Blaugust Reborn 2018

Creating a Fantasy World & Plotting a Novel Series

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BlaugustRebornLogo2018Ok, so I know this week was supposed be about generating topics for your blog that you can sustain yourself for the rest of the event.  So far I haven’t put out but one post outlining topics like this.  My brain has been focused largely on writing fantasy over the last few months and it has been hard to break out of that.  Here is what I’ve done for this post though is slap together eleven tips I’ve learned about writing fantasy and writing in general.

Have you ever asked yourself what it’s like to write a novel, or how one goes about it?  So have I, and I’ve learned that each has to find there own way of bringing the inner creative writer to paper.

I’ve been working on a novel series for several years now, upwards of the last seven years but I haven’t spent all of those years just writing.  I’ve currently finished two books in my Brothers Three series and I’m currently half way through the third book.  This is a high fantasy novel series that honestly started almost twenty years ago with a note I wrote down.  It was just an idea, and it’s morphed and changed over the years into an actual book.  One day I do hope to be a published author and will continue to strive for that dream.

One thing out of this process I learned a long time ago was planning goes a long way in being successful when plotting a story, or any thing you write.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a passion and love for writing, and seven almost eight years ago was when I really started pushing to one day have my material published.  Honestly, I can’t even take credit for the idea of seeking a publisher, as my wife is the one who talked me into it.

Currently I am doing a lot of character development for book three and as I said before…..it has been a lot of planning, character plotting, long nights of staring at a blank screen with nothing other then a hot cup of coffee, or twelve that gets accomplished. One might ask, after so long do you ever feel like giving up or even quitting?  The honest answer is YES and NO….yes it’s hard to find time to write when you work in another full time job, have three children, a wife, and other responsibilities that come before a hobby. At times it is frustrating when you hit a wall and have absolutely no words, direction, or even a faint hint of where you need to go next in the story you so passionately want to get finished.

The biggest thing that helps keep me grounded in the perspective of writing, is my wife and three children!  My wife continually gives me feedback on my writing, both good and sometimes BAD, and these stories were originally birthed for my children as bedtime stories.  This idea kept in mind has pulled me through frustration, and the itch to quit at times and has allowed me to plot out the first five books in the series.  Having finished two of the books so far I have noticed the light at the end of the tunnel syndrome…..and getting to see this story come to life on the pages is quite overwhelming!

So, I write all this to say, if you are a writer of whatever genre then here are some writing tips I’ve learned along the way.  These have come from my own mistakes, my successes, and even mentors I’ve had over the years of how to put things in perspective and keep yourself on track!

Evaluate the Writing Style

If you have a love for writing, then you may find yourself slave to the writing itself. Remember you are the one doing the writing, and it is possible to create a schedule that doesn’t engulf your entire life around writing.  You do have a life, so go live it!  If writing is a job you wish to pursue and have as your job in life, then dedicate time to it, learn new ways of writing, evaluate how you come about writing.  Try writing in different areas away from the home.  A change in scenery can be a world changer for a writer as it helps open the creative flow.

Getting Ideas on Paper  

Do you have some good ideas or a potential story brewing in your head?  Sit down and make sure you write those ideas out on paper.  Typically you would have a character, or character in mind and a place in which these ideas would evolve over time.  They would be centered around some major events, like a war or even someones death.  Once you have the main ideas or plot of the story written out, start asking simple questions, like, “why?” “when did this happen?” “how?” and move onto more detailed questions like, “How did this affect the lands?” “Who is to take blame for this event?” etc…. Once you have these ideas sorted out, pass them onto a friend, fellow writer, etc to pick apart and ask them for a honest opinion.  In the end, this process can help you determine the the major plot lines of the story, where will the main focus of characters and development be, and even sub-plot lines.  All these things added together help you make the story become whole.

Making Your World and Places Come to Life

Where will your fantasy creations live? Is this a made up world that you’ve created, or is this some parallel universe with mystical creatures full of big tales to be told?  There are absolutely no limits on what the imagination can create.  Decide what places your story will be centered around and take into note the previous of letting another review your ideas. Go into detail when creating your world….the races, animals, plants, rivers, lakes, you name it and make sure you list it.

Keep a Notebook and Write it All Down

Never ever leave the house without your notebook.  You never know when you will have this amazing idea pop into your head for the fantasy novel to come.  Write it all down: Your main character, the major events, the kind of world it is, you name it, because all these ideas will come together and firm the story up.  Trust me it’s awful to have this fantastic idea pop into your head and find that you have absolutely nothing to write it down on.

