Sweet Chaos

     When you begin writing a battle scene, do you ever get impatient and skip over details because you're anxious to describe the last few moments of the skirmish? I know that's what I catch myself doing. That means going back over the entire scene and doing a super duper makeover on it. Yet, for

Random Poetry and Edvard Grieg

A Laughing Matter
The fire's dying embers crackle
A deed is to of been done
The dire memories shackle the day before
All in creed of the pun

It is safe to say all has settled
Except for the mind of the wight
The strafe of the cantle has been dismantled
Only by the silence of night

~Ainion Veron Elwes~

Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg was born in Norway on June 15, 1843 and is arguably considered to be the greatest Norwegian composer. Being taught by his mother, Edvard began to learn how to play piano at the age of 6. Throughout his childhood, Edvard went to many schools where he studied music. He often brought samples of his music to class.

Over his life, Edvard wrote many pieces, including several sonatas, suites and a single piano concerto. The Piano Concerto in A minor (Opus 16), was, next to his Peer Gynt suite, his most successful work. I personally have found much interest in the concerto being that it is a highly chordal piece. Instead of focusing on being "note-y," as Mozart's music has been accused of, Edvard built on chords, or as many musicians will call it "Horizontal Melody." This style of horizontal melody was very specific to "Romantic" music of the time, as it was breaking away from classical scales and baroque ornaments. Pyotr Tchaikovsky thought very highly of Grieg's music, praising it's beauty, originality and warmth.

~Josh A. Algode~

Character Creation and Organization

     You need to create a well-rounded character for your story, right? But when you have in previous stories, the character ends up having bits of important information missing that you have to either go back and add or reveal later on in the story. Start with a name, age, physical appearance. Do they walk or dress differently? Be very thorough in every part of the description. Where are they from? Next, do they talk with an accent or do they know different languages? If so, list the

Series

     What sometimes happens in a series of 4+ books is that the first book has all the action in it so that the second and third ones are completely boring, then the fourth has the rest of the action(but only to hurriedly wrap up the series). How to fix that issue would be the obvious: to plan the books out more thoroughly and even out all of the action scenes.

Chord Progressions

Chord Progressions are the back bone of almost all music. Organ, Guitar, Piano and many other heterophonic(1) and polyphonic(2) instruments. A chord progression is a series of musical chords gives structure to a piece by either establishing or contradicting tonality(3) founded on a key signature(4), root(5) or tonic chord(6).

The thing I find most beautiful about chord progressions is the way they can really jerk someones emotions around. One of my most favorite pieces that strongly involves the use of chords is Ludwig von Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C# minor, Op. 27, No. 2 also widely known as his "Moonlight Sonata." Throughout the sonata, although it is based in a minor key, some optimism shines through. This is due to the use of major chords within the progression... (paused, will finish later).

Emotions

     For the past several months, my home-life has been horrible. Rather than helping me to write, it has been stressing me out to the point where I couldn't write. So lately, I've been having to find ways around that by asking myself questions and incorporating my answers into my stories so that I can actually start writing daily again.

Non-Writing Days

     Some days (like today), I prefer to just sit back and relax instead of trying to finish a chapter or start a new story. Instead, I end up simply writing down any thoughts that come to mind and play them out in my head to see if those ideas will actually take me anywhere. If they do, I make another note of that and get back to it the following day.
     Today, I added some new updates to the blog including two new pages that I hope help out. There are also several links that I've put up for viewing when there are days in which you guys get tired of visiting this one. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

~Aris~

List of Synonyms I Use Often

Word - SynonymTravel - Odyssey
Time - Century
Book - Novella
Castle - Palace
Setting - Scene
Climax - Apogee
Introduction - Debut
Ending - Conclusion
Soldiers - Knights
Princess - M'Lady
King - Sovereign

Dwelling Deeper

     So far, I haven't talked about what sort of genres I prefer writing. The main genre I write in is, of course, fantasy. I've alway been fascinated by the different mythical creatures, kingdoms, wars, and such which leads to the time era. The Medieval Ages is what I am completely and utterly obsessed with. I'm pretty sure you've read at least a few stories about knights, dragons, and damsels in distress. Well, I don't write those kind. I'm into a more "realistic" Medieval fantasy story that hosts councils, wars, mysterious magical objects, and a variety of races and mythical creatures. It's not always as easy writing one as it is to pick up a fantasy book and read it. Writing some days is a breeze while on others it's quite a chore.

Sketching Day

     Occasionally and very rarely, I get urges to bring out my sketch diary and just draw. I won't be posting any here for a while, and none of them are original (being found on the internet and sketched from the computer screen to paper). However, I'm not that good at drawing so I'm just practicing basic things until I get better. Usually I sketch dragons, real-life animals, and nature objects. I have had no luck whatsoever at drawing human beings, lol, but I'm not too worried about that. As long as I can draw something accurately, I'm pretty pleased. So for all of you natural artists out there, don't waste your talents. :)

~Aris~

Basic Tips

1. Wherever you go, always remember to take a small, pocket-sized notebook and a pen.
2. Before you go to bed, make sure that a notebook and pen are within reach. As soon as you wake up, write down as much of your dream(s) as you can remember.
3. Try doing word scrambles. It will help you create character names when you can't come up with any.
4. If you read a book and have the urge to write afterwards, put the book down and sit in silence for 5-10 minutes before you start writing. You'll be relaxed instead of hyped up after reading that battle scene. You'll be able to think clearly about where you want to take your characters next. Same goes for movies.
5. Create a short biography for your characters. It will help you fill in any gaps about their history, keep track of each character, and to plan the rest of your story, book, etc.

~Aris~

A Rainy Day

The grass became a lake as the rain fled from the sky. No one dared leaving their house in fear of drowning. Only I, the King of the Sea, denounced the awesome power of the mighty rivers formed. My people spread across the land and thrived, all to be washed away by the next day's sunlight.

~Josh A. Algode~

Writer's Block

     There is always that moment when you're writing a story, come to a dead end, and just put down your pen(cil) in defeat until another day. Well, you don't have to give up for the day. Sleep brings thoughts and ideas as well but do you have trouble with remembering every detail of your dreams? So that doesn't help much either, does it? The best advice I can give is to: A) surf the Internet for nature, people, suburban, etc pictures that you connect with. Next, pick up that pen(cil) and start describing in vivid detail what you see. Don't push yourself. The words to describe the picture should come a little easier as you get started. B) There is free writing where you write down everything you're thinking nonstop for as long as you'd like. Even if you have nothing to say, you write "I have nothing to say here," and continue on.

Hello and Welcome!

Hello, and as my sister, Aris, has stated, welcome. My name is Joshua Augustine Algode, but I usually go by Josh A. Algode or Josh. I started playing music when I was four and wrote my first full song when I was seven. I currently am deeply into composing and performing music. I have learned to play the piano, flute, cello, oboe and I also sing bass II (lyrical basso profundo). I will be alongside Aris as an author of this blog.

~Josh A. Algode~