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Hey BamBam! :-)

Usually, with my critiques, I tend to separate things that can be improved on and things that I like in different segments. But because there are so many things that I liked about it, but at the same time can be improved on, it's hard to split them.

1)
>The fire before him blazed high and bright, a beacon in the dark of night. Derek only hoped it attracted whom he wanted.

As interesting as this intro is, I'd feel it could be revised. For example: "The fire before him blazed high and bright, a beacon in the dark of night." doesn't show me any mood of the story. It just gives me a very... sterile image of a torch at night.

2)
Then goes on,
> A host of beings, man and beast, prowled the rolling hills...

I felt the entire first paragraph and even a good bit of the first page don't really convey any fear or doubts. Right now, he's in the middle of a beast nest with a torch. Is he wiping his clammy hands on his wolf pelt? Is he looking left and right? Is he having doubts about being there? I want to feel the story, BamBam.

3) I feel the dialogue at the beginning of page 2 could be a just a bit more lively. It's noted that Bruin is sarcastic, so it would be great to hear just a smidge bit more sarcasm and snappy come-backs. It would make a cute contrast between DEREK THE RUGGED RANGER and Bruin the pest. :P
But this opinion is purely personal.

4)
>“I think that’s what worries her. You a man, and one now womanless. She said a woman keeps a man from doing foolish things.”
Derek guffawed, nearly falling back with laughter.

Hehe. I just love me some good humor. :-) But one thing that seemed odd is how Derek reacted with humor when just a few paragraphs earlier, he was reflecting on fond memories with his wife and daughter.

At seeing him laugh when reminded of his dead wife, I felt a pang of annoyance and didn't like Derek as much. Perhaps... he could be laughing on the outside but on the inside he's sickened with painful memories. This outer and inner of Derek can give his character a lot of depth. But that's just a suggestion. :-)

5)
>“I should go.”
“Too late for that now, boy.

My heart lurched at this. Really, it did. In paragraph one, you talked of monsters, guys on horseback, being seen miles away, then of the town not being safe. You built up to this point beautifully, BamBam. I have a sickening feeling that Bruin might die.

6)
>“You’re about to find out. Keep your mouth shut. Speak only when spoken too.”

How does Bruin react to this? I was hoping for a snappy comeback from him.

7)
>They mean to surround us.

How does Derek emotionally react to this? Is Bruin going white with fear? Is Derek thinking about protecting himself or is he racking his brain, wondering how to keep Bruin safe? Is he doubting his choice coming out here?

8) I really like the way you portray the horsemen at page 3.
>we hill men are more interested in women.” A thunderous laugh rose from the clansmen.

Just in that bit of dialogue spoke volumes about the men and their lack of morality. Instead of saying: "they're rapists and bad people" you showed me it. Good job. :-)

9)
> Gon rushed him. “How do you know that name? Are you an ally of his?”
“Enemy,” Derek said.

Right around at this point, I'm wondering how Bruin is taking all this in. Is he shifting awkwardly from foot to foot? Is he still standing tall or is he shrinking away, intimidated by the information and the clansmen?

10)
>“Don’t worry, Bruin.” I’ll figure something out. “I thank my mother for sending you. The Lord works through her. Without you as a hostage I doubt I would be able to make this deal, now go. Karbok has honor. You will be safe.”

Seeing this Derek's insensitivity to Bruin's fear makes me not like him. Derek is willing to risk Bruin's life for a trade.

Maybe try this same sort of thing, but have it be different. Perhaps, one of the horsemen swoops in and grabs Bruin. When Derek tries to get him back, other horsemen come in.

11) I really liked the duel in the beginning of chapter 2. It gave insight to the culture of the tribe and introduced another tribe member. I also love Bruins' snappy comments about Oda's wife.

12) On page 9, the dialogue in Tarrik's tent is a bit lacking. Not so much in words but more in feeling. Is Tarrik glaring at Oda for suggesting war? Is Oda stepping back at Tarrik's annoyance? In that scene, I don't feel much tension between tribesman and tribes master.

