Sermons

One thing that is not a good sign in a book is if the author decides to give out a short sermon on a topic that ends up coming across as stupid and an annoyance. I'll give a few examples. In one book, the author did a couple of not-so-subtle sermons on how vegetarianism was right (though this was recanted a book later) and on atheism; readers leapt all over this, as it came across as the author shoving his own views on them. In another book, a different author let out a couple of anti-technology and anti-killing animal views that were not subtle and did not add to the story at all; and not only that, but the sermons did not fit the personality of those who said them, which made it even worse. And these sermons were minor, an add-on to the story. Things can really get bad if you decide to have a sermon as the major part of the story; for example, Pullman's "His Dark Materials" were well-written stories (except for the last one), but the whole anti-God, anti-Christianity message oozed through to ruin it completely.

If you want to use your story-writing attempts to teach your readers a lesson or a "sermon", as it were, I've learned that being subtle yet relevant is the best way. If you want to write a Christian fantasy, you don't have to be too open about it (a minor note here: I appreciate LB Graham for writing his "Binding of the Blade" series and its blatantly Christian themes, but I think a little more subtly could have also been better... among other things). I consider "Lord of the Rings" a very Christian novel series even though there is virtually no mention of God or of organized religion, but it has very strong Christian allegory and themes seen in the characters' morality and in objects like the lembas bread; another novel series I would consider Christian to a lesser extent is Stephen Lawhead's "Pendragon Cycle" (even though the whole "holy grail" thing I think could have been left out), as it does mention God and Christianity but they are not the central part of the story. If you want to write a pro-life message, you can be subtle in mentioning how precious life is. There are other examples, but my mind can't think of them at the moment.

A History Lesson

World building is always fun to do, creating names, cultures, geography, history, etc... But one thing that I have discovered to make your world more believable is to add some history. Don't panic. I'm not suggesting you create a vast history like Tolkien did, but adding a bit to the background makes your world look better.

What inspires me most when adding a background to this fantasy world I've worked on for several years is real history, because it is so complicated. Wars do not happen for one reason; very often, there are several different ones that all collide and explode with deadly results. Rulers battle their own personal demons and troubles within and without their own realms. Kingdoms rise and fall. Scholars study and argue over what they believe is right. One little event over generations leads to something much bigger than anticipated. The list goes on and on. There is plenty of opportunity to explore these various areas, even in bits and pieces, so do so. It makes your world more alive and realistic, and it makes you look like you actually labored over your world building attempts.

Borrowing a Culture

A common thing to do when you world-build, especially in fantasy stories (I've seen it so far in one sci-fi series) is to borrow from a real culture when creating your own. Now that's all well and good, but this can often cause issues and make you look unimaginative. I'll give you two examples of how it can be abused.

First, the Icemark Chronicles (a series of three books so far... the first is the best, the second was absolutely horrible, and I've yet to read the third). The author Stuart Hill has several different races: the people of the Icemark (clearly Nordic/ Viking), the Hypolitia (Scythians, more specifically the Amazonians of Greek legends), and the Polypontians (clearly the Romans of the Roman Empire). Even though these peoples are clearly cut out from history, it truly becomes annoying in the second book with the addition of more human races that are clearly based off of the people of Venice (the name of their city is Venizza or something like that), Middle Easterners, and then at last African tribes. The problem that happened here was absolutely no imagination. Nothing to separate these peoples from their real-life counterparts except for the fact that they're in a fantasy world.

My next example is from a book I'm currently reading called "Shadow Magic." You basically have two races who are trying to make peace after a looong war, which makes for interesting culture clashes (more on that later). While one culture is nonspecific, the other, known as the Ke- Han, are clearly Japanese. I'm not familiar with that culture, but from what I've read so far (and I don't expect a change by the end of the novel) the Ke- Han, like Stuart Hill's races, are basic cardboard cutouts with nothing new or interesting to differentiate them from the Japanese.

Borrowing a bit from a real-life culture is fine, as long as you add your own touches to make them realistic and recognizable but at the same time different. A good example of this is the Fremen from Frank Herbert's "Dune" universe. They live in the desert and have a language similar to Arabic, but these two people are very different. The Fremen don't have the physical characteristics of Middle Easterners, they ride giant worms and not camels, they live in stone houses and do not appear to be nomads, and several other differences. The point is, these people were clearly influenced by a real-life culture, but they are not the exact same; and there are more than just three or four differences between the two.

