Writing Excuses 7.52: Micro-Casting

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Writing Excuses 7.52: Micro-Casting

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2012/12/16/writing-excuses-season-7-52-microcasting/

Quick summary:
1. Do you have any embarrassing pet projects you created before you were professional, and what do you do with them, and how do you regard them?
Mary: my first novel based on my D&D character with winged space aliens that transform to look just like people. I have carved two stories out of it.
Dan: the first time I wrote a book, I thought it was very original, but it was actually just a game-based fanfiction.
Howard: I have lost track of what file format they were saved in, so I can't read them.
Brandon: my first was a D&D fanfic, with elves and dwarves living on a flying rock in the sky.
2. How do you tell if your idea is too big for the story you're writing and what do you do?
If it covers more than one letter in the MICE quotient, it's probably too big. Look at number of characters, scenic locations, and plot events. Keep it focused, and avoid adding cultural baggage.
3. How do you avoid being discouraged?
You don't avoid being discouraged. You do avoid not getting any work done. Look carefully at the roots of it. Teach yourself to work even when you don't want to, and to figure out why you don't want to.
4. How do you handle multiple magic systems in a book?
Start by asking why are you putting multiple magic systems in a book. Usually, one really good magic system is enough for a novel. If you are going to have multiple ones, make them connected. The more magic systems you have, the less each one should do. Your story should be about characters first, plot second, and use magic systems to enhance the story.
( little tiny voices? )

[Brandon] All right. We're going to go ahead and be done with this one. I want a writing prompt. I think I will go ahead and give it. In fact, I just talked about it. I'll let you do one magic system for one character, one magic system for another character. These are two individuals who get together and their different styles of magic clash with one another in very interesting ways. You decide how it is. Perhaps one is more scientific and one is more mystical, or one is... Stay away from generic fire and water. That's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for them to rub each other in interesting ways, character wise. All right. You're out of excuses, now go write.

[Brandon] Hi, all. This is Brandon. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I just wanted to give you a special reminder. Audible has my novella, Legion, up for free in audiobook. So since they're a sponsor of the podcast, I thought I'd give an extra shout out. They actually have, if you go to www.audible.com/sanderson, they have Legion up there. You... there's no trial, there's no strings attached, you just get it for free. So I hope you guys go give it a listen if you haven't already. You can go to audible.com/sanderson to download it and give it a try.