You can check out my writing journey at http://timothycward.com
Thank you for your interest :)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Word Count for the week ending July 4 ~4000 words
Sunday 1,121 on Taking Solus
Saturday I wrote 1381 words on my novel, tentativly titled "Taking Solus."
Friday I wrote around that amount between both Taking Solus and a fantasy/military sci-fi short story "The Magician's Palace," that I am working on for Michael Stackpole's Chain Story idea.
It's hard to quantify time spent brainstorming, and I'm getting tired of not actually writing because each day I'm brainstorming to get a better idea of my world and outline before I start. Well, here I go, I'm writing into chapter two of Taking Solus and will take notes as I go. I need to keep my word going and after all this time brainstorming (mid Oct is when I finished my last book and began brainstorming the second) I am still only two chapters into my next novel.
Part of that is because every few weeks my idea changes enough that I have to start over. I'm not sure what to do about that, but keep trying and hope I find an idea that fits and I can stick with it.
My goal for Monday is to finish chapter two and write the hallucination scene in my short story. I'm not sure where that scene is going, but I've got to keep it moving as that is my critique piece for my writing group and hopeful entry into the Stackpole Chain Story project.
Saturday I wrote 1381 words on my novel, tentativly titled "Taking Solus."
Friday I wrote around that amount between both Taking Solus and a fantasy/military sci-fi short story "The Magician's Palace," that I am working on for Michael Stackpole's Chain Story idea.
It's hard to quantify time spent brainstorming, and I'm getting tired of not actually writing because each day I'm brainstorming to get a better idea of my world and outline before I start. Well, here I go, I'm writing into chapter two of Taking Solus and will take notes as I go. I need to keep my word going and after all this time brainstorming (mid Oct is when I finished my last book and began brainstorming the second) I am still only two chapters into my next novel.
Part of that is because every few weeks my idea changes enough that I have to start over. I'm not sure what to do about that, but keep trying and hope I find an idea that fits and I can stick with it.
My goal for Monday is to finish chapter two and write the hallucination scene in my short story. I'm not sure where that scene is going, but I've got to keep it moving as that is my critique piece for my writing group and hopeful entry into the Stackpole Chain Story project.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Backstory
I still like my mirrored staff idea, but I've decided to have an Old Testament style sacrificial system prior to the anointing of the staff. This has led to some fun planning, and may be what epic fantasy writers go through when they write seven or more book series. As long as I can keep writing towards a goal, it should work.
I've added a story arc of a boy who finds a possessed knife, which in turn starts to influence his decisions and personality. This young teen doesn't realize he is being influenced, and recruits a group large enough to man a boat and head off towards the remnant of God's people to get revenge.
I could have a young man who thought he was best mates with the knife-wielder get betrayed and then he becomes the first dark mirest.
Meanwhile, the white mirest is leading his people by ship from island to island. His job is to make recruits of those willing to walk in obedience and faith in God's promise for a new land and victory over the oppressors.
I've added a story arc of a boy who finds a possessed knife, which in turn starts to influence his decisions and personality. This young teen doesn't realize he is being influenced, and recruits a group large enough to man a boat and head off towards the remnant of God's people to get revenge.
I could have a young man who thought he was best mates with the knife-wielder get betrayed and then he becomes the first dark mirest.
Meanwhile, the white mirest is leading his people by ship from island to island. His job is to make recruits of those willing to walk in obedience and faith in God's promise for a new land and victory over the oppressors.
Monday, March 29, 2010
All signs point to Messiah?
I've been stuck recently trying to figure out if my white staff is like the Old Covenant (kind of like looking into it is like obeying the Law), and if that would require a New Covenant where God became man. From the beginning, I've seen looking into the staff as the Old Testament faith in the coming Messiah, so I don't know if that necessitates a human Messiah.
I asked myself: "Self, would God have to become a man in order to be completely understanding, perfectly loving, and in order to provide the ultimate and final sacrifice?"
In our case, I'm glad He did, but in a world of my own creation, where Gen. 3:15 doesn't exist (replaced with a different promise of salvation), I don't think God would have to become man. My world doesn't have the sacrificial system to be forgiven, but instead has a white staff made according to God's directions, which when looked into for salvation, cleanses one of their sins. (I'm not sure if it is like an Old Testament annual kind of cleansing, or a New Covenant once for all sins kind of cleansing).
