Putting your Story's Plot in Order #BYBin30

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

I had an experience today that made me think about the order in which we tell stories. For instance, if you were telling someone about how you fell off a deck and injured your foot, you could explain what you were doing on the deck, what happened to cause you to fall, about the fall itself and then about the results of the fall.

Of course, you could just say "I fell off the deck." That much information would let people know what happened in a very simplistic way, but it wouldn't be very interesting to them, and they would probably ask questions.

You could say, "I have a sprained ankle, because I fell off a deck," and then go on to explain the details of why you were on the deck and how you fell, which would change the order of the story.

But there are times when changing the order of what you are telling is not a good idea. And other times when changing the order of a story can change the tension in the story or change or the over-all mood and tone of the story.

And now I'll tell you a bit about what happened to me today which got me thinking about the order in which we tell stories.

Some of you know that, back on March 5th, I had a cyst on my ovary, the ovary on the same side as the cyst and the fallopian tube on that side removed, along with a biopsy done on some tissue taken from the lining in my uterus. Today, I had a follow-up appointment.

It was a new (to me) doctor.

Doctor: "Unfortunately, we found something we were not expecting when we examined the mass that we removed."

(long pause while I start to freak out)

"It wasn't a cyst. It was a borderline ovarian tumour."

(another long pause while I REALLY start to freak out)

"Let me stress that it is NOT cancer."

Me (in my head): Dude, LEAD with "It's not cancer"!!!

So for a little while after that appointment, I was feeling emotional because for a brief moment in time, I thought I was being told I had cancer. (I'm so relieved it's not though!)

And this is just one example of how the order in which you tell things in the story can change the entire mood of the story.

Have you changed the tone in your story by changing the order in which you tell the events in it? Let me know in the comments!

Interview your Character #BYBin30

I had an odd dream last night. I am a fan of a certain Korean singer. In the dream, I was doing an interview for a magazine. I was not interviewing that singer but, instead, I was interviewing his former group, which now consisted of only two other singers.

I wanted to ask them the kinds of questions that their fans would be most interested in hearing about, not just the stuff that would be considered standard questions. I was more interested in finding out more about their interpersonal relationships, with each other and with former members of the group, as well as their reactions to some of the fan fiction written about them, especially the writings that would have been, possibly, awkward for them. I had other questions for them too, once they'd answered these, but, as often happen with dreams, I have forgotten a lot of the dream and can't remember everything I asked them.

But the point of telling you about this dream has nothing to do with the KPop idols I interviewed in my dream. The dream made me think about the characters in my stories. What kinds of questions would readers ask of them, if given the chance? How would they answer those questions? And how could I weave these aspects of their answers into the story? Their answers, obviously, would tell something about their personalities, but also about their relationships to others in the story, because, I suspect, many of those questions would have to do with those relationships.

I'm suggesting that you, dear writer, interview your characters as a way of more fully developing your characters within your own mind. Let their answers tell you more about your characters and their relationships, and then find ways to allow those aspects of your characters to be seen within the stories you are writing.

If you do this, let me know how it goes by telling me in the comments.

Do You Have a Writing Companion? #BYBin30

Do you have a writing companion? No, I don't mean a person who helps you with your story, although those are great to have too. I mean a pet that hangs out with you when you write and takes an inordinate amount of interest in your laptop or notebook?

Many writers do. Some have writing companions in the form of dogs and some have writing companions in the form of cats.

While I do have a dog who loves to lay at my feet when I write, it has always been my cats that have taken the most interest in my writing endeavours. They are sort-of like familiars for the wizardry of writing. (And yes, they do often generate new ideas for my stories while they are playfully interrupting my writing).

Here are some photos of my writing companions busy at their writing-companion work.

Pagan, who passed away over three years ago, frequently cuddled up beside me as I worked, often grabbing my arm between his upper paws so that I was forced to stop typing and pet him.

Loki started training to be my writing companion from when he was only an itty-bitty kitten.

As he grew, he even practised his writing companion skills by using his abilities to help visiting writers.

And now, he is a fully-capable writing companion who takes his job very seriously.