13) I really like Oda's character. I get the sense that he's a traitor which makes the plot... just as juicy as the lamb he just ate. Well done!

Overall I felt it was very well-written. You did a good job of giving context only when it was relevant and not just random info-dumps. There are some descriptions that can be a bit more detailed, but that can be changed.
But there are two big things I didn't like about it. First is Derek's insensitivity. Sure, some insensitivity can be forgiven, but this... willing to risk Bruin's life is unforgiveable. I also feel there is a overall lack of emotion, mood, and tone in most of the story. But just zooming in a bit more on showing how the characters feel can help.

Another thing... as much as I liked this part of the story, I feel these two chapters could be the middle. Personally, I'd think the best beginning would be a nice bit of daily life before hell breaks lose. It would be cool to see Derek, his daughter, and his wife being chill, I start to like them, then... BOOM! They're dead. It would be amazing to see Derek's grief and growing thirst for vengeance.
But it's just a suggestion. :-)

I'd also highly recommend The Hero With A Thousand Faces to give a hand with story structure. :-)

But yeah, assuming from the up votes, you've been PMed other critiques. So I'm really curious to see how it's updated and goes on! Just wondering, how long have you been writing, BamBam?

Anyway, you did an amazing job building up tension. I like how you began with a strong conflict and made me ask wonder what's going to happen right off the bat. Sometimes, when I read unpublished work, I get bored quickly... but no, your writing kept me very interested. For every one thing that I felt could be improved on, there were many more tidbits that I loved about your work. You have some serious potential as a writer, BamBam! :D

We were surprised to get the print copies of Harvest before Angel, but they were itty-bitty beautiful and totes adorbs! Seeing your story in print for the first time is truly magical, don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise!

Our copies of Angel should arrive tomorrow. We placed the order for those before the Harvest batch, but spent just a little extra on processing and shipping to ensure that we had the Harvest books by the 27th for my book signing and reading, where a full reading of Harvest is at the heart of the event. I guess that expedited things a lot more than expected!

Aside from that excitement, the last week has been about laying plans and getting back to work. I spent half of my weekend finishing my pre-planned social media for the next three weeks that got pushed-out because of the book launches. Then I got a leg-up on the next social media cycle with some hefty prep-work for that, as I anticipate things being a little hectic and tight-scheduled after devoting a Sunday to the author event.

However, this Sunday my focus was to begin revising my four chapter fantasy drama novella A Contract in Azure and Indigo for a December release.

Azure is the story that told me on an emotional are tangible level that I had what it takes to be a writer. For that alone it’s special to me, but I also think it’s a really good tale. The original was written in 2014 for a challenge contest on this sub celebrating reaching 10,000 subscribers. I rewrote 95% of it in 2016 while keeping the story very much the same, and now it’s going to get a third version. This time though, I doubt it will get reworked nearly as much given how things are going with chapter one.

I also revised my release schedule based on concerns about not giving myself enough time to finish work on Vivian’s Last Cigarette so I can get that novel out in June. As a result, I’ve cut two pieces from the release schedule: Cretaceous Queen and Out to Pasture. Both of these are good stories, but they also require a lot of revision, editing and/or expansion to stand alone competently and attain my current standards. While that’s something I want to do, it requires more time than I can afford to devote to them right now.

That leaves five pieces coming out ahead of Viv’s June 2020 release:

• December 2019: A Contract in Azure and Indigo
  
  
• February 2020: Tears of the Joyous Mare
  
• March 2020: The Brynesmark
  
• April 2020: The Old Man of the Elder Trees
  
• May2020: The Unicorn Hunters
  
  My plan is to get all the editing and/or revision work done on these five well ahead of the 2020 releases, so I can have months to work on Viv’s. It also gives Kim lots of buffer time to assemble the print and eBooks versions with care.
  
