In order to gain inspiration on the mindset of the main villains of my fantasy series, I watched another documentary about medieval history. This documentary talked about Henry VIII, who was easily the most selfish and indulgent tyrant in English history. I was thinking of making the main villains an entire family of tyrants who are just as bad as Henry VIII or worse. I must say that my tastes are expanding recently. I was strictly a science fiction, fantasy, and superhero writer, but now I am learning more about history and poetry. I look forward to seeing how far these new tastes will take me.
I have started the fifth chapter of my fantasy series and this will serve as a special chapter. When I first started the story, the main character was the main point of view character, but this chapter will be when the story branches out into the point if view of other characters. These characters will consist of the main character’s brother, squire, lover, and peer. Through four different points of view, the story will gain more diversity to the plot. I look forward to elaborating on the development of these various characters.
Every knight must have a squire to assist him in and out of his armor, feed his horse, clean his weapons, and many other tasks. In my fantasy series, there will be a character who is a squire who is ready to prove himself and prone to hero worship. He will serve the role of the naive boy who has yet to experience a battle. His relationship with the other knights will be similar to how experienced soldiers treat fresh recruits. In the story, the squire will receive a chance to achieve knighthood and respect from his comrades. He is going to be an interesting point of view character to work with.
I have finished watching another documentary about life in medieval times and learned a great deal about medieval food, particularly the diet of Henry VIII, who was both a carnivore and had an insatiable sweet-tooth (which are things I can relate to). The food was elegant yet fattening, but it fits what I was imagining for the food in my fantasy series. I will therefore base the diet of both royalty and nobility on the diet of the Tudor Dynasty. In order to better understand the taste and texture of such dishes, I bought a medieval cookbook so I can cook some of these meals and sample them myself. This way, I will better be able to describe what the characters are eating while they are either in a banquet hall or camping in the woods. It is going to be an interesting experiment and I don’t think I have ever delved this deep while researching for a project. Due to my commitment to this fantasy series, I hope the rewards will be worthwhile. I will keep you updated on any further developments.
Last night, I wrote a poem that depicts death’s point of view. In this poem, death will be seen as an individual rather than an omnipresent force. This was not an assignment for my Creative Writing Class, but a poem that I decided to write all on my own. I honestly did not think I could become interested in writing poetry, but it is starting to grow on me. Even after I finish this semester, I am thinking of making poetry an active weapon in my literary arsenal in the years to come.
I have just watched a documentary about the Welsh Revolt of 1400 where the people of Wales engaged in guerrilla warfare against English rule. I have been brainstorming on what kind of military tactics the main character for my fantasy series would utilize. Now, after watching the documentary and learning about how the Welsh resisted the English, I was thinking of having my protagonist plant sleeper agents throughout his rival’s territory in order to spark rebellions among the populace. This will cause the rival kingdom’s integrity and infrastructure to gradually weaken. When enough time passes and his rival’s regime becomes vulnerable from internal attack, the main character will unleash the bulk of his army against his foe and officially begin his conquest.
In my Creative Writing Class, we were given a rather unexpected assignment in which we had to choose a poem and then write another poem that served as a parody to the original. For this assignment, I have written a version of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven from the raven’s point of view. On the side I also wrote a poem that can be seen from death’s perspective. It is becoming a very fruitful semester for me as a writer and I look forward to seeing how my writing arsenal expands when the semester is over.
I have started the fourth chapter of my fantasy series and this will be a significant section of my main character’s backstory. In the last chapter, he received an unexpected revelation and now he is about to learn more about his origins. Right now, the protagonist is in a very psychologically vulnerable state as he struggles to accept the revelation he was given. The chain of events is now in motion and the protagonist’s fate is ultimately sealed. It is going to develop into a complex story and I cannot wait to see where this will lead. I will keep you updated on any further developments.
Every hero’s journey has a series of obstacles to test him. The main character in my fantasy series will have such trials in his quest to claim the throne. These trials will symbolize the character’s evolution as an individual. When the story starts, he will start out as a humble, generous, semi-naive idealist, but by the end of his trials and subsequent conquest, he will be transformed into a ruthless conquerer and hardened yet competent ruler (but parts of his original personality will remain). I will be drawing inspiration for these trials from the trials of Hercules. These trials will be tests of his worth as king in order to win the loyalty of potential allies in his conquest.
I have finished my nature poem and I must say that I am quite satisfied with the results. Those who read the poem say that it possessed an ancient and archaic voice like someone who has lived for a very long time. Because some trees can live for centuries or millennia, I chose to give the poem the voice of someone who has witnessed the world change many times over. I will be adding this poem with my sword one when I release my literary collection in December.
Grady P Brown - Author 