Writing a fantasy book series

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Well that's great to hear. I'm glad you got some useful feedback from the folks around here. Also great to hear that you improved yourself and are less insecure now. As long as there is progression in yourself and your work you have every reason to be proud of yourself.

Thank you for the kind words
 
Hello, so i guess the title says it all...you probably not interested because i'm not a professional write like the witcher series writer, but i found it interesting to try, i already had several ideas, which is why i said "series" on the title, currently i have planned a trilogy, but i probably will have more later on in the progress, anyway already begun writing it all, trying to put mature, choices in it, consequences etc...
I already made a huge progress and i boosted it so i could finish the first one before the end of the summer.

I'm probably boring you all, and you're not interested in the whole written above. :sad:

The community here is huge i must say, and i wanted to share this for a bit, maybe someone will be interested in this. :hmm:

Just a little note, i don't know why i'm writing this right now, i posted a thread about this on AJSA, some people seemed to be thrilled with my ideas and the whole book thing, the idea became a little popular and they wanted to help me, which is why i'm able now to boost this book so quick that after few full days i may even finish it, or at least the draft version of it.
I hope the community is approving this whole thread, because it doesn't really relate to the witcher although it inspired me a bit, but i hope the community is very welcoming.
Thank you for reading and your time, if you have any questions about this project, let me know, and i'll do my best to answer them.

Just a little note, if you're going to start writing a book, it's best to gather your information from a variety of sources. Meaning, if you really like the Witcher series, don't just base the ideas only from it. Get it off from other sources such as A Song of Ice and Fire by G.R.R.M. Also, it is always good to describe the main foe in detail over the course of the book or books before you do the big thing of writing him/her or it off in the epilogue. Kind of like writing an argumentative essay; understand, describe, and acknowledge the opposition's statement or argument (make sure he or she is credibility) and then smash it with your own, making theirs look inferior or simply look bad which is kind of like writing up an evil, powerful, or near unstoppable antagonist (hated of course) then slaying it off.

Mod Edit: Can it, pic removed.
 
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Also, it is always good to describe the main foe in detail over the course of the book or books before you do the big thing of writing him/her or it off in the epilogue. Kind of like writing an argumentative essay; understand, describe, and acknowledge the opposition's statement or argument (make sure he or she is credibility) and then smash it with your own, making theirs look inferior or simply look bad which is kind of like writing up an evil, powerful, or near unstoppable antagonist (hated of course) then slaying it off.
I disagree with the notion that antagonist should necessarily be inferior than the protagonist, even motives-wise.
 
I disagree with the notion that antagonist should necessarily be inferior than the protagonist, even motives-wise.

Likewise. Great works have great antagonists. In Paradise Lost, who is the greater character, Satan or God? In Crime and Punishment, the drama derives from the equal matching of Raskolnikov and Porfiry Petrovich. Fairy-tale heroes do not win over their antagonists in anything like an argumentative essay; they overcome from a position of weakness through courage or guile, in a manner quite unexpected.

Leave argumentative essays for critics, politicians, and basic writing classes. Tell a story.
 
Hello once again sorry for not responding for like....forever...
anyway i made a new prologue, to a different book series that i'm creating.

LINK

Hope to hear from you, and for feedback on this one.

EDIT: I change a link because i made few mistakes on the original...
 
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The new prologue I was able to read without trouble, so it's a good thing. I still question the need for having a prologue, especially since now it's so short that all the information it contains can be easily passed in the story proper, but at least it doesn't pose a big hurdle anymore.

Despite its small size the prologue is still somewhat confusing. I get that there's a kingdom, but conflicted with what exactly? "Magic" doesn't really explain much. Are mages in general too ambitious because they have powers others don't? Is it a specific group of mages? Or is this not about people, but "magic" as a force? Is it somehow corrupted? Or does it corrupt? You wrote that "Zaurac is now under control of the army of darkness" - darkness? Is magic something that's "dark", or is simply a tool that's used by said army? I'm also confused by the jump from magicians to the army of darkness. Are magicians leading an army? Why is it "of darkness"? Is it about their creations you mention? Did they create an army and are on a conquering spree? Have they already conquered other lands, and now Zaurac is their target? Are there any other similar conflicts taking place? And who are "they" in the first place? A group of mages that got together and decided to take over the world?