  Lots to do, but I’m working on it all with a smile!
  
  Have a great week everyone, and keep writing!

You have talent, keep working and you'll be fine.

The harshness,

You're making simple verb-tense errors all over your piece. Is it taking place in past-tense? he fed small grapes into her mouth
Or is it taking place in present-tense? she pouts to him, before he looks to her with an icy scowl

Both are acceptable. I personally prefer present-tense because I feel it adds immediacy and tension, but that's entirely a personal thing and should have no bearing on your own choices, but you need to make a choice and stick with it.

You need to format your writing properly before you show it to people. Things like paragraph breaks and indentations for lines of dialogue, and there are a couple of sentences where meaning completely breaks down, To an outside observer, he might seem slightly schizophrenic with his self affection, and quite considerably moronic of Strel, there was an observer. I have no idea what the second part of this sentence is supposed to convey.

There are a few points where your sentence construction gets a little clumsy, where the words get in the way of meaning or feeling, Strel made a vicious grin as a robed and turban-bound being huddled where it once was. (Made a vicious grin? Where what once was?)

wild were the actions of the people enamored with it (Enamoured with the market? How were their actions wild?)

However, there is a clear sense of creativity in your writing and a sense of determination to put words together in interesting ways that is impressive for someone of your age. If I were your English teacher, and I teach High School English, I'd be encouraging the hell out of you to keep writing because I think there is a lot of potential here.

Right now my suggestions would be to read everything you can. In particular, look beyond fantasy to books which are highly regarded for their literary merit. I'd strongly recommend Salman Rushdie (The Satanic Verses), Orhan Pamuk (My Name is Red), and Hillary Mantel (Wolf Hall).

As a fantasy fan there are things to really like in all of these books, and they're all examples of what writers at the absolute peak of the craft are capable of doing with language.

The second thing I'd suggest is to practice writing short pieces. It's all well and good to leap into a novel, but the ability to structure a beginning, middle, and end to a story is vital. If you can get classic story-structure skills mastered at a young age you're way, way, way ahead of the curve.

Finally, read The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. It's a non-fiction book about what Campbell calls "The Monomyth." A classic mythical story-structure repeated over and over and over again in mythic tales from around the world, and utterly essential reading for anyone who wants to write Fantasy.

I'm bashing on with The Hammer, but due to work commitments haven't been able to commit as much time as I would like to it. I have a free evening tomorrow, so I think I'll spend a few hours writing.

Next there's the other ideas I've had. I have three introductions written for stories I'd like to expand upon, but have had to put to one side to focus on The Hammer.

Technically a Dragon and The Vampire Horse are also set to one side just now. I have a good narrative from one character's point of view sitting at just under 100k just now, which I'm happy with. But there's another character that is being problemmatic. There's so much I want to do with my wizardess character, but I don't know which way to go. I don't know if my magic system's limits have been clearly-enough defined, and I feel like by the end it's going to be like some kind of nuclear war of wizards - which might not be a bad idea at all, but it's not what I envisaged at the start.

Ugh, damn brain, won't make decisions!

EDIT: Ok, went away and had a think about it, I may have a plot that makes sense now. TECHNICALLY I'm supposed to be working, but screw it, I'm happy now that I've sorted my plot line :-P

Anyway, shameless plug time.

I now have my Shiny Seven badge (which is a thing I've just made up) for seven stories out there for sale. Here are the two latest, and probably greatest (although if you like them I would suggest checking out the rest as I'm very proud of them also):

The Werechicken

Licking Walls in the Dark

A scathing 2-star review on Goodreads for Crux Skullcrusher and the Definitely Evil Sword that starts off describing by comedic fantasy short as "definitely humorous" has led to a bunch of people picking it up and hopefully leaving their own scathing reviews, whilst begrudgingly admitting that I am, in fact, humorous. I'll take it!

Get CSatDES on Amazon, where I'm still a five-star man, and let me know what you think!

