Possibly Starting To Write

[Laerten]

I have dozens of books on things that are relevant to the style of book I am writing (also based around medieval theme) - just do a search on amazon for 'medieval' for lots of different book titles. I found Terry Jones' Medieval Lives (which also had a TV series) useful for basic everyday information.

If you want anymore examples of books I have found useful just let me know!

[Shingetsu]

Thanks for the book suggestion Laerten. It sounds like it might be a useful book for life back then. May have trouble finding it at the library though. I'll look around for it and others though.

[Laerten]

You could also do a Wikipedia search, you'll probably find what you want on there. Just be specific in your search (I find that browsing the index is a bit confusing!)

[lathark]

Sort out why you want to write, first? Any number of books on writing are just that without the 'will' to drive it to reasonable, satisfactory conclusion, let alone success, however moderate.

Read the threads from people like John Jarrold, there are lots of gems, hidden and overt, within the discussions.

And get a thick skin - you're gonna need it.

Good luck.

[Shingetsu]

Hmm, I feel like skipping all the how-to books really and just work with my imagination and start working on my setting, plot, and characters and write a bad 150k rough draft. I think these books might bore me before I even begin writing.

Yesterday I took a break from reading "Writing Fiction" by Janet Burroway and just read some of an SFF book. I probably learned more from the SFF book with paying attention to how it's actually written than only reading like I've always done.

Can a person be successful like this? Or is reading how-to books a must?

[ctg]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

Can a person be successful like this? Or is reading how-to books a must?

Yes a person can be successful without reading it, but note that understanding the theory of how-to write a novels comes from practising it. Writing is like sex, you really don't know it, until you have done it.

[Lith]

A lot of how-to books aren't worth that much. And some of them are only worthwhile when you've had some practice and have gotten stuck. And others are good any way you take them. Check them out if you wish, but if you aren't getting anything from them, don't worry about it. The most important part is the actual writing, and then learning how to critique your own work.

And a thick skin is a must. You have to be able to separate comments on the work from comments on yourself, and it doesn't matter how much time you've put into something; if it still needs a lot of work, it still needs a lot of work.

That said, what are you still doing hanging out in this thread? (Or for that matter, what am I still doing here? I'm 18k behind this month!)

[Shingetsu]

Procrastinating? I'm lazy. I think I have to stop reading these books and just try first. Work on this crappy map I made on printer paper and actually start fully thinking everything out.

Though 2+ months of the worst rough draft known to mankind isn't a thrilling thought to get me motivated.

[jenna]

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.?

I've done so much research you would think I was writing a non-fiction book! I have massive amounts of it, and I think it's made the details of my world richer, while little tid-bits I've found from history have inspired characters and plot twists in the story. But don't forget that at the end of the day, you are writing fiction, and this means you need to keep the focus mostly on your characters. If you're going to devote time to research, give a chunk of that time to reading about people, and psychology etc, and better yet, getting out there and studying and conversing with real life people.

And if you think that 2 months working on your manuscript isn't thrilling, take heart that some of us have been working on them for years! Although I am glad that it's taken me so long, as I do believe that what I have now is so much more than what I would have had if I had knocked it out 2 months after I had the idea..

[Shingetsu]

Yeah, I just meant the rough draft in 2 months. I'm sure it will take me a long time with rewrites and such, if I even finish it. Plus was just an estimate, I doubt I'd finish 150k words in that time.

I think I might have too much of an imagination and slightly crazy to think I can actually write anything. I have no knowledge of how to write, or the middle ages, or anything. I don't think I'll learn to write from reading either.

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

I think I might have too much of an imagination and slightly crazy to think I can actually write anything. I have no knowledge of how to write, or the middle ages, or anything. I don't think I'll learn to write from reading either.

That's what we've been telling you! Sit down and write! Just do it! You'll learn as you go. You might learn that it's not for you and you'll drop it, or you might learn you have a natural flair for it, but either way - IT WON'T HAPPEN UNLESS YOU WRITE!!!!

[Iqeret]

If I may suggest, if you are just beginning to write, you might want to look into joining a fanfic community for practice. I've found the story challenges in the ones I belong to useful in giving me goals, practice in keeping characters in character, and working within restrictions. (For instance, I write for an HP drabble
community; trying to express oneself in 100 words is great for streamlining your prose!) Also, these come with a built-in audience. The feedback may not always be of the highest quality, but it should give you an idea of how you're doing. Just a possibility.