Not everyone bases a fantasy or sci-fi culture on reality, but for those who do, what you can do to prevent from having an unimaginative people is to let them grow. Add differences between the real thing and yours. Make a different history for them. Change their religion and names. I could go on and on. Over the years, I have discovered that one of my races that has played a predominant role in my story attempts, while being based off the Celts/ Scottish/ Irish have developed into their own people, as they are more literate, have a different history, and live in very different buildings. Those are only a few examples, but do not be afraid to let your culture/ people evolve into something complex and unique.

A little note here. I mentioned above a culture clash in "Shadow Magic." One thing I have rarely seen in stories that require extensive world-building (I am sad to say even Tolkien, for his amazing detail, could have done so much more with his various races in a culture clash) is two different peoples looking at each other and their customs. "Shadow Magic", despite the fact I think it's only an ok novel, does add entertainment with the interaction between the ritualistic, clean Ke- Han and the visitors who view them and their ways with a cool disdain. I myself had a great deal of fun using this in my second novel last summer when I had my Celtic race interact with the clean, poised vampires. It was entertaining to write about the "Celts" trying to use silverware, feeling dirty in the clean and polished palace, and just how they view each other. I highly recommend using this in your novel, because, as I said earlier, it's not used nearly enough and because it also adds a bit of conflict between your characters, which is always a good thing.

Keeping Track of Time

One thing that I've discovered is helpful when writing a story is using a timeline to keep track of things.

As I worked on my current novel, I was not sure of the exact length of time and was even more unsure of the realism, as one of the characters is pregnant all throughout the story. To make sure that this remained realistic (i.e. morning sickness and more visible signs of her pregnancy), I made a timeline. It was nothing fancy, as I just used real dates like May 29th. Once I had the story start on a certain day, then I went through every chapter and made notes on how much time passed between days. It didn't take me very long, and soon I had a timeline and a good idea of the timespan (discovering that my first novel takes place over a period of a few months, between late "May" and either September or October), and everything fit in very nicely. While I'm not going to use precise dates in the story, the timeline did serve its purpose of giving me a better sense of time and making everything work realistically.

I recommend using it, even if your story is spread out over a year or two. Tolkien used a calender for his Lord of the Rings, beginning with the Second Age and the last date being Aragorn's death in the Fourth Age (but you needn't go to the great depths that he did with his). His use of the timeline for the story itself is very helpful, especially when you have several characters all doing different things who later all come together.

As I said, a timeline is a handy tool for novel-writing and keeping things organized.

Get Real... Really

One thing that I have noticed in several stories nowadays is how unrealistic things can become. Even if you have a fantasy story, you still have to keep things realistic.

For example, I know of a story where a boy has never ridden a horse in real life but when he goes to the fantasy realm he automatically can leap on and off horses like a pro. That is not realistic at all. Another example from a different story is a boy who has never picked up a sword before and after a few months of practice is considered an expert. Let's be frank: these things do not happen in real life and thus do not happen in a fantasy world. Even if you have a natural aptitude for something, it takes a long time to develop that skill.

Staying real doesn't just apply to your character's skills or whatnot. Here are some other examples.

- If your character(s) do a lot of traveling, make sure they're going at expected speeds. Even if they have high endurance, they're not going to run a hundred miles in a day (unless you're Leto Atreides).

- If your character has been wounded, make sure he has plenty of recovery time. One normally doesn't get stabbed in the arm and then the next day use it in a major battle. If you want to be realistic, he's going to be in a lot of pain and won't be able to use his arm for a while.

I can't think of any other examples at the moment, but do remember this: keep things realistic in your story, fantasy or not.

Making a Race

One of the fun things about writing a fantasy or science fiction story is that you have the opportunity to create different races and their cultures. However, nowadays in most fantasy, there is sadly not much imagination in this realm, as the typical races tend to be human, elf, and dwarf, all of which are stereotyped into the powerful, magical elves, gruff dwarfs, and the weaker humans. And some attempts to get away from those stereotypes just end up horribly convoluted *glares at the "Inheritance Cycle"*.

Here are some suggestions for getting out of the bog of unimaginative races.