Meanwhile, copy edits continue on my full length novel, The First Rule of Adventuring, wherein professional adventurer Asmund Alefson hates his job and dreams of opening a restaurant, and his latest rescue, Princess Silga Goldenfield, dreams of a life of not being kidnapped five times a year and decides that becoming an adventurer is the best way to go about it.

I had also recorded some preview audiobook chapters that got good feedback from friends and friends of friends, and have now committed to releasing an audiobook version of TFRoA, wherein I'll be doing a lot of voices and characters. Fun times!

Follow me on social media to keep up with more frequent updates:

Facebook - Twitter

Hey everyone,

I've been working on an anthology of stories that have won the Monthly Challenge and I've finally finished it :)

It's got loads of brilliant stories, from right here in this very subreddit, and is obviously free. I really love the stories and it's so nice to be able to help get some of the work of the brilliant members of this subreddit out there.

Here's an image of the cover. (also sorry the resolution may be massive).

And here's the Smashwords link.

Here's a link to Amazon UK, and to Amazon US.

If it's not showing up as free on Amazon I would really appreciate it if you could report a lower price using the Smashwords link so that we can get it permanently free on all platforms :) (I couldn't set it to completely free).

Hello!
I am brand new to Reddit and promoting my book, which I completed in April 2015 and published on Amazon Kindle later that year. The book is called, The Dark Deception: The Return of Wæccende. It is a story in the Fantasy genre, and is meant to be the first in a series. I have sat on this story for more than a decade, and in 2015 decided I should do something about it. Here is a short introduction to this book: "Greg suffered terrible nightmares recently. He would wake in a sweat, breathing hard, and with no memory of the content of the dream. Confiding in his friends, they agreed to look over him as he slept to wake him at the height of the nightmare. Implementing this one evening, they discover the contents of the dream. That same night they retire … Upon waking, they discover themselves in a strange land, and are quickly entwined in an adventure, which begins innocently enough, but slowly turns horrific and challenges their resolve and purpose. At first their path looks clear and simple. However, as they split into two groups and each pursue their tasks, they find themselves challenged with the strengths of their friendships and choices of self-preservation or of saving their friend’s life instead. Ultimately they reach their goal, and the truth is revealed …" You can gain access to the book at this location: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01L642N26/ It is available in a number of countries. I really hope that you may be curious to read it, and leave honest reviews, please. I will also be monitoring this thread and will endeavor to answer questions/thoughts as may appear, as readily as I can. I would like to continue telling this story, and get started on the sequel/prequel. Writing this one burnt me out, what with two jobs at the time plus the pace I was writing at. I look forward to hearing from you!

Hey all! When I finished taking Brandon Sanderson's workshop class at BYU, I wanted to do something that would help me stick to a writing schedule (because, otherwise, I’d just go back to spending all my time enjoying other people’s books, watching anime, and playing fighting games). I ended up deciding to stream writing on Twitch (it’s a video game platform for sure, but creative stuff also happens there), and so far, it’s been a lot of fun.

So, if you’d like to chat about writing fantasy/sci-fi or do writing sprints with me, feel free to pop by: https://www.twitch.tv/jeffrey_wolf

During this time, I’ve also self-published some short stories (a few novels are next!), which you can find here:

Kill Shot is an action heavy science fiction short story, set in a time where the rich mind-ride the combatants of intergalactic battle royale matches, experiencing everything the fighters do, whether those warriors are human, alien, or machine.

Necks Direct is a short slice of life urban fantasy story where a partial vampire gets more than he bargained for from his recently ordered meal.

The Crown is an upbeat YA fantasy short story, set in a place where humans live under the protection of mighty dragons. One boy, Piscalo, has been passed over by his lord dragon for full initiation into the clan that he serves, and so, with the help of his friends, he sets out to convince the old wurm of his worth.

Whether you check out my stuff or not, all the best with your writing!

Good, solid week for me.

