(Part 2) Best products from r/fantasywriters

I know it's hard to hear that your story isn't up to snuff. Seriously, I get it. I spent seven years writing a novel and had some guy stop reading it after the first paragraph. You're in the submitting game, my friend. Your story is ONLY as long as people are willing to read. I know you technically wrote more, but you gave zero reason for anyone to stick around, so yes, your story does not progress beyond the first couple hundred words, at best. That's the honest truth. I took time out of my day to convey that--agents usually don't. So I encourage you to refrain from showing frustration directed towards future readers.

Since you brought up The Hobbit, I would also encourage you to dwell on two things. One, the difference between Tolkien and you is that he is published many times over. The Hobbit is not a manuscript. The story goes on with or without a magazine's opinion, or a redditor's opinion, on whether or not it should be published.

Secondly, go back and read The Hobbit, or any book for that matter, and compare and contrast with what they have written and what you have written. You will find no published author doing what you have done. That's usually a good indication that some heavy editing needs to happen. And even if I were to not read The Hobbit after its first page or so like I did yours, The Hobbit does not start out in a room with nothing happening but talking. In fact it throws out many amazing images and action, lots of sights and sounds that move quickly from one paragraph to another. It's not some dude drinking tea. Making comparisons between oneself and a prolific author is dangerous grounds to not be taken seriously. I know your heart is in it, but since you want to be published I would advise you look into how you're responding. How you respond to criticism is probably more valuable than the actual critcism.

Below is a link to a good book for beginning writers that comes highly recommended and I think could help you. "How Not to Write a Novel."

Many books out there are people's personal opinions on how TO write a novel, but this book takes the opposite approach and shows everything that gets writers almost instantly rejected. I think it's a great read.

https://www.amazon.com/Write-Novel-Them-Misstep-Misstep/dp/0061357952/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521554570&sr=8-1&keywords=how+not+to+write+a+novel

First off, how does Wednesday mark a week?

Secondly my week is going great. 2am wake ups to write, twins with perpetually runny noses and a dog that hates me not with standing.

TGFN is steadily growing and seeing 5k worth of work since Monday. the whole thing is very messy and am positive my first read through is going to be painful.

Hoping for at minimum another 2k by weeks end.

33k total right now and about halfway done.

I am also working 2 shorts this week. One fantasy which got about 2k worth of words thrown at it since Saturday and a scifi piece I aim to finish today or I will burn my house down.

Kidding babe!

I am still hoping to work with another blogger on the occasional piece on craft, but if that falls through I still hope to generate at least two posts on craft on my own every week. Its fun and interesting and I feel like the study of how story works can only make my prose stronger

Speaking of my blog I have posted seven new stories since the weekend. Comment, like, torch me on twitter, the choice is entirely yours.

On a Battlefield

a fantasy flash piece about resurrection in the heat of battle.

Rom’s Choice

A fantasy short about a dwarf and minotaur baby.

Gypsy Assassin

A character piece on guess what...

One Gnome, Two Gnome, Three Gnomes Gone

A fantasy short about a gnome wedding.

Rare Earth

A short sc-fi piece about spoiler

Tunnel Rats

An historical narrative on the Vietnamese war vets who crawl through tunnels.

The Mystery of Bill Harper: a Mr. Robot Story

A flash fan fic piece on the Mr. Robot character of Bill Harper.

And at the bottom of the slush pile that is erotic fiction involving Donald Trump and various members of the service industry is my novel:

Compounded Interest an urban noir piece about love greed and revenge.

available for the kindle at 2.99$ and in paper back for 14.99$

Love this community and proud of you all.

=)

I'd enjoy reading the rest of the story. It's always good to see people bring their creations to life. However, How Not To Write A Novel puts dream sequences into its list of things it doesn't think belongs in literature (of any genre). (Seriously, it's hilarious; everyone serious about writing should read it. It's not infallible, but it's a complete gas.)

Dream sequences are odd beasts (2 links). Sometimes, they can be too specific, and sometimes too vague; the problem is, dreams in real life are far too abstract to make sense of at the time, and aren't often terribly interesting at the point at which they happen. People put them in stories to give the reader an abstract prediction of what's going to happen later on, because they have to be relevant to be included. This can heighten tension, but equally, when they're just random sequences of events (is there going to be an actual rotting man in the story? if so, you've just spoiled us. If not...why write one in?), it can seem like a waste of words.

Thing is, I can't remember reading a professionally-written/editd book where I saw into a character's dreams except for the purposes of psychic action (such as the excellent Twinborn series by our own /u/JSMorin, where dreams have a mechanical reason to exist and operate with consistent rules, events within them being perceived accurately). I experiment with waking moments of precognition --- a man in my WIP has a psychic insight through the shock of walking in on two people engaging in an intimate moment, rather than sleep. Dreams make it into Morin's book because they add to the magical mystery of the book. I've used characters sleeping to scry on someone else. So used sensibly, dreams can add rather than detract from the story.

