It’s done, one day ahead of schedule – I “won” NaNoWriMo 2009.

This year, it was particularly hard. Not only do I have a new job which kept me quite occupied, I also did not have any furniture at home, having just moved into a new apartment. Like last year, I encountered mental resistance to the project after some time, and just like last year I asked myself, “why the hell am I doing this?”

I am doing this, of course, to teach myself to be “creative” to a schedule. I did a better job of this than last year. I wrote on fewer days of the month than last year, and got much more done on those days. And while I did not complete the story yet, I am quite close.

What made all the difference is that I followed one of the lessons learned from last year: This time I created an outline ahead of time. Some adjustments were necessary, as I moved the story form one of my worlds to another, but these were relatively minor. I did not complete the story yet, but I am very close; another 2-3 days will get me there so unlike last year, I will get to “The End”. It’s still a crappy story, so unless I edit it into something fairly nice I won’t be posting it. ;)

I am not sure whether I will do NaNoWriMo 2010, but unless some other big project interferes, I probably will. I’ll try to take some days off of work next year, though: If I have an outline and write every day, I should be able to easily complete a story in the 30 days.

I will take part in this year’s NaNoWriMo. I have my outline 90% done. What about you?

By random chance I came across Life after People on local TV tonight – the 2h original version, not the series. While it is hardly perfect – Wikipedia lists some criticisms or omissions, and I can come up with several more – it is still an inspirational film and a good idea to watch if you’re into post-apocalyptic fiction / gaming.

This is my entry for the Cartographers’ Guild’s “just for fun” competiton for March, the River Challenge:

Cartographer's Guild River Challenge Entry

The basic template of the landmass and some pre-defined lakes and rivers was provided by the guild’s community leaders, and there are various rules on the number of rivers the map needs to include.

I honestly did not enter this one to win – the guild counts far better artists than I am amongst its members – but rather I took the opportunity to try out a “fancy mountain” style. As you can see… it still needs some work. ;-)

I spent a lot of my spare time working on maps. Here’s what I have to show for my effort.

First off, Thraeton now has mountain ranges. I experimented a little and came up with the following abstract style, which I like a lot.

Thraeton

Detail view:

Thraeton Detail

I am currently working on climate – wind, ocean currents, climate zones.

In between, I revisited that world which started it all, and which gave the name to this website: Enderra. I began by recreating what geography has already been established over the past 17 years. As you can see, this is not the entire planet just yet – the entire “new world” in the west was never mapped out, so it’ll be added later.

Enderra

I also experimented with drawing pretty national borders. These are very rough, and I’ll have to redraw them as the map evolved, but as a stylistic experiment I think it was quite a success:

Enderra National Borders

As always, I work in Inkscape.

Here’s an assortment of links you might find useful.

How-To’s

• Map-making tutorial using The Gimp.

Inspiration, Locations

• Photos from Paris Exhibition, 1900. In color.
• Abandoned subway stations in New York City
• The Uros people of the Titicaca lake live on floating islands, which is a cool style of living for a conpeople.

Science Fiction Stuff

• Tests have shown that it is possible to protect long-duration missions from solar wind using a magnetic shield.
• Scientists figured out that Mars’ loss of atmosphere to the pressure from solar wind isn’t a slow, gentle process; instead it is quite violent: Solar Wind Rips Up Martian Atmosphere.

NaNoWriMo 2008 Research

• Wikipedia on radioactive fallout
• Wikipedia on fallout shelters and blast shelters
• Mount Weather government bunker
• Gas masks vs bad smells: Gas masks do not filter out odors, unless they are designed for the job, but vick vapor rub is a work-around used by law enforcement and emergency workers.
• Geiger counters
• Compound bows – bow hunting is done in the US

Here’s another attempt at the CD cover game:

Eryx Elegans, 'Run Away From Life'

I actually edited the photo in question this time; if you look at the original you will see a woman in the photo which really distracted from the composition:

Original Photo

Edited Photo

Yes – it is quite easy to see the photo was edited, but after all this is not an exercise in forging photographic evidence :-)

To critique my own work, the speech bubble is probably a little too dominant and the “band name” logo colors might not mesh perfectly with the rest of the image.

Original photo: Feliz 2009, by murilocardoso. Licensed cc-by-nc-sa.

NaNoWriMo is over, I won, and I am in the process of completing my novel. I decided on a project to tackle next. I could just start something completely new, but I do not want to start yet another project that never gets done. So I looked at my large collection of worlds and picked one that is dear to my heart.

Arnâron.

As you may remember, Arnâron is my version of Barsoom. I began to work on Arnâron in its current form as my project for World Building Month, back in August. (Has it only been three months? Amazing how time flies.)

