Writing Fantasy

I love writing fantasy and science fiction stories. But the one thing that I hate doing is research. Why would I need to research anything for a fantasy story? A lot of stuff. It may not be apparent when you write your story but later on you might see that things don’t quite connect. Some authors are ok with things not quite connecting but not everyone is. I am one such person.

1. What Is Your Story About?

This is normally called the plot but I’m a little different. So what is happening in this story? Is your characters going on an epic quest or are we just going to see a small snippet of your fantasy world? Is this a big enough story to have a map and even languages?

J.R.R. Tolkien had not only maps of his world but even created a language for the Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit. You may not think these things matter but you may have a reader that wants these things.

2. Types of Fantasy

You may think that this should have been first but as I’ve stated before I do things a little bit different. There is a WIDE variety of fantasy out there and you can mix them as much as you want as long as you make it sound plausible. So you could have androids with unicorns as long as it is plausible then have fun with it.

Cyborg leprechauns, FYI.

They can be a thing. Anyway once you have decided what your story is about then you can decide just how fantastical you want to be. But what about my characters? Just hang on we are getting there.

3. Characters

I already have a blog post about making believable characters. So basically you just have to do the normal routine on your character and if you find something new to add into your fantasy world then go ahead and do it. You may even find out that your plot/story line whatever changes, even expands. Yea, yea whatever. But sometimes a change in the plot line is fine.

4. Writing The Story

Now the hard part begins, writing the story. Don’t stop writing until you have finished. Just remember to let yourself be creative (it’s part of writing). Yes I know this is a short redundant tutorial but hey I like writing these.

What are you still doing reading this? Go. Go write your story. It’s never going to be read if you never write it.

Character Development

Coming up with characters is as easy as pie, but coming up with BELIEVABLE characters is a whole different piece of pie. I know each writer has a different process of how they write their characters. Now I will be giving you a tour of how I do this process.

1. Motivation – I start with what motivates my character. Is my character doing this because of x, y, or z? This brings me a clear view of how their personality will be. So if my character had to rob a bank then I want to know WHY he had to.

Example: Joe Bob needed to rob the bank to pay off the mafia boss that he had borrowed money from so they don’t take their payment out of his flesh.

Once you have figured out the WHY then we can move onto the next step.

2. Background – I have had some writers tell me that they don’t do a background on their characters but I feel that having one makes my characters a little more believable and relatable (at least to me). When we have our motives then we need to know why our character feels they need to go about it that particular way.

Example: Joe Bob grew up in a bad part of town, raised by a single mom who worked as a prostitute for the mafia. He wasn’t a good student and never graduated from high school and the only job he has ever had was with the mafia. He slowly developed a drug habit and began borrowing more and more money to supply his habit.

Ok so now we know that Joe Bob hasn’t had a great life. He might have had small moments of happiness but that all depends on how much background you want to put into your characters.

3. Personality – Personality is a tough one for me. I have a tendency to give my characters snarky personalities in the beginning. But not all characters stay that way. As with each person, each character has a unique personality and quirks.

Example: Joe Bob has a Napoleon complex. He is very domineering and aggressive which was only made worse by his drug habit.

4. Description – Describing a character can be really easy or it can be extremely hard. I always look at my characters background and their motivations before I start putting their description together. To make your character more believable their physical description needs to ‘fit’ their personality.

Example: Joe Bob is very short and underweight. His hair is unwashed and a dull brown color. His eyes are a bloodshot brown color. He has track marks covering his arms.

5. Naming Your Character – Obviously Joe Bob was given a name but lets give him an official name. Now poor Joe Bob has a bad history and isn’t the greatest looking guy.

Honestly, he is completely forgettable but that’s how I want him to be. Now if we look at my poor character we know he didn’t grow up in a great neighborhood and has ties to the mafia. Joe Bob is not what his name should be. Why? Because it doesn’t fit him.

What would be a good name for my unimpressive character? A name that is equally unimpressive. I think I will call him Keith. Now that we have a name for him it is time to write his story. Either way the end for Keith is always the same, death.

If he succeeds in robbing the bank the cops shoot and kill him before he gets away. If he doesn’t succeed then the mafia makes him an example. He newspaper article never makes it to the front page, he’s relegated to page 8.

Yes poor Keith’s story is a dark path of misery but that is how I wrote him. When writing characters every piece influences the character you create. Now Keith could have had to steal the money to get his mother off the streets as a prostitute. His story all depends on you and what you make it to be.

Beta Readers

I posted on my personal Facebook page for beta readers and I was asked a very important question that I felt needed to be addressed. The question was whether or not it was a paid gig. For a beginning writer I told them my sales were not enough to actually pay them but I would give them a free copy of the book that they were beta reading for me.

I felt that I should give a bit of advice to other new authors out there. If you have beta readers who are willing to read your book free of charge that’s awesome. But it’s just good manners to give them something in return.

If you are a new writer and find someone willing to be a beta reader, always offer them a free copy of your book if they want one. I would not suggest offering money, unless you have ready cash for them. Here’s why:

1. You don’t know what your sales are going to look like.

2. If you go through Amazon you won’t get your first payment for 30-60 days.

3. Taxes and fees (may) apply to what you get. So if you price your book at $.99 then when someone buys it they get charged $1.07 (if I did my math right) and then there is a Delivery Cost if you do 70% Royalty (which pricing starts at $2.99)

Also beware your beta readers. I’m not saying all of them are bad most are really nice but there are bad apples out there. They might steal/copy your work. Or troll you once you have published your work. Yes there are some messed up people out there. Just turn on the news.

