Possibly Starting To Write

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

I'm reading allot of stuff that just say to write a rough draft; a bad one even. That you will learn the most by just doing it. To also set some sort of daily writing goal and stick to it no matter what.

I went to the library and got The Elements of Style by Stunk and White. I also randomly grabbed No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty and am reading that at the moment. I don't know if it's actually a useful book or not, but guess I will see.

A writing goal is good, but keep in mind that different things work for different people. There is no one way.

Is No Plot? No Problem? about NaNoWriMo? I think I picked that up from my library not so long ago. I tend to just flick through books on writing, taking bits here and there. If you read them all and take them all to heart, I think you' be a mess of conflicting methods. But if you take what makes sense to you and forget the rest, I think they're more worthwhile.

If you are writing SFF I'd recommend Lisa Tuttle's instructional guide. Can't recall the title, but I know I reviewed it over in the Reviews section a while back. Something along the lines of Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, I'm sure. But it was a good read.

EDIT: The link: Book Review: WRITING FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION by Lisa Tuttle

[Leisha]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

I'm reading allot of stuff that just say to write a rough draft; a bad one even. That you will learn the most by just doing it. To also set some sort of daily writing goal and stick to it no matter what.

I went to the library and got The Elements of Style by Stunk and White. I also randomly grabbed No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty and am reading that at the moment. I don't know if it's actually a useful book or not, but guess I will see.

Well, you're already showing determination. That skill is the writer's best friend.


And don't worry about learning grammar; at school I couldn't understand it at all, but then I read websites full of info on it and bought books as well. Now I've been told I have a very good grasp of the English language.

If you're determined, you will learn.

[Shingetsu]

2000/words a day sounds reasonable to me. I wrote the 548 words on the critique section in less then an hour I believe.

And yes, the book is about the NaNoWriMo, but should be helpful any time if it is at all. I'll try and see about getting the Tuttle book, it doesn't seem to be at local library and may have to check some others.

I hope I will learn, that may be the hardest part for me.

[The Curious Orange]

Write an outline first. Tell the whole story, start to finish, in no more than a few pages. read a few books on narrative structure and plot. "Plot" by Ansom Dibble is a good place to start. Then re-write your outline. Rinse/Repeat until perfect. This could take some time.

Don't start writing until you know where you're going. Very few writers are capable of pulling off "stream of conciousness" writing and actually produce anything worth reading. Making it up as you go along is a recipie for writing 300 pages then reealising that you don't have a clue whwere to go next.

[Shingetsu]

Ah, I was thinking about just writing it to write. That I might learn from doing it. Though I need to work up stories about everything anyways still.

[ctg]

Originally Posted by The Curious Orange

Don't start writing until you know where you're going. Very few writers are capable of pulling off "stream of conciousness" writing and actually produce anything worth reading. Making it up as you go along is a recipie for writing 300 pages then reealising that you don't have a clue whwere to go next.

Works very well for me, thank you. I keep in mind the end that I want to see, therefore I know where I am heading, just that the path in between in murky and wonky at the best.

Shingetsu, two thousand words is fine, try to achieve that as many times as it is possible. With that amount of the words, you are done with the first draft in fifty days. Month and half doesn't sound so bad, does it?

[Shingetsu]

No, it doesn't sound bad. That's why I was just going to write, even if it was a horrible first draft just to see what I could do and work from there with fixing everything. I might atleast get most of the story out that way. And most likely come up with more ideas for the story while writing.

[ctg]

Yes, you probably will do that.

[Shingetsu]

Does everyone do allot of research about what their writing about? Like tons of books about the middle ages, what life was like then, weapons, etc.? Or is it possible to use knowledge from other SFF books with imagination for your own novel?

Oh, and a good quote from Ernest Hemingway, "The first draft of anything is ****."

[SJAB]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

Does everyone do allot of research about what their writing about?

Yes. Even if I don't use it, it helps me understand what I am writing about.

My recent effort was based in a rural English town in 1922. (A paranormal thriller) In fact this photo was one of the starting points.

Staffordshire Past Track -Stafford Borough War Memorial, Victoria Square, Stafford

[Shingetsu]

Does anyone have some suggestions about useful books on the middle ages? Have any authors mentioned books for it? I guess I just need to go to the library and look around for history books.

I find it ironic that I'm doing things I used to hate allot for something I might like.

[Green]

Sorry, I've nothing to suggest.

On the other hand, I think that while there's a lot (a big, big, lot) to be gained from research into the middle ages, there's arguably more to be gained by researching into contemporary fantasy. Happily, all you have to do for that is read the stuff you like to read

In the end, do both, and you won't go far wrong. Wow, how easy was that to write? Surely it's just as easy to do!

[SJAB]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

Does anyone have some suggestions about useful books on the middle ages? Have any authors mentioned books for it? I guess I just need to go to the library and look around for history books.

I find it ironic that I'm doing things I used to hate allot for something I might like.

First off I would, narrow the field a bit, the Middle ages is roughly 500 years. And within that you have various cultures, customs, etc... etc...

Try and decide what type of society you want, type of weapons, clothing, religion, the list goes on and on. You can mix and match, and stir with your own imagination.

The Middle ages is not the only time, how about 16th, 17th 18th, 19th century, European, Eygptian, Roman, Greek, Indian, Far East, Early North and South American. The fun of fantasy writing is blending the elements into an interesting story. But remember no matter how much research you do, or how good your world building is, you need a good plot/characters to hold the whole thing together.

[Shingetsu]

I know, it's all about characters and plot. I'm still reading writing books before I start my rough draft. I'm going to aim for an amazingly bad 150k rough draft. Where it won't be good enough for my cat to puke on.

[Lith]

If you don't know anything about a given topic, start with the Encyclopedia and children's books. Then dig into the massive history tomes. I've got one that's probably 1500 pages, covering 500-1500; the sort of book college professors typically assign. Not always terribly interestingly written; your interest in the subject matter has to carry you through.

And you'll find a lot of interesting stuff- the medieval period is much more varied than we usually take it for; it wasn't just one long, unchanging feudal era for 1500 years. I'll look up the name of my current favorite book in a few hours. However in the meantime, you might try Will Durant's history of western civilization. Most libraries have a set, and they get into a decent amount of detail.

Of course, we all know that Fantasy isn't limited to medieval fantasy. It's a very broad, loose category.