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I'm writing a novel...

TehMac

TehMac

Diamond Member
Without giving anything away or anything like that, I'm writing a novel, because I am so inspired. At the moment, it sounds kind of like a Tolkien replication, a lot of names are inspired by the same source he got his, but Tolkien was an absolute genius in linguistics. I know two languages: English and 78% Spanish. Tolkien knew: Welsh, Anglo Saxon (auld english), Modern English, Nordic, some French.
Now, there was a kid who wrote Eragon, and alot of it seems to rip off Tolkien's work (shyre, anyone?).
Yet, his books have sold so much, they're making a movie, even though he got his naming from Tolkien. While I do have an understanding of linguistics and a broad vocabulary, and my names don't sound like Tolkien's while having a very Nordic and Welsh feel, right now the plot sounds a ton like The Hobbit, only there are no Hobbits or Dwarves. So far.
There is a wizard and some young guy.
Aww crap. I'm discouraged.

Not really looking for any serious answers, I just want to see what people are gunna say.
 
What is your problem? What is the question? I see one, but it seems rhetorical.

While you are writing a fantasy novel, why don't you:
Sell custom computers over ebay
Start a computer repair business
 
Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
What is your problem? What is the question? I see one, but it seems rhetorical.

While you are writing a fantasy novel, why don't you:
Sell custom computers over ebay
Start a computer repair business
Click to expand...
Or write a book telling other people how to sell customer computers over ebay or launch a computer repair business. 😉
 
Originally posted by: TehMac
Great suggestions, I didn't know I was asking for stupid answers.
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Is there a single question in your post? Perhaps that's the reason for the stupid answers?
You are proposing a novel. You have to communicate your idea to people. Here, you haven't even asked a question. What exactly were you looking for in this post?
 
Originally posted by: Leros
Don't copy Tolkien. Come up with your own idea.
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good luck. coming up with a truly original idea is pretty much impossible this late in the game. Everything is going to be borrowed from something else, especially when you've got things like movies and games, as well as books, now.
 
Tolkien's vision created pretty much the entire modern fatasy movement. Don't feel bad that you are doing something that has some superficial similarities.
 
Writing is awesome. That said, try and come up with something original. It will be much more fun.

At the same time it can be good to imitate the masters to practice. I've heard of people trying to write continuations of popular books just so that they can imagine how that author would write and they can learn from it.

But if you are writing to make money: don't. Very few writers make money. Do it because you have something to say and it wants to get on paper. (ever notice how some of the more popular writers stop writing? they do that because they've said what they wanted to say and nothing more 😉)
 
Also, if you want to be a good writer there are two steps you should first take: read the works of masters (not just popular american literature--but truly important books), write short stories.

The first lets you see good style. The second will build your confidence and give you practice to take on a novel. You may be able to write a novel and not be a short story author (hell it happens all the time), but chances are it could help prepare you.
 
For fantasy, also learn something about early real-world history.

If you read Elizabeth Moon's Deed of Paksenarrion or Legacy of Gird, she understands how people lived each day in her world, from cooking breakfast to fighting as part of a mercenary company.

Same with the military SF and fantasy of L.E. Modesitt Jr., David Drake, David Webber and S.M. Stirling.

Compare that to Terry Goodkind, who only seems to have a "watched a movie or two" understanding of swordfighting and low-tech battles:
"He swung his sword really hard, and clove the enemy like a seasoned stew!"
 
Start Writing! Doesn't even matter what, just start and see where it goes. Even if what you write is crap, some good constructive criticism can go a long way to writing something good. I got 2 Novels in my head, but FFS I never get around to writing them.

Checkout this website
 
Originally posted by: Flyback
Also, if you want to be a good writer there are two steps you should first take: read the works of masters (not just popular american literature--but truly important books), write short stories.

The first lets you see good style. The second will build your confidence and give you practice to take on a novel. You may be able to write a novel and not be a short story author (hell it happens all the time), but chances are it could help prepare you.
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Check. I wrote a pirate story and my teachers liked it. And you guys know, Tolkien stole all his names from the Dvergatal, which is a piece of Nordic fiction about Dwarves, right?
But if I have names similar to the Dvergatal, they'll say, you got that from Tolkien. At any rate, I scrapped my original story, because I didn't like where I was going with it.
 
I just finished reading a book called Writing Magic. It is written by Gail Carson Levine, a published author.

It's geared towards young writers, like HS kids, but it did give me some ideas on how to write better and it made me realize why I am having such trouble writing my stories. It didn't solve the problem, but now I know what I need to work on.
 
What are your troubles? My main troubles are making dialouge sequences un-cheesy, making the names, uncheesy, and making the plot non cliche and non cheesy.
So basically, a lot of cheesiness is whats plauging me. I scrapped my page that got me started. I just didn't like where it was going. It reminded me too much about the parts of the Hobbit I liked most. The intro scene t the Hobbit.
Heres my intro scene. Cheers to anyone who actually reads it:
One bright sunny day, when the birds went pleasantly chirping, and the sun shone merrily off the lake next to the hills, an old man in a brown gray robe and holding a polished staff, was walking along. The old man was not in a particular hurry, but the rural peasants and land owning farmers who noticed him thought he looked like an odd site, with his long legs pumping huge distances across the dirt path that led up to an old home.
 
