The Dance of Life and Death Foundation

To build up high you’ve got to have a sound base.

There are several ways to say this sentence;

To be stable you’ve got to be anchored.

One does not simply reach up without being grounded first.

You can see this principle everywhere. Architecture, Yoga, and even Cooking, and it basically says that if you reach too high without a stable foundation the structure will fall down.

That was my mistake doing projects most of my life, and this is why they always died. One by one, they didn’t have a sound enough grip, and once I didn’t have the motivation to keep them moving forward, they fractured and fell.

I am very passionate about my ideas, and it is always a good reason to start, but after some time, passion fades, or so I’m afraid.

So this is exactly what I try to do differently with The Dance of Life and Death, or in short, DOLD.

I’m actually very excited and proud of the foundation I’m building for it.

Now imagine a project as a tree, the tree is growing and its roots are using the ground as an anchor.

It has several roots, and whenever the tree needs to reach higher, it grows better roots before getting taller.

For instance, a week ago, I found that I couldn’t reach high enough with my characters. I took a break from writing to reinforce the character biographies root.

Since then, 8 hours a day I studied MBTI, a personality categorizing system. With it, every character will be able to be itself to its extent. And just two days ago, using MBTI, I made two new characters I am VERY excited about.

Complete opposites who complete each other.

I can’t wait to write their journey.

I use OneNote for character biographies, worldbuilding, magic system, and scenes.

Google Keep for cool names I encounter, words I like, phrases, and concepts I thought about.

Google Tasks for projects, next tasks in them, and posts I want to write.

Google Docs is where the book is, and with it, my Beta Readers can comment to their liking.

Whatsapp for my Beta readers group, which is basically me, or Beatriz the protagonist, telling everyone what's happening.

The Beta readers help a lot, with different views and perspectives they tell me everything I can't tell myself, all that I don’t see with my own eyes.

Those are several of DOLD’s roots, for now.

I could only hope to continue creating a sound enough foundation for DOLD, and I know that with enough strong roots holding a solid ground, only my imagination is the limit.

*In the picture - a project that reached so high the ground could not handle it.

My Journey Begins

Six years ago, I started reading.

Thinking about it, it’s kind of interesting. I had such a hard time expressing myself and yet haven’t found the beauty of well-thought-out words for so many years.

I remember a conversation I had with my good friend Rafael at 18 y/o; “What?!” he asked me awe-struck, “You still haven’t read Harry Potter?!”

“Nah man,” I replied, “I never got really hooked up with reading.”

“Well, you have to. You are going to be mind-blown,” he told me.

Somehow, at that moment, it seemed right. Rafa and I had a lot in common, and it was only reasonable that I’ll give it a go.

The same weekend, I borrowed my first book.

One of my best friends, Ilan, had it only in English.

Well, I always liked English better.

Bit by bit, I got REALLY into it.

I was amazed how authors can use those little specks of communication called letters to describe such complex worlds, characters, and concepts.

They got to express themselves fully, which I always found hard and frustrating to do.

At the end of that year, I finished the last Harry Potter book with joy in my heart.

Since then, I have read about 90 books and counting. My Kindle is one of my biggest sparks of joy.

Sometimes, I even manage to read 5 books at a time!

People around me know how excited I get when I talk about the book read at the moment.

Throughout this time, about a year ago, I started building a new world.

The world of my first book, my dream since falling in love with words.

Once it was established enough, just a month ago actually…

I started writing The Dance of Life and Death.

Thinking philosophy since childhood, I see how hands-on philosophy can be implemented in stories and how stories shape our world.

This is how, in my philosophical fantasy novel, I’m going to express my own philosophy.

I’m going to talk about skills I found contributing to me and the people surrounding me. I will write openly about sexuality, violence, and communication. About the fear to be who you are and about the power of it.

I am going to talk about all of that, with a beautiful story, in a new, complex, and exciting world.

In my posts, I will share with you my writing process, the difficulties I encounter, and how I overcome them. My inspirations, quotes I love from the book, and how I make such a big project come to life.

My authentic project

This is my journey, and I would love to share it with you.

I am ready.

Tal

*In the picture - me as I am, and my beloved Kindle just next to me :)