One mistake I see, I say that Chepi didn't exist before the first serial. This isn't entirely true. I had created a Chepi prototype long before, but she had a different name and somewhat different fate. I had long forgotten this character's name by the time of the serial so renamed and reinvented her.
Minor edits to links and formatting and such, though I haven't edited or checked the Haunted Theater link. Original author's note follows.
No, not really; in fact there is NOTHING that is frequently asked about Manitou Island. :) However, a few of the same questions have come up more than once, and there are some others I felt any readers might be wondering about; so, here they are, along with my answers.
WHY did you start writing this story? To put it simply...I was bored. If you'd like the longer version, then it started out with me typing out the weekly prompt words that had been given at a Yahoo! creative writing Club I was a member of but never posted in. I had been thinking, vaguely, of starting a story set in my "Manitou Island" continuity, using my old characters, as well as some new ones created just for that occasion. And so I went off and wrote what ended up as Manitou Island, Part 1. I posted it, and the next several parts, in the Club until Yahoo!'s constant errors bothered me too greatly to bother anymore; it was just as well, as very few people took any note of it there. Another one of the first locations I posted it in was a now-defunct website called KnowPost.com. There, it received a greater audience, and I continued to post it on the website rather than at Yahoo! I was still posting the story there when the website crashed forever in July 2001, losing most of its small fanbase when the users moved on to other sites. I was then already a member at Stories.com, and continued to post it here, as well as at FanFiction.net and on my own GeoCities website.
In January 2002, the first-year birthday of Manitou Island, I went to thank the people of the creative writing Club who had started it all. The founder replied to my message; nobody else took any note. :)
Why did you CONTINUE writing it? This thing is friggin' gargantuan!! I originally ended the first part of the story, posted at KP, with something along the lines of "Bla blah blabbedy blah" or some other random sound effects, along with the comment that I didn't know if I would bother to continue with the story or not. Another user quipped that "The ending needs work," and to remove the question mark after the words "To be continued?" And so I continued writing.
After a while, with that audience lost, I still continued the story even though there was little interest in it. I set the goal of one part a week, just like a regular serial. In about the space of a year and a half, I have yet to miss a week. I've made it my goal to complete this story, and I hope that I do.
How do you write each part? What sort of schedule do you stick to? The first few parts of Manitou Island were written, literally, in the space of the few hours before they were due to be posted. Eventually, as the chapters grew longer and more involved, I began to write several days in advance, at least part of the chapter a day until it was done, proofreading it afterward. A couple of times I got so caught up in things that I was about ten parts ahead of myself and had to slow down! Usually now, though, I'm at least one or two parts ahead, just in case I reach a temporary block--like I'm in right now! :P
How do you know when to end each part? Well...they each have to end, if not on a cliffhanger, then on an interesting note that at least leaves the reader wondering what's going to happen next. And so if somebody isn't about to plummet off a cliff or face a hideous monster, I still have to set up a minimum of suspense. Suffice it to say, that gets hard week after week. :)
So...why "Manitou Island"? Where did you even come up with this stuff? "Manitou Island" actually started back when I was in elementary school and early junior high. I was inspired by the Haunted Theatre, a wax museum on Mackinac Island (which, if you have followed the story, you will know "Manitou Island" was based upon). They even have their own website, where you can see pictures of the original Ocryx and Mitchi Manitou!:
http://www.mackinacisland.org/haunted/
(Please note that the website description of Ocryx is incorrect, at least based on the placard that used to be on the museum years ago. There, he was described as being part rat, not part lion.)
A close friend of mine, Mya S., and myself [sic] began work on a story called "A Nightmare On Manitou Island." It was a rather childish endeavor, which was ultimately never finished when she moved away and I was left with the story on my own. I set it aside and instead began work on a series of short stories called The Legends Of Manitou Island. These described the origins, as I saw them, of Ocryx, Mitchi Manitou, Mani, Augwak, X, and other early characters. Later on, I began a second series of stories which told about Red Bird, among others. That series was never completed, and now both sets have been scattered and lost. I still carried my memories of Manitou Island and thought about it from time to time, and when faced with the prompt words, decided to start anew. Tal Natha was created shortly before this, and Charmian and Drake were created solely for the serial.
So did you come up with all of these ideas on your own? No. Many of the characters from the serial--and even more of them from the proposed sequel--are taken directly from Ojibwa (Chippewa) mythology--although I didn't know that when I first began writing long ago. Only this year have I begun studying more of the Ojibwa culture and mythology to better understand the characters. The natives in Manitou Island are never specifically named as Ojibwa, but they do take many of their characteristics from that tribe. I don't say they are Ojibwa simply so I can take artistic license. :)
The general ideas of the Wendigoes, GeeBees, manitous, and several other races, for the most part, are adapted directly from the mythology to suit my own needs.