Originally posted by: TehMac
What are your troubles? My main troubles are making dialouge sequences un-cheesy, making the names, uncheesy, and making the plot non cliche and non cheesy.
So basically, a lot of cheesiness is whats plauging me. I scrapped my page that got me started. I just didn't like where it was going. It reminded me too much about the parts of the Hobbit I liked most. The intro scene t the Hobbit.
Heres my intro scene. Cheers to anyone who actually reads it:
One bright sunny day, when the birds went pleasantly chirping, and the sun shone merrily off the lake next to the hills, an old man in a brown gray robe and holding a polished staff, was walking along. The old man was not in a particular hurry, but the rural peasants and land owning farmers who noticed him thought he looked like an odd site, with his long legs pumping huge distances across the dirt path that led up to an old home.
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My major trouble is characters. I have problem coming up with what the story is about or what leads up to the story, I just can't create characters. I don't know who my characters are. I also have slight problem keeping the story going or fleshing it out.

For instance, the evil wizard kidnaps the princess and the hero rescues her. Say thats the main idea of the story. I have a hard time figuring out how everything happens.
 
Originally posted by: TehMac
One bright sunny day, when the birds went pleasantly chirping, and the sun shone merrily off the lake next to the hills, an old man in a brown gray robe and holding a polished staff, was walking along.
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Sentence structure is off. While not wrong, it doesn't flow easily for a reader. "Was walking along" is in the wrong place. You might want to consdier splitting it into two sentences.
The old man was not in a particular hurry,
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You should just write "he". The reader already knows he's an old man. It's repetitive.
but the rural peasants and land owning farmers who noticed him thought he looked like an odd site,
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sight. 😛
with his long legs pumping huge distances across the dirt path that led up to an old home. [/i]
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Legs pumping huge distances sounds like running, not walking. You might want to tone it down a bit.

 
i have 10 ideas for stories typed in a file but i really don't know what to do with them. i don't really have any characters developed for any of them.
 
Add in some scifi. That doesn't have to be high-tech, just sciencey. Like build a tech system and food distribution for the local people, etc. Adding Sci-Fi will always make your novel original, and help you write it, as sometimes, the technology begets story ideas, as vic-a-versa (sp?).
 
first thing you must do...

define your audience....

then start with outline of plot

pace it well

check for stupid fallacies in the storyline

create the setting..

create the antagonist/protagonist

define the crux or turning point..

end with disbelief, happiness, or what next...

jC
 
Originally posted by: ThePresence
Originally posted by: TehMac
One bright sunny day, when the birds went pleasantly chirping, and the sun shone merrily off the lake next to the hills, an old man in a brown gray robe and holding a polished staff, was walking along.
Click to expand...
Sentence structure is off. While not wrong, it doesn't flow easily for a reader. "Was walking along" is in the wrong place. You might want to consdier splitting it into two sentences.
The old man was not in a particular hurry,
Click to expand...
You should just write "he". The reader already knows he's an old man. It's repetitive.
but the rural peasants and land owning farmers who noticed him thought he looked like an odd site,
Click to expand...
sight. 😛
with his long legs pumping huge distances across the dirt path that led up to an old home. [/i]
Click to expand...
Legs pumping huge distances sounds like running, not walking. You might want to tone it down a bit.
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Thanks for the tips. And yeah, totally passed over the site thing.
 
Originally posted by: Tick
Add in some scifi. That doesn't have to be high-tech, just sciencey. Like build a tech system and food distribution for the local people, etc. Adding Sci-Fi will always make your novel original, and help you write it, as sometimes, the technology begets story ideas, as vic-a-versa (sp?).
Click to expand...

Yeah, this will have its built in economy, if thats what you mean. I'm thinking of writing a sort of warfare epic, with huge armies duking it out, with some kind of plot that makes you want to care.
I scrapped the story because it was rather lame. It was about the wizard urging some young man to find his father's lost sword, and I'd work the plot from there. But just the sound of it sounds cliche. However I might pick back on it.
Thanks all for the criticism, this is turning out much better than what I thought.
Originally posted by: Chunkee
first thing you must do...

define your audience....

then start with outline of plot

pace it well

check for stupid fallacies in the storyline

create the setting..

create the antagonist/protagonist

define the crux or turning point..

end with disbelief, happiness, or what next...

jC
Click to expand...

I kind of did that. But I like the Tolkien approach: Choose names first and let their names define the story: For example, Crymrand was the wizard, and his name means without the modern English was inspired from Crymry, which means slave/servant in Welsh.
Mister Eventry or for his full name: Ryfe Eventry the first name was a deriviant from Warrior in Welsh, and the Second half meaning Adventurer when I trimmed some of it off. What do you guys think of my naming scheme?
Originally posted by: pontifex
i have 10 ideas for stories typed in a file but i really don't know what to do with them. i don't really have any characters developed for any of them.
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Sometimes you don't really. Ray Bradbury didn't have any huge character development for his Chronicles of whatever his name for Mars was.
 
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