Writing a Fantasy Story

[Temotei]

Does anybody have tips for writing a long story (book-length)?

The setting is basically D&D Greyhawk, except every place, person, and event will be my own. The similarities are in the combat abilities of characters, utility abilities of characters, and magic items and such. Deities will also be created by myself.

I only have half a page now, since I basically wrote those paragraphs and revised them over and over again until they got better, but I hope to get a lot of work done in the summer.

So...any tips or ideas? Warnings? I'll take anything. :smallsmile:

[Teutonic Knight]

You might want to move this Arts and Crafts, as this is about how to write a book, and not a specific book. I believe part of the Arts and Crafts subheading is "creative writing".

Second, I am also doing this, attempting to write, and I have never been able to finish more than a couple chapters, cause I get bored. I plan too far ahead, and I get impatient at how slow my own chapters are coming out. So my advice is, plan a chapter at a time, or you'll be rushing to get to your favorite parts and leave a lot of things hanging.

[Atelm]

I've been writing a fantasy story of my own on and off since 2006, and written so many revisions of just the first chapter, for example, that it's not even funny.

My advice is as follows:

1) Keep notes of everything you can think of relating to the project; characters, plot, timeline or sequence of events in the novel, the world of the novel, etc. This helps keep things organized, and is a tredendous help in keeping things consistent.

2) Write, even when you don't feel like writing. Trust me, it's the only way you are ever going to finish writing the thing.

3) Write the thing first, start editing it later. This one's important to remember, since if you start chaging/editing something right after you've written it, you'll get bogged down in that particular scene and will get stuck.

[Temotei]

You might want to move this Arts and Crafts, as this is about how to write a book, and not a specific book. I believe part of the Arts and Crafts subheading is "creative writing".

Second, I am also doing this, attempting to write, and I have never been able to finish more than a couple chapters, cause I get bored. I plan too far ahead, and I get impatient at how slow my own chapters are coming out. So my advice is, plan a chapter at a time, or you'll be rushing to get to your favorite parts and leave a lot of things hanging.

Oops. I'll PM Roland to ask for a movement.

Really, I've got only half this next chapter planned (I have the prologue, which is just a memory flash. Now it's on to the first chapter, but I've barely got a sentence in that.). Thank you for that advice. :smallsmile:

[Comet]

Feel free to pop by the Playground Writers Workshop (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=123127), once you have written a bit more and want to get some proper critique.

Just spreading the good word :smalltongue:

I do have to ask, though... Have you got a story in mind already, or do you have just the setting planned?
I've always thought that one should always have a clear story to tell when one begins writing fiction. The setting is there simply to serve the story and drive it forward.
I do know some people who disagree on this, but I always thought it's kinda boring to just write generic fantasy-adventuring if I have nothing to actually say.

[Lin Bayaseda]

Does anybody have tips for writing a long story (book-length)?

The setting is basically D&D Greyhawk, except every place, person, and event will be my own. The similarities are in the combat abilities of characters, utility abilities of characters, and magic items and such. Deities will also be created by myself.

I only have half a page now, since I basically wrote those paragraphs and revised them over and over again until they got better, but I hope to get a lot of work done in the summer.

So...any tips or ideas? Warnings? I'll take anything. :smallsmile:Tip: don't do that (the bolded thing); just write as much as you can. Polish later.

[Joran]

Tip: don't do that (the bolded thing); just write as much as you can. Polish later.

Indeed. Terry Pratchett wrote more than 400 words a day every day for three years. On the night he finished his first novel, he was still short of his goal and started his second book. Just set a small goal and keep doing it. Get into the habit of writing.

[Szilard]

I think my girlfriend mentioned that she doesn't write the chapters in the order they will be in the book. She'd write a random chapter, and then a chapter from a different part of the book, so that she wouldn't get bored with having to wait for things to happen. Or something like that.

[Teutonic Knight]

I think my girlfriend mentioned that she doesn't write the chapters in the order they will be in the book. She'd write a random chapter, and then a chapter from a different part of the book, so that she wouldn't get bored with having to wait for things to happen. Or something like that.

That's kinda what I was getting at earlier and what I have already planned to do with my stories, so yeah, what Szilard said.

[Temotei]

This helps. :smallredface:


I do have to ask, though... Have you got a story in mind already, or do you have just the setting planned?
I've always thought that one should always have a clear story to tell when one begins writing fiction. The setting is there simply to serve the story and drive it forward.
I do know some people who disagree on this, but I always thought it's kinda boring to just write generic fantasy-adventuring if I have nothing to actually say.

I've got most of the story set. Some characters still need long-term development plans, but I've got a lot done in that department too. I just need to write it.