Because of these differences, I'm not sure I even need a Messiah in my book. It's not that I don't love Jesus and want to do all things for His glory, but whenever I think of a Messiah in my books, I then feel constrained to not only having to preach Him, but also make the story very similar to His story. Even while brainstorming today on this solution, I ended up with a Messiah!
Here's my process of thought:
"If I can find a way to show how God could make a sacrifice without becoming a man, I could avoid having the Son of Man."
So, to do that, I'd have to make a similar sacrifice to the spirit of John 3:16 and Phil 2:5-8. (by "spirit" I mean the idea behind it without having a cross to die on). Jesus, as God, gave up the comforts of his royal standing without giving up control or the qualities of His character.
First Idea - No Human Messiah
What if God allowed the white staff to be taken by the Dark Mirest? This would make the Dark Mirest seem to be unstoppable because the white staff is not there to counteract his powers, though he would still be subject to God's will (like Satan in Job). The staff could reappear somewhere else, and my characters could be in search of it. Meanwhile, the City of God has been taken over.
This is similar to the Bible because Jesus allowed himself to be captured and killed. This seemed like a deathblow to God's efforts, but was really part of the plan, and soon Jesus would rise again to ultimate victory. In my story, the white staff is an allegory of Jesus, and so its being taken and smashed by the Dark Mirest's staff, is like Jesus' death. While the Dark Mirest planned to put the shattered remains in a case under his throne, their disappearance made him come up with another excuse - they were stolen by Keepers (those who are in charge of protecting the White Mirest). *Speaking of which, I guess the White Mirest would have to die as well has having the white staff broken. **Is the staff being broken contrary to Scripture, or does it adequately show how Jesus bore God's wrath meant for us?
Second Idea - If the Story has a Messiah
What if the City of God has not had a White Mirest (someone able to wield the staff without dying) in like 700 years. The city has been corrupted by legalism and a new leader has risen up who says that the prophesied final White Mirest - the Golden Mirest (?) for he will turn the staff to gold and usher in a kingdom that has no end...that Golden Mirest is the nation of (insert name of God's nation) and that can only be fulfilled by them as a people doing something (not sure what: building a large golden staff?).
Then a woman imprisoned in solitary confinement becomes pregnant. This idea might not work, but the idea is that the birth of her son is a miracle. This birth fulfills prophecy and the new leader tries to have him killed and covered up by blaming someone else. This son is whisked away by people visited by angels, and grows up in secret. Eventually, this man starts casting out demons, healing people, etc without the white staff. He is killed, raised from the dead, and then people look to him for cleansing and power over the Dark Mirest and his minions.
It seems like I could have all this as backstory and make one of my characters not aware of all this because he was a Keeper who ran away. The end result is however, that the Messiah will be preached. Even if I am only selling this to Christians, would this still be too similar to Jesus and yet not similar enough to bring Him the glory He deserves?
Sorry my posts are always so long and in depth (confusing even? ;) but I really do appreciate your input, and will try to reciprocate by reading your posts.
I asked myself: "Self, would God have to become a man in order to be completely understanding, perfectly loving, and in order to provide the ultimate and final sacrifice?"
In our case, I'm glad He did, but in a world of my own creation, where Gen. 3:15 doesn't exist (replaced with a different promise of salvation), I don't think God would have to become man. My world doesn't have the sacrificial system to be forgiven, but instead has a white staff made according to God's directions, which when looked into for salvation, cleanses one of their sins. (I'm not sure if it is like an Old Testament annual kind of cleansing, or a New Covenant once for all sins kind of cleansing).
Because of these differences, I'm not sure I even need a Messiah in my book. It's not that I don't love Jesus and want to do all things for His glory, but whenever I think of a Messiah in my books, I then feel constrained to not only having to preach Him, but also make the story very similar to His story. Even while brainstorming today on this solution, I ended up with a Messiah!
Here's my process of thought:
"If I can find a way to show how God could make a sacrifice without becoming a man, I could avoid having the Son of Man."