Writing companions can take many forms. I know people who have writing companion dogs and even one with a writing companion rabbit. But not all pets are born to be writing companions. I have a dog (Mercury) and a cat (Jynx) who have never attempted the task.

What about you? Do you have a writing companion? Let me know in the comments.

Writing Dream Sequences Into your Story #BYBin30

Image by Leandro De Carvalho from Pixabay

Some authors will tell you to never include a dream sequence in your story, but I don't think there are any rules to writing that can't be broken if broken in a way that benefits the story.

There are some things to keep in mind when adding a dream sequence to your story though.

Does the dream sequence benefit the story in some way? Is your character having this dream important to the story? Does it advance the story at all? If you removed the dream sequence, would it harm the story in any way? Does the dream sequence inform the reader of something that can't imparted in a better way?

Does a dream sequence fit into the overall theme of events within the story? Dream sequences can work really well in fantasy stories. Dreams can be given to a character through magic, or through an elder "wizard" figure. Dreams can be had by a character who can see glimpses of the future through them or sees omens. Dreams can be had as prophecies. For non-supernatural stories, dreams can be had as a way for your character to work something out in their mind.

Dream sequences do not have to be rational or follow the normal laws of nature. Just as people in real life have different types of dreams, your characters can have different types of dreams too. Some dreams are very realistic, and other dreams do fantastical, magical things, some dreams make sense when remembered in the light of day, and other dreams are disjointed and jumbled, full of imagery from a mish-mash of storylines in one's head. In some dreams, you might follow a normal time-line and in other dreams you might jump from one place and time to another with no explanation of how and why.

Dream sequences do not have to be fully remembered by your character. Just as we sometimes wake up and don't remember what we were dreaming about, your character might have the same thing happen. If your character can only remember pieces of the dream, and the dream imparted some important information to them, this can set the stage for the reader to be hoping and waiting for your character to remember. thus the dream can either be a way of foreshadowing a future event in the story or as a way to create suspense because the reader knows what is coming and the character does not.

Dream sequences should not be in place to trick or cheat the reader. If your story goes along the lines of the dream without the reader knowing it is a dream until several events occur, and you leave them with the idea that "it was all just a dream," your reader is going to feel cheated. If your dream sequence misleads your reader into believing something that isn't true, your reader is going to feel betrayed by the story. Be careful how you use your dream sequence. Don't use it just for an easy out. If you want to change your story from a certain point but don't want to lose the word count, setting everything back to that point by claiming it was a;; dreamed from there is lazy and disingenuous and your readers will not thank you for it.

Stringing Bits of Your Soul Onto the Page #BYBin30

Image by Dagmar Räder from Pixabay

I wrote a blog post for a friend's blog today. In my guest post, I recycled a phrase I have used in the past. That phrase was describing writing as "stringing out tiny bits of your soul onto the page for people to read." 

Reading that phrase again got me thinking about how difficult writing is, at least most of the time. And how difficult it is to share what we have written with the rest of the world. 

Whether or not someone likes what we have written is subjective and every reader has their own likes and dislikes and personal tastes in the type of writing they prefer. But when someone doesn't like what we've written, because, no matter what story we've written, we put so much of ourselves into the writing of it, it can feel very much like a personal attack.

The converse is also true though. Because we are sharing a part of ourselves when we share our writing with the world, when someone likes what we have written, it can feel like a beautiful light has been shown on us, making our hearts feel warm and loved.

Writing, no matter what the subject is, is personal for a writer. Our stories are special to us. Stringing out tiny bits of our soul onto the page can sometimes hurt and is usually difficult. And letting people read those words, those bits of our soul, is scary for us.

All writers are also readers. So this message is for the readers out there. Please, when you read our words, be gentle with us. Remember how difficult putting our words out into the world is for us, and, if you like our writing, please tell us.

Don't Sweat the (Boring) Details #BYBin30

Image by Iván Tamás from Pixabay 

Details can be important for your story, especially if you are doing some world-building. Readers want to feel like they are there in the moment, tasting, touching, hearing, seeing and smelling their surroundings within each scene within the story.

