Question for any fantasy writers who have based a fictional world on a particular historical period! What resources do you use for research? A few months ago I finished a draft of my fantasy novel, and I need to now iron out some of the world-building details. I’ve settled on a pre-World War I based setting, as my fantasy world is similar…[Read more]

I’m not sure if “Dark Fantasy” has specific genre connotations, but I would say my current WIP is of a darker tone for sure. The overall atmosphere is fairly moody and guilt is a prominent theme. I’ve got some monsters and tried my hand at writing creepier scenes as well. It’s different from anything I’ve written before, but I found…[Read more]

@rose-colored-fancy

A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens is one of my favorites, but I’ve struggled to get into some of his other books. I’ve also enjoyed what I’ve read of the Bronte sisters. I’m not totally sure if GK Chesterton counts as Victorian, but I love his Father Brown short stories.

@r-m-archer

I love The Space Trilogy! I also read the first two books of the Wingfeather Saga, but not the other two, so thanks for the reminder to finish the series! 🙂

@taylorclogston

I’m actually reading the old Thrawn trilogy now! I’m partway through the final book and have really enjoyed…[Read more]

So I’m wanting to start an email newsletter soon. A couple of years ago I had one with MailChimp, but really didn’t like that service much. I want to try one again, especially since I’m on a mission to build an author platform without social media. I would love some advice from anyone else who has an email newsletter!

1) What service do…[Read more]

I’ve been watching this thread from afar while busy with midterms and papers, so hopefully my contributions are coherent (I also hope to catch up on the other threads soon). 😛 I feel like this debate has gone beyond how we define magic and is delving more into different presuppositions about what makes fiction C…[Read more]

Does anyone have recommendations for epic fantasy or sci-fi books or series (or even movies/TV series)? I’m trying to find something along the lines of Lord of the Rings, Avatar the Last Airbender, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, etc: big-scale plots, rich world building, heroes and villains, very thematic etc.

Thanks! 🙂

Ashley

I wasn’t tagged but I hope it’s all right if I join the discussion! I read your essay.

Like you, I’m often frustrated with the lack of emphasis on beauty in most writing advice. I love Tolkien’s works, and one of my favorite things is that they are beautiful. His prose is exquisite. He takes the time to describe ordinar…[Read more]

I like to print out my drafts, if I can! I find that I notice different things when I read my draft digitally vs. on paper. I don’t color-coordinate my brainstorming notes, but I do color-coordinate the notes I make in my printed draft. I tend to lose my notes because I can’t remember where in the notebook (or even which notebook) I…[Read more]

@noah-cochran

Thanks! 🙂 Do you like Victorian Era British lit?

@obrian-of-the-surface-world

Thank you! I’ll keep everyone updated. 🙂 I don’t have a newsletter yet, but I do have a blog. I’m pretty…[Read more]

My book is epic fantasy, set in a world kinda drawing from an 1800s feel (I’m not trying to “recreate” a historical period, just drawing a bit). I don’t have a good plot summary worked out yet, but there’s political tension, a murder trial, mysterious monsters appearing at night, philosophical debates, and someone has a secret…

That’s awesome you found a nice journal! Yes, a good pen and journal makes all the difference. I love sitting at a coffee shop with a mocha and my pen/notebook! 😃

For my current WIP the bands I listen to a lot are Project 86 and Red, both Christian rock bands (especially when I’m brainstorming). I don’t always listen to music with…[Read more]

Nice to meet you! 🙂

I honestly don’t have any thoughts either way on dividing the story into four parts, on if it will work or not. 🤷‍♀️

I don’t know if this is helpful, but I recently had issues with drafting after my midpoint as well. I had a clear climax scene in mind and my outline included general notes on how eve…[Read more]

I do pretty extensive outlining and planning before I start drafting (as in, multi-page outlines and synopses after filling part of a notebook with various notes). I’m also not one who finds the rough drafting process very fun; rather, I find it unbelievably stressful (because it’s the most time-consuming stage of the process for me…[Read more]

I do almost all of my story notes (initial brainstorming, world building notes, outline, etc) on paper. I have a designated “ideas” notebook for my WIP where I keep all of my notes (which often becomes disorganized if I fail to flag important pages). I always type my synopses on the compu…[Read more]

One thing I like to use for foreshadowing….hmm. I don’t know if there’s a name for it. But I like to t…[Read more]

@obrian-of-the-surface-world

I can’t find the post in the thread, but I did get an email about America…[Read more]

Oh, I love Dostoevsky! Crime and Punishment and Demons are two of my favorite books.