I just published my fourth book, Mad Tinker's Daughter, the first book in the 5-book Mad Tinker Chronicles. It's steampunk-flavored fantasy (gadgets, trains, airships, and steam power, not so much the fashion or Englishness) with a Whedon-esque heroine. It revolves around the plots of two humans who are trying to better the lot of their own kind in a world where humans are treated as talking chattel. One wants to get them away from their oppressors, the other wants to buy their freedom in blood.

I've also somehow managed 11k words toward the second novel in the series, Rebel Skyforce. That puts me at about 78k words of a projected 95-100k.

For those of you who have expressed interest in reading my first series, I'm going to have the first book, Firehurler, available free this Saturday/Sunday with KDP Select free days.

If any of you end up reading either one, reviews are always welcome, and appreciated. :)

X-post from self-

I published my first story a year ago.

March 23rd, 2014, late evening, I was rereading my manuscript "Larkspur: A Necromancer's Romance" for the 100th time, unsure if I could call it finished. Later I would find typos, have to change the file, tweak the cover several times, have it edited by another person... but for a story I had been writing on-and-off for two years, a short story I refused to stop writing because that would mean I never finished it, it looked good. I was proud. I published it and ran downstairs to show my dad the Amazon page before dancing around. It took a while for it to be 'buyable' but it was 'Publishing' and there. It was my story.

I think I got three buys and a review on my first day (I bothered someone who I knew got it). I made 5 bucks because of my work. I barely paid attention in classes with all the refreshing I was doing. It felt amazing. This was my dream.

It's been a year since then. I've sold about 330 copies, give or take, and gathered almost 70 reviews between Amazon and Goodreads, not counting the doubles. I'm a third of the way through writing the sequel, though I had wanted that done months ago. But I'm still writing at at least twice the speed that it took me with Larkspur, so that's good.

This is the last time I'm going to promote this story here. A year for a short seems fitting, and I can only go on so long about a tale that's supposed to only be the appetizer to the series. I hope to soon bother you guys with Delphinium. To those that have bought the story, and even more so to those that reviewed it, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You helped me realize my dream, and while I'm being slow with book 2, it will be out. Then book 3, book 4.. :)

If anyone reading this is interested in buying the story, it's a dollar at all online book stores, it would make my night to know someone wanted to read it - Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.

Congrats on making it this far!

Here's my constructive criticism: Your concept is cool, but your prose is stilted, clunky, and awkward, and you need a more evocative cover to draw a buyer's attention.

I really think your book would benefit from a professional editor's touch; the feedback would vastly improve the quality of your writing, and it'd help you achieve your goals of learning and developing as a writer.

If you can't afford an editor's services, please buy a copy of Strunk and White's Elements of Style for your personal reference. It's 90 pages of wisdom that will change your writing for the better; it won't be the same as getting an editor's feedback, but it will be a distinct improvement.

Not before I wrote my first novel - Heir to Agon... But I did write a prequel to that as part of a constrained writing exercise.

I put those prequels out as free e-books at Smashwords - Enzi's Irregulars

Be warned, thanks to the constraints that free series gets VERY dark.

The prequels really let me explore a lot of the world I did not touch on for the first novel, and prepared a lot of things for any upcoming novel in the same world. It was a fun and challenging project.

It never hurts to write. SO write all you want! You may throw some of it away and that is okay. You may find some perfect nuggets of information. Either way you get to improve your writing!

> Thanks so much for the lesson!

Strong, active voice construction. Good start.

> This is going to be a huge help.

Avoiding passive voice will make a huge difference in your writing. But it does take conscious effort. "To be" just comes too naturally to people.

If you don't already own a copy, pick up [this book](http://www.amazon.com/The-Elements-Style-Fourth-Edition /dp/020530902X) ASAP. It reads fast, and will improve your writing ten generations overnight. Keep it as a reference manual. Refer to it often.

Good luck!

