nofrodelius

Congrats! #lifegoals

I love this! I would caution against making these sections too long in your writing (if these are intended to be integrated into a larger story), but you could easily scatter several of these introspective scenes throughout a novel, without them being overbearing or distracting from the plot. I think this is an intriguing way to share perspective on a character's mindset, and love the madman's "logic" shown here.

I think this would benefit from some sensory input. Most of what I see is action (run, lagged, etc.) or descriptions of a physical state (hurt, exhausted, etc.). This helps to describe how the protagonist is feeling, but says very little about their surroundings and emotional reactions. Perhaps "This oppressive darkness seemed like it made everything worse, and the wheezing of the cavewinds did nothing to alleviate the trickle of fear down your back." could be improved like so: "The oppressive darkness closed around your body like a weighted cloak of velvet, amplifying your anxieties and fears. As you crawled through the blackness, every scratch of skin against stone sent a shiver up your spine. At any moment, your hands might brush against something other: something deadly and dangerous. As you pressed onward, the sound of wind blowing through the caverns reminded you of a dying man's wheezes, doing nothing to help alleviate your growing panic."

OMFG

Wow, these are absolutely stunning! I am a huge fan of Padmavaat, too, and LOVE this take on the Alethi garb.

The Lies of Locke Lamora isn't on the same epic fantasy scale as Sanderson's works, and magic is used minimally in the book, but the world-building and character development is absolutely fantastic! A great read.

Hmm, a form synesthesia, where he "sees" sounds? That could work, if I can figure out a dynamic way to visualize that. When designing my magic system, I was inspired by Nichola Tesla's quote: "If you want to find the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration." I have also drawn a lot of inspiration from the Spiritualist movement (taking some of the principles and redefining them into magical terms). New Age Spiritualist, Cassandra Sturdy, said: "Your 'vibration' is a fancy way of describing your overall state of being. Everything in the universe is made up of energy vibrating at different frequencies. Even things that look solid are made up of vibrational energy fields at the quantum level." So the way this magic system works is similar to tuning your radio into a specific frequency.

Physicis or Physicum Arcanus?

I am currently developing a magic system for my novel, and am running into some creative roadblocks. So far, I have determined the primary source of magic in my world, how it is accessed by various races, and have started to come up with a few ideas on how it can be used. The thing that I am struggling with the most is adding a visual to a particular magic that I have created. Brandson Sanderson often talks about giving the reader an image to go along with a magic (lines in Allomancy, glowing with Stormlight in Stormbinding, etc.), but my magic is mostly an internal one: the magic user can pull someone's mind into their own, and access as if it were an extension of their own (think of it like plugging a USB into your computer). This is basically mind-reading/telepathy, but functionally operates in the reverse of what you usually see (ex. Prof. X, from the X-Men, who pushes his own mind into someone else's). It may seem like semantics, but the way this magic operates will have serious repercussions for the plot later on. What I am struggling with is how to make this more visual and engaging. One idea I considered was to have my protagonist "transported" to a visual space that represents the inside of his mind (ex. the black realm that Eleven, from Stranger Things, goes to when she's using telepathy, or even Shadesmar when Jasnah/Shallan are using Soulcasting). I don't want something boring, however, and I could use suggestions for an interesting visual space for these scenes to take place in. I could also use some help figuring out the visual mechanic for how my protagonist locates minds to reach out to. The way magic works in this world is through vibrations and frequencies, which represent different objects, souls, etc. I don't know if echolocation makes any sense here, and though I considered using a visual mechanic that mimics how Toph "sees" in Avatar (ie. hearing vibrations in the earth), this does not allow for sensing objects in the air or behind walls, etc. The protagonist's power only allows him to connect to the vibrations of sentient, self-aware beings (no inanimate objects, plants, or animals), so I have to be able to have him distinguish the vibrations of people from everything else (otherwise sensory-overload would be a serious issue). Perhaps I could use something similar to the lines in Allomancy, but then again, I don't know how well that translates to the concept of vibrations, etc. Any ideas, input, etc. would be helpful. Objective viewpoints always seem to bring up something I haven't yet considered or explored.

You caught me on semantics, there. Thanks for the welcome! I will definitely check out the Creator's Corner. I can always use feedback and help with brainstorming!

