Gome World

Tips on writing in the Gomeworld Universe

I am working with several middle school and high school classes to help them to create their own fiction.  For some we are going to try to create several short stories involving existing or brand new characters (gomes, humans, or otherwise) and put them together as an anthology.  The most successful of these projects will be published by Orchard House Press so that these budding young authors can get to see their own fantasy fiction appear in print.  Here are a few tips that I give to anyone wanting to try to write good fiction:

Characters: 

Make your characters memorable and authentic.  A good way to do this is to ask yourself a lot of questions about the character and force yourself to answer them so that you have an in-depth understanding of what they are really like.  Here are some suggestions:  http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2008/07/detailed-charac.html

Don't have too many characters in any scene or your readers will get lost.

Give the main "good guy/good gal" character (the protagonist) some vulnerability.  Someone who is rich, beautiful, handsome, smart, athletic, thoughtul, and flawless is boring and hard to get your readers to relate to.

Plot line:

Have some conflict develop (an unpleasant surprise for the protagonist, for example) and resolve it in a surprising and satisfying way.

Start with a "bang."  I describe this in more detail here http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2008/11/creating-a-memorable-opening-scene.html

Have a "boffo" finish.  I have no idea what "boffo" actually means but a great literary agent who used to work with me used that phrase.  She said that if you are writing "commercial fiction" (stories that you want lots of people to buy and read) then no matter how exciting or compelling the story has been for the first three quarters of the book the finish has to be even more exciting and amazing so that your readers are left breathless by the end and eager to find more of your stories to read!

Key elements/golden rules:

Write about something you know.  That way the details will be more authentic and believable.

Describe scenes in all five senses.  I give a few examples here http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2008/07/describing-scen.html

Don't throw in irrelevant details, or have too many side trips and detours.  http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2007/06/side_trips_and_.html

Other considerations:

If you include any of the existing characters from the Gomeworld Universe try to make their behavior and conversation be in line with what your readers have already encountered.

If you create a new gome character follow the rules of the Gomeworld Universe (which I detail in the various Gomeworld Universe Sourcebooks)  http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2009/01/gomeworld-sourcebooks.html

If you are writing as a group (like a class project, for example) consider writing around a similar theme (The worst school trip ever, the Science class that went wrong, A summer vacation to remember, etc.).  That way your anthology of stories will seem more professional and well thought out.

Have FUN writing.  Although some aspects of creative writing are hard work (editing, checking for spelling and grammar mistakes, re-reading your first draft, reading it out loud to friends, re-writing to make it more clear, getting rid of unnecessary words, editing it again...) the whole point is to create something that a stranger will enjoy reading.  If you get excited about your story it increases the chances that your readers will get exctied about it, too!

The Birth of Another set of Triplets!

One of the most exciting parts of writing a new story is to see the cover designs.  All of a sudden the story that was in your head has the look and feel of a real book.  You can see what it is going to look like and can imagine people holding it in their hands and enjoying it.  It really comes to life.  And since my second adventure with Finn, Hadley, and their scruffy, rude, bad-tempered companion Wullie-The-Mahaar-Gome is another trilogy it feels as though I am giving birth to another set of triplets!  EJ Angel, the cover design artist for my books has an exuberant style.  She reads the stories and then asks me to list some of the most memorable scenes or events in each book.  She then designs a vibrant abstract collage that merges those images together.  Finally she superimposes the faint image of a grumpy and enigmatic rock creature in the corner.

The title of the story is Twilight Cave but you won't know why until the second book in the series.  Book 1 is called The Scourge of Catalonia.  Catalonia is a region of Spain in the northeast of the country close to France.  The great Mediterranean city of Barcelona is in the heart of Catalonia and the story opens with a dramatic scene in Parc Guell, a wonderful place featuring lots of mosaic sculptures designed by the famous Catalonian architect, Antoni Gaudi.  Gaudi also designed the massive cathedral, Sagrada Familia which was started being built over a hundred years ago and is not finished yet!  Much of the story takes place in a rich country estate called Segovia with a white mansion surrounded by olive groves and vineyards.  I hope you like the cover of this book which captures images from all of these places and has a feel of whimsical artwork and bright summery Mediterranean light.

In the story Finn, Hadley, and a group of kids from the Magnolia Academy of Arts and Science (MAAS) are invited to spend a couple of weeks at the Segovia estate which is owned by a rich Spanish art collector and sculptor called Baltazar Mendoza.  During their stay some of the kids are taken on a caving trip in some of the amazing limestone caves underneath the mountains near Montserrat.  During this caving trip Finn disappears and the adults believe that he is dead.  It turns out that he has been captured by some evil gomes who take him deep underground to the great gome city of Barcelunda. 

If you want to learn more about Twilight Cave; The Scourge of Catalonia (Book 1) and hear me read the opening chapters go to:

http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2008/03/the-scourge-of.html

Book 2 is called The Depths of Barcelundaand for the cover of this story EJ created a very different feel.  Barcelunda is a very dark, smoky, scary place.  There are long tunnels and boreholes with stalactites and stalagmites.  Everything is gray and smoky.  Evil magicians create potions in little glass bottles.  Certain sections of the city are kept behind massive iron gates.  Where the city comes close to the cliffs at the edge of the mountains the pale light of the moon filters in to create an eery twilight feel to the place.  I hope you like the cover of this book which I think captures the atmosphere of Barcelunda very well.

Although the grown ups think that Finn has fallen to his death in a big sink hole in the cave, Hadley and her Catalonian friend, Alina, are sure that he is still alive.  With the help of Wullie-The-Mahaar-Gome they set off to try to find where Finn is being held prisoner.  It turns out that the gomes are feeding Finn sludgy mud and poisonous drugs to try to turn him to stone.  In a very elaborate two stage ceremony the gomes will then bring Finn's petrified body to the remote and desolate Island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland where they plan to smash him to smithereens at the Great Standing Stones of Calanais.

If you want to learn more about Twilight Cave; The Depths of Barcelunda (Book 2) and hear me read the opening chapter go to:

http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2008/03/the-depths-of-b.html

In Book 3, The Weird of CalanaisHadley, Alina and Wullie need to travel to The Island of Lewis to try to prevent Finn from being destroyed.  They meet up with Wullie's best friend Alexander Clambucket Targomshie of Calanais (Big Sandy to his friends) to seek out the great gome-witch Mhairhidgh Dubh (which, of course, is pronounced Varry Doo).  Mhairhidgh Dubh gives then a potion that might re-direct the power of the Barcelundan sludge that has petrified Finn.  But to make that potion the witch requires them to accomplish three tasks...

The cover of the book shows the mountains and rocky waterfalls of the Scottish islands along with a sinister castle in the background.  In the foreground are treacherous peat bogs and the enigmatic Standing Stones of Calanais that were raised over five thousand years ago, long before the great pyramids of Egypt.  The bird in the top right hand corner is one of the most feared of all the bird predator; Catharacta Skua, the Great Skua, known by locals as the bonxie.  A pair of these fierce birds guard Varry Doo's layer.

If you want to learn more about Twilight Cave; The Weird of Calanais (Book 3) and hear me read the opening chapter go to:

http://gomeworld.typepad.com/gome_world/2008/03/the-weird-of-ca.html