[Thinhyandoiel]

I think the "imitations of Tolkien" vary from the languages we create to the history of our worlds. Specifics will sound familiar, if not the same, if you compare them sometimes. But I'm finding that quite a few of the people I know have said that everything after Tolkien has been a poor imitation of his work, and I find that quite wrong. Because now, some writer's that I know (none from FWW, just so you know) are limiting themselves in their writing, afraid of doing this same thing, this "imitation" of a great work. And in doing so I find that they've succeeded in not imitating Tolkien, yes, but they're limiting themselves in the process. Yes, Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" might have set a standard, but to say "Oh no, my world must not have elves, that would be imitating Sir Tolkien" is just so much dwarf's bread I want to smack them.
In my opinion, if you are to use elements that have used before, ie. elves, don't imitate the specifics. However, I think some things are a given: Immortality, elvish, etc. Am I making sense? Or am I just being confusing in all my inane babble? [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
On description, like Saxony Tarn said, knowing when to go into great description is crucial. Describe the elven castle, not the house on your left. You have to let the reader take notice of what your character's are noticing. In my story, I once had my characters emerging from a forest and "there was great joy and they felt their hearts lifted" is what I had at one point. lmp pointed out that emerging from a forest just didn't merit that sort of joy, best to save that for a nice big event later on. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]