When I last visited Arnâron, I was writing random articles and working on a con language. I still have a to do list with many open items. Let me re-list it here, with current status:

• Language. I made some progress, but a lot of work remains to be done.
• Religion. I have not worked on this aspect.
• Nations: Still in the same state as in August.
• Money and trade: I have posted one article on natural resources, more needs to be written.
• Cities of Arnâron. No update.
• Ruins and relics: I wrote about the ruins and the past, I think this is a solid basis to work from.
• Astrology and zodiacs: I haven’t created these at all.
• Heroes and villains: Still needs to be written.
• Prizes and princesses: Ditto.
• The hordes: Ditto, again.

Now, a lot of this is fundamental work that could simply keep me busy for years. I’d like to define some sort of goal, something that is reachable. (NaNoWriMo taught me the importance of that.)

There is one event, or story-arc, that I planned for the world, somewhat related to the basic John Carter story A Princess of Mars. I will use this event to write a series of stories, and will create all the supporting material I need for this story. I will try to write one “chapter” every month in 2009 (and into 2010 if the series does not get done in 12 months).

I have a month for outlining and for completing my NaNoWriMo novel. Let’s see how this goes.

The vocabulary of my language now consists of 107 words. I have begun to create a sample translation of the story of babel.

“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.”

X-Sampa: dov\a Ruj wo RondoR ad mes ki yJana ut kuv\a Ruj wo peguR.

Roman: Dowa ruy wo rondor ad mes ki ûnyana ut kuwa ruy wo pegur.

Literal translation: now everything abstract-ideas-measure-word world past-have one speech and same everything abstract-ideas-measure-word word.

Script:

Script Sample

(The line break in the script sample is after the word “ki”.)

If you think writing fifty thousand words in thirty days is hard, I dare you to create a language.

I needed another music group to refer to in my NaNoWriMo novel. It had to be something beachy, and hence, Kryoneri was born.

Kryoneri, 'Pleased with Themselves'

I cheated on the CD Cover game, and used one of my own photos. Searching flickr for a cc-licensed photo simply seemed like a waste of my time when I had a couple of appropriate photos sitting around. The one I used was taken on Bali.

Here’s the – admittedly fairly random – track list for the album:

1. Legends of Bora Bora
2. California Beach Queen
3. Sand and Sun
4. Memories of Coral Reef
5. Sailing through Paradise
6. Spanish Main
7. Land of a Million Islands
8. Surfing the Waves
9. Torchlight Tranquility
10. Bali Sunset
11. Moon over Waikiki

Update: Version 2 of the cover.

Kryoneri, 'Pleased with Themselves' - Version 2

I like this 2nd one better, I think.

I needed a band to refer to in my NaNoWriMo novel, and none of the ones I “created” for the CD Cover Game so far seemed to be appropriate. So I cheated a little on #5, and repeated the Wikipedia random thing until I had a band name that sounded like an alternative rock group.

Brockville Park, 'Even My Own Mother'

I kind of like the basic design. Someone should start making crossword puzzles based on hexagons.

“Even My Own Mother” is the debut album of local newcomer band Brockville Park’s, and its catchy beat has catapulted it top the top of the charts. Tracks:

1. Voyage of the Navigator
2. Saint Brendan City Blues
3. When Worlds Collide
4. Slaver – Hero
5. Forbidden Candy
6. Ballad of the Apple
7. Even My Own Mother
8. Go! (Away!)
9. Melon Tree
10. Sheltered
11. M Stands For Witten
12. The Price of Admiralty
13. Fall Out Four The Rest Of Us (Bonus)

Original photo by Ecstaticist, cc-by-nc-sa.

Kolonia Zerechowa, the Polish African American rap group known for its biting social commentary, has released their latest album: Steal with good Judgment.

Kolonia Zerechowa, 'Steal with good Judgment'

The controversial album contains tracks critical of the Church, making numerous references to recent scandals and the Church’s violent history in the middle ages. The track “Wallet Salvation” openly attacks American television preachers. Religious groups across America have condemned the album as “lies” and its many sexual references as “sinful”. The band has reacted cooly to the complaints, stating that “the truth always hurts such people the most”.

Original photo by mikedefiant, cc-by-nc-sa.

Alex posted a science fiction teaser in what looks like it could be one of those Internet memes, except this one is of course for writers and would-be writers.

Since I am not a writer, not really anyway, and I don’t have any completed works to tease from, I decided to create a teaser from scratch. It is about a new setting I am working on and that I may explore in my NaNoWriMo novel instead of what I had originally intended. (It is really an extension of the same theme rather than something completely new, sometimes those ideas that pop up in my mind happen to complement each other rather than compete for attention.)