So, to do that, I'd have to make a similar sacrifice to the spirit of John 3:16 and Phil 2:5-8. (by "spirit" I mean the idea behind it without having a cross to die on). Jesus, as God, gave up the comforts of his royal standing without giving up control or the qualities of His character.
First Idea - No Human Messiah
What if God allowed the white staff to be taken by the Dark Mirest? This would make the Dark Mirest seem to be unstoppable because the white staff is not there to counteract his powers, though he would still be subject to God's will (like Satan in Job). The staff could reappear somewhere else, and my characters could be in search of it. Meanwhile, the City of God has been taken over.
This is similar to the Bible because Jesus allowed himself to be captured and killed. This seemed like a deathblow to God's efforts, but was really part of the plan, and soon Jesus would rise again to ultimate victory. In my story, the white staff is an allegory of Jesus, and so its being taken and smashed by the Dark Mirest's staff, is like Jesus' death. While the Dark Mirest planned to put the shattered remains in a case under his throne, their disappearance made him come up with another excuse - they were stolen by Keepers (those who are in charge of protecting the White Mirest). *Speaking of which, I guess the White Mirest would have to die as well has having the white staff broken. **Is the staff being broken contrary to Scripture, or does it adequately show how Jesus bore God's wrath meant for us?
Second Idea - If the Story has a Messiah
What if the City of God has not had a White Mirest (someone able to wield the staff without dying) in like 700 years. The city has been corrupted by legalism and a new leader has risen up who says that the prophesied final White Mirest - the Golden Mirest (?) for he will turn the staff to gold and usher in a kingdom that has no end...that Golden Mirest is the nation of (insert name of God's nation) and that can only be fulfilled by them as a people doing something (not sure what: building a large golden staff?).
Then a woman imprisoned in solitary confinement becomes pregnant. This idea might not work, but the idea is that the birth of her son is a miracle. This birth fulfills prophecy and the new leader tries to have him killed and covered up by blaming someone else. This son is whisked away by people visited by angels, and grows up in secret. Eventually, this man starts casting out demons, healing people, etc without the white staff. He is killed, raised from the dead, and then people look to him for cleansing and power over the Dark Mirest and his minions.
It seems like I could have all this as backstory and make one of my characters not aware of all this because he was a Keeper who ran away. The end result is however, that the Messiah will be preached. Even if I am only selling this to Christians, would this still be too similar to Jesus and yet not similar enough to bring Him the glory He deserves?
Sorry my posts are always so long and in depth (confusing even? ;) but I really do appreciate your input, and will try to reciprocate by reading your posts.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Mirrors of Destiny
What if salvation came through a mirror?
Mirror-bearers are born with the gift to make mirrors of destiny. These mirrors can be made for good, as well as evil. The process of making the mirror involves intense meditation, and from the heart is made good or evil mirrors.
People can live their life without trying to look into these mirrors, but at the cost of being a slave to their vices (i.e. they are caught between wanting to do good, but still falling to doing evil). The mirror-bearers are guarded by those who have passed the test within their mirror. Those who pass the test can take other jobs, but most often those who pass the dark mirror and live either serve the growing army or go mercenary to kill white mirror-bearers. Those who pass the white mirror test often choose to live in protected communities with other redeemed souls.
The story could start out with a young white mirror-bearer successfully making his first white mirror. This is important because there are no more white communities and there hasn't been a white mirror-bearer who has survived to make a mirror in the last 50 or so years, maybe 100's of years.
Back to the mirrors:
The mirror-bearer always has the mirror on him, and is always in a state of metaphysical connection with the power behind the mirror. When he accepts a pupil, he holds the mirror up for the pupil to look into. This takes extreme focus to keep the mirror's power working on the pupil. Any break in concentration can risk dropping the mirror (caused by a jolt from the loss of sync with the mirror's power source) and even losing the soul of the pupil into the mirror (in the dark mirror's case).
In the white mirror's case, the mirror-bearer has to focus on good, and not pride or greed for power. If the mirror-bearer slips, he could
a)drop his mirror (it could break)
b)plant a seed of evil into the mind of the pupil through that pupil's connection with the mirror that could
i)cause the pupil to fail and become physically or emotionally scarred
ii)send the pupil into a murderous frenzy that could attack the mirror-bearer while he is vulnerable (holding the mirror in a trance of concentration)
c)cause the mirror to crack
i)loses its power
ii)has its power drained
Mirror-bearers are born with the gift to make mirrors of destiny. These mirrors can be made for good, as well as evil. The process of making the mirror involves intense meditation, and from the heart is made good or evil mirrors.