My short stories have all been published in independent zines, though I have a few on the NYC Midnight forum (I'm taking part in the Flash Fiction Challenge again this year) and submitted another short story to several online publishers recently (so here's hoping!). If you really are interested in reading any of my short stories, I'd be happy to send you a link to the documents on my Google Drive! And if I had to choose an order of Knights Radiant... hm... well, as an artist and someone who loves acting, Lightweaver definitely resonates with me the most. But who doesn't love flying? So the Windrunners would definitely be a near second choice.

Aaaah, I see! Cool - I had no idea!

Ah, I thought they just had extra-strong teeth. The way you phrased it, I thought they might have mandibles or something that I completely missed in the books...

Can you explain what you mean by "extra mouth parts"? I can't recall any mention of this in the books.

Wow, very interesting!

I guess that's what I was trying to say, though, even his interactions with Tarah and Shallan seemed a bit stunted to me. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of him in a romantic setting to really envision it yet.

OMG, I think I just spit coffee all over my keyboard.

Yeah yeah, I know that's not how it works... but GOSH, DO I WISH. I'm new to the forum and (relatively) new to the Cosmere. I read the Mistborn series (all six books) last year and just finished the Stormlight Archive, including Edgedancer. Next on my reading list is Warbreaker and then Elantris. Professionally, I work as a graphic designer, but during my spare time I am a budding fantasy/sci-fi writer. I've been writing as a hobby since I was in elementary school, and have completed and published a few short stories. Now I'm working on my first novel, and Brandon Sanderson's approach to worldbuilding has been a huge inspiration for that. You're probably not interested in an autobiography, so here's some fun Cosmere facts about me: Favorite Sanderson book: Words of Radiance (though Part Five: New Unity of Oathbringer would be my top choice if a section of a book counted) Favorite Character(s): Wayne, Kaladin, Sazed, Dalinar, Wit/Hoid, Lopen, Shallan (in that order) Roshar or Scadrial: Roshar, unless I could live specifically in Alloy of Law-era Scadrial Mistborn, Feruchemist, or Knight Radiant: Mistborn Number of times Brandon Sanderson has made me cry: TOO MANY

Oh my, I can see the comedy now... I really hope this happens in one of the next two books. Kaladin has always appeared a bit asexual to me, but I think that's more a product of his situation than anything else (because, ya know, it's a bit hard to think about sex when you're just trying to survive bridge runs, the Assassin in White, etc.). I'm not saying I think Kaladin has no interest in women, but it has been far from the first thing on his mind for almost the entirety of the series so far. Even during the scene with Shallan in the chasm, he was distracted by the immediate threat of the storm. The emotional connection between them far outweighed their physical connection, which is why I agree that Shallan belongs with Adolin instead of Kaladin (even though I shipped Shalladin for a time). I would really enjoy seeing a romantic side to Kaladin, and I believe that, so far, we've only seen the surface of the depth of devotion he could bring to a romantic relationship.

So, I tend to be a very immersive reader. The scenes of a book play out in my head like a Hollywood action film, complete with camera angles, character voices, and sound effects. Sometimes, my mind will alter or add to character appearances and voices automatically, just because it 'feels right' (even though these alterations sometimes contradict the book). One such alteration that my mind came up with was a particular speech... erm, pattern... that Pattern used. Pattern tends to enjoy humming... a lot. I believe he is even described as 'vibrating' on more than one occasion in the series. This led my mind to do something rather interesting with how Pattern pronounced s, x, and z. For example, take this phrase from Words of Radiance: "Insults in particular will be of great use to my people, as they are truths and lies combined in a quite interesting manner." When reading this sentence in Pattern's voice, my mind tended to shift to humming, vibrating, and nasal-based noises, with some of the sounds extended to emphasize the vibrating effect. Here's an attempt to write out how it sounded in my head: "Inzultzz in particular will be of great uuze to my people, azz they are truthz and liez combined in a quite interezzting manner." Another example, which is even harder to decipher (and write, sorry): "You fear nonexistence, but is not unconsciousness the same thing?" "You fear noneggziztenzz, but is not unconjjiouznezz the szame thing?" Additionally, Pattern's voice was high for a male, almost affecting the classic 'nerd' voice (pinch your nose and pretend to be smart and you'll see what I mean). However, his voice deepened a bit when in Shadesmar. I believe that my mind made this jump because his form in the Cognitive Realm better reflects his true age and nature, as opposed to the condensed version that appears in the Physical Realm. I wondered if anyone else had given Pattern a bit of the same 'vibration' effect when hearing his voice in your head? What other characters did you give vocal quirks to as you were reading?