Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Towns of Iorden: a map commission

This post is Part 4 of a series to augment the Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other map commissions are gathered in my Portfolio Directory for you to explore.

Find more guest-inspired content in my Guest Directory.



Well into our project from Part 1 of this series, I worked with TOAFN creators Zach Glass and Christian Madera to finish off their map by adding the towns and rivers of Iorden.

I placed all the towns using stamps that best matched their old map of Iorden. Then I labeled everything given a name.


Check out this Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost for more maps!


Zach and Christian raised some questions about the black cacti from their previous render, and I revisited the cacti after placing all the towns.

I was hoping the black town symbols would balance out the black cacti, but the effect didn't pull through.

So these larger cacti are gray instead of black, and the faint green behind them makes the cacti seem greenish. Genius!

In comparison, the same cacti are clearly gray in the uncolored version of the map.

I traced Iorden's many rivers and lakes, differentiated the large and small rivers, and drew intricate river deltas.

Also, Zach and Christian had confessed that they rather liked the islands I mistakenly added to their first render.

I sculpted their coastlines back in, carving more natural shapes this time around. After changing the islands, I updated the map colors to reflect the new lands and shallows, and I sent the TOAFN team a render for approval.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Wrapping up the finished map...

Want to bring your own world to life? We can map your world.
You deserve a professional map you can be proud to share.

Download Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost here, or start your adventure below.






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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Your Story Has No End: a storycraft workshop

This post is part of a series to augment the Tips for Writing Fiction available for free download.

This and other writing workshops are gathered in my Workshops Directory for you to explore.

Find my world workshops in the Worldbuilding Directory.



Stories never end, and they never begin. Most adventures start in the general vicinity of danger and daring endeavor. But while we don't hear about the boring parts, they are still part of the story. Characters experience the mundane as well as the tragic, but your narrative doesn't have to start at birth and end at death.

First off, let's concede that you can't fit it all into one story. A comprehensive lifetime of moments is too much to divulge through the course of one tale. But stories never start or stop, so you can pick up the story where it gets interesting and weave in the specific details that feel necessary. If some of your favorite details don't make the cut, you can always create a side story to feature your favorite details more prominently.


Check these Tips for Writing Fiction to see more workshops!


Once you've picked a starting point for your tale, ride the plot along until there is some resolution. Something shifts, change occurs, and for better or worse, the characters find themselves in a respite after action. The story rests here. It may not feel fully ended, but stories never end. As long as the story rests, you find a stopping point.

From there, you can conclude a manuscript, or you can jump ahead to the next adventure in the storyline. In my Tales of the Known World saga, I slice each scene at the intersection of relevant and exciting, and that creates a gripping tale from start to finish. Just weave in the important information from boring events offstage.

Eventually, all stories wind down. The characters resolve their conflicts, peace settles over the land, and events grow mundane and small. Though the story continues, a boring tale set in Happily Ever After is no fun at all. Hop around to the different adventures to be had in your world--you'll find some larger than others, but all worthy tales.


That's it for this post! Check out the latest writing workshops for more.

Download Tips for Writing Fiction here, or start your adventure below.






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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

The White Forest of Iorden: a map commission

This post is Part 3 of a series to augment the Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost available for free download. Start with Part 1 here.

This and other map commissions are gathered in my Portfolio Directory for you to explore.

Find more guest-inspired content in my Guest Directory.



With the project in full swing after Part 1 of this series, I encouraged Zach and Christian to be as picky and opinionated as possible. That's the best way to get a great map that really represents the spirit of an invented world.

After we finalized the topography, I perused the TOAFN font set they'd sent me and selected a legible italic font with some cool distress around the letters. The next challenge loomed. It was time to tackle the White Forest.


Check out this Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost for more maps!


Zach and Christian envisioned huge trees for their home of the elves, with bright silvery trunks that give the forest its name.

To represent the unique strangeness of this forest, and I played with my silver embossing technique from the cover art for Broken.