I think a more interesting device could be a PTSD flashback. If the character once saw a man rot from inside (say, from gangrene or tuberculosis) and this is a relevant situation for the story or to depict a person suffering from past trauma, then yeah, that fits the tone of the book. You could show this as a waking nightmare, which could cripple someone at an inopportune moment, or it could alternatively offer them an immediate insight into what's hiding in plain sight. But just running across an abyss --- what is the relevance to the plot? why show us this metaphor when you could show us concrete reflection in the waking world?

Bascially, all this scene really tells us is that a great trial awaits Jaen. All that word-count and imagery just to tell us, essentially, what we know because Jaen is a character in a fantasy novel. It's like someone writing a scene in which the characters are planning something - is there really a need for them to walk us through the events of the next scene?

So what you've got to ask yourself is, how much does this add to your story --- how much does it really add --- and how much does it just strike you as a pretty piece of writing shaped like itself without a real purpose except to give us some hallucinatory imagery and basically what we already know.

I've recently started self-publishing stories set in a science-fantasy world I've been working in for almost two years now. There's a series of novels I've yet to publish, but I'm actually starting with three short stories. I decided to write short stories about the secondary or minor characters in the novels, as a way to both flesh out the world and the characters, and give people a cheaper entry point into the series. It's been fun so far!

Right now I'm writing a second set of short stories. I decided to take a different tack with one of them, and I'm writing it almost entirely in reverse chronology - starting with the climax, every subsequent scene takes place before the last, except for the very last scene, which is the resolution. It's been a really different and fun exercise, and I think I'm going to try experimenting more with these shorts in the future.

I'm also combing through the first novel one last time for a sanity check and preparing to publish that too this week. It's hard to juggle this with a full-time job and a relationship, and I know that I still have a lot to learn as a writer, but it's exciting to start taking these first baby steps into turning my lifelong hobby into something a bit more.

Hope everyone else is having a good writing week! :)

Hello Everyone,

I have recently completed my ebook and published it on Amazon.com. I am still in utter and complete disbelief. Writing the book has took a lot of my time in the past two years with a lot of stops in between and moments when I seriously considered abandoning it. But against all odds, I did finish it and it is done!
You can get it for free as part of my free book promotion campaign, also on Amazon, between October 5 and October 9. Mark the date!

The book title is: Saga of the Feather-Cutter: Defiance

The link to the ebook is:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0VXJK5

The ebook is published in all Amazon markets and the URL can be adjusted for each market by adjusting the market suffix.

Example for UK market: "https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M0VXJK5"

Again, you can get the ebook from Amazon for free between October 5 and October 9!

In case you missed those dates, my ebook is enrolled in KDP select and that allows subscribers to (Kindle Unlimited) to read the ebook for free at any time till December 23.

The synopsis of the book is as follows:

"A young and hot headed knight seeks to break himself and his people free from the gods' authoritative rule by the only mean available to him, defiance! However, the path that he sets upon is hindered by overwhelming odds. His only hope in achieving his goal might be a mysterious sword that he receives early in his adventure. Furthermore, his quest is complicated by a band of rebels, will they aid him or do they have their own goals? Deities, magic, monsters, fantasy, legend and myth! The knight's journey is only beginning and his actions will have untold consequences on his beloved land and the whole world. Will he be able to bear the responsibility for his decisions?"

In brief, the basic premise is that the story details how a young knight has set out to oppose his land's ruling pantheon and its deities. I would say that the story's main draw is the complexity and depth of carrying out such a quest. Characters frequently discuss the consequences of their actions and debate among ourselves how to reconcile their beliefs and motivations with their deeds. Of course, epic fight scenes are interspersed in between with battles against monsters, mythical creatures, warriors and gods.

You can imagine the story as being PG-13 God of War, the PlayStation game, with a whole lot of depth and complexity added to it.

Happy reading and hope you enjoy the book!

My fantasy novel is finally done and dusted, cover art commissioned, and published on Amazon. It's been accepted for future review on a couple of popular blogs, and the promotional leg of our journey is now in full swing!

Book Name: Another Stupid Spell

Style: 'Another Stupid Spell' is a first person high fantasy novel, using a theme inspired by the wonderful 'Flowers for Algernon' some 60 years ago. The tone and vocabulary of the story shifts as our narrator, Sorch the orc, finds ways to enhance his intelligence.

Plot: Sorch is an orc mage in a world where orcs are cursed with stupidity every time they cast a spell. The only spell he can safely cast is Enhance Intelligence, which feeds a mysterious artefact called the ‘Voodoo Engine’ and gets work done for his tribe. Sorch is basically a slave, casting a single spell over and over again to avoid being beaten by the chief’s warrior caste.