1) Do a bit of research. When looking for ideas for creatures not used commonly in fantasy, I like looking up folklore (particularly Irish) as well as creatures of legend. All you need is a quick wikipedia search, nothing real fancy or in-depth, but rather something to give you some ideas. Then contemplate this for as long as necessary then begin writing down about your races.

2) If you want to or already are using elves and dwarfs, don't be afraid to let them evolve or even give them new names. A race called Loreleis (taken from a poem called "The Lorelei" that I read in high school) in my current fantasy novel has undergone years of evolution from a powerful race to one where normally they would be called human (or mortal, whichever you prefer). Try new twists on things, like have the elves as the dominant race and humans as dying out or humans as the magical race and the elves as not. You get the idea.

3) Be careful with how many races you have. I've had several different kinds with mermaids, vampires, humans, and another race all in one story., but it only got confusing and bogged me down, so I only left it to two races, where it currently is now. I don't have a good number for what to shoot for, but I would recommend to do only as many races as you can handle and only what are needed.

4) In relation to #3, you don't have to have one or two races that are all the same, because that's boring and not realistic. In my current novel, I've discovered that having one blanket term for a race and then letting them branch out is better than creating so many races. For example, my vampires are all descended from three people, but they are divided into many various groups, each with a different culture, language, physical attributes, etc... Besides the fact that it's fun to think up histories for the different branches and thus interaction between them, it's realistic. Think about it. All humans have the same ancestors, and yet we're all so different, being divided into various cultures and peoples from tribes of Central Africa to Native Americans to those of Polynesia to those of European descent; each is different and unique in its own way, yet they all are of the same race.

The only fantasy writer I have seen yet to use this concept is Tolkien. He doesn't go into detail about all his races, but ultimately there are four humanoid races: human, elf, dwarf, and hobbit. Each of these are divided into various kinds, like Silvan Elves and Noldor Elves or the Rohirrim and the Men of Dale. This allows for a lot of diversity in his races and makes the story more realistic and interesting.

I'm sure I could think of other tips, but right now my computer time is limited.

Take Your Time

I know for certain that when you finish a story (especially a novel) that you get so excited and you want to get it published. Publishing is a noble thing to aspire to, but it's not a good thing to rush into.

When I was a young teenager, I finished a first draft of a fantasy novel and was so pleased with my accomplishment that I started looking up publishers. I was urged not to do that so soon, and I'm glad I was told. About a year or two later, I discarded the novel for its steadily-increasing bizarre nature and general disappointment in it. I looked it over a few months ago, and my, did my hairs stand up on my head. Absolutely horrible. I couldn't even finish reading it, even though years before people had said they liked it (though they may have been being polite, which is never a good thing when you want to take your story seriously).

But here's my point: take your time. Don't finish a novel and then work on it for a year or two then seek to be published. An important thing that I have learned from about eight years of story-writing is not to rush. The reason is, writing, especially for young people, is rarely well-written but has potential. But to reach to higher levels of quality, you should practice a lot and take your time, even years. And don't be afraid to let your story change as you keep writing new drafts of it. The evolution of a story is half the fun of writing as you discover how to make better characters, how to solve plot problems like inconsistencies, and in general how to write something better. So don't be afraid to spend years on a particular story. In reality, the fantasy novel series I am working on at the moment is the product of eight years of story evolution from Tolkien rip-off fantasy world to something hopefully far different.

So, as I say: take your time. Don't rush the writing process to gain fame for something poorly written that has a lot more potential but was never exploited. And keep this in mind: I heard somewhere that Tolkien spent over ten years (not sure of the exact time) working on the Lord of the Rings trilogy (someone correct me if I'm wrong) before publishing it. All that time, and look at the masterpiece we have today.

So take your time and make a masterpiece that will be remembered for all the right reasons.

Ok...

Ok, so I've decided what I'm going to do here. Once a week (probably every Saturday because my weeks are filled with work), I will post something, a blurb or an article or however long I want to talk, to do with writing. No, this is not the blog where I will ramble about Celtic music or write various reviews. I will talk about my own thoughts about story writing, offer some bits of advice I have learned from about nine years of writing attempts, and possibly challenges for other young, aspiring writers like myself.

First Post

Well, welcome to the blog. I deleted my private writing blog, but this one will be more public, open to all. Not quite sure what I will post here, but I'm sure I'll figure out something.