Post-Apocalyptic

"We all love after-the-bomb stories. If we didn't, why would there be so many of them? There's something attractive about all those people being gone, about wandering in a depopulated world, scrounging cans of Campbell's pork and beans, defending one's family from marauders. But some secret part of us thinks it would be good to survive. All those other folks will die. That's what after-the-bomb stories are all about." 
— John Varley

A while back I read a book that was a collection of short stories about the end of the world and post-apocalyptic scenarios.  It was called Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse and I absolutely fell in love, not only with the book, but with the idea itself.  I can't imagine a more freeing experience as a writer than completely wiping out society and starting over, for better or for worse, the way you want things to be.  In this anthology there were several writers that I am a fan of including, Stephen King (my all time favorite!), Orson Scott Card and George R.R. Martin. I recommend that anyone who is interested in the subject matter pick it up as the book was amazing.
 I was hooked and I decided then and there to write my own version of the end of the world.  As I was writing this story it became more about the event, particularly the woman who caused the event than the fallout.  I became fascinated with the idea of a person who sealed the deal for all of us, of what her thought process would have been.  Would it be intentional, would she be evil or sympathetic, is she sorry, does she survive, is she ever caught.  All of these questions helped me build the character that this story revolves around. I feel very attached to her, more than I have to most of my short story characters.  I also decided to create a character that balances her out that gives the reader a different set of emotions to identify with in the aftermath. I also feel this helps because there is a perspective change at the end of the story and I wanted the readers to look at my main characters objectives from an outside perspective, to see some of the lives she had affected.  I am happy with the results, well as happy as I am with anything I write.  I am a perfectionist and I always think my writing can be better.  I guess that is a common ailment amongst creative people.
I took a big step for me and have started putting some of my original fiction online, for the masses to view if they so choose.  I will be editing and uploading my short stories to http://www.writerscafe.org/Pinkizzygirl0728/writing/

I will also post links to all my short stories to this blog as they are uploaded.  I am hoping that by taking this step outside my comfort zone I can grow and become more confident in my own work.  I am fiercely protective of my work and I feel that this has been a detriment to me because if I never let anyone read it how will I ever know if anyone but me thinks it is good. 

A Creator of Planets

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. "-Mark Twain 

 I am currently in the process of doing the ground work for my first novel, and I must admit that I am having some trouble not getting lost in the minutia.  I am a firm believer that to tell a good story you must have a solid foundation to draw from, I think this is especially true for science fiction and fantasy pieces where even more of the stories foundation is created by the writer.  Since my current story is science fiction and I am responsible for creating not only a believable back story but also the entire planet that the story takes place on I want to make sure that I am doing it right. I was trolling the internet for world building advice and possibly some worksheets to help me organize my thoughts and as I was reading I realized how easy it would be to spend the next six months or longer designing the world in which my story will take place.  I am sure that at the end I would have a completely immersive world for my characters to prance around in, but I am not sure that it would be the best use of my time.


 I am always trying to follow the example of the authors that I myself admire and I got to thinking about J.R.R Tolkien (one of my personal favorites) now talk about a man who built and expansive world for his stories to take place in,  hell he even created new languages and maps for Middle Earth.  I admire the effort and I know that all that hard work is the reason why there is so much to draw from, it has given birth to novels, movies, video games, card games, fanfiction and all kinds of creative expression.  Tolkien made it his life's work to create that world and it shows. I loved everything about reading Lord of the Rings and I always felt very connected to the world that he took so much time to build. I get a particular power trip when I think about creating worlds and entire societies and I wonder if Mr. Tolkien himself felt that same sense of pride in his own creations. I want to create a place where my readers could lose themselves but I don't want the creation of the setting to keep me from writing the story I have to tell so I have to reign myself in from falling into that particular creative abyss and remember " All things in moderation".


 I did however find several websites that helped get the juices flowing and brought up many questions I hadn't ever imagined I would need to answer.  Now I am not saying that every story or every author would need to answer all these questions, but they definitely gave me some food for thought. 
http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/ truly an in depth guide to building a world from the bottom up
http://basilicus.wikia.com/wiki/Help:Building_Worlds more of an informative read on aspects of world creation but they do have some good question and they look at world building from a more scientific perspective than a purely creative one.