National Writing Month...

[Neophobic Man]

Gotta make sure I am signed up...but other than that...

I've got the charavters of my fantasy story...I've got the setting and the maps to go with it...I've got some of the backdrop and history of my fantastical setting in place...I've got some of the conflicts and developments I want to work towards...I've got the first page on paper...somehow I don't have an underlying theme or overall story concept that I need...GAH! This might not happen...

[Neophobic Man]

I kinda think I need to know the beginning and the end first...though I agree that getting there is half the fun...

[JaceSan]

You have maps?? That's more important than plot, character development, or dialogue.

[crazy a]

Yeah, it sounds like Jax is writing one of those D&D reference books or something.

"...but after many days travelling the Hollow Road, I came upon the Lair of the Lost Pup..."

And as for me...ugh. I'm still debating.

[JaceSan]

Seriously. The whole point of fantasy writing is to draw the reader into the made up world. The settings and historical backdrop that Jax mentions are important. The stories can come from that.

I'm a map geek myself, so the comment was only slightly sarcastic. If you're going to put that much effort into a story though, you should be thinking series or at least trilogy. One novel isn't enough.

Good luck to all of you. I hate writing, but I love to read.

[Branflakes]

You don't need all of that to get started Jax. [img]wink.gif[/img] Start with what you have and let the rest develop.

[Neophobic Man]

Jace, I'm always thinking in the triolgy or more mode simply because I feel that if I ever DO get something completed and published, well, I'm hoping people will want more of it so I'll be working on another installment...wishful thinking I know...

Another problem writing fantasy I've encountered in recent days is tryin to not make my story feel as though I'm just re-hashing Tolkien or George RR Martin or McCaffrey and so on...not an easy task to say the least...

[JaceSan]

That's where character development comes in. You have to make the charcaters interesting enough so the readers will care about them.

Case in point. Lusipher (of Poison Elves) is one of the most psychotic protaganists I've ever read about.

[JaceSan]

That's it. Look at all the really good fantasy books. The characters were exceptionally well developed.

Howard
Leiber
Moorcock

Give them quirks, or in the case of Tolkien, other interesting characters to interact with.

It's not easy. Which is why I'll stick to writing lab reports.

[Neophobic Man]

Gah! I'm no good in science! That's why I was an English major...I can't write lab reports! WAUGH!