Boarders writing a Novel Part 12.

[Arthmail]

I don't outline. I think about the work constantly as I go along, but aside from finding a name for the book and character names I'm only vaguely aware of what's going on when I start. I have an idea of the beginning and an idea of the end and that's it.

Roose Boltons Pet Leech was kind enough to read my work. There are points that I'm working on, to be sure, as world building became a bit too involved (look at this! and this! and this! over here!), but I've had a number of proof readers really enjoy the flow and how everything fits together. You don't have to architect as a gardener, but I honestly don't stop thinking about the work during the day. (Well obviously I do stop thinking about it, but I consider different avenues over and over before I return to actually writing).

And then you have characters like one of my main POVs, Salmalus. I don't know what he's going to say until its spit up on my screen, but its fucking gold. He's a funny guy. I like that sense of wonder when I'm writing, of being on an adventure even as my characters go through their story. It keeps it fresh for me.

In my science fiction novel, which just slipped past the 55k mark (I started three weeks ago), I've scaled back a great deal on world building. What is relevant to the scene I'm in, or perhaps to something coming up. There are eleven alien races that are part of my future Alliance, but do I need to talk about every one of them right away? Or can I just drop mentions when I want to and deal with them when they arrive organically? The latter has worked really well. I don't even have all of them named yet, and to be honest, I might not name them all. They fit within a framework, yes, but like all of the alien species that are members of the Federation, every one need not be mentioned.

[First of My Name]

I don't outline. I think about the work constantly as I go along, but aside from finding a name for the book and character names I'm only vaguely aware of what's going on when I start. I have an idea of the beginning and an idea of the end and that's it.

And then you have characters like one of my main POVs, Salmalus. I don't know what he's going to say until its spit up on my screen, but its fucking gold. He's a funny guy. I like that sense of wonder when I'm writing, of being on an adventure even as my characters go through their story. It keeps it fresh for me.

In my science fiction novel, which just slipped past the 55k mark (I started three weeks ago), I've scaled back a great deal on world building. What is relevant to the scene I'm in, or perhaps to something coming up. There are eleven alien races that are part of my future Alliance, but do I need to talk about every one of them right away? Or can I just drop mentions when I want to and deal with them when they arrive organically? The latter has worked really well. I don't even have all of them named yet, and to be honest, I might not name them all. They fit within a framework, yes, but like all of the alien species that are members of the Federation, every one need not be mentioned.

Salmalus sounds great :) It's terrific when your creation can keep surprising you.

I'd definitely with the later, more organical introduction then.

I outline quite extensively myself. For my last couple of projects I have each chapter plotted out beforehand. But I'm perfectly willing to adapt if a new option reveals itself during the process. One time I had a character Cantus, who was with the antagonist and was supposed to be betrayed and killed by them but while writing one of his scenes I ended up having Cantus betray his superior, resulting in the murder of his protegé, and Cantus himself ended up as an anti-hero joining the protagonists's side at the end. The story itself wasn't great by any means, IMO, but that was the first time I experienced a character determining their own story, so to speak. I loved it.

[Arthmail]

A character's fate should be their own. I don't think using King and GRRM as examples of gardeners mucking about is the best of examples. King was at his peak while snorting mountains of cocaine, and when he stopped that juice sort of dried up. Still good, no longer great. As for GRRM, I think he naturally write slower. And he had that gap period which just didn't work out - and i'll never understand why. It seems like he could have made it work instead of fucking about overseas with all of those mercenaries.

And Salmalus is pure bombast. He's a rock star.

[The Reckoner]

Got a semi science fiction semi fantasy related question. If I'm looking into course of the timeline of evolution in order to explain the presence of nonhuman races, do I need to diverge into depths of detail about the actual process, the intermediate species leading to the current races?

This is what I had planned:

The first amphibians emerged from the seas, having been drive out by the depredations of the sea serpents. From the first amphibians came the first reptiles, and from those, the Vaik. The Vaik learned to craft tools with which to defend themselves against predators. As more predators arose to fill the niche left by their predecessors, the Vaik begin forging artifact-based weaponry. Again, the predators adapt and force the Vaik to merge their artifice with magic, binding their sorcery-fueled artifacts at the cellular level. From this event emerged the first of the dragons. Among the first dragons, the Elder Dragons rose to power and robbed the Vaik of their machines, deactivating the genes within the Vaik. The Elder Dragons further enraged the Vaik by abducting certain of the Vaik to be used as incubators for the Elders' amniotes, effectively producing the first dragons since the great deactivation. These dragons were kept by the Elders as servants, and came to be revered as gods by the primitive folk.