Don’t Be Afraid to Change Things 

Always, Always, Always, take a look at the major underlying plot that everything centers around. Make sure that everything you’ve created centers around this plot because it’s easy to wonder off into a wild rabbit hole. Look at the major event or events and don’t be afraid to mold it, change it, as you have to make this event believable to the readers.  This is what your entire novel hinges on and if the plot line doesn’t make sense, or doesn’t hold the readers attention… well… I think we know what happens next.  Work on other characters who help build the plot line and your protagonist on his/her journey. Not every hero needs to be a loner and he/she could vary in anyway you want.  They may have a family, they may be cold at heart and emotionless until someone comes along they care about.  You name it! Don’t make your story revolve only around your character. Show the feelings of the people around your protagonist and how their decisions affect them. Don’t make a story of one person; make a story about the journey of one person.  Learn how to join sub plots and other events to the major plot line. These could be a birth of a child, or as in my book the birth of multiple children based around a prophecy.  These events will cause your story to have a sense of feeling, emotion, and building that brings the reader closer to the characters and story.  Make sure your characters grow over time in the stories, as the experiences should help mold and make them into who they are to become. After pulling things together, don’t be afraid to make changes (subtle or drastic) to your characters, and story. Make obstacles in your character’s life. Not everything will be easy for him/her. Make sure you’re writing a fantasy novel, not a walk in the park that becomes boring to read.

Creating Your Visual Fantasy World 

This is one of my favorite things to do in bringing a story to a visual understanding!  Grab a piece of paper and a pencil. It’s time to start drawing out what you see in your head. Do a ton of research on land, rivers, map creation etc… If you’re planning to build a world from root, start drawing simple lines. You can make seas, oceans, lakes, mountains, and other strange factors in your world. Draw the lines of kingdom’s lands and empires. Put post-its and other notes on your map to locate some events. Remember: your map doesn’t have to be well made. Be free to use any materials you like, and have fun!

Deep Rooted History 

Do you plan on having a deep history and timeline in your story? Plot out a chronology of your story as this could help aid the reader and bring them closer to the events going on. Plot out the events that appear in your book, or just stories of other events that will indirectly explain the ones in your plot. Don’t think it’s a waste of time to build a world which, for the most part, won’t appear in the book. It’s important for the reader to know that the writer knows what he’s talking about and isn’t putting random things on the pages of his/her book. Make your characters tell a legend or mention some event that you have carefully planned out. As the writer, you have to know something that the reader’s don’t….and always make sure you know what you’re talking about.

Character Development 

Make sure you know the main character or characters, don’t just make a place holder in the story with a random name laying on the pages.  Plan everything about your character. This is where you put some deep well thought out time and attention into the story. Does he/she have fears (death, darkness)? Where/when was he/she born? Under which circumstances? Do they have siblings? Do they have someone they love? Be free as this is your story!

Things About your World 

Remember that chronology planning you read about earlier?  Not it’s time to take it a step further…. Be as detailed as you possibly can with the imagination you have!  What kind of homes do people live in? Jobs? Types of clothing? Government systems? Do they have schools, or some type of training grounds soldiers are sent to? Family bloodlines that rule the kingdoms, is there magic in the land, or some dark evil threatening the lands?  Can women fight in war too, or is it only for men? Are there any fantasy creatures roaming the lands? Don’t leave anything out as this will probably be the biggest step in your story. The base will be here. Everything you’ll come up with needs to be here. Don’t worry if you’re taking too long writing everything out. A good story needs to have a solid foundation that covers every base you could think of.

Plotting and Planning

This is one of the most time consuming and sometimes frustrating step in the process. Making the chapters of your story, and tying everything into itself. Define what kind of writer you will be. What will be the length of your chapters and book or books? Will you write in third or first person or take on the challenge of both?  Will you describe your characters and surroundings to make the story more personal to the reader, will you not care and just want to make an epic legend? This is one of those steps you can’t be afraid to change and touch multiple times, and sometimes with a very critical eye!  Reverse the roles at times and look at it from a readers standpoint!  I think I have spent more time plotting my books out then writing the stories and honestly that is what makes for a deep and rich story.  I spent the first few moths plotting out a simple book chart that lists (Years, Major Plot, Minor Plot, Characters, Etc…)  It is my go to before I ever even think of writing at times. Remember don’t be afraid to create, change, and plan!