The atmosphere in the shelter was a mix of tense anticipation and quiet resignation. Some occupants stoically awaited their fate, others whimpered or cried. Luckily nobody had panicked – yet. I kept to myself, sitting on a chair staring at the heavy blast door, wondering what I would experience had I been on the other side.

The radio played music that was decades out of date. It sounded like an automatic transmission that had been designed decades ago during the height of the cold war. There had been no messages after the initial emergency broadcast. Somehow the absence of any human announcer was much spookier than news of the world’s destruction could possibly have been. At least it meant that there was still a radio station, somewhere out there, that had not yet been hit.

Max, the shelter’s owner, kept things organized. He talked to people, introduced himself to those he didn’t know – most of those in the shelter, including me. Max was an older man, at least fifty, and his graying hair and beard gave him a bit of a grandfatherly appearance. He smiled and talked in a calm voice. I don’t know how he managed to be so serene, but then again he was the one who had had the foresight to build a bomb shelter. Even a few hours ago people probably thought of him as “one of those survivalist nuts” and while I am sure he was as devastated as everybody else, a small part of him may have been gleeful that he had been right after all. A kind of Noah, except Max had not hesitated to rescue strangers.

“You doing alright,” a woman to my left asked. I turned around startled. I had been so lost in my thoughts that I had not even noticed that she had pulled up a chair and sat down. She, too, looked straight at the blast door as I had done, imitating me. I studied her for a moment. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin. Pretty.

I looked back at the door.

“All things considered.” It sounded not quite as positive as I had hoped.

For a moment neither of us spoke.

“Listen,” she broke the silence. “I am helping Max by making a list of everybody here, so we know who’s who, what jobs they have, and any medical conditions we should know about. Would you please tell me about yourself?”

I couldn’t help but smile because of the unexpected attention. Under other circumstances…

“Sure. Name’s John Sanders. I… don’t have a job right now.” There seemed to be no reason to tell her about my recent legal troubles. It didn’t concern anybody in the shelter, and quite honestly, how could a little theft matter now?

“But what is your training? Maybe we must rely on your skills at some point.”

“I see.” I hadn’t thought her question through. There was too much on my mind. “I am a programmer. Not much help after the EMP fries every bit of electronics out there, I am afraid. Had first aid training, but that was a long, long time ago.”

I turned again, this time to find her looking at me. Yes, she was beautiful.

“I have two hands,” I shrugged. “Tell me how I can help, and I will. I can carry things, cook without poisoning us, and clean the bathroom. Whatever.”

She made some notes on her clipboard while I spoke.

“Thanks,” she said and stood up.

“Could I ask you something?”

“Yes?”

“What is your name?”

“Artemis.”

I didn’t have a chance to follow up on that. The radio stopped playing that very moment. Then the lights went out, except for the reddish emergency lighting.

Two minutes later a pattern of tiny cracks in the walls began to glow a brilliant blue.

I am not sure I am eligible to join the evil writers’ club just yet but were I a writer, that is something I’d strive for.

We get better at what we do with lots of practice so feedback is, as always, appreciated – this explicitly includes corrections on spelling and grammar, as I am not a native English speaker.

Creative Commons is an easy way for authors to license their content to others, in an attempt to encourage sharing of culture. The following video explains it very well:

I’ve always been a fan of this – I believe everybody should have the right to be compensated for their work – and if it’s only attribution at the most basic level – but I also believe in sharing and working together with others to create greater works.

I’ve taken this opportunity to license my wallpapers under a CC license, as promised. And future works published will also be licensed similarly – I just do not feel that I should set a CC license for every single blog posting. But maybe we’ll get there some day as well.

(Video via Joi Ito.)

Two days ago, I had an idea for a new setting. Something that at least I think would be fairly cool, and it would tie up one loose end of something I have been working on for some time. But there are also some downsides. Specifically, I should really work on this new idea before the story I was outlining for NaNoWriMo because it serves as a “genesis” for the setting used in that story. I’ll have to start over from scratch with a new story arc, new characters, a new outline.

I am fairly sure that, once I post specifics, you’ll go “well, meh, that isn’t that original or exciting”. For the moment, however, this new idea is quite an obsession. Something I want to work on, and in the end I do all of this for myself so that’s okay.

I still wonder: Do you guys ever get that type of idea you feel absolutely compelled to work on? And what does it say about myself that doing something terrible to an imagined city then throwing some non-existing people into that situation makes me all excited and gleeful?