My apologies if I've come to the wrong place, but this seemed to be a haven for those interested in the fantasy genre. I desire to write a book of my own, set in my own dimension---Alturon.

As of now, I've written a 25 page (in Word) prologue, as a voluntary episodical to pin up in my Creative class. In general, I know how to write. I know the rules of grammar and word usage back and front. But what I don't know is how to write a book. The prologue is the longest thing I've written. Now that I sit down to write the whole book (Word is up in the background with my first try on a first sentence ; ), I don't know where to start. So I ask you, what makes a good fantasy book? What pitfalls are there to avoid? Any tips on gathering my thoughts to start it off?

For those interested, I've read a large majority of the Shannara series (which tended to get very predictable after book one), and the full Lord of the Rings (including Lost Tales 1 and 2 and the Silmarillion). Also, I've read a great many books, large and small, that are not of any series (and I can't remember all of them). I'm not new to the genre, nor am I having fantasies about writing fantasy. I brainstorm nearly daily as ideas strike me, but unfortunately, none of them seem to revolve around where to start.

Thanks in advance.


Best Regards,
Lord Glathil

Read good works of fantasy -
Know what's out there and then make sure your story isn't like any of that.
Be certain your readers can't guess where you are heading
Positively breathe life into your characters by letting them have a foible or two, let them make mistakes and grow into people we don't expect them to become.
Don't stick to a straight forward tale.
Don't give all the information about a hero or villain at first glance.
Let your readers discover a few motives by actions or memories; even in letters written or snippets of self talk.

You must already know your content and the story you need to tell- One of My professors suggests keeping alternative storylines with possible tangents as well, using it as a test case.

Here's hoping you get to show off your authoring soon,

Always the best ~Ambyant

A tortured soul that finally gets his.
Something ppl relate too?

heh best tip to writting something, is to write something that you want to read. Think about all the books you've read and all the things you like about them and then use the things you like (not as in plagurise them, i mean methods not ideas, stealing ideas is WRONG) in a constructive and creative way and perhaps you might write a sucessful novel.

Tbh though, if you dont have the drive to write it, dont, it takes a LOT to write a succesful book, hell it takes a lot to write an unsuccessful one (and i should know)

thats my peace on the matter.

Thank you for the suggestions, both Jabba and Ambyant. Unfortunately, Gothic, I only know what interests myself. Other people are a mystery beyond the likes of me.

The good news is I got over my writers block on where to start, and I'm plodding along pretty steadily (it's surprising how little headway you can make with a lot of time). For my sake, I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Some parts are slow, but then it's fun when you're surprised by a good spurt. You can get upwards of two paragraphs if you're lucky =P

Thanks again.

Best Regards,
Lord Glathil

Even though you dont really need it now, I myself write fantasy (my book cracked 100,000 words just last night) and while its not much use on top of the stuff people have already given you... I find the best way to start a book, or a chapter or section of the book or whatever, is to give a teensy bit of information about the town, country or land that the main characters are in at the time. Not an entire history, but more one of those "little known facts", one that you can convenietly lead to be an introduction to your story. For instance...

"The Manor of Arrylin was a place where one often saw strangers. Though, usually, these strangers were not all that strange – the rarest was to see a knight or vassal of the Lord visiting, and even this was quite common. But the serfs, the lowest of the manor’s inhabitants, who lived, or rather, existed, as far as possible from his Lordship’s abode, rarely saw any of this sort of thing, so it was a great surprise to all of them when a something – it was the shape of a man, but wore many layers of clothes, and moved with a feline grace no man did – walked down through their homes, clad from head to toe in purple and black silk."

...is the start of the first chapter from my own book. Hopefully you can understand what I'm suggesting. Best of luck with your writing endeavours. Just dont take away my sales D: or I'll have a man waiting in your car >.>

As a side note, writing spurts are fun, arent they? I wrote about three and a half chapters last week, which is pretty good for me considering im looking for a job and other such stuff in life atm.

"Deep within the rocky ravines of the towering Aerr Mountains, a lone human traversed the dangerous slopes. His sense told him to go on; that he was close to his quarry. Yet at the same time, he knew something was wrong. Something had happened to one he sought. His aura, once clear strong, was now faint, as if buried. But the man was determined. He planned to confront whatever change had occurred head on.

The wind whistled overhead, blowing the snow of the peaks over the mild temperate of the valley. The trail had ended days ago, long before he had even found the valley. The valley was unique, a place of warmth and life among the desolate, snow-capped mountains. Above, frigid snowstorms blotted out all of man's efforts. Yet down here, the evergreens grew large and strong, and small animals were to be found in abundance.

Baron gazed at his surroundings in awe, but did not stay long. He had come with one task, and would not stop till it was accomplished. Thinking on that, he continued along the valley floor, absolutely silent and nearly invisible among the trees. He went from cluster to cluster, heading in a general direction.