For me there is always one thing that sits in the back of my mind. These are my friends (if you are using your friends as beta readers) are they really going to give me their honest opinion or are they going to sugar coat it?

This question dogs me every time I ask someone to read something for me and it has actually stopped me a few times. But to be a successful writer you have to face your fears. To be successful at anything you have to face your fears and believe in yourself. You won’t accomplish anything if you are in the mindset that you won’t finish your book or that no one will like it.

Keep an eye out for little updates on my Facebook page and Twitter. I try to remember to update but sometimes I forget. I’m sure some of you are going to ask about my personal page but I will tell you right now that my personal page is just that, personal.

Don’t forget to get your copies of Triple Threat and  Taming An Alpha.

Look at me getting all tech savvy… Not! I learned how to use the little links button…. Yeah I’m a dork. It’s ok. Don’t hate me for my dorkiness.

No Book is Perfect

A few days ago I wrote a post about publishing. I’m sure that you will see it if you keep scrolling. But as I was *cough* procrastinating *cough* I came across a post on DeviantArt that was very true. The journal was titled Is Your Skin Too Thin? ( http://neurotype.deviantart.com/journal/Is-Your-Skin-Too-Thin-355303762 ) and it was very true.

Being an author isn’t easy. Yes I talk about being a new author but I’m not, I have published before and it didn’t go very well. People didn’t like my work or didn’t understand it. Some down right hated it. But guess what? That is ok. It made me take a look at my writing and decide how I am going to change for the better. I love the stories I write but I also have to remember that I am not going to please everyone and that just because no one bought a copy today doesn’t mean that they hate it. Sometimes it is hard to remember that being a bestselling author takes a lot of hard work and time.

Yes it takes time. Time and continual learning. Even Stephen King’s writing has changed since his very first book. Because authors are continually learning and changing. Things they wrote about two years ago may no longer be popular or the slang they used may not be used anymore. If you read a book from the 70s or 80s it is going to be different from how things are written now.

Now there are plenty of books, articles, blogs, whatever out there that tell you how to write the PERFECT book. FYI no book is perfect. I still find bloopers or misspelling or grammar mishaps even in a bestselling authors books. Is it in all of them? No. Is it their fault? Not always sometimes during the editing process things don’t get fixed or the fixed area doesn’t make it to the printing press/ebook. But not every book is perfect and not everyone is going to love your book. But as long as YOU love your book who cares.

Think of your book as your kid. Would you love your child less if he/she had flaws? I hope you said no there. No one is perfect. Except deities and sometimes they have flaws too. So please remember that just because you got a bad review or you go a couple days without any sales it doesn’t mean the end of the world.

Now if you are getting bad reviews because you sent your ‘finished’ product to Amazon/other ebook platforms before editing for spelling, grammar, etc then you need to take it as constructive criticism and seriously take another look at your manuscript. Editing is an essential part of the writing process. “But I don’t want to edit it. It is fine.” Guess what buttercup you better suck it up and double check because you may think it is fine but you need to check to make sure. Take a green/purple pen to your printed copy and start fixing. Triple Threat had hardly any edits at the beginning of it but by the time I came to the end I was slaughtering it. I even back over the beginning in a different color.

So I will end my blog here and say that if you plan on publishing your book just remember that a lot of hard work goes into it, even if you have to research some of the steps to edit and revise. It is ok if you don’t know every step. Research is your friend and your friends are sometimes even willing to give you a look at it and critique it.

AF on Writing

I can tell you that as a single mother with a full time job and a passion to become an established author that it isn’t easy. Sometimes there just isn’t time to write much less think. But as a new author myself the biggest piece of advice I can give any budding author out there is: Make time. Even if it is just a few minutes while the kid is in the bath and dinner is in the oven cooking. Just jot down the idea you had and slowly expand on this. I have QuickMemo on my phone and Nooote Free on my tablet, which come in handy when I’m at work. Having a voice recorder also works.

Another thing that as a new author that takes time and unfortunately money is finding a cover that fits your story, especially if you are self-publishing. Most readers, myself included, are cover shoppers. If the cover looks good then they will buy it. If you have the money to buy a professional cover then you can move forward a little faster in publishing. If you don’t have the money you can save up for the one you have your eye on but you risk the chance of someone else buying before you. Or you can find a temporary cover that kind of fits your story but then you risk the chances of no one buying your book. Now there are several sites where you can get premade covers and I suggest looking through those sites like you were buying a new house. Yes, that one is what you WANT but does it fit the story? Does it have everything you NEED to express? Will it draw your potential buyer it?

Yes yes I know I am a new author myself how do I know what I’m talking about. I do a lot of research. I read a lot of reviews, about writing, and different types of writing. Do I know everything? No. But I know what steps I have taken to get my book self-published. Trial and error is ok. If you make a mistake learn from it and move on. Just don’t let that mistake get you down and stop writing, editing, or publishing. Don’t let anyone or anything stop you from obtaining your goals. (Unless you are a murderer/serial killer then just don’t do it.)

AF out!