Hey guys I wrote a graphic novel called The Yellow Boys Testament and I dropped a 27 page teaser on Facebook. I was wondering if I can make a post about it in this subreddit or if someone knows other places I can share my work. I posted 2 weeks ago but didnt get any response. Hope I don't come off too spamy haha.

It’s a coming of age graphic novel following the trials and tribulations of Peter the yellow boy. A teenager trying to figure things out. School demands, parents demands, societies demands, and most important his dreams and hopes demands....A serious yet humerus and mystical red blue yellow look of navigating life and trying not to fall thru the cracks.

Here's the teaser :

https://m.facebook.com/pg/theyellowboystestament/photos/?tab=album&album_id=100598598002965

And here the link to buy the whole e-book.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07X8KTMJW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=the+yellow+boys+testament&qid=1567472060&s=gateway&sr=8-1&fbclid=IwAR0-4dHf7jGoO-MTD97V4nfdX-boJWgV2v2mWfqPcpOVw8Rw-gQltVHDyeA

>'Artemis' is a hunter, Aquarius the water-bringer of peace.

) Yes, indeed, they sure are. And if you really like puzzles, see if you can work out which story is mine. Don't cheat and search the subreddit. But you can search the rest of the Internet. You might win something. :)

I don't bother much with KDP select anymore, as the changes in Amazon's affiliate program has made free giveaways less appealing to book bloggers; their affiliate codes don't bring in the cash anymore.

Unfortunately even if you're not in it for the money a steady production schedule is the only way to keep visible. Amazon heavily weights its search results towards new releases. If it takes you a year to publish another book, well, by the time that year has past your first book has been hidden in search obscurity for 10 months.

There are only really two things I can suggest.

1. Be prolific. I strongly suggest the book 2k to 10k; it's about doubled my productivity and even if you can't do everything the author suggests, it might have a tip or two that helps you.
   
   
2. Write quality content. Someone once said that every writer has a million words of trash to put out before they can write a single word of gold, so keep writing. Write every day, even if it's just a thousand words. Practice makes perfect, right?
   
   Anyway, good luck.

Released Siege of Praetar last week. Now trying to decide between jumping back into my 92,000 word Fantasy WIP, or the thriller that I've outlined (a man with a sleep disorder is admitted into a secretive drug trial at a remote facility).

Starting something always seems more appealing than finishing something else.

EDIT: by the way, I'd be willing to send people free copies of the book in exchange for an honest review on Amazon (whether good or bad!). PM me if you're interested. This sub is great, and helped push me to start writing in the first place, even though my Fantasy WIP still hasn't been published.

I noticed you mentioned having Grammar and style errors, if you want some help with grammar and style let me link you two extremely helpful books that are very low bullshit for their price:

The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition: https://www.amazon.com/dp/020530902X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-YyyCbQ6NC2R1

This is the best book for grammar help in my opinion, it's especially helpful if you still have to write essays.

On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1439156816/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_L0yyCb9D4H4SE

The first half of this book is a memoir, but the second half is absolutely packed with good advice for novels, regardless the genre.

The first book will help you catch those Grammar errors before you go back with another story, and the second will help you with Style. IE your "The elf walked with grace to the door." Sentence and how to avoid Adverbs.

When I was taking composition classes in college the first paper I submitted to my professor drove him up a wall because I come from a poetry background, so my commas were wherever I damn well pleased them to be, his only written comments were THIS, HAS, GOT, TO, STOP, and it was only my first submission. So I get the comma splice struggle, I often, and highly suggest Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, (9 dollars) that helped me with a lot of my grammar woes and gave me a roadmap for understanding and developing style. It has a list of 20 something "rules" for style do's and don'ts that were fairly revelatory for me, to have them laid plainly out was a godsend. Its a tiny book you could read in an evening but its a reference not a novel.

Everything else I mentioned just comes with reading a ton of books and sharing my writing with people who are far better at this stuff than I am, it is wise to revel in being deconstructed, I certainly do.

