#sentira

So, I was tagged... tumblr says, 17 days ago, so it’s not ages, lol, by @kosmosian-quills Thank you, love! 

rules: look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. what are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work? tag as many people as the number of tropes you listed.

1. Disability / neurodivergence / chronic illness, that’s the frist thing that comes to mind. I realize lately, that physical disability is not the case so much, as other conditions. Let me see - in Crystal Spring Valley, Tenney has epilepsy; in the Specters, Emma is autistic, Noel has trouble speaking, so he uses sign language; in Ananke Morgan has PTSD, Conor might be autistic coded (but he’s actually just rude and selfish, so I don’t exactly want him to be seen as autistic); in Sentira - Agnes has ADHD and Zeki is blind; Duke and the B Brothers (formerly known as ‘untitled Admundir project’) Dominic (formerly Admundir) has cerebral palsy. As for fanfiction I came to a realization, that the characters that pique my interest are those with history of trauma, (whether it be childhood abuse and resulting depression and/or C-PTSD, or PTSD resulting from trauma later in life), and speech issues (the symbolism of having their voice taken from them for one reason or another).

2. Religion. Not as a system of beliefs, but a phenomenon of having faith. This never comes as something I plan to happen, but it almost always happens. Some belief system arises and takes over worldbuilding, for the characters to have various approaches to those beliefs. Some are strong believers, others are searching, yet others are completely opposed. A great source of external conflict between them, and sometimes also internal one. There are no actual gods though. It’s just faith as an aspect of human psyche.

3. Telepathy or empathy. I love this trope. Or some other psychic powers. But only if they also cause some problems for the people having those powers, not just benefits.

4. Friendship. Or found family trope, if you’d rather. I love writing strong relationships between people who got thrown together by life and choice, rather than family bonds. Although I do also like sibling dynamics, but those are often strained and there’s an element of making a choice, a conscious decision to remain connected. Don’t think I have those in any of my current WIPs though, but I have feels about it, so perhaps it happened... Oh, there was Ethan and Reginald in Choices and Chances, but their relationship was strained, so no, not a good sibling relationship. Hmm...

5. On that note - dysfunctional relationship between my MCs and their parents. Priya’s mother is dead and her father was absent all her life - she was raised by another family. Emma’s father left her to pursue his career, Noel’s father caused his injury because of his ambition, Nersan’s father threw him out and Neve is an orphan. Morgan’s parents were ambitious(tm) what led to a tragedy. Dominic’s father was ashamed of him and sent him to live in hostile environment in hopes that he would not survive. Wow, parents in my stories really are cruel. 

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However, the making up part is over now, I think, because in the next chapter comes time for the beginning of resolution, and Priya meeting Tenney again, as they figure out a way to grab the “treasure” and run away with it. So, it’s time for character and relationship stuff in those final chapters. It’s gonna be nice to write.

And, if all goes well, it’s gonna be over in a week. If all goes a little worse... in a month, tops. Wow.

Sentira is also going along nicely (although I still don’t have a title for it). I finished character one-page synopses for both, Agnes and Zeki (that happened today), i also have character sheets ready. Now I’ll be trying to write the detailed plotline and make the spreadsheet of scenes. I’m not sure I will actually finish it, because I want to be done with Sentira on Friday.

Perhaps even sooner, it depends on my mood really, because as of tomorrow, I’m staying with my dad for the rest of the week, as mom goes for some short vacation. Shorter this year than in recent years because of Covid situation. Gonna be there till Friday night.

Also, on Thursday I have a job interview. Keep your fingers crossed for me, because I really need the money this job would give me, lol. Not that it’s gonna be spectacular, but better that than nothing.

I don’t know if I will have a ready plotline at the end of this assigned period of time, which ends in a week. I went into it having one-sentence and one-paragraph summaries of the plotline. The one-paragraph summary received an upgrade -- the final sentence, as in the final act and the solution to the whole conundrum the novel should present, is more dramatic now, carries more conflict, what makes it an order of magnitude better. I’m glad I found that plot point. Also, I wrote the one-page summary of the storyline that will probably change here and there.

I have also done a lot of character creating. I have their backstories, know their fears, know what pisses them off and what makes them tick. At least the two mains, because the two side-kicks still require all the work.

What I still don’t know is what happens to the mains within the narrative. How it shapes them, how they shape each other. That’s Step Five of the Snowflake Method -- write a one-page summary of the storyline written from the PoV of the main characters (and half-page for the secondary ones).

So. I have to extra motivete myself. Here we go then.

Crystal Spring. I have to get through that one boring scene, and write some words toward the next scene, which is not extremely interesting either -- descriptions mostly.

Priya got captured, is excorted by a Kadmon military team back to Pale Water, where she expects to have a conversation with the Nester. However, the Nester ignores her completely and throws her into the dungeon and there she stays.

I’m not sure what she thinks then? She does not give up, but does she count on her friends freeing her? Or does she think about getting out herself? Or, what she’s supposed to do once she is out? Because she’s sure she will be, somehow? Oh, well, that’s the things I should think about.

Here we go:

CRYSTAL SPRING VALLEY

A lady starts a small-scale rebellion that grows into a war, but in the end small solutions will save the world.

THE SPECTERS

Three Friends meet a Stranger whose demands send them on an expedition, that changes their understanding of the world.

CHOICES AND CHANCES

An Aristocrat and A Doctor set out on a journey on the outskirts of American Revolutionary War

ANANKE

When two rivals are faced with an unsolvable situation, they join forces to save the Universe

untitled SENTIRA project

A newly developed spaceship is kidnapped on its virgin mission and ends up where no one expected it to go.

BLACK WINGS

A man torn between a lifetime of military brainwashing and newfound experience of love and betrayal discovers his true strength through comitment to greater good.

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If you want to know more, here’s a subpage with Some More Details about my Stories -- as in a one-paragraph summaries.