Let Others Review 

Don’t forget to reach out to others and let them read your work. Print out your finished product and hand out multiple copies to people who may enjoy reading your novel. It can be a few close friends at first, but once you start getting feedback and start building confidence, you might want to consider trying to publish.  Accept any criticisms, good and bad as they will make you a better writer in the future. Fix anything that your editor tells you. Believe that you can be published if you put your mind to it, but try not to hope too strongly for your book to be published, since you could end up very depressed if all doesn’t go to plan. If your work is rejected by one editor, edit the story or send it to a different publisher.  Remember what drives you to write, and don’t lose sight of why you love doing this.  It’s easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel and get caught up in the moment of a job, instead of the passion for writing!

Creating the Inner Workings of a Fantasy Novel

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I’m doing something a little different again for today’s Blaugust post!  Personally I have been writing a ton on my own novel series, and I wanted to share some fun tips I’ve learned along the way about writing in the fantasy genre.

Writing a fantasy novel is great fun – you can literally let your imagination run wild.  It’s a little different when writing a novel set in the real world as unlike books set in reality where you can use real life as examples, you’ll have to invent everything in your new fantasy world.  Do you enjoy writing, are you working on a fantasy novel, or have you had the notion to start one?  I hope the next few minutes while reading this helps you no matter what stage you might be in for writing a novel.

One of the best things you could do to kickstart things is read as many classics as you can find!  No matter the type of book you begin writing this will give you a good idea about what works and what doesn’t.  Remember though that reading other peoples works is something to help with idea spawning and relax your mind.  You must take note not to simply copy the ideas you’ve read from any of the good old classics or other pieces of work you find.  If you find yourself dealing with elves, half-lings and orcs whilst being a reluctant hero on a quest to destroy a powerful item, it’s probably best to scrap it and start again. It is true that all stories are a combination of those the reader has encountered over the years. But, you should always try to find an original angle and it certainly should not be obvious what the source material was. Reading the classics will also allow you to discover how well-crafted characters interact with each other as the story progresses.

Tip 1: Use established myths and legends as the basis for your fantasy world. Think about what your fantasy world might be like.  Do your studying and find out what your world and culture is most like….Is it Celtic, Roman, a medieval world or a blend of multiple cultures with your own twist on it? Once you’ve chosen, go and read about the myths and legends that relate to those cultures. The mythological creatures and characters and their stories will give you a great basis for your new world.

Tip 2: Get to know your imaginary world – you need to be able to describe it in detail if you are going to convince your readers, for the duration of the book at least, that it exists. Be thorough and detail everything you can possibly imagine about the world you are creating.

  • Physical – what does your fantasy world look like? Think about and make a note of:
    • the colour of the sky
    • what other planets can be seen from the surface
    • whether the air is breathable
    • what the plants look like
    • what creatures live there
    • whether there are seas
    • what the landscape looks like
    • futuristic world or something older
  • Residents – decide who lives in your newly formed fantasy world. You should spend time thinking about how they look, what they eat, how they move, whether they need sleep, how they speak to one another etc…
  • Society – what kind of society exists? Do they need money to buy things? Is there a complex system of politics they follow? Do they have a police force, a king or president? Is there a religion?
  • Special powers/magic – Do the residents have any special powers or use magic? If so, what are they and why do they exist? Does everyone have use of them or only certain people?

Tip 3: Make your characters believable. This is one of the most essential parts of the book if you want to hook and keep readers interested in the story. A great way to achieve this is to apply logic to every character in every fantasy world you create. This means creating a set of rules that apply to the world and the character. The rules can be based on either real life or they can be simply invented by you.  Remember if you are creating the rules of the world, don’t let a BOX hold you back from being creative.  Sometimes creating our own ways is just the push we need to make that next step in our creative writing.

Tip 4: Make sure you keep careful notes of all the details you invent for your new fantasy world. This will help you maintain continuity throughout the novel. There are many ways of doing this, some writers like to have a set of cards with the details on, others set up spreadsheets; so play around with different systems to find one that suits you the best.  I personally use a book mapping chart I created in excel that helps me track all major parts of the book I need.  I hope these few steps help you get started, or give an idea of what steps to take next in writing your new fantasy novel!

Remember, have fun!! That is the first and foremost thing I can say when writing… Have Fun and lots of it!

