migratory paths"? (Yeah, that's a little extreme, but I need to show a little humor now and then?  ;)).

To give a little background, I'm a web designer and developer, and I am completely deprived of any drawing capabilities, but the perfectionist in me loathes looking at terribly sketched "shapes" of what I know looks better in my head. So any thoughts on this, tips or pointers, would be highly appreciated.

Thanks, and I look forward to being a member for the forums. :)

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