The Next Big Writer — The Colorless Dragon Thread

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 01:13:54 +0000

Shh... I'm not here.

Finally got back into my writing. I've been writing snippets here and there all summer, but it's been difficult. This past weekend alone, I had a cold as well as pink eye and my baby brother burned his hand, poor thing. Crossing my fingers and praying there will be a turn in my luck.

The best part about being back is getting completely shredded by my very first review! lol

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (Kdot) — Thu, 26 Jul 2018 23:53:41 +0000

oh ho, look who showed up

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (amy s) — Wed, 30 May 2018 06:49:56 +0000

Come back to us when you have time to breathe

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Tue, 29 May 2018 16:59:08 +0000

Hello all. I just wanted to update everyone. I promise I'm still alive, but this year has been ridiculously difficult so far. I have been sick more times than I can count, but I recently found an allergy that will hopefully help to narrow down the issue. My grandpa who basically raised me passed a couple weeks ago and this summer is looking to be more and more insanely busy. I am still writing here and there, but I don't know how much I'll be able to visit y'all on this awesome site. I hope my hiatus isn't long, but at the moment, I really don't have an ETA.

Hugz to all my lovely writer friends.

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 00:04:54 +0000

njc wrote:

Memories are what we know them to be. Feelings are immediate and often unprocessed.

True, but feelings aren't what I mean. The shared knowledge can be influenced by other things. For instance, if the human partner only knows street slang or a certain dialect, that's all the dragon partner will know after "learning" the language. Any missing pieces or misunderstandings are shared along with the knowledge.

njc wrote:

Maybe the dragons have to learn that humans feel disgust about dragon-style hunting?

In general, humans believe that dragons are vicious beasts with no intelligence and dragons believe that humans (and all other races) are irritating and squishy pests, also with no intelligence. It's one of the reasons that dragons are so high-minded. They've never communicated with any of the other races before and have always thought they were the only beings of intelligence. The rest of the social implications will likely be dealt with in books beyond the current trilogy that I have planned (or at the very least, the last book of the trilogy).

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (njc) — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 22:16:09 +0000

Memories are what we know them to be. Feelings are immediate and often unprocessed.

Maybe the dragons have to learn that humans feel disgust about dragon-style hunting?

Maybe read =That Hideous Strength= and pay attention to how Mr. Bultitude's feelings are described?

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 21:58:12 +0000

The human side is much the same, though I can't think of any specific examples at the moment. A bonded human can only speak telepathically to their partner, so language doesn't apply here. It's the same general concept as dragons, who don't have the proper muscles for human speech (which is going to be super fun when trying to convince either race that the other is actually "civilized"). Basically, either partner has access to each other's knowledge and if that knowledge is used or accessed frequently enough, it can be "learned" by the other partner. Somehow, I don't feel like "learning" is a good word for it, though. Learning through the bond is faster than self-learning, but can be influenced by the partner's own impressions/understanding.

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (njc) — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 18:01:55 +0000

I like the idea, though I suggest it come in fits and starts as a surprise. And one of the pair pushed it away and needs to learm to let it happen.

What happens on the human side?

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Mon, 12 Mar 2018 15:36:39 +0000

I've recently been considering that my story isn't as dark as I want it to be and the antagonist isn't as scary as I want her to be. The other day, I came up with a different ending for Vierra's storyline (at least in the first book) that adds some suspense, a little "darkness", and a little more hate for the Empire. Crossing my fingers that I can make it work. In the process of laying this out, though, I also had an idea for the mechanics of the dragon-human bond. When they are together, they share knowledge telepathically. For instance, if other humans are speaking, Noi would be able to understand the language since he has access to that knowledge through Vierra. If she gets far enough away from him, however, the bond grows weak and he can no longer access her knowledge. I thought it would be neat if he could use any knowledge he has already learned vicariously through his bondmate. For instance, Vierra goes away, but since he's accessed her knowledge of language so often, he can still understand human speech. I'm not quite sure what to call this "shared learning", though.

Any thoughts? I'm happy to explain further if the above doesn't make sense. I'll blame my flu medication.

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Sat, 03 Mar 2018 18:57:49 +0000

I had enough snow to warrant a "snow day" for the college campus. Two, in fact. Between that, several Monday holidays, and the flu making its rounds, I am ridiculously behind in schoolwork all of a sudden (at least, by my standards). Luckily, I only have one week of classes left, plus finals. Then I get a break! On the flip side, though, I now have strep throat... As soon as I can actually think through this muddle of medication, I'd like to pop out a few reviews. Anyone looking to take the bait and accept my meager advice on something specific?

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (Norm d'Plume) — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 00:28:28 +0000

E. Free wrote:

Also... sense of smell. How the frack did I miss that? I think I'm gonna write myself a sticky note with all the senses listed out and slap it on my monitor so I don't forget again. Thank you for the reminder, K.

I do that but then forget to look at it. :-)

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 22:05:07 +0000

That's a good point, but I do like challenging myself with writing instead of just going the "easy" way. In this instance, it made more sense to have the human remain genderless from Dea's perspective for several reasons. First, she's a hatchling with blurry/fragmented ancestral memories. If dragons as a species had determined the difference between human genders, she may not have that information. Second, the only thing dragons in general care about when it comes to humans is how to kill them. I don't think gender would be considered important with that goal in mind. In a dragon society, males and females have equal importance, so it likely wouldn't even cross their minds to target one or the other. Third, I want to dive into species perspectives as much as possible for both my and the reader's sake, because TCD has several complex cultures and societies beyond just the dragons.

On the other hand, though, this genderless perspective does continue through one more chapter. I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't get confusing or annoying for the reader, but if I can't manage it after a few revisions, I'll nix it.

Also... sense of smell. How the frack did I miss that? I think I'm gonna write myself a sticky note with all the senses listed out and slap it on my monitor so I don't forget again. Thank you for the reminder, K.

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (Kdot) — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 08:42:51 +0000

You don't need to restrict yourself to making humans genderless if you don't want and/or it makes the story more difficult to write. I mean we can tell animal genders - the presence of mammary glands being the at-a-glance giveaway. Even without that, many species give away their genders readily (chickens, peacocks, swordtails, tarantulas etc).

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (E. Free) — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 18:47:49 +0000

Eek! I've been prodded! Dea's next chapter is up. Now I gotta wrap up Ch. 11's ending and work on a few more reviews.

Re: The Colorless Dragon Thread

null@example.com (Kdot) — Wed, 10 Jan 2018 13:33:43 +0000

*bzzt!*