With the help of some new friends, Sorch breaks the cycle and becomes a real mage. He leaves his swamp and embarks on a series of incredibly dangerous adventures. During his travels he encounters horrible injury, magical treasures, love, snow, university admissions tests, a plot against the Kingdom, and then of course he saves the world. Or does he?

Price: $5.79 U.S. / 4.50 GBP / 4.94 Euro (approx, adjusted for current GBP exchange rates).

Availability: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.

Cheers all!

Well, I am excited because this is my very first post on Reddit. Being a dinosaur aka 50+ it took my 15 year old son to roll his eyes at me and say, (in that voice): 'Dad!'

If I have this right, I am allowed a little trumpet blowing, but only in this space, yes? So: Tah dah! My new high epic fantasy novel was published in Canada (where I live) this week. 'Smoke in the Glass' is Book One of the Immortals' Blood Trilogy. It's been out in the UK since May, but not available in the US till February. (Publishers! I don't know!) So here's the link to the Amazon ca page:

https://www.amazon.ca/Smoke-Glass-Immortals-Blood-Book/dp/1473226031/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FDMJDULCB9H3&keywords=smoke+in+the+glass&qid=1568733352&s=books&sprefix=smoke+in+the+glass%2Cstripbooks%2C311&sr=1-1

And here's a nice review in Grimdark Magazine.

https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/review-smoke-in-the-glass-by-chris-humphreys/

My accomplishment this week - actually two hours ago, was writing 'The End' on Book Two of the trilogy: 'The Coming of the Dark'. My goal for the week: Edit!

Thanks for indulging me. Now to read some other people's comments on stuff. Why didn't my son tell me about all this before? (And why didn't he teach me about how to upload a cover? Oh well, next time!)

If you have the good fortune to take a class in fiction writing, they talk about the mechanics of storyform, how stories are composed, what sort of structures they have, what the parts are and how they are related. It can be invaluable information.

Out here in the world, there's no one to tell you how to write a novel. You're supposed to just try doing it until you can somehow teach yourself how to do it, I guess. But that could take 20 years...

So one of the best things you can do to help yourself is to read a couple good books on storywriting.

Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell is $4 and 100 pages. Put it on your phone and you can read it in a couple afternoons. Bell's premise is that most great stories have a special type of scene, and that if you can nail that scene, the rest of the story, forward and back, will practically fall into place. It's an inspirational book that will get you pumped.

And if you find that helpful, you should get Bell's Plot and Structure. I've read a lot of books on writing, and this has been one of the most helpful.

Beyond that, How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James Frey is great.

Writing Active Hooks by Mary Buckham is indispensable. No one tells you how to manage hooks, but they're a critical part of a story.

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Beyond that, you just have to write shit. Your writing ability is a muscle; you need to exercise it to make it grow stronger. Every day, seven days a week, sit down and force yourself to pound out 1000 words of...whatever; nonsense, dreams, freeform imagery, snippets of scenes or ideas. Type it all into one big file, and make a new file every time you get above 100K.

You need to train yourself not to write awkward phrases. In order to do this, you first need to write all those awkward phrases.

Write 1000 words, every day, for 3 months.

Then look at the results. You'll see a tangible difference between when you started and when you finished. It really does work.

Robin Hobb's Farseer Books are pretty much the pinnacle for me when it comes to an assassin protagonist. Start with 'Assassin's Apprentice' if you haven't read it yet. Brilliant characterisation and great plotting.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Assassins-Apprentice-Farseer-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B005JE1K9M/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1541609228&sr=1-3&keywords=robin+Hobb

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I also really enjoyed Anthony Ryan's Blood Song Trilogy, especially the first book, which focuses on the young assassin in training.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Song-Book-Ravens-Shadow/dp/0356502481

I finished my novel a while ago, but the post-finishing stuff tripped me up for a bit. Exporting, formatting, researching what keywords to use to hopefully find readers, getting a blurb ready for Amazon, choosing to make it available on KDP select, pricing, all of that has been an interesting challenge very different from the actual writing process.

It's an epic dark fantasy about a woman who is a Sympath, someone who can directly affect the minds of others nearby, whether she wants to or not. People like her are pariahs in her world, and are lucky if they are only exiled, for a Sympath cannot be jailed.

I'm straightening out the print version right now for Createspace, which is yet another new experience. I tried formatting it in Word and was unsatisfied, so now I'm trying InDesign.

The Amazon link is The Hidden Ones

My website is rscullison.wordpress.com

As a writer (my second novel HellCorp came out this summer https://www.amazon.co.uk/HellCorp-Jonathan-Whitelaw/dp/1911583727) - I've been exactly where you are.