Writing Something a Bit Different – Stranger Things Season 2

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BlaugustRebornLogo2018Hello again fellow bloggers!

I can’t believe we are almost wrapping up with our first week of Blaugust already.  Today’s post is a bit off from my normal advice type write up as I just felt like doing something different.

This post may not be completely directed towards making a better blog, or writing in a more creative way….but it’s about something I love and have a passion for and that’s great quality Sci-Fi / Horror that sucks you into the show!

My best advice for you all is if you want to write about something then jump in and do it.  Don’t worry about whether you think someone will read it or not, because I can almost guarantee you someone out there will enjoy it.  Stepping out and writing something you enjoy and are passionate about makes a world of difference as the readers pick up on that.

I meant to do a review of this show months ago when it came out, and completely forgot about it……so here is my review of Stranger Things Season 2!  If you have never seen the show then you are missing out!

Stranger Things Season 2 Trailer

 

With the Sci-Fi / Horror genre it is already a tough market and the first season of Stranger Things did it beautifully.  Click here to see my review on Stranger Things season one.  Even though season one was a massive success it doesn’t guarantee that the writers can reproduce that for future seasons.  With excellence and a massive crowd following comes the pressure and expectation to deliver something not only equal but surpass what you did the previous year.

With all the perfect that season one was, it was hard to believe that season two could ever live up to that standard or even come close to being better.  Stranger Things Season 2 had so many things working against it, including some saying that the ambiguous ending in season one was the perfect place to end the show.

The Duffer brothers had a huge task ahead of them and they chose to ignore all the naysayers and jumped right in and started working hard.  They have an insane universe they have built and one that the fans can’t get enough of and that is what make this show so good.  Stranger Things Season 2 was an absolute hit with the fans as it continues to build upon the rich story, incredible cast and expands the world of Hawkins into an epic great of it’s time.

What has made this show a success so far and why do the mix of kids they have playing these parts work so well?  It’s extremely rare for a series like this, especially one dealing with kids, to dive deep into the mental aspect of what going through a traumatic event really looks like.  The Duffer brothers do this so well though as from a shows standpoint it would just be easier to pretend like the events with the Demogorgon, Eleven’s disappearance, and Barb’s lack of justice didn’t happen; forgetting all of those essential stories would have been simpler, but not nearly as compelling.

The writers did an amazing job of adding a ton of depth to the story and characters this season.  Right from the beginning, we know that there’s something not quite right with Will…one of the main characters, who was stuck in another dimension for most of Season one. His classmates call him “zombie boy,” since they all believed he was dead and now he is just the weird kid that got lost in the woods. For a kid who went through what Will did, this isn’t an easy thing to hear or live every day at school now.

All the boys are back in season two again with a lot more screen time which is always great as we get to learn a lot more about each of them this season.  Dustin is still my favorite character out of the crazy boy club and a close second is Mike’s character.  Though Mike this season is really struggling with Eleven’s disappearance and the actor does a great job of showing the mental wear and tear it’s causing him.

It wouldn’t be a new season of the show without some new blood added to the mix and Maxine (Sadie Sink) or Max as she calls herself in the show is just what the show needed.  She gives the boys a tussle for their money in this season and quickly becomes a part of the group.  They added a few others to the mix but Max is really the one that stood out to the most for the story and character development.  Eleven also makes her return and the Duffer brothers didn’t disappoint one bit with her entrance back to the screen. Again, the Duffer Brothers are expanding the Stranger Things universe beyond the confines of Hawkins, so expect to journey to new locations.

So what about that giant monster in the trailers….what the heck is that thing?  Yeah, it’s scary and huge and makes the season one Demogorgon look like a teddy bear. This ominous shadowy demon is the main antagonist, and let’s just say the gang has their hands full in dealing with this crazy creature. The Upside Down is alive and well here, but with a villain this big, more of Hawkins is getting pulled into the madness.

One of the great parts of this season that makes it so captivating is it’s not just physical dangers lurking around every corner.  It’s the mental aspect that draws you in that are played so well by the kids and parents….it’s all the stress points in the show that make you sit on the edge of your seat and wonder whats next.  Though this season is a massive success it also has it’s faults as well, and there are moments when the tone of the show changes abruptly which I thought hurt certain episodes.  Even though the show does have some hiccups and strange pace in places it was overall a favorite in my book. I can’t wait for season three and what the Duffer brothers are bringing to the screen.