However, no one wants to know the boring details, the details of the story that are unnecessary to conveying the story to them. No one want to know that Karen got up from the couch and walked over to the table. No one needs to know the tiny, excruciatingly boring details of someone's day-to-day life if those details don't move the story along in any real, or interesting way.

I once read a story by a very talented writer. Most of her book was riveting and intriguing. However, it took until the fifth chapter for that description of her story and her writing to be true. She could have deleted the entire first four chapters of the book without any negative impact on the story. In fact, it would have improved the story by sucking the reader into the action from the very first page instead of making them slog through the boring ordinary life of the character for months before they actually got to the action part of the story.

I read another story once where a very long and detailed day out with the main character and her mom was one of the scenes - a scene that had nothing to do with the story and did nothing for the story.

So take a look at your story and really evaluate each scene. Ask yourself, does this part add any necessary information to the story? Does it move the story forward? Can this scene be deleted from the story without any negative impact on the story? Or can the story even be improved without this part?

Have you found any scenes like this in your current story? Let me know in the comments!

Writing from the Heart #BYBin30

Image by cromaconceptovisual from Pixabay

I've had a rough day today; my emotions have been all over the place, from sad one minute and impatient another to smiling and feeling content in the next. Restlessness has hit me at several times during the day, as though my mind is telling me I should be doing something else, be somewhere else, but it doesn't tell me what or where.

I don't mind days like today though. It all feeds into my writing. It means I can truly write from my heart.

We've all heard the expression "writing from the heart," but what does it really mean? I've always understood it to mean that you write emotions into your story using your own experience of them. Or, if you've never felt them, then you write them the way you think they might be. But there's a power in being able to write about an emotion you've actually experienced. If you've never been infatuated, you might not be able to fully portray it the way people truly experience the feeling, or you might not be able to distinguish the things that make infatuation different from truly being in love with someone.

As readers, we can learn a lot about emotions from the books that we read. But as writers, it can sometimes be even more powerful to write those emotions into our stories by delving into the depths of those same emotions we've been through ourselves. Devastation, depression, love, joy, contentment, heartbreak, infatuation, desire, passion, anger, hatred - each emotion is experienced slightly differently by each person experiencing it. But it is the things that are universal about going through a particular emotion that will make it relatable and believable to your readers.

And, in writing these emotions into our characters' hearts and souls, we have the added bonus that, in doing so, it can sometimes be cathartic to our own hearts and souls, or to those reading our words.

Making your Story Unique #BYBin30

Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay

I mentioned an idea for a story that came to me in dream to someone and she pointed out that she had seen an episode on one of the shows she watched that had a similar plot. I looked it up, and she was correct. The plot was similar to the story that I had dreamed up.

It's actually quite rare to come up with a story-line that is truly unique. While you shouldn't purposely use someone else's story plot, it is nearly impossible to come up with a plot that hasn't already been done before. What makes the story unique isn't the plot itself but how you tell the story. Yes, you need to make the plot as unique to your story as you can. Add-in to the plot, give it different subplots, give it characters with personalities that you have imagined for them. Your story needs to show your ideas and use the ideas from your imagination, and those ideas will be unique to you.

Yes, someone might have already done a story, for instance, of a witch's spell that goes wrong that splits someone else into two identical people with two distinct personalities of good and bad. But what if the person split in two is a celebrity? And what if letting the "bad" personality loose on the world creates the risk of creating a scandal for that celebrity? And what if the witch isn't really a witch but a new-to-the-religion Wicca who found a very old book of spells of unknown origins and that spell book has a mind of its own? (Yes, this is an actual story plot I had in a dream one night.)

No matter what plots have been used before, your story will be unique to you and to your own imagination. If you feel the pull to write that story, then don't worry too much about what has been done before and write your story.

Music to Write To #BYBin30

Image by Bruno Glätsch from Pixabay

I often listen to music while I write, and I have heard from many other writers that they do too. I'm not sure what everyone else would say is the reason they listen to music while they write, but I sometimes listen to music while I write to set the mood for what I am writing, if I can find the right type of music to listen to for the mood I am trying to achieve.