My second thought is that you should try to find an Honest Reader. When I began writing my own novel, I was able to ask one of my friends to read it as I went along. She gave me her opinions straight from the hip, no nonsense about trying to spare my feelings or being politic. While I didn't take all of her suggestions, she really helped me see weaknesses that needed fixing (and let some air out of my ego :-P). I kept going because of her.

Finally, I have to repeat what everyone else has said: GET YOUR HANDS ON A KEYBOARD AND WRITE! I think we all have problems with that, so let's kick each other into action, shall we? ^_~

[lathark]

Honest Readers are hard to come by. Good editors, harder still!

Research will have its place, the 'draft' will too, but like the previous statements, there is, without the touch of divine intervention, the perspiration route. The books will come in handy, but only when start seeing your own deficiencies, but that's probably the third, or fourth, or n'th draft.

38 most common fiction writing mistakes - a great book, interesting reading, really useful.

[jenna]

Originally Posted by Shingetsu

Yeah, I just meant the rough draft in 2 months. I'm sure it will take me a long time with rewrites and such, if I even finish it. Plus was just an estimate, I doubt I'd finish 150k words in that time.

I think I might have too much of an imagination and slightly crazy to think I can actually write anything. I have no knowledge of how to write, or the middle ages, or anything. I don't think I'll learn to write from reading either.

Yeah, I was talking about the rough draft too! I have made up my mind to finish the first draft this year, as I'm sick of having this unfinished thing hanging over my head. When it gets to re-writes, then I'll be happy!

Man, I wish I could show you my first attempt at a novel, I wrote it when I was 15-ish and got about 250 hand-written A4 pages through it. It is just terrible! I have kept it and I pull it out sometimes to remind myself how far I've come! It was such a train wreck of plagiarism, it was a copy of Piers Anthony, The Magicians Nephew by CS Lewis, and an X-Files episode I saw. There's little characterisation, the girls spend a lot of time either whining or doing stupid annoying things, and the main guy is kind of just there, with no real purpose (not to mention had the name of my crush at the time, which was crossed out and replaced with the name of my next crush when I got over him!).

But the point is, I wrote it, and that gave me the confidence to keep going. So don't worry how much your first attempt sucks, consider it a warm-up or a practice run.

[flynx]

This is only my opinion but I'd say that if you want to write a novel and you haven't written before (or for a long time) the last thing you want to do is write a novel.

Novels are generally one of two things. Either large complex structures with lots of twists and turns, very deep characterisation, sub-plots and require that you read them page after page without losing any interest whatsoever, or they are short stories padded out to 70 thousand words.

Some novels on the other hand take a middle road. These are lots of short stories with a common theme, characters and traceable plot arc.

If you haven't written a novel before and find the prospect daunting then I'd say write shorts instead.

Good short stories are of a different mould altogether, they contain everything that goes in a novel with fewer words. Less description, less characterisation, fewer deviations and usually very little background. these are extremely difficult to write well.

If you write a short story, then a follow up short story then find a short story that you wrote years ago for a laugh and an exercise that you practiced characterisation in you could well find that suddenly you have the making of a novel that requires only stitching together.

Short stories have lots of advantages. Practice, a finished item in a relatively short time, concentration of ideas or just scenes and so on.

It's not the idea of short stories that matters but the way that short stories are essentially what chapters are.

And yes, you can just sit and write without the faintest idea of where the book will go but I'd suggest at least knowing where you want it to end.

So, as a suggestion in order to incorporate the short story idea, make a chapter plan.

Boy meets girl
Girl joins legion of fairies
Boy meets different girl
Original girl becomes chief fairy (after many adventures)
Boy marries other girl (after whirlwind romance)
Chief fairy is given the job of making other girl fantastically rich.

so now you've set up a dilemma. A lost love. Conflict. Action (these are your basic commando fairies) and everything required to keep your reader turning pages after only half a dozen chapters.

Then write your short stories (chapters) in any order you like as the mood takes you.

One other thing. Forget the style books. Use them for reference when you can't decide why a paragraph doesn't work right, but don't try to learn everything they're trying to tell you (often at odds with each other) and then trying to write using their methods.

find out how you write first not how they say you should write.

Alternatively do the exact opposite of everything I said, it's probably just as valid.