Are You Writing Serious Fantasy? II

[Lathriel]

I have been writing before I ever read LOTR and LOTR wasn't my first fantasy book. I had a whole poetry phase but I gave up since i don't think my poems are that good however I still like it when the poetry unit comes along in english class.

I don't like writing fan fiction and I have only written one. I don't like fanfiction because I want to be original.
For me starting is easy, it is the finishing that is difficult because while I write I am afraid that I would bore whoever reads it. I have only finished my short stories. However now I have written two stories that are 40 pages or a little less and they are far from being done. (That might be about 60 pages in paperback. YEEEHHH!!)

Sometimes I write in class and people ask what i am doing. I tell them I am writing a story and when I tell them that it is 40 pages long they look at me in amazement. I don' think that it is that extroadinary but they seem to think so.

I like to just start writing with no plan so whenever we have to plan in english class for our short story I silently grind my teeth. My story just comes as I am writing, I can't plan ahead.

I don't know about you guys but ideas come to me in the dozen if i had written all my ideas down i would at least have 12 different stories at one time. AAAAAHHHHHHH!

As for T.V, as long as you read lots too I don't think it would affect you too much. Maybe what would help is to get involved in music, you know play an instrument or sing. I think that playing an instruiment gives the brain exercise and therefore you can think of lots of new stuff.

I'm starting to ramble now so i should probably stop.

[Imladris]

As for T.V, as long as you read lots too I don't think it would affect you too much. Maybe what would help is to get involved in music, you know play an instrument or sing. I think that playing an instruiment gives the brain exercise and therefore you can think of lots of new stuff.

Music is a story. It tells a story. And music is stimulating to your mind. Studies have been done that says that young children who listen to the classics are smarter as they grow older, as well.

[Maeggaladiel]

I always listen to music while I write. It helps me go to my *happy place*. Just kidding. Actually, it does help me write. I write different things, depending on what music I'm listening to. Evanescense usually makes my characters get into depressing situations. Rolling Stones makes my characters tough and adventurous. It's kinda weird, actually.

And I get ideas from television and books. I don't steal the plots, but they inspire me to work on my own stories. Trips to the bookstore always make me want to write and get something published. (Although at this rate, I won't have a finished book until I'm seventy-five!)

Another thing: I have problems with writing my plots. I get this great idea for my characters, and then I'm stuck again. Once I killed off a character, and then I found that I needed her later. Somehow I resurrected her (it's fantasy, they can do that sort of thing, okay?) and now she's stuck somewhere else. I wrote this great scene for her. I loved it. It's so perfect, but now I don't know how to follow it up! Anybody else have this problem?

[Nurumaiel]

Anybody else have this problem?

Oh yes, Maeggaladiel, most assuredly I do! All the time. In fact I just recovered from being stuck for a week. I was at a very important part in the story. The conflict has just been introduced, the conflict that will be the main driving point for the story. But then... the characters fell silent. They didn't want me to do anything with them, they didn't want me to give them any dialogue... they just remained stubbornly silent.

And then just yesterday they opened their mouths. Two boys going with the soldier? How ridiculous, they cried! Our friend Barin is coming too! And then the second chapter opens up with characters never heard of... characters thousands of miles away from the people I was previously dealing with! A king and queen and their daughter, and her 'Instructor?' Where did they come from. But now they're there and the story has hope again.

EDIT: Yikes! To use a Tolkien example, I can say that one of my characters in the White Horse has told me something very unexpected. He fought in the War of the Ring, and he was Bard to King Theoden?! I'm very surprised but if that is true I suppose... it is.... I guess. These characters will never give me peace of mind!

I never force myself to write when I'm stuck. I get stuck for good when I do that. I've tried it before and good books have had to be set aside until they're rekindled in my mind. When I force myself to write when I'm confused and unwilling to write because I don't know what's happening all that gets put in the book. The book becomes confusing, forced, and boring. I give myself the opportunity to practice the virtue of patience and I wait. I think about it during the night when my imagination is working best. I think out scenes and atmospheres, and I wait for the characters to tell me what they did next. I let the characters be themselves and let them do what they want. I make them become real people and I'm their biographer. They tell me what happened; I write their history. Sometimes they fall silent and won't tell me and if I make up what they say and do they get mad at my faulty interpretations and remain silent for months.

Just wait. Take a walk and think about it, listen to music... something like that. I've mentioned that I act out my stories before, and I'll say now that it helps when I'm stuck. I'll act out a scene already written and oftentimes it will keep going and I'll know what happens next. Patience and time... that's what I need to get past the silence of my characters.

Happy writing to all!

[Imladris]

I was reading The Chronicles of Narnia and it suddenly occurred to me that you don't really get inside the character's head. You don't hear their thoughts, etc. This is, in my opinion, somewhat true in Tolkien's works as well. You certainly get to know a character better in LotR, but you don't really get inside anybody's head in that story either. So, do you prefer to write grand, historical epics where the story is being told to you, or do you prefer to write stories where there is one character and you draw the reader into his head?

[Lhundulinwen]

For me, it really depends on how many characters are in the story. Like in LOTR, at some points in the story, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas, Frodo and Sam are all in different places. If made more sense to follow each of the groups up to a certain point and then go back and pick up another group. But if a book has a main character who is withdrawn most of the time, or is alone a lot (without monologues of course) there is no way for the reader to really know what is going on during most of the story. Plus, when you're not in a character's head, you can figure out the other characters personalities without having to see it through there eyes. I once read a book where you root for the main character through most of the book, but at the end you find out she was really a horrible person and leader. It was an odd book.

But then again, when you get into a character's head, you can see where they are coming from a lot better, especially if they are acting unrational on the outside. So, if a character is say, beating up their best friend, for example, you won't know why unless you've seen the action that caused the reaction or the character tells someone why. So, in that case it would be better to be in their heads I think.

[The Mushroom]

Ooooh... I write a bit of fantasy. I guess I like writing fantasy because for me it just comes easiest. I can't see myself writing something like... oh... a historical novel for instance. That's just not what I do. I think Tolkien has influenced my writing a little but not drastically (I don't think).
Anyway, I like it when an author takes their reader "inside the head" of one of the characters. It connects the reader to that character a little more.