Writing Advent Calendar 2020

[Vacant]

I saw this idea on social media, but made the cardinal sin of not saving it and lost it in the depths of the internet. So I figured I’d make my own here. We’re going to have an Advent Calendar that is all about your story!

Each day a new entry will be posted. It will be a question or a writing prompt about your story, the world or its characters. Write as much or as little as you’d like. My hope is that some of this will help you explore the universe of your story and maybe even get you solidify in your mind any ideas that weren’t fully formed perhaps.

You dont have to join in on the day, you can catch up if you like or just pick any day you fancy jumping in on. So Merry Christmas all!

Day 1

“What is a famous landmark in your world? What is its name, history and does it play any significance in your narrative?”

Day 2

“Who is your Main Characters best friend? Why are they so close?”

Day 3

“What is a famous slogan, poem, quote, prophecy or song in your world?”

Day 4

"What year does your story start from?How does the calendar system work in your world?"

Day 5

“Does magic exist in your Story? If you want to, try and summarise the mechanics, or give an example that you feel uses your magic system in a creative fashion”

Day 6

“What is the preferred method of communication in your world. Do they use Ravens, telepathy, Phones or some other method?”

Day 7

“You have 5 bullet points….List a Main Characters goals throughout the story”

Day 8

“Are there any dialects, accents or other languages in your world?”

Day 9

“What is a significant event that took place between 500-100 years ago in your world's history?”

Day 10

“Choose one side character or minor antagonist. Write a short paragraph on how they impact the events of the story and the Main Characters own journey”.

Day 11

“Describe a unique invention/piece of technology that exists in your story. If there isn’t applicable, describe a made up device that your Main Character would wish for at the beginning of your story”

Day 12

“What’s a big celebration/holiday that occurs in your world?”

Day 13

"Pick the first 'cool' moment that comes to your head that involves your character. Briefly explain it and why you like it”

Day 14

"What's the education system like in your world? How was your MC's experience in it if applicable?”

Day 15

"What relationship does your Main protagonist and Antagonist share? Are they related? Is there any history between them? What makes them fated to face off in a grande finale?"

Day 16

"Are there sports played in your world? Which one is your Main Characters favourite?”

Day 17

"What is the first Paragraph in your story?”

Day 18

"Is there a theme that you want to/are exploring in your Story?"

Day 19

"If your main characters were real, what would be their favourite movies?"

Day 20

"Is there a religion that is unique to your world? Tell us its name and origins"

Day 21

"Is there a character with a good old fashioned tragic backsotry?"

Day 22

"List an Antagonists goals throughout the story"

Day 23

"Write a blurb for your first installment of your story"

Day 24

"Write down your goal for your writing in 2021 and where you plan to be in 12 months time"

[NO1SY]

This is a neat idea! I haven't really looked at my own stories for a while...

Well my most recent story takes place in 19th Century London... So nothing too exciting there! You've got the Ports in operation, Tower Bridge under construction, the first line of the London Underground being dug and built, alongside the already established Palace, Parliament, Museums, and Theatres in the more affluent central areas.

There was a lot of poverty at the time in the East-End, with a high density of people packed into the squallor of tight, run-down warrens. This spawned the Jack the Ripper murders towards the end of the century, and I think is a great setting for some eldritch magics working behind the scenes in the dark and grime, especially considering the eclectic cultures that immigrated into London at the time.

Now that I work in the Whitechapel area, I walk past a closed-down building called the Whitechapel Bell Foundary every day. This is where Big Ben, the bell in the Palace of Westminister, was recast in 1858 (and then again in 1862 after it had cracked again...). I imagine this would have been quite a prestigious industrial workplace back in the day.

The Metropolitan Police Whitechapel (H) Division, was also a key ahub of activity at the time, and interestingly, provides the earliest example of criminal profiling (according to wikipedia...), regarding the Whitechapel Murderer.

A little bit of an unconventional response to that prompt I'm afraid...

[KatDeMilo]

So I can do this and be as subtle as I like, yes? ;u; 

I want to, but its more motivation for me personally to actually draw it if I haven't told everyone everything first. I'll take all the motivation I can get...Drawing the pages after work is a tiring chore but one of love.

Day 1

“What is a famous landmark in your world? What is its name, history and does it play any significance in your narrative?”

The circle. Ah, it is significant and a landmark and does things xD

Day 2

“Who is your Main Characters best friend? Why are they so close?”