Which characters did you create, and which ones aren't your own? From the current serial, these are the characters which were taken from Ojibwa mythology: GeeBees (Geebis), Gitchi Manitou, Manabozho, manitous, Mitchi Manitou, Wendigoes, and the Windwalkers (the last being highly modified for the story). Ocryx alone appears to be an original creation, neither my own nor from the mythology; I got the idea of his race from the Haunted Theater, and I have no idea where they came up with him, as I have yet to come across anything remotely like him in the myths. In the sequel, many more mythological figures are slated to appear.
Where did you get the ideas for the different characters you created? By now, I don't even remember most of where I got these guys from. :) The "defining moments" for almost all of my characters are, for some reason, things I easily forget. The only character whose specific creation I can seem to recall is Dakh Natha's, and his name came to me in a dream. (Literally.)
Most characters had been created long before the story was written. Primary characters who had not existed before then are Charmian, Drake, Miss Anne, and Chepi; there may be a few more that I cannot recall, but most were already in existence. I can't even remember where, exactly, I came up with Tal Natha. I've already mentioned how some characters came from mythology, and a few were inspired by displays at the Haunted Theatre; some like Manabozho were appropriated for my story, and a few were created just for this purpose.
How long do you plan this thing to be, anyway? Who knows. :) I have no clue. For the greater part of it I wrote it merely as I went along, with no plotting ahead whatsoever; things just fell into place (or not) as they needed to. Recently, I finally wrote a rough outline of what needs to happen before the story ends, and put the events in order. There are still great gaps between them, but for the past few weeks I've followed this outline. Judging by how long the story has gone on so far, my best guess as for when it will end will be roughly around Part 100, perhaps a little more, or a little less. But this is only a vague guess.
So what will you do with it when you're done? Do you have any plans to try to get it published? No. I'll most likely set it aside, and possibly revise it a bit for errors, but that's about it. Publication of any of my items is not something I see in my future; honestly, I don't believe any of my work is good enough. There's a potential problem regarding copyright when it comes to Ocryx, as I have no idea who created him; but mainly I just don't believe there's a market for the story, even if it is well written (and I'm not saying that it is!). You can see I have very low self-confidence... :) ...but this is honestly what I believe will happen next.
After the current serial is completed, I have strong plans to start a sequel set approximately a year later. The sequel will feature more characters from the native mythology, and will focus more on Manabozho's family. I'm also suspecting it may be from multiple third-person point of view, as opposed to the singular third-person point of view of the current story. It probably will not be as long, and like the current story, it will not be published should it be completed.
That reminds me! How on Earth have you kept in ONE point of view throughout the entire story? Doesn't that get difficult? Or boring? Speaking as one who relies heavily on numerous POVs in her stories--YES! Very much so. The only part of Manitou Island told from anything other than Charmian's POV is the very first part, from Tal Natha's. Since then I've had to try very hard to maintain one POV, to better sustain the feeling of suspense. I do manage to "cheat" a bit every so often, by allowing Charmian to sense others' thoughts/feelings, but that's as far as other POVs go. It's frustrating not to be able to just directly tell what somebody is thinking, but if I were to do that, major plot points would easily be given away too soon. How do I keep exclusively in one POV? I place myself in Charmian's head--literally--and try to "see" the story as it moves along, from her eyes only. I have to "become" her in the space of time that I'm writing, and feel everything that she's feeling, think everything that she's thinking. I literally have to block out any other characters' thoughts, and view them only as Charmian could, as an outsider merely observing. It can get tedious, but by now--I'm rather used to it!
Don't you ever run out of ideas? Or just get stuck? It seems like after so many chapters, you'd just be sick of it. Yes, I do run out of ideas, and yes I do get stuck; in fact I'm stuck at the moment! And yes, occasionally I get sick of the story; that's why I tend to have several different projects going at once, so I can distract myself with one of my stories about ancient Egypt when I'm getting tired of Manitou Island. Or, I can write a short story set on the Island, while considering what should next happen in the serial. As for plain running out of steam, the rough outline mostly guarantees that won't happen, though I do still need to fill in gaping holes in the plot. Eh...wish me luck, because I'll probably need it. :)
This has not yet been proofread. If there's a question you want answered, please let me know and if I feel it belongs I'll answer it here. And thank you for indulging me in my senseless bit of hubris. :)
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