I came up with some cool tree trunks in silver, but they looked weird and out of place on the map. I enlarged the forest symbols to give the trunks more room, but it still looked off.

My final solution was to apply silver embossing to the label itself. This made the silver more prevalent and obvious, helping make the tree trunks stand out as unique and beautiful, rather than awkward and unrelated to anything else on the map. Then I sent this render to the TOAFN team for feedback on the silver technique.


That's it for this post! Up Next: Adding the towns and rivers...

Want to bring your own world to life? We can map your world.
You deserve a professional map you can be proud to share.

Download Fictional Cartography by D.N.Frost here, or start your adventure below.






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Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Author's Manifesto: an inspiration directory

This post is part of a series to augment the Author's Manifesto available for free download.

This and other inspirations of mine are gathered in the Spark Directory for you to explore.

Find more content navigation in my Resource Directory.



Hello, there! Thanks for your interest in my work. My name is D.N.Frost, and I'm an author, cartographer, and world-builder. I'm also a linguist and poet, a maker and artist, a creative mentor, a gamer, a tarot reader, spiritualist, and probably a bunch of other things too.

Why do I wear so many hats? I get to know people by the stories they tell about themselves and the way they view the world. So to help you get to know me, please enjoy this collection of short tales about who I am, what I do, and why I do it.


Download my personal inspirations in the Author's Manifesto here.


All authors have reasons for writing what they write, and you're invited to learn mine. You'll hear about the inspirations that drive me to create and the beliefs that help me make sense of the world. You'll see the truth of who I am, and you'll discover the story behind my stories.

I hope my manifesto will connect me with new fans of my Tales of the Known World saga. I've provided a cheat-sheet for getting to know me, and it shares details about my thought process and ideas in the making. Plus, the process of creating the document helped me organize and clarify my various philosophies on creativity.


That's it for this post! Check out my latest inspirations for more.

Download the Author's Manifesto here, or start your adventure below.






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Thursday, September 1, 2016

Portent III of Broken: a riddle in rhyme

Portent III of Broken: by night, the golem dead arises www.DNFrost.com/prophesy #TotKW A riddle in rhyme by D.N.Frost @DNFrost13 Part of a series.
In the novel Broken, there are 24 portents fortelling the events of the unfolding saga.

Start with Portent I here.

These and other riddles in rhyme are gathered in the Portents Directory for you to explore.

Enjoy!


Token in hand, the wayward son
In riddled fog of past laid waste
Returns to masters wrong in haste

Broken by night, the golem dead
Arises live in life untraced

Spoken in fright, the homeward bound
Entreats the aid of sea defaced

Woken by sand, the keening kin
In wake of master's men disgraced
Assumes the torch for land unlaced.


Can you decode the future Tales of the Known World?

Share your interpretation!
Comment below with your take on this portent.


This prophesy for Part 4 of Broken is titled "By Night" and foretells the events of Varyan's story. Who is Varyan? Find out in the free ebook from Broken! You meet him in Chapter 1, though you already know him by another name.

Can you guess what character the wayward son and golem dead refer to?



Download the Prophesy Appendix:

The merfolk culture is built on the prophetic Gift. Nearly all men produce a portent every twenty days, and they devote their lives to interpretation. For more about the role and inner workings of prophesy, check out the Prophesy Appendix above.



Alongside every prophesy is an attribution block. This block contains a byline giving the name of the person who said the prophesy, and a dateline giving the day the prophesy was first said. Here is the attribution for this portent:
Korin Nviwa Kaedya XX
0, 4:2:2 IX
V 3:2:3:1/5, III:IX
The portent attributed here has been interpreted, and it references multiple events that culminate on an exact date. An additional verified dateline has been added to the attribution, noting the final date when the portent comes to pass.


That's it for this post! Up Next: By sea in timeless cage for wending...

For the Prophesy Appendix, enter your email above.






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