This was pretty much inspired by a bunch of 60's/70's acid rock and space rock album covers. My goal is to create a sword and sorcery setting based on those various covers.

[SpaceChampion]

Got a semi science fiction semi fantasy related question. If I'm looking into course of the timeline of evolution in order to explain the presence of nonhuman races, do I need to diverge into depths of detail about the actual process, the intermediate species leading to the current races?

You only need as much or as little as you need to tell the story. Say what you wrote became extremely popular, and fans demanded you explain the evolution of those species. So you write just a plain encyclopedia-like essay explaining it. Most fans will hate that, because they want it in the form of a story, not an essay. If you have no story to tell with that information, best not to tell it. Only tell whatever info that forms a great story that engages your readers.

[A Highborn Maid]

Might as well use this thread to introduce myself. My name's Jack, long time lurker, relatively new poster.

I used to write when I was a kid, but I quit for a long time. I just recently took it up again after a few professors praised my technical writing on essays and such, but I'm quickly finding that fictional prose is an entirely different matter from formal writing. I feel like I have good ideas, but I'm never happy with the execution when I actually sit down and write something. I haven't tried writing a novel yet, so far just a bunch of short stories and random scenes.

There is one particular thing I'm having an issue with that I guess I was hoping some of the more experienced folks around here could help me with. How do you improve your writing? They say that everybody starts out writing crap, but I feel like I'm not seeing any improvement from project to project, it all just reads like crap to me. I do love writing and I plan to keep at it, so any advice on how I can improve would be amazing! Thanks in advance.

I would say reading is the most essential component...if you want to improve, make it your mission to read the best of the best. Googling 100 best books of the century will get you started. After that, you can broaden your horizons beyond the standard canon, but keep in mind that most fantasy is God awful schlock. Even ASOIAF barely skirts on acceptable, if only for some interesting characterizations...but if you must, forego the sub-par stuff and dig straight into high-quality writers such as Mervyn Peake, Glenn Cook etc. Other, more well-read members have made some excellent recommendation threads for that purpose, so read them, and figure out what you like best!

[The Reckoner]

@A Highborn Maid: Which of Cook's novels to you recommend? I know he's famous for his Black Company. Being a Malaz fan, I think I might enjoy Instrumentalities of the Night...

As far as reading in the genre, I found that Howard's Conan stories have the same sort of lyrical beauty, in terms of scenery descriptions, as Tolkien without all the diversions into poetry and excess walking. I also enjoyed Moorcock's Elric, so I'd recommend you give both of these a try. I am currently reading Neuromancer for the first time, and loving it. Thing is, you import these concepts and dress them as fantasy and it seems to incense the fantasy fandom...or the portion I interact with.

[Starkess]

I would say reading is the most essential component...if you want to improve, make it your mission to read the best of the best. Googling 100 best books of the century will get you started. After that, you can broaden your horizons beyond the standard canon, but keep in mind that most fantasy is God awful schlock. Even ASOIAF barely skirts on acceptable, if only for some interesting characterizations...but if you must, forego the sub-par stuff and dig straight into high-quality writers such as Mervyn Peake, Glenn Cook etc. Other, more well-read members have made some excellent recommendation threads for that purpose, so read them, and figure out what you like best!

Most everything is awful. I oppose the notion that fantasy is any worse than any other category.

[A Highborn Maid]

@A Highborn Maid: Which of Cook's novels to you recommend? I know he's famous for his Black Company. Being a Malaz fan, I think I might enjoy Instrumentalities of the Night...

As far as reading in the genre, I found that Howard's Conan stories have the same sort of lyrical beauty, in terms of scenery descriptions, as Tolkien without all the diversions into poetry and excess walking. I also enjoyed Moorcock's Elric, so I'd recommend you give both of these a try. I am currently reading Neuromancer for the first time, and loving it. Thing is, you import these concepts and dress them as fantasy and it seems to incense the fantasy fandom...or the portion I interact with.

The Tower of Fear is my favourite Glen Cook novel, though a re-read is long overdue. Moorcock is an exceptional writer, and humble to boot. Funny how those two qualities often go hand-in-hand. Gibson is a fine writer, though for sci-fi, I prefer the likes of Huxley, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury and P.K. Dick.