Generally, even though the prologue tries to put the story in a specific context, the events presented in the prologue lack any context themselves. This usually happens when you take a handful of facts and put them together as you see them in the very specific moment, without figuring out how they should connect in the past. Causality is paramount, and even though each story begins somewhere and ends somewhere, it doesn't exist in vain; there's always something that was before the events the story describes, as well as there's always something after. What happens in the story is always the result of something that happened in the past.

Let's check what facts are we presented in the prologue:
1. king Robert defeated all foes of his realm, save one - magic;
2. currently the kingdom is in war with mages;
3. the mages are basically victorious, and the king is now trapped in one city;
4. the kingdom is brutally ruled by the mages, the population killed and enslaved;
5. a ship is sailing to the kingdom.

Now let's dwell a bit over the facts.

"King Robert defeated all foes of his realm, save one - magic" and "currently the kingdom is in war with mages". I would assume that the kingdom's political situation when king Robert ascended the throne was rather complicated. Even if some of the "foes" of the kingdom were simply rivals in various aspects, "all foes" seems to indicate there were quite a few of them. And the king defeated them over the years, which would indicate he waged many wars. Yet there is still one foe he did not defeat - magic. Now, during the time king Robert was warring against his other foes, what was "magic" doing? And what has king Robert done to prepare for the conflict? For that matter, what were other kings doing? I doubt they would simply watch and wait for their turn. If it is such a serious threat, it couldn't just appear out of nowhere, with army of darkness and whatnot. Wars also don't simply break out. As Clausewitz said, "war is the continuation of politics by other means". If the mages decided to launch an offensive, it would mean they couldn't achieve their goals otherwise. If other kingdoms are/were also attacked, they would obviously participate. If it's only Zaurac that's being invaded, other players would most likely get involved as well, especially seeing the kingdom has in fact fallen, as the situation would be a threat to them as well. Yet it would seem Zaurac is pretty much on its own. Now, in your case the events might have played out differently, but if so, be prepared to give readers believable explanation of why.

"The mages are all but victorious, and the king is now trapped in one city". As I understand it, since the king is now isolated, which effectively removes him from the equation, he has only symbolic value both to the mages and his subjects. This also means he doesn't have the means to command his forces (given that there still are any forces left). Which begs the question why the prologue pays him so much attention. How I see it, he's of no consequence when the story starts (I assume that happens with the arrival of the ship you mention later).

"The kingdom is brutally ruled by the mages, the population killed and enslaved". The question is: why? Why would the mages want to exploit the kingdom so intensly? If they want to keep it under their rule, stripping it from its resources would be counterproductive, as it would also mean they are stripping themselves of said resources (be it population, crops, animals, ores, etc.). I mean, being a ruler is pretty much pointless when there is no one to rule. Or is the exploitation designed to serve some other goal?

"A ship is sailing to the kingdom". Why would any ship be sailing towards a land that is at war, and so brutal at that? To a land where its population is being enslaved and killed? I would assume people would want to get away from the storm, not head straight into it.

Long story short, the prologue is now manageable, but lacks believability. If you're bent on having a prologue, a good idea might be to write it as a short story all on its own. This would give you the opportunity to present more things without actually bothering your readers too much. But do remember that the most logical place to present the backstory is within the story itself. The way you approached prologue this time is good from the side of presenting only the information that are good to know before the main story starts: there is a war, mages won, kingdom fell, terror is spread widely. Then you can switch to your protagonist and the readers will know why he needs to be careful, or why he's recuperating somewhere. This approach is good, but now it needs polish. You don't have to present many details, as it's no place for political analysis, but you should fill the logical gaps and remove confusion to a point where the readers would actually understand what's going on. As it is, I can't say I understand the situation (as I presented above). The very role of the prologue is to make readers understand the outset, and as it is now, it still needs your work to make it do so :)
 
I agree with darcler, but I'm going to take it one step further. You're writing the prologue too soon. You don't have a story yet, and in the absence of a story, there's no need for a prologue.

Forget the prologue for now. Later, if your story still needs a prologue to introduce backstory or basic facts to the reader, you can add a prologue that introduces these things.

Pick a point in the life of one of your characters, and start telling his story. Don't explain anything; you don't have to, and nobody wants you to. All the explanation anybody needs will become clear in the course of your story.

