![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Ring Two of the Great Disc!
Jan. 21st, 2024 06:51 pmI was having a difficult time coming up with something for Ring Two of the Great Disc in the Nimona fanfiction I've been writing, "Bloodlines." The Great Disc is something I made up for this story. It's the source of all magic in the world, and it is composed of five rotating, glowing rings, each segmented into many squares, each square with a different glyph or symbol on it. Our heroes have to choose which segments to hop onto in their quest to reach the center of the disc to reset the magic.
Anyway, the first ring was Linear B, a syllabic system that was used to write Mycenaean Greek. I had them hop onto the three syllables "Ni," "Mo," and "Na" in order to make it through. (Because this is a Nimona fanfic, and she's the key to everything!)
For Ring Two, I only knew that it was definitely not Latin. I was at a loss about what ancient language to use here. Hebrew? Armenian? Chinese? I couldn't use Greek, because I just did that in Ring One.
I ended up with Sanskrit, but then I was not sure how to come up with which glyphs or syllables to use. My daughter suggested that I choose a concept that was foundational to the culture or system, because only a person grounded in that system would know which things to choose.
Brilliant! I decided to use the Sanskrit for Atman, as in "the word for the true or eternal Self or the self-existent essence of each individual, which persists across multiple bodies and lifetimes." Whoah.
No pressure, but I still have three more rings to get through before they reach the center! I think I can do two more rings next chapter, plus keep up with what's happening outside the Great Disc room. Then in chapter 29 I can deal with Ring Five and maybe get into the center. One or two chapters to deal with the center, including the emotional climax of the main relationship, and then one or two chapters to wrap up the changes in the world and get our heroes situated for good!
So maybe 30 to 32 chapters in all, probably clocking in a bit over 100k words. This will be by far the longest thing I've ever written, and I've learned a lot through the process of writing it. I feel that it has definitely made me a better writer just in terms of discipline alone, but also when I think about pacing, characterizations, how many new characters to introduce and when, and so much more.
Looking back, I see obvious improvements that I could have thought of at the time, but actually I did the best I could at the time! And that's all anyone can ask for.
Anyway, the first ring was Linear B, a syllabic system that was used to write Mycenaean Greek. I had them hop onto the three syllables "Ni," "Mo," and "Na" in order to make it through. (Because this is a Nimona fanfic, and she's the key to everything!)
For Ring Two, I only knew that it was definitely not Latin. I was at a loss about what ancient language to use here. Hebrew? Armenian? Chinese? I couldn't use Greek, because I just did that in Ring One.
I ended up with Sanskrit, but then I was not sure how to come up with which glyphs or syllables to use. My daughter suggested that I choose a concept that was foundational to the culture or system, because only a person grounded in that system would know which things to choose.
Brilliant! I decided to use the Sanskrit for Atman, as in "the word for the true or eternal Self or the self-existent essence of each individual, which persists across multiple bodies and lifetimes." Whoah.
No pressure, but I still have three more rings to get through before they reach the center! I think I can do two more rings next chapter, plus keep up with what's happening outside the Great Disc room. Then in chapter 29 I can deal with Ring Five and maybe get into the center. One or two chapters to deal with the center, including the emotional climax of the main relationship, and then one or two chapters to wrap up the changes in the world and get our heroes situated for good!
So maybe 30 to 32 chapters in all, probably clocking in a bit over 100k words. This will be by far the longest thing I've ever written, and I've learned a lot through the process of writing it. I feel that it has definitely made me a better writer just in terms of discipline alone, but also when I think about pacing, characterizations, how many new characters to introduce and when, and so much more.
Looking back, I see obvious improvements that I could have thought of at the time, but actually I did the best I could at the time! And that's all anyone can ask for.