[The Reckoner]

I wonder if this idea is ripping too much from the Malazan series. Spoilers.

The Warrens are apparently something like the veins of an elder god. I had the idea that a particular region in my setting would have deified bizarre-looking entities, believing them to be gods. In reality, these entities are the macrophages and other immune system components that emerged from the corpse of a great old prehistoric being. The continent upon which the region is based might even by the preserved remains of said being. This idea occurred to me prior to reading Malaz...so when I got to that bit of expository worldbuilding I was like, "well shit." But...one could draw similar parallels between George's Valyria/Targaryens and Moorcock's Melnibone/Melniboneans. So I suppose that my idea is kosher, but I need outside opinion as to whether this is me ripping too much from Erikson.

[Zoë Sumra]

Happy new year, everyone - may it be a good one. :)

The Reckoner, I haven't read Malazan, but with other similar situations I think the degree of differentiation is important (only seven plotlines in existence blah blah etc.). Think about the distinctions that you can draw between your setting and the Malazan setting, and calculate from there.

[voodooqueen126]

So I am a bit of an extreme architect, writing an AU series (I have written s poems set in the 2282 Ab urbe condita to the final book set from 2422 -2426 Ab Urbe Condita.

Potential wives for

Wojciech Zygmuntowski Jagiellon (born 2280 Ab urbe Condita)

Październik 2300 Ab Urbe Condita Wojciech marries …

Any of these made up characters.

Imake of Livonia daughter of Kovals, Duke of Livonia. Descendant of Kaupo of Turaida.

Luule of Tarbatu

Lyudmyla Zasławska of Iziaslav (Ukraine)

Cheslava Ostrogska of Ostroh (Ukraine)

Nadzeya Ogińska of Viciebsk (Belarus)

Austėja Alšėniškiai of Halshany (Belarus, but Lithuanian nobility)Potential wives for

Wojciech Zygmuntowski Jagiellon

Imake of Livonia daughter of Kovals, Duke of Livonia. Descendant of Kaupo of Turaida.

Luule of Tarbatu

Lyudmyla Zasławska of Iziaslav (Ukraine)

Cheslava Ostrogska of Ostroh (Ukraine)

Nadzeya Ogińska of Viciebsk (Belarus)

Austėja Alšėniškiai of Halshany (Belarus, but Lithuanian nobility)

I am not sure which of these women would most likely influence their husband to a pro-Russian policy

[Lyger_Hayek]

All right, I'm going to look really bad here as this is my first post...well, second, as I did have another account, but I forgot the password and had to make a new one. So, I wrote a novel and self-published it. It's currently up for free on Amazon. I'd never ask any of you to pay for it, but I will humbly ask all of you to please just look at it for free and tell me what you think. I know, you got a 1000 better books waiting on your Kindles and e-readers, but I'm just asking for someone to take a peek. If you read the first line and can't take anymore, that'll be enough. Literally, the only person who has ever offered an opinion on this book is me. No outside party has seen it, I’m sure.

Personally, I think the novel is a very easy read. There is no epic world building. The writing is very simplistic. The book contains several amusing tales from my life. The first chapter is about me being fired from the Olympics (Teaser: the coach of the Cuban national archery team was partially responsible for my dismissal). Best of all, there is a very gratuitous out-of-place sex scene somewhere in this novel. And you can have it for free (expect if you read this past the 17^th, then it becomes 99 cents). Thank you all very much. :)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NS61TR6

[Bluetiger]

Welcome to the forum! ;)

[Lyger_Hayek]

^ Thanks.

I see I've reached #44 in the time travel genre. That's something. :)

[Bluetiger]

Someone knows if using names created by some other author is legal ?

[Bluetiger]

Today I've discovered that name of one of main characters in my future novel is protected by trade law as it's part of name of some f***** chemical substance.

[Bluetiger]

^ Thanks.

I see I've reached #44 in the time travel genre. That's something. :)

congratulations ;)

When I'll finish ( I hope before 2019) I will be extremly happy if someone agreeds to publish it.

Writing with feeling that no one will ever read it is very depressing :(

[Spockydog]

Someone knows if using names created by some other author is legal ?

Why would you want to do that?

[Spockydog]

Today I've discovered that name of one of main characters in my future novel is protected by trade law as it's part of name of some f***** chemical substance.

Cillit Bang?