The monsters come out at night and hide themselves in shadows and mist. According to my world’s lore, they devour everything and leave worlds behind them in a state of darkness and decay. There may also be some other kinds of creatures later…[Read more]

I’m a very extensive plotter and have never been able to finish a project with any other method. This is what my process typically looks like:

1. Brainstorm general premise
2. Write a 1-3 page synopsis
3. Write a chapter-by-chapter outline
4. Revise synopsis and outline as needed
5. Write a super short rough draft with key scenes

…

[Read more]

I suppose I’m trying to capture the feel of British and Russian lit with the writing style, emphasis on family and social drama, and limited technology. I’m not at all trying to “recreate” a particular time period or culture by any means, but draw from the atmosphere a bit. 🙂

The world my characters live in is fairly ordinar…[Read more]

@melancholicwriter

Nice to meet you, too! I’m guessing you’re a Tolkien and Lewis fan, too? My one attempt at writing science fiction really turned into space fantasy, so maybe it doesn’t count too much! 😛 What are some of your…[Read more]

Thanks for the tag @imwritehere1920 !

I would classify the kind of fantasy I write as epic fantasy (high-stakes plot, large scale, traditional heroes and villains, etc). My worldbuilding is very different from Tolkien’s, but I have drawn a lot of inspiration from him in terms of the overall scale of the world and story, the…[Read more]

One of the best writing tips I’ve found is to read broadly. One of the greatest helps for developing worlds, themes, and characters has been reading in all kinds of topics (theology, philosophy, ethics, history, economics, etc.) as well as reading fiction in broad genres.

I’m currently working on a book written in omniscient narrative, so I don’t have much advice for character voice development….but an author who is great at writing similes and metaphors is P.G. Wodehouse. He wrote the Jeeves and Wooster stories. They are comedies, so the similes and metaphors are intended to be over-the-top…[Read more]

Hi, Rose!

Your WIP sounds very cool! What are some of your favorite fantasy books?

My favorite part of my WIP is that I’m writing in third person omniscient for the first time, and I’m very much enjoying developing an “author voice”. 🙂

@obrian-of-the-surface-world

Thank you for the forum information!

I don’t have much of…[Read more]

Thank you so much for the information! I had no idea you could search for stock photos on WordPress–I just tried that on a post draft and it’s huge help! 🙂 I’ll have to check out that website for WordPress themes.

So I have a Wordpress blog hosted through Bluehost and I would like to improve the way everything looks. I have a couple of questions for anyone else who uses Wordpress! 🙂

1. Have you ever paid for a premium theme? I currently use one of the default Wordpress themes but I would like something more customizable. If so, how did you…[Read more]

Hi, Rose! Nice to meet you as well! 🙂

My current WIP is the first book of a planned four-book epic fantasy series that spans thousands of years.

I’ve been seriously writing for several years now!

What are you currently working on?

Hi, Lily! Thank you for the welcome! 🙂

Both are fiction! Till We Have Faces is a retelling of a Greek myth and is, in my opinion, Lewis’ best novel! That Hideous Strength is the final book of The Space Trilogy.

I joined the fantasy group but didn’t know you could join more than one. I will join the sci-fi one later.

Thank you…[Read more]

I just joined the forum here and am looking forward to chatting with some other writers! 🙂

Some of my favorite books are Till We Have Faces and That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and Demons and Crime and Punishment…[Read more]