People can live their life without trying to look into these mirrors, but at the cost of being a slave to their vices (i.e. they are caught between wanting to do good, but still falling to doing evil). The mirror-bearers are guarded by those who have passed the test within their mirror. Those who pass the test can take other jobs, but most often those who pass the dark mirror and live either serve the growing army or go mercenary to kill white mirror-bearers. Those who pass the white mirror test often choose to live in protected communities with other redeemed souls.
The story could start out with a young white mirror-bearer successfully making his first white mirror. This is important because there are no more white communities and there hasn't been a white mirror-bearer who has survived to make a mirror in the last 50 or so years, maybe 100's of years.
Back to the mirrors:
The mirror-bearer always has the mirror on him, and is always in a state of metaphysical connection with the power behind the mirror. When he accepts a pupil, he holds the mirror up for the pupil to look into. This takes extreme focus to keep the mirror's power working on the pupil. Any break in concentration can risk dropping the mirror (caused by a jolt from the loss of sync with the mirror's power source) and even losing the soul of the pupil into the mirror (in the dark mirror's case).
In the white mirror's case, the mirror-bearer has to focus on good, and not pride or greed for power. If the mirror-bearer slips, he could
a)drop his mirror (it could break)
b)plant a seed of evil into the mind of the pupil through that pupil's connection with the mirror that could
i)cause the pupil to fail and become physically or emotionally scarred
ii)send the pupil into a murderous frenzy that could attack the mirror-bearer while he is vulnerable (holding the mirror in a trance of concentration)
c)cause the mirror to crack
i)loses its power
ii)has its power drained
Friday, January 29, 2010
Two Year Novel
This is the novel I am starting next:
The Pursuit of Peace
by Tim Ward (Zay)
Short Version: The cure for PTSD has shot one man towards worldwide authority, but will the speed of his rise also be his downfall?
Long Version: The development of a cure for PTSD is catapulting Lionel to become the Guardian of Life, a post he created to control humanity from killing itself through world war and genocide. After the disappearance of his family and the strange attitudes of his old war buddies, Elliot sets off to connect the pieces to the mystery of his rapidly changing world.
http://www.fmwriters.com/community/dc/dcboard.phphttp://www.fmwriters.com/community/dc/dcboard.php
The Pursuit of Peace
by Tim Ward (Zay)
Short Version: The cure for PTSD has shot one man towards worldwide authority, but will the speed of his rise also be his downfall?
Long Version: The development of a cure for PTSD is catapulting Lionel to become the Guardian of Life, a post he created to control humanity from killing itself through world war and genocide. After the disappearance of his family and the strange attitudes of his old war buddies, Elliot sets off to connect the pieces to the mystery of his rapidly changing world.
http://www.fmwriters.com/community/dc/dcboard.phphttp://www.fmwriters.com/community/dc/dcboard.php
Friday, January 1, 2010
first draft complete!
It took 15 days short of a year, but I did it!
The Tsadakeen is a Christian Fantasy novel set in an alternative universe where their "fall" caused a virus that turned man into a hybrid of man and animal. These hybrids are called shofar, and have discovered a mountain range full of the precious stone, moker, by which they enhance their magic and have developed advanced weapons. An unlikely hero, Orino, comes upon the prophesied scepter of righteousness. This scepter has seven jewels with different powers that help him and his new band of followers fight the newest and most dangerous invasion of shofar.
Let me know if you are interested in being a first reader.
The Tsadakeen is a Christian Fantasy novel set in an alternative universe where their "fall" caused a virus that turned man into a hybrid of man and animal. These hybrids are called shofar, and have discovered a mountain range full of the precious stone, moker, by which they enhance their magic and have developed advanced weapons. An unlikely hero, Orino, comes upon the prophesied scepter of righteousness. This scepter has seven jewels with different powers that help him and his new band of followers fight the newest and most dangerous invasion of shofar.
Let me know if you are interested in being a first reader.
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