Max and the Dream Time - The Find

I was told I could post this here, under the Weekly Check-In.

I have 19 free (Kindle) copies of a YA short story available. For a first attempt at the YA genre, the responses have been very positive. If you are interested, here are few of the links. As they are redeemed, I can add more.

Link

Link

Link

Link

Well, this is a setting, but it's not a plot. I don't really care about what happened 250 years ago. Giving a history lesson instead of a story is the quickest way to lose a reader. All these details might be valuable as backstory, and it's important that you know them, but this isn't an effective presentation to hook a reader.

I agree with muffinprincess that you should be able to summarize your plot in one paragraph.

To hook the reader, it's no good to relate a series of events. You want to develop a compelling and interesting main character. The story isn't about the events, it's about your main character, and the personal transformation they undergo through the course of the story. You want a main character the reader can sympathize with and identify with, someone who has a problem they can't solve.

I recommend you get James Scott Bell's Write Your Novel from the Middle. It's 100 pages, and it's $4. You can download it onto your phone and read it in an afternoon or two. He talks about finding the defining moment of your story (which is also the defining moment of your main character). Once you have that, the rest of the story almost falls into place.

Well... I think it's more that fantasy as a whole has changed. I don't think sword and sorcery is dead at all, but it's not the same as it was. I consider Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, and Scott Lynch to be sword and sorcery authors. Stories that are more character focused than world spanning, though those personal stories often have far reaching consequences in those worlds.

I consider mine to be a sword and sorcery story, but it has very little in common with those from the 60's and 70's. Swords? Check. Sorcery? Check. Character focused? Check. What more do you need? :)

>Has anyone used this method before?

Kinda sorta, I write dialogue-heavy on the first pass with very minimal descriptions, then ink that shit in on the second pass. It can help knowing what the scene looks like for dialogue (pro tips can be found in Aaron's 2K to 10K book) and related actions, but a dialogue-rich approach helps your characters step from the page.

Also, you avoid painful exposition :)

If you can track down a copy, Enough Is Too Much Already is a book written entirely in dialogue, and it's superb. I lent my copy out, never to be seen again, so don't make that mistake.

Buy Rachel Aaron's book of writing advice. It is actually very helpful.

Also check out the snowflake method.

See what other famous, prolific writers do. Try a bit. See what you do best with.

If something gives you a headache, either it's not for you, or you're doing it wrong.

Up to you to figure that one out.

Rinse, repeat. :)

Get a copy of James Scott Bell's Write Your Novel from the Middle. The ebook is $4, and it's short, only about 100 pages. Download it and put it on your phone, and you can read it in a couple afternoons.

Bell's premise is that almost every great book has a turning point at around the 2/3 mark where the hero has hit rock bottom. He's tried everything and failed. So he has to take a good, hard look at himself in the mirror at this point. After that, he makes a decision, and the book moves into its endgame.

If you can nail down that scene in your mind, you've nailed down your main character, with their greatest weakness and strength. Once you understand that scene in your book, the rest of the story practically falls into place.

▬▬▬

Also, I would say please don't write about elves, dwarves or dragons; make up your own races/beasts from scratch, it's more fun for the reader that way. And ffs don't have a magic school. And no dramatic "chosen one" prophesied to one day come along and do this or that.

All of your characters should have both positive and negative character traits. They should be real people. Your main character should have good qualities, but he should also have some serious character flaws. And your antagonist shouldn't just be a cartoon villain; he has good qualities, too, and he's the hero in his own mind.

I finally managed to publish my first fantasy novel earlier this week! It’s called: The Liberator: A Tale of Two Gods.

I’ve worked on it since September as a school project and I’m really proud of what it has become.

DE link

US link

Rather than writing your novel from the end, get James Scott Bell's Write Your Novel from the Middle. It's $3 and you can finish it in a couple hours. Basically, you want to find the moment when your main character has a long, hard look at himself.

If you want more, his Plot and Structure goes more in depth into plotting and pacing.