I'm reluctant to give an example, because I'm worried I might inspire an imitation rather than your original effort, but this is the manner of beginning to a story that I mean.

[Riddley Walker, Russell Hoban (1980)]
On my naming day when I come 12 I gone front spear and kilt a wyld boar he parbly ben the las wyld pig on the Bundel Downs any how there hadnt ben none for a long time befor him nor I aint looking to see none agen.
No explanation, none needed. But in one (admittedly run-on) sentence, you have started to tell a story, you have a reader identifying with your narrator; you have set a place and mood, and you are on your way.
 
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You're writing the prologue too soon. You don't have a story yet, and in the absence of a story, there's no need for a prologue.
That sentence catches the essence very well. Prologue is a convenient way to explain things you haven't managed to fit nicely into the story. Just like other meta-story means (Pratchett loves his footnotes, for instance).

In many ways starting a story is the most difficult part. Arguably it's the most crucial part to get right, too, as it serves many purposes: it gets the reader interested, it presents (at least to some degree) the who-when-where, and it sets the ground for the events that will be unfolding later on. The fact that it's often the least enjoyable part to write only worsens the situation :) Surely you have many epic battles, heroic deeds and lots of other interesting stuff to write about, and yet you have to sit and write about dozens of mundane things.

(That's actually an argument against a prologue or any such distinct introduction. If you don't seek idyllic calmness in the beginning where you'll be slowly introducing things, you can simply throw readers into deep water.)

But there is no real need to start at the beginning. Many professional writers (or even good writers) tend to start somewhere in the middle, or even at the end. Then they slowly build the whole puzzle piece here, piece there. But it requires having the story well thought-out before starting writing it down. Still, the writing process doesn't have to be sequential just because the readers will read from the beginning to the end. You're free to do the best parts as the first, then you can slowly start adding the missing pieces.
 
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@TheWhiteBleidd: I don't really want to dissuade you from writing, but as someone who was somewhat involved in the literary society, I feel honest critique is the only way to support a beginning writer. If you'd want to continue writing not just as a profession, but even as a hobby, you must be prepared to face critique, which is especially daunting if administered by strangers that are interested in using your works to boost their own egos. Might as well start in a friendly environment, like this forum ;)

First and foremost what strikes me in your posts is that you don't have the conviction. You don't know what piece of your story you'd like to share with us, meaning you don't really want to tell a story; remember that if you write something, you usually write it for someone. If you don't like your story enough to share it with others, then it's probably not good enough anyway. Either scrap it and move on to something else, or polish it so that you'd start to like it. Or share your unfinished story with someone, wait for his critique, then use it to improve your work.

Make no mistake, writing only seems easy, but it's not. From what you wrote, even though you intend to write whole three books (a common beginner's idea, myself included :p) you don't have your story planned, even though you are already writing it. For you right now it may seem like a good idea, but for anyone who'll be reading it, and who'd have done some serious reading before, it will be immediately apparent - and hard to bear.

In reality, writing a novel is a rather mundane process that usually looks somewhat like this:
1. You have an idea for a story. Good for you!
2. You spend couple of months planning your story. How to write it? Who will be the narrator? What characters will be involved? Who are they? Why are they in the story at all? What are relations between them? What is their background, how do they feel, how do they think? What will be the outline of the story? What main events will be taking place and why? What smaller events will be taking place and why? In what locations? In what time span? And so on, with hundreds of various questions. Some people end up doodling hundreds of pages in dozens of notebooks, or have sheets of paper covering the floor, or (like Sapkowski) have their walls covered with post-it notes. On many occasions the notebooks contain more information than the final book.
3. During the planning phase you also do research: about the times, about the history, about the beliefs, geography, weaponry, specific scientific theories, castle siege tactics, horse breeding, cheese making, kamasutra, various other things you'd want to include in your story. Research is important. Especially since there will always be the one guy who knows nothing besides the single thing you did not research, and he will bring you down so hard you'll cry for the next two weeks :p
4. Once you have everything set, start writing.
5. Writing is about filling standard pages with text. A standard page is 1800 characters, spaces included. Two hours of work on one such page is considered a reasonably fast pace.
6. During writing some changes to various aspects of the story are inevitable. Hence good planning is paramount. Remember: reader will spend far less time reading your book than you writing it. This means that even finishing your book he will remember facts from its beginning, many of which you'd have forgotten somewhere in the middle of your writing. And he will sneer on you. Good planning will help to minimize the sneering occasions.
7. Once you complete your story, put it away for at least couple of weeks, preferably couple of months. Best would be couple of years, but only rarely writers can afford that. The time is for you to get detached from your story, to the point where you'd be able to enter the role of the reader.
8. Read the story. Deal with the "WTF!?!" and "did I really write that?" moments you'll experience at least 5 times on each page.
9. Make necessary changes and corrections. Re-read the story, make even more changes and corrections.
10. After several iterations command someone to be your proof-reader.
11. Think hard on your proof-reader's opinions, some of them will surely be of merit, but some may want to point your story in a different direction than you intended. You're the author, you must decide.
12. After that you (or preferably someone else) do editing. It's a wonder how many broken sentences and stupid mistakes one can make while changing things in his text.
13. Hooray! The story is finished. Go eat some ice cream.
14. Face the torrents of critique going your way on the Internets.