I dabbled in the self-publishing route about five or six years ago before getting my first book deal from a publisher. It was a valuable learning experience and above all else gave me a platform to showcase my work and get it out there to readers.

The best advice I can offer is to educate yourself to the best of your ability about the publishing world. There are millions of great writers out there who remain undiscovered because they don't familiarise themselves with the who's, why's, where's and how's of the industry. And the power brokers in positions to help you tell your story won't suffer fools for very long.

That might sound a little cold but it's the truth. Do your research, send e-mails, ask questions (which you're already doing) and start your journey.

How To Avoid Death On A Daily Basis
Fantasy/Summoned to another world
Moved my web serial to Gravity Tales and just started Book 6: LINK. Posting 5 chapters a week, Mon-Fri. I write each chapter on the day of release. Story is completely improvised, no outline. Over 190 chapters so far.


The eBook version of Book 1 is currently free on all platforms. If anyone wants to grab a copy use this universal LINK
 

Entertaining Tales of Grin the Cheat
Fantasy/S&S
My collection of Swords and Sorcery short stories is on KU, free if you have access to the Kindle Library.
 

I started two new serials on RRL:

Bitter
Fantasy/VRMMO
The story of a girl who finds her life is not what she wanted. So she gets another one.
One chapter a day, seven chapters a week. (Yes, a new chapter every single day, 500-1000 words)
 


The Good Student
Fantasy/Magic Academy
Nic Tutt is a good student. He excels at all subjects. But his education serves only one purpose—to gain entry into the Ransom School.
One chapter a week, released every Sunday.

All right, so Amazon's free promotion seems a bit dodgy, but for the time being my book is indeed available free of charge. So if you like any sort of heroic fantasy with an underdog protagonist gradually learning to grow into something resembling a hero, you'll have no reason to not pick this one up!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FJPM8XY

It’s a bit eccentric, but Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer is a fun read and has a ton of great writing advice geared towards fantasy and speculative fiction.

Hey Everyone!

Today I get to announce the release of my second book, The Watchman's Oath! I started this High Fantasy novel in January 2011 and finished the first draft on July 4th, 2011. It was actually the first book that I ever wrote. Eight years of writing and rewriting followed, and here we are published at ~121,784 words!

The Watchman's Oath is based on true stories woven together and embellished. The title was actually cannibalized from a short narrative about a man's war against his own corruption. The battle for the soul of humankind, and the individual's pivotal role in their own identity, is something that has always captured my attention. I hope it will catch yours as well. And of course, there are dragons and magic, demons, elves, and goats. So that's good too.

If you're interested, check out my website: https://sagrovebooks.com/

You can also pick up a copy here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/152335027X/

Thanks!

I was not able to get the word count in that I wanted, but I did get through several pages of notes I needed to do for later stories. I have a few pages left to work on and then I am going to start editing book 4 at the end of March so I can finish it by May.

Book 1 is still free all over the internet, and Amazon is having fun fluctuating the price of my paperback omnibus all over the place. It is apparently 10% off today.

Hi all, I recently self-published my first fantasy novel, 'The Heir of Eyria'. It's a 349-page story told from the perspective of three PoV characters. A short description is available here. I'm happy to answer any questions :) https://www.amazon.com/Heir-Eyria-Osku-Alanen-ebook/dp/B07QPZ5WWM/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=heir+of+eyria&qid=1556294915&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-fkmrnull

It's been a good week!

I published a thing for the first time. It's a LitRPG fantasy heist novella, here for 99 cents: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H3XQPGX

Meanwhile, I'm hard at work on the sequel, which is at about 13,500 of a planned 20k. Two more novellas after that will wrap up the first "arc" of the story. So I'm pleased with my progress!

Wonderbook is fantastic and seems like exactly what you're looking for. It's less about the mechanics of writing than jumpstarting creativity, and thinking of really wild things that will resonate with imaginative readers.

Or, another step removed, flip through books on myth or architecture or geography and find one with a lot of really wild photos that make you think of ideas. That's what I've been doing lately.

I like that type of book enough that I wrote one. Amazon link and Goodreads link.

Their world has something terrible happen to it, but the main characters are determined, noble, and loyal to the bitter end.

Write Your Novel from the Middle by James Scott Bell. An unusual perspective that involves finding the defining moment for your main character. Once you have that, the rest of the book practically falls into pladce. $4 and only 100 pages. Put it on your phone and you can read it in an afternoon or two. Also, his Plot and Structure.

How to Write a Damn Good Novel by James Frey.

Dramatica: A New Theory of Story by Melanie Anne Phillips.

Writing Active Hooks by Mary Buckham. Also, her Writing Active Setting.

Million Dollar Outlines by David Farland.

Heads up that UK link doesn't work :)

Here's a working UK link

I love that you have an illustrated version on Lulu too! Did you do the illustrations yourself?