I consider myself having two main characters and they are best friends! (I know I lean more to one being the main more, but I always say two)
They sort of found each other at that crucial time and developed a strong bond that is a main focus.

[Coryn]

Neat stuff! I guess I'll hop in the ring!

Day 1:

Spoiler

Since my story has a lot to do with parallel universes, there is a particular pocket dimension that keeps reappearing as different iterations of itself. One version is sorta a home base for the heroes, while another is a major battleground in the third book. Etc, etc.

Day 2:

Spoiler

In the story, Coryn had multiple best friends. Jack, October, Colt, (and Shiro previously). They're all immortals tied together by happenstance, but ultimately they're friends because in my story immortals don't survive very long unless they have a strong support group. Otherwise they go down the "depressive vampire" route.

[Vacant]

Some cracking responses so far. Thank you guys and apologies for the delays. I've been ill as a devil for the past few days so i've posted the above and we're now all up to date

[Coryn]

Don't sweat it Vacant! We all get sick. No need to push yourself for the sake of light hearted fun.

Day 3:

Spoiler

I'll give you a prophesy, or at least an excerpt from one: "Beware the King In The Dark."

Day 4:

Spoiler

It's very relative, as there's a decent amount of time travel, but the story kicks off in a far away dimension in 2035.

Day 5:

Spoiler

I won't call it magic, bit powers in this universe work by utilizing 'enix', which is the fundamental energy that exists beneath the planck distance, and serves as the building block of reality. You basically tap into your own enix, and that allows you to do all sorts of fun nonsense.

Day 6:

Spoiler

Since my characters spend a lot of time separated across the multiverse, remote communication is pretty difficult. So characters create and keep sets of objects embued with enix that are synced to the same time signature, and work as a locater device. That way you can not only find your friend, but guarantee that they're not suddenly ten years older than you.

[Vacant]

Should've probably mentioned that I'm just editing the original post so as to not clog up the thread and recent posts :P so check back each day for a new one

[Coryn]

*cracks knuckles* Time to get back to it. Those little stale candies won't eat themselves!

Day 7

Spoiler

1. Keep the kids alive. 2. Defeat the dark god. 3. Get his powers back. 4. Kill an old friend. 5. Recruit a new friend (anything past here be spoilers)

Day 8

Spoiler

All accents are valid

Day 9

Spoiler

The immortal main characters all met each other.

Day 10

Spoiler

Fuji is a side character whose primary role in the story is that of a mentor to many of the characters, and as a mediator between some of the more strong minded ones. As the name implies, he's basically the rock upon which much of the cast is built.

Day 11

Spoiler

the enix generation rings that Alliance ships use to generate the power required to move their vessels between dimensions.

Day 12

Spoiler

All earth holidays are applicable, but I haven't created any special ones for the story.

Day 13

Spoiler

though not the first moment in the story, the first one that comes to mind is when the main character slays a sky scraper sized monster in the first book. It's the first time he really shows off his power to such a scale, and it makes clear the power dynamic between normal humans and immortals.

Day 14

Spoiler

For most of the main cast, it's more of a master g apprentice situation. There's no school for being an immortal. You just gotta stumble on to one and convince them to teach you, or have them decide to teach you on their own.

Day 15

Spoiler

It depends on the book, but the main antagonist is always someone from the main character's past in some way.

Day 16

Spoiler

I definitely made some "sports ball" joke once upon a time. But I would say that in the circles the main characters travel in, there's a lot of organized fights.

Day 17

Spoiler

Some melodramatic nonsense that is best left forgotten, lol. That's for a future draft to fix.

Day 18

Spoiler

Part of what I'm exploring is if there is something immutable about the human soul. The story asks whether you think the immortal characters who have lived for so long and try desperately to cling into their humanity are actually succeeding. What is the difference between human and something less than or more than human?

Day 19

Spoiler

This is a joke yet to be made, but they definitely all have a soft spot for various star treks

Day 20

Spoiler

Nothing I would call unique. The story has all religions being equally valid.

[Coryn]

*Cracks knuckles*

Alright, let's finish this thing off then.

Day 21

Spoiler

Not as such really, although most of my characters have a dollop of adversity in their pasts.

Day 22

Spoiler

No way to do this without spoilers :P

Day 23

Spoiler

A story in which a team of magical girls team up with an immortal to rescue the world from a dark force threatening to consume it.

Day 24

Spoiler

In 12 months I intend to be back to working on all of my own projects, and only my own projects, with War Arc way in my past.