Finally, he came upon the clearing of the trees. He did not know why, but he knew; this was the place. There was a feeling of majesty about the place— the tall trees seemed columns of a grand and beautiful chapel. Yet at the same time it was deceiving. The trees here were no taller here than anywhere else, nor were they special in any way. No, the place itself was no grand, but something in it was.

Spying from the shadows, he saw the person. He seemed a fount of paradox. He was neither tall nor short. His hair was neither long nor cut close. His beard was neither neatly cropped nor kept long. His face was all at once both homely and friendly, and foreign and dangerous. His eyes (he seemed to be looking out to nowhere) were what fascinated Baron the most. They seemed deep as wells, hiding both strong light and concealing a dark shade. Black tinged with gold they were; a most unusual shade. The garments he wore were quiet and unassuming, yet hid a subtle majesty. Whoever he was, the man would be welcomed at both the table of commoners and the feast of kings.

Baron, heeding a call that had pulled at him relentlessly for many years, entered the glade. Now he did not attempt any form of stealth, nor conceal his rustlings. He knew it would be futile and foolish to do so, for he knew that the stranger had learned of his coming maybe even miles ago. Instead, he simply walked up. For a short moment, he looked the stranger full in the face. Seeing the mark only his eyes knew, Baron knelt to one knee before him.

The Stranger, for his part, smiled, then frowned.

“Get up,” he said. “As much as the Master would have servants, I would not. Your coming is a harbinger of events to come, yet your presence must be voluntary if you would go with me. All past vows and oaths aside—would you come with me now? The only thing I assure you of is that where I go, there will be great danger and the potential of great reward.”
Baron thought for only a brief moment. As he stood, he said, “Master, I owe my life, more importantly, my Magic, to you and you alone. I will go. I will follow you, though the earth swallow you up and the sky take you in. Till the death, I am yours—again I swear it.”

“Then come, join me at my side. However, the past falls away. I am the Master no more. Call me... Laitar. Also, I would have you not as a servant, but as a friend. I have been gone from this realm for years. Where we go, you may be my guide, and perhaps I, yours.”"


How's that for a start? Baron is a character from the prologue, but Laitar is new. He is....

I'm just going to have to post up the whole prologue to explain it all (he's rather a complicated person ; ). Should I add it into here, or should I create a new thread? It will get long, so it might be good to have it in its own thread. However, I don't want to clutter up the forum.

Good beggining. It make me intersted and want to read more. Probably best if you dont spam up the forum though. Can you email prologue to me? my email should be in my Profile.

Anyone who is interesting in reading the prologue, please PM me or post here. I make no claims for it being expert writing; however, it's interesting to see my writing skills grow as you progress through it. It explains who the Master, Glathil, and Baron are.

By the way, thanks for the feedback on the beginning. I loved doing the dialogue for Baron and Laitar, because it makes SOME sense if you don't know their past, but only true sense if you've read the prologue. The prologue actually won't be part of the book, or at least not in the front. It contains information that I want to remain a little more mysterious in the book itself. Also, the climax of the prologue would make one think that Glathil uses that calibre of magic on a whim. On the contrary, it's a one-of-a-kind action.

Anyways, I'll send it over to you right away Felixaar.


Best Regards,
Lord Glathil

Groovy. Uh... havent gotten it, though.

o.O

Odd that. I DID send it. Accursed internet protocols most likely had it for breakfast. I'll send that right away!

Again

=P

Mmm... Breakfast.

Three tips.

1) Start in the middle. Starting in the beginning is almost always boring and you're going to struggle to keep people interested while you wind up to something.

2) Never explain anything. Honestly, the number of times I've stopped caring about a story because the author is busy trying to sell their totally unique and awesome world/character history is a very large number. Who cares if the reader is confused? You want that. Keeps them reading since they want to figure out whatever the hell is going on.

3) You're not original. Somebody, somewhere has done it before and probably done it better. This applies to nearly everyone. The trick to it is not to be unique or unexpected - people read when they know exactly what and when things will happen. The trick is to tell it in a consistant and readable style. Get feedback from people who like it to tell you what you like. After time you'll find a groove that people want to read in.


Unless you can be certain you won't get caught. Then it's mainstream entertainment.


*snrk*

Normally I avoid mentioning stuff I've done, but I do like to make a dirty joke.

In all I have done so far, what has worked best for me has been late night speed runs. Go through and write your story. Get it down on paper, and then go back and flesh it out, add those little bits of foreshadowing that make for a great second read, put in the clues that mislead people so you can surprise them, but just run with the story first and finish that, especially at a time when your not in the mood to care as much.

Yeah, that can work but if you're like me you'll just give up on polishing it off and leave it as is because it's done.

Get and abuse a beta reader. Find someone willing to near rewrite what you did and leave you to clean it up. But do find one who helps out. Every one I ever got never told me anything helpful. I mean, I am good but even I can improve on excellence.

*PS. This help is coming later on because I want my dirty joke above to have a chance to shine.