Progess!

(12-6-13)
This week really flew by. I am nearly done writing the story (just need to make a few minor changes) and am going to start editing it and correcting all grammatical errors.  The book is about 22 pages long in Microsoft Word, which obviously is less than the amount of pages that will be in the actual "book" form of the story.  We've set a goal for around 11 pictures that will accompany to text, but the goal is subject to change.


~J.H. & E.F.

(12-1-13)
Thanksgiving break was very productive! Beth and I kept up to date on our progress on the book and we are right on track.  Below I've included a small excerpt from the many pages that I have written. Beth is "drafting" illustrations for specific parts of the story and all is coming along very well.

I warned you, son. I warned you not to stray too far into this childish “adventuring”.

But alas, you did not listen to your ill father, but instead, your own selfish desires.

Damn you.

Your mother would have been just as ashamed as I am.

You deserve what has come to you.

I warned you, son. I warned you.

“Father!” the prince opened his eyes, gasping for air.

Sweat dripped down the prince’s face, running into his mouth.  He wiped it away quickly, “That was a terrible nightmare…” The prince looked around in the blackness, wondering what had happened.

“W-where am I?  Am I still in the temple?”

A gust of wind and the sound of leaves rattling told the prince that he was no longer inside the temple, but instead, sitting in one of the ponds that lay outside it.

Please note that none of this writing is final and is subject the change. The story still has to be reviewed and edited according to any grammatical errors.


~J.H. & E.F.



(11-22-13)
This week was very productive. I've picked up my pace on writing the story to 3 pages (roughly) a day. I figure I'll write at least around 40 pages in Microsoft Word. as I'm not sure on  how many pages the story will be in book format, especially with pictures on the pages as well. Beth has been working on certain "styles" of drawing for the illustrations. so far, we are right on track.


~J.H. & E.F.



(11-15-13)
This week consisted of simply writing more of the story.  I can't specifically state how many "pages" I've written, as the number of pages the book will be differs from how many pages I've typed out on my laptop.  I gave Beth a copy of what I have written so far so she can begin sketching/drawing out certain scenes.


~J.H. & E.F.


(11-8-13)
Today we had a minor setback, which resulted in changing the 'style' of the story.  Writing it as a legend created many problems with writing it, so we decided to write it in a first person perspective (With some third person dialogue).  I've really stepped up how much I work on the story and I'm going to write a page per day, as it is now easier for myself to do.


~J.H. & E.F.


(11-1-13)
Today Beth and I outlined the story in more detail (We had outlined it before but we changed a lot of things.)  We decided that since the story is being told in the way of a legend, that we shouldn't get too much into character development, as it would just feel and seem awkward to both us and the reader.  The world that we decided to base the story on is going to be a "medieval" type of world.  We felt that including technology would take away from the legend feel of the world and the story.


~J.H. & E.F.


(10-27-13)
This week mainly consisted of writing out ideas for the story.  We didn't specifically settle on any particular scenes but instead Beth helped me decide on the 'style' of the writing of the story.  We spent after school Friday testing out a lot of openings for the book.  Below is an example of the opening 'page' of the book we tested out:

For each soul, there is a destiny.

For each destiny, a bond is formed with a single heart.

When both are connected, a fate is formed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darkness sometimes finds its way into the purest of hearts.

Those hearts, and those bonded with them, were not meant to meet.

When both combine, destinies are intertwined.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once connected, the most innocent can become corrupted.

With a single destiny, hundreds can become tainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A legend tells of a prince and his corrupted destiny to claim his heart.

A tale of deception and misfortune,

A soul is taken, and in return, a life is changed.

~J.H. & E.F.

(10-18-13)
This week was a rather slow week.  Both Beth and I got some parts of the story finished, but not as much as we could have.  Beth has been practicing drawing dragons a lot lately and her work is noticeably improving.  I've been looking up specific techniques for writing and writing short, 'practice stories' to improve my writing skills.    Things are looking well as of now.  Although a bit more work is obviously needed to get this story bounded and ready to read.  Beth is coming over for the next few days so we can catch up on what each of us have completed for the story.

Below is another small excerpt from the story.  We don't want to give away too much!

2 scarlet wings shadowed over the village.

“I must do what must be done”.

A burst of red, an eternity of guilt unleashed from the mouth of the beast.

Blood stained the ground where the bodies of those whose souls were taken lie.

A living hell unleashed for a simple heart to be tamed.

30 souls occupy the darkness now,

70 more will soon follow.

“N-no, I must not regret anything!  It’s for the good of my heart!  T-that isn't selfish, is it?  I need these souls.”

The questions pounced one after the other as each strike of the bell rang louder and louder.

Midnight had come.

~J.H. & E.F.

(10-11-13)
This week mainly consisted of deciding on the structure of the story itself (How the story is told, etc.)  We decided to have an illustration accompany the text every other page.  Each page will consist of about 2 or 3 paragraphs.  We also decided on a main 'idea' for the cover illustration.  We've decided to write the story in a 3rd person perspective, as a legend would be told.  Also, the characters are not to be named, as it would take away from the 'legend' feel of the story.

~J.H. & E.F.


(10-4-13)
As of today, we have officially begun creating the actual story.  Beth went through numerous sketches of character angles for specific scenes of the story.  I decided to not necessarily write the story in the order of how things happen, rather, write specific parts and connect it all after it's all finished.  Below is an excerpt from the scene where the prince encounters the dragon.

"The walls were aligned with marble, brilliant designs of grey and black aligned the pillars on all four corners of the room.

In the center, a single pedestal stood, containing a glowing specter.

“The heart.” The Prince whispered aloud.

The prince ran to the glowing darkness.

“You are him?”

A voice echoed off the slippery walls of the palace.

“W-who are you?”

“That is of no importance to you.  You’re here to take the heart, yes?”

“Y-yes…  I was told it was the greatest treasure of all; nothing could match its price.”

“You are correct, but all is not what it seems.  This heart can never leave this temple physically; you must hold it within your soul.”

“Well then I haven’t any need for something so worthless.”

“You will take it!”

A gust of wind blew from behind the prince, causing him to stumble into the pedestal.

“You’re the chosen one of this 100^th year, now you shall fulfill your purpose!”

A blinding flash illuminated the dark palace, and a faint scream was engulfed by the mountains.

This is only a small part of what was written today, and is only a rough draft.  Everything is subject to change and may not resemble this in the final product.  We haven't tied together all of the strings of the story, which is why the writing seems rather "loose".  We've also yet to establish if we want dialogue to be common in the story, or just to use it when needed, which is why there is a good amount of dialogue in this excerpt.

~J.H. & E.F.

(9-23-13)
Today we wrote the intro to the story and went through many ideas for the plot.  We contemplated on having the main character be a dragon which we realized would be hard to work with. We settled on having the main character's destiny becoming "corrupted" and having the ending be a sort of unexpected twist.  We had a few slight disagreements but eventually settled on a "stable" story/plot.

~J.H. & E.F.


(9-16-13)
Beth has started sketching some ideas for the story!  I have also began brainstorming specific parts of the story.

~J.H. & E.F.


(9-13-13)
So we've started!

So far we have outlined the main idea of the story and found a website to easily get a book bound!  We plan to start writing and drawing for the story on Monday!  

~J.H. & E.F.