Having said that, I do encourage you to write! Most of professional writers started similar way. And I do like the fact that you're interested enough in books to give writing a try. Just be prepared that your first creations will suck (I know, done that myself), and if you'd want to improve, there's a lot of work to be done. If I may, I'd suggest two things: do not try to write a book (or a trilogy!) at your first try. Start with a short story. Or a couple. They may be about the more interesting events you wanted to put in your books, but shown as distinct episodes rather than parts of a larger story. Short story is far easier to master than a long one. And the second advice: write in your own language. Writing in a language that is not your native makes it way harder to judge whether what you're writing sounds good or not.

I'm sorry I have not read all pages, but I'm writing a fantasy book series too, and really loved the post!!!
Now I will read the rest, but I must say THANK YOU @darcler and never surrender @SerieLis , go on because what I have read (new prologue) is good!
 
I'm sorry I have not read all pages, but I'm writing a fantasy book series too, and really loved the post!!!
Now I will read the rest, but I must say THANK YOU @darcler and never surrender @SerieLis , go on because what I have read (new prologue) is good!

Thank you for kind words...i'm currently working on 3 projects (3 different stories)
the first one you have read (the prologue)
second is a sci-fie -working on it from time to time
third...well the series that i was meant to do originally, but i guess i'll suspend it for a while.

Wish you luck on writing yours.
 
Good luck with your writing. Fantasy is my favourite genre, so I'd be thrilled if you were to write a great new fantasy book for me to read :)

The most important thing in fantasy (imo) is to subvert clichés. Nobody wants to read a Tolkien rip-off. I'd also like to mention that the stunning lack of PoC in fantasy literature really annoys me. I don't care where your story is set (medieval england, japan in the year 3000 or some made up world), there is no justification for having an entirely white set of characters. Even GoT (which is loosely based off medieval england) manages to include PoC so please don't forget this. Non-white people should have a place in fantasy.

Also since I'm on the subject of clichés in fantasy, if you do a little reading and googling, you'll discover that one of the things that book agents hate is prologues. If your intention isn't to get published then it doesn't matter, but from what I have read 99% of publishers and agents will reject a book because prologues annoy them so much. Consider this: If what is written in your prologue could be revealed throughout your novel instead of an info dump at the beginning, it will make your book much better. You need to make the reader care, not scare them away with a history lesson about a universe they don't have any interest in.

But most importantly, keep practising and writing, as it's the only way to improve.
And if you're interested, I know some fantastic sites that are dedicated entirely to writers who wish to improve.
http://whataboutwriting.tumblr.com/ http://howtofightwrite.tumblr.com/ http://totalrewrite.tumblr.com/ http://thewritingcafe.tumblr.com/ http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/ http://legit-writing-tips.tumblr.com/
 

[From entrenched prologue-hater Sharon Bayliss.]

Point being, unless your'e G.R.R. Martin and can sling bad prose that will get printed anyway, get used to being edited, and start by editing your own work, ruthlessly.
 
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Good luck with your writing. Fantasy is my favourite genre, so I'd be thrilled if you were to write a great new fantasy book for me to read :)

The most important thing in fantasy (imo) is to subvert clichés. Nobody wants to read a Tolkien rip-off. I'd also like to mention that the stunning lack of PoC in fantasy literature really annoys me. I don't care where your story is set (medieval england, japan in the year 3000 or some made up world), there is no justification for having an entirely white set of characters. Even GoT (which is loosely based off medieval england) manages to include PoC so please don't forget this. Non-white people should have a place in fantasy.

Also since I'm on the subject of clichés in fantasy, if you do a little reading and googling, you'll discover that one of the things that book agents hate is prologues. If your intention isn't to get published then it doesn't matter, but from what I have read 99% of publishers and agents will reject a book because prologues annoy them so much. Consider this: If what is written in your prologue could be revealed throughout your novel instead of an info dump at the beginning, it will make your book much better. You need to make the reader care, not scare them away with a history lesson about a universe they don't have any interest in.

But most importantly, keep practising and writing, as it's the only way to improve.
And if you're interested, I know some fantastic sites that are dedicated entirely to writers who wish to improve.
http://whataboutwriting.tumblr.com/ http://howtofightwrite.tumblr.com/ http://totalrewrite.tumblr.com/ http://thewritingcafe.tumblr.com/ http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/ http://legit-writing-tips.tumblr.com/

First of all...it is a hobby to begin with, maybe later on it will be enhanced, but i never think of everything i do as a profession, or i lose the passion to it, losing all the feelings i had when i started and thinking about the money, it is the wrong way of thinking.
Publishing can wait, all i want now is to create my world, write its' story and finish it with enjoyment.



[From entrenched prologue-hater Sharon Bayliss.]

Point being, unless your'e G.R.R. Martin and can sling bad prose that will get printed anyway, get used to being edited, and start by editing your own work, ruthlessly.

Always changing content, because every now and then new idea rises, but it ruins the old one, therefore the is need to create changes in order to achieve perfection.
Everything that is done, is only a draft, editing is fine, after all nothing is perfect, but getting close to it is a decent goal to go for.
 
For me, writing is kind of a passion, but I don't think I'll ever publish anything of it.
Since I started writing at the age of ... eeh, 10? 11? I have tons of sheets of paper lying around, catching dust at it's best. Well, now I'm wasting my computer storage with it, but it's the same with that.
I think I would never be able to write an entire series, because when I tried when I was younger, it got repetetive after the third 'book'. I love fantasy, especially good one, I write fantasy (even if it is low fantasy), I read fantasy, and well - I was trying to write something new, avoiding clichés, but it seems like writing something new is nearly impossible. Too many people write fantasy novels, series, etc. and so many of them were lucky having the right connections.
Some things I wrote I submitted to a forum, got some feedback and this helped (and helps) me with writing. For example, I never had an idea about the importance of good research in fantasy literature, but now I can't imagine writing without that. And I'm pretty happy with that, for I know I'm not good, innovative, creative enough for publishing. And well - a book with my name on its back would look pretty hilarious :D

And prolougues ... Sometimes they're pure infodump. But I also stumbled over some good prologues encouraging me read. And sometimes, but that was really seldom, the prologue was good, but the rest of the book just ... boring.
(You know what? I don't like prologues either. Sometimes it seems they are just writing them for having a prologue in the book.)
 
Haven't been here for a while...and i feel bad for acting dumb and stop in the middle of the progress...which i shouldn't have. Leaving stuff unfinished, that's not how I should act, therefore...what i do best, "resurrecting"

With the time that have passed, and new knowledge and due to AWOL...I decided to go back to this subject, after a long time (wow almost a year).
Writing again...but, not doing the old idea, but enhancing it instead, changing it...to make it "mine".
Due to the fact there is a new mythology i developed...or they already exist and i didn't hear of them, but it doesn't matter. Because it will be the story i want to create.

And forget the whole prologue stuff, starting from the chapters, for there is no reason for a prologue, because it is a discovery for our character to make. learn about the new land and study in order to survive the new world.
Hope you'll consider to stick to it. :)
 
Oh, good. I'm glad you came back and updated this thread. I didn't want to post to a dead topic but I wanted to encourage you to keep writing for yourself at least, if not for others.
I started out writing 3-minute fiction: that is, stories so short you can read them in under three minutes. I have worked my way up to stories that are around 75,000 words, so far. I find the idea of writing something thousands of pages long daunting, but I'm still trying to learn.
I hope you choose to continue, too.
 
Oh, good. I'm glad you came back and updated this thread. I didn't want to post to a dead topic but I wanