Research and Development

Going off Dreams

Book 1 Nightdreams

The first installment in the Going off Dreams Series

February 15, 2013

Behind the Scenes:

My mother always said that I should have been a writer.  Of course, being the stubborn person that I am, I couldn’t listen to her.  Fast forward twenty plus years later, more experience and life trials equaled finally taking my mother’s advice.  So, for those of you that are reading – listen to your elders’, they have more life experience and can offer that for free!  Not much in this world is free, so take it when you can.

As I mentioned yesterday, I kept having a reoccurring dream, that led me to start writing it down.  Most of the time when I was typing environments out, I closed my eyes and explored my senses in order to convey that through the keys.  I learned a new phrase that is taught to our finest: KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid).  Before I knew this term, it is exactly what I did.  I tried to communicate the basics so that it was more understandable to the readers, as well – I wanted to add descriptivism in the story that everyone has experienced, so they could invest themselves into the story and environments.

There is another saying that I learned and tried to apply to my writing.  Through pain, comes knowledge.  It is an old Chinese proverb.  In 2002 I was pregnant with my son, my water broke early, and I had to have an emergency cesarean.  Many women have experienced this, without proper sedation.  However, the real test of my pain threshold was when I was diagnosed with Necrotizing Fasciitis of my cesarean site.  This journey helped prepare me to write epic experiences.  I know what intense, unbearable pain feels like; both physical and mental.  This, I think has helped me to write in a way that people can experience the pain and joys within the story.

Research and Development:

Probably one of the strategies that I most enjoyed was research and development.  Once I began to write and the story was starting to materialize, I had a lot of fun researching different aspects of mythology, folklore, and legends.

When I would read about a different perspective, the story just developed within.  Most of the time I would go ahead and write out a scene I had in my head, then go back and describe the settings and details.  Name development was fun but challenging.  I wanted to use more recognizable names for one realm; and then, very different names for the other realms.  It was interesting looking up names to go with the character development.  Needless to say, some characters went through some name changes. 

What do you think of the names in the story?

Until next time, or the next… dream.

 

K.E.Nowinsky