Sometimes, listening to music just calms my mind and helps me to focus on my story, but with one caveat: if the music I am listening to is a song and sung in a language I understand, it doesn't help but instead hinders me in my writing. I am the type of person who, when hearing a song in my own language, I mentally start singing along (sometimes not just mentally but out loud as well). I can't shut off the story the song is telling me.

So when I listen to music, the music is either an instrumental piece with no lyrics or the lyrics are sung in a foreign language (one I, currently, have no hope of understanding). This kind of music can set the mood for me or help me focus on my story without interfering in my writing. It actually aids my writing. (The same is true for music I want to go to sleep too; it can't have lyrics that make me want to sing along or listen to the story the lyrics tell.)

I used to not listen to any music when I wrote, back when I only had a radio to listen to, because, if the music had the wrong mood to it, it would interfere with my writing in that I would start writing to fit the mood the music was creating. And there was no way to choose which songs would play from the radio station I was listening to. But now, I can select my music ahead of time and set it to play the songs I want playing while I write.

Do you listen to music while you write or do you find it more of a hindrance when you write? What kind of music are you most likely to listen to while writing, if you listen to it? Let me know in the comments!

How Your Dreams Can Feed Your Stories #BYBin30

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

I've been having some strange and interesting dreams lately. Sometimes, those dreams are more like wish-fulfilment and other times, they are nightmares I try to escape from. Sometimes my dreams at night are of the mundane variety, and sometimes they are magical. Often times, they make very little sense, and occasionally, they make no sense whatsoever.

But one thing every one of those dreams has in common is that they are fodder for stories. They can become whole new stories for me to write about, or they can give me new scenes to add into already forming stories. Sometimes, they just help me better pinpoint an emotion I am trying to portray (by letting me experience it in depth within the dream so that I can better describe it to my readers).

Just as our nightly dreams can sometimes help us work through issues we are having to deal with in real life, they can also sometimes give us answers to problems we are having in the writing of one of our stories. There are times when dreams are largely symbolic though, so we might have to navigate their meanings before we can find those answers.

Have your dreams ever inspired a story you've written (or wanted to write)? Have your dreams ever helped you with a story you were already writing? Let me know in the comments!

When Real Life Inspires Events in your Story #BYBin30

Image by Sarah Richter from Pixabay

Today, I am suffering from a horrible, horrible migraine. In fact, my head hurts so much, that I just spent the last two hours with soft music playing from my noise-cancelling headphones, resting in a room with the curtains drawn and the lights off. At this moment in time, I am still barely functioning, but I am determined to get this post written and posted. (Then I will go back to my resting, music-listening ways.)

I was a bit stuck on my story, but my migraine gave me an idea. My main character is in a world where she doesn't belong, with her entire being sometimes fading in and out of existence within that world. Why can't she, also, suffer with a migraine? Granted, it won't be a huge scene, but it will be a scene which can show the care and attention the male lead shows her and will also show the concern he feels towards her well-being. Her migraine might be part of the overall struggle she is having within this world as it tries to eject her from it. (No one knows yet if it is ejecting her back into her own world or completely out of existence altogether.)

I have to admit that I do, frequently, use real-world knowledge and experiences to add things to my stories. This is why my main characters are often mothers and also frequently middle aged. Although I have experience being young and single, I find that most books are written from the perspective of a young main character, so it sometimes makes me want to change things up for the stories that I am putting out there. (Faith, in this story, is young, single and not a mother though.)

Do you ever use life experiences in your stories? What kinds of experiences or moments do you or have you used before? Let me know in the comments!

Obstacles to Writing #BYBin30

Image by Pintera Studio from Pixabay

Today, I sat down to write, and it was yet another day where my laptop is not charging properly. It's been having this issue for over a year now. Some days, it charges better than other days. Today was one of those days where I had to hold it at a certain angle and put pressure against the cable where it attached to the charging port. This caused my hand to ache, but it was the only way to not lose charge on my laptop.

It had the unfortunate result in that it was difficult to write. I like typing with both hands. When I am limited to just one hand, it takes longer to type and, when the other hand has to hold the cable just-so at the same time, that hand starts to hurt which is a distraction from my writing.

I'm one of those people who will find a way to write despite the distractions. I will probably do some writing by hand tonight on a notepad and then type it up tomorrow, despite the discomfort. One benefit of doing this is I can catch typos, spelling mistakes and awkward or just plain bad grammar when I type up what I've hand written.

Obstacles to our writing can take many forms. And there is no one solution to getting past, around, over or through those obstacles. Perseverance is the only thing that matters.

What kinds of obstacles are you facing to your writing? What have you done to overcome your obstacle(s)? Let me know in the comments!

A Meandering Writing Day & New Story Ideas #BYBin30

Today, I managed to write another 902 words for a total so far of 12,016 words written of my story. The writing today was just a bit to expound on what happened in the story yesterday. I'm also not entirely sure what the next part of the story will entail yet, so I will have to think about it tonight in order to be able to continue the story tomorrow.

I also have another story growing in my mind, which I am struggling to set aside so that I can continue working on this story. Ideally, I like to finish one story before beginning another one, but sometimes my muse won't l;eave me alone when a new idea comes to me. It's being fairly persistent this time, but I am more determined to continue this particular story, so I will write a paragraph as a quick synopsis of my new idea, and then I will set it aside until I have finished my current writing project.

What do you do when new story ideas come to you and beckon you to leave your current project behind? Do you give in? Or do you set the new ideas aside for later? Let me know in the comments!

Keeping the Story Moving Along #BYBin30

I haven't done any actual writing yet today. It's only 5:00pm here though, so I still have time. I've spent some time today thinking about how to move my story along from where it is. At the moment, my main character is trapped inside a world created by another writer, a world that was set in a long ago past and in a different country.

The plan is that she will, eventually, get pulled back into her world again, but that the other protagonist ends up being pulled back into her world with her. I'm just not sure if I want that to happen at this point in the story or later in the story. I also haven't decided if this is going to be a novelette, a novella or a full-length novel.

But this is all part of planning and plotting a story. As my story moves along, I suppose it will dictate to me how long it intends to be, but in the meantime, I have to figure out how to keep it moving. 

The first day writing this story was a piece of cake. the idea came to me in a dream and I wrote the part of the pot that I had already dreamed in 12 hours, writing 10,365 words of the story. But then I set it aside for many months, and now I'm having to get a feel for the story all over again. when I haven't outlined ahead of time, that fresh, bright, first writing of a story comes so easily, but then the story becomes a bit more work because I have to make sure that, as the story grows and moves forward, everything still connects and makes sense.

How are you doing with your writing this month? Let me know in the comments.

My Story Begins #BYBin30

Yesterday, I took a story that I had already started, a fantasy romance, and decided that I would work in it for this month. Since I am already committed to writing more of the story this month, I also signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo. Now I am motivated in two ways to keep writing, one by this challenge and the other by the Camp NaNoWriMo challenge.

One thing that I like about NaNoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo is that they give me a place to put a synopsis for my book, a title, an excerpt and a working book cover. (I call it a "working" book cover, because it is just the cover I use while writing not the book, not the finished cover or what will actually be used when the book is published.) I have, at this point in time, written 10,365 words of my book - all of which was written in one day. I decided to take that beginning and try and complete the book for this year's Blog Your Book in 30 Days challenge.

I started it with the title of "Alternate." When I was setting up my Camp NaNoWriMo page, I couldn't remember the title I had given it, so I typed it in as "The World is What I Make of It." Then I found the story and the original title I had given it. While both titles work for the story, I took a bit from each title and settled on the title "Alternate Worlds" for this book. That may change again in the future though.

The synopsis I wrote up is this:

Faith likes writing fan fiction, and she's come across a side-character named Kai in a Kdrama that inspires her to write a fan fiction giving him a happier ending. But when she ends up inside the story she's writing, which is alternatively inside a Kdrama world that someone else created, how is she supposed to get back to her own world? And how can she keep Kai from finding out he is nothing more than a fiction character that someone wrote, one who died in the original story?

I wrote it more like a blurb, and it still needs some work.

Here's an excerpt from the book (from what is written so far):

      Weakness and fatigue started to pull him under. Before his eyes drifted shut, there was a bright flash and a woman’s scream. Weakly, he turned his head to find an angel lying beside him. Her eyes were closed as if in sleep, but, as he took in her copper hair and the freckles dotting her delicate nose, she opened her eyes and looked straight at him.
      Her eyes widened even wider for a second and she sat up quickly. 
     “Y – you – you’re bleeding,” she stammered in a startled voice that still managed to sound sweet to his ears.
     “Angel. You’ve come to reap my soul. I’m ready,” he whispered, his voice soft because he was too weak to speak any louder.
     “N – no! I’m here to keep you from dying. You can’t die like this.” Her eyes widened again and she put her hand against her mouth, as if startled to hear the words that came from it.

Again, it still needs some work, but the editing can begin once the book is complete. You can find my Camp NaNoWriMo page here.

How are you doing with your story? Have you come up with an idea yet? Are you already writing it? Are you editing instead? Let me know in the comments. 

Day 30 - Last Day of the Challenge #BYBin30

Today is the last day of Blog Your Book in 30 Days 2017. How did you do? If you didn't finish your book, I hope you still managed to get more of it done than you would have done without the challenge to spur you on.

image found on Pinterest here

And if you did finish your story, relish this moment. You've achieved something incredible. Give yourself some time to revel in what you've accompished before you start work on the editing and revising.

*****

Winners!

We have some winners of prizes for this year's challenge. The winners are listed below.

Winner of "Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly" by Gail Carson  - Melissa Gijsbers

Winner of Writing Monsters: How to Create Believably Terrifying Creatures to Enhance your Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans - Bron

Winner of  the Catwoman Bendable Figure - Bron

Winner of the SURPRISE item - Melissa Gijsbers

Day 28 - Story Conclusions #BYBin30

image found on Pinterest here

I've been in a bit of a writing funk lately, and, aside from the post that announces the prize winners, this will be the last blog post for this year's challenge, and, since we are supposed to be nearing the ends of the stories we are writing, I thought I'd leave you with some images with quotes about endings.

image found on Pinterest here 

Finishing stories is difficult. Everything needs to tie together and the ending needs to satisfy the reader. There is nothing easy about writing those last chapters of your story.

image found on Pinterest here 

Endings don't have to be happy to be satisfying, although many readers do prefer happy endings. the most important thing about the story's ending is that it makes sense within context of the rest of the story.

image found on Pinterest here

If your ending isn't working for you, change it. You're the author, you can write the ending that satisfies you the most. If you are satisfied with your ending, chances are that your readers will be satisfied too.

How have your stories and writing been coming along during the challenge?

*****

Give-away

Today's give-away is a surprise. I might make something. I might buy a trinket of some sort. It will be a complete surprise. Even I don't know yet what today's prize will be. If you are a signed-up member of the challenge, all you have to do to be entered into the give-away is leave a comment on this post by April 30th. A winner will be chosen on April 30th, 2017 by using a random number generator.

Day 21 - Why We Need Superheroes Stories #BYBin30

(This post was originally posted to the SuperHERo Tales blog.)

illustration by Samuel Dixon
for "SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories (Volume 2)"

Superhero stories give us something to believe in. There are 4,200 recorded religions in the world. People with no religious affiliation now make up the third-largest group in the world. Whether you hold a religious belief or not, most people have a set of morals that they adhere to. Superheroes are known for standing up for what is right. They give us someone to look up to.

Superhero stories give us hope. The world is changing fast, and people are becoming more cynical every day. When we can't trust our politicians and leaders, who can we trust? The news shows us every day that there are people in the world who do awful things. But superhero stories show us that there can be good people in the world too, and that the world and the people in it are worth fighting for.

Superhero stories are inspirational. They give us ideas and the urge to do better. Their stories inspire us to make our own lives into something more worthwhile. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "inspiration" means "something that makes someone want to do something or that gives someone an idea about what to do or create : a force or influence that inspires someone." Superheroes do this for us.

Superhero stories are aspirational. According to the Oxford dictionary, the word "aspiration" (in this context) means "a hope or ambition of achieving something." Superhero stories make us want to achieve more, for ourselves and for the world.

Superhero stories let us see our potential for positive change within ourselves. Superheroes struggle too, maybe not in the same ways that normal humans do, but making the right choices can be just as difficult for them as it can be for your every day non-super-powered person. We get to see the journey they take as they become a superhero, and we get to see how they change for the better throughout that journey. Superhero stories show us that, despite being difficult, it is always worth doing the right thing.

Superhero stories let us see our potential for positive change within the world. Comic book superheroes have changed over the years to reflect the changes in society. But one thing most of these superheroes have in common is the desire to make the world a better place, a safer place for the people in it. For us, this can mean working towards more equality in the workplace, fighting towards more environmentally-friendly corporate policies, or helping feed the homeless. The world is constantly changing and superhero stories show us that, sometimes, it's up to us to make sure that those changes are for the better.

Superhero stories bring light to a sometimes dark world. One thing that superhero stories tend to have in common is that good always wins out over evil in the end. The villains get their comeuppance and the hero saves the person they love and the world. No matter how dark the superheroes story gets, it will brighten by the time the story wraps up.

***** 

Give-away

One signed-up member of the challenge who comments on this post will win a Catwoman Bendable Figure. The winner will be chosen by a random number generator on April 30th, 2017. (If the figure becomes unavailable, another superhero may be substituted.)

Day 14 - Tips for Creating Fantasy Creatures #BYBin30

J. K. Rowling is very skilled at creating unique magical creatures, from dementors to nifflers. The creatures she has created have, in many cases, become a part of the larger mythology in the world.

Much of my writing is in the fantasy and urban fantasy genres. This means that, on many occasions, I need to create some fantasy creatures. I can also use creatures from legend and myth, such as unicorns and griffins, but sometimes, I need to create a creature that is completely unique and unheard of before.

In doing this, I've come up with some tips which might help you create your own fantasy creatures, if you ever get stuck for ideas.

1. Research creatures from available mythology. Looking through the creatures that are already a part of legend and myth can help inspire new ideas for creatures.

2. Take creatures from legend and myth and add something or take something away from them to make them unique. A unicorn covered in scales with dragon wings is very different from a traditional unicorn. A unique attribute can set your creature apart.

3. Take normal every day animals and give them unique attributes. A golden retriever with wings might make local ducks nervous, but if your ducks have sharp razor-like teeth and as large as a horse, they might not be as easy for the retrievers to prey upon.

3. Give your creatures unique abilities. Your creature might look like a typical horse, but the difference is that it breathes fire and can turn invisible. Sometimes you need something other than a change in appearance to make your creature different.

4.  Use your imagination and create something completely from scratch. This can be the more difficult option for creating your creature but also the most rewarding. Stretch your imaginative limits.

5. Name your character something that is easy to pronounce. You don't want your reader to be tripping over how to say the name of your creature every time they read the word.

Hope these tips help!

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Give-away

Today's give-away is a copy of Writing Monsters: How to Create Believably Terrifying Creatures to Enhance your Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans. If you are a signed-up member of the challenge, then leave a comment on this post and you will be entered into the drawing. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator on April 30th.

Day 7 - Story Trope: The Chosen One #BYBin30

Stories, TV and films often rely on certain story tropes, such as the alien invasion and the hero that fights for all of humanity. They often tend to be tied quite strongly to genre. For example, while the trope of the Chosen One can originally be seen as closely tied in with high fantasy stories, such as you see with Frodo in J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," it is currently seen quite often in YA novels.

For some well-known examples, there is the character Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" series, the character Tris in Veronica Roth's "Divergent" series, the character Clary Fray of Cassandra Clare's "The Mortal instruments" series, or the character Buffy in Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," amongst a host of others.

The Chosen One is special. She or he is the only one who can do a certain thing; whether that is opening a special lock, finding a specific treasure or performing a type of magic, it usually ties in with saving the world. In most cases, she or he is the only one who can save the world.

I admit that I enjoy reading about Chosen Ones and I often write them as leads in my stories. Do you have any chosen ones in your stories? Let me know in the comments.

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Give-away

Today's give-away is a copy of "Writing Magic: Creating Stories that Fly" by Gail Carson Levine. If you are a signed up member of this challenge, then all you need to do to be entered into the drawing is comment on this post. The winner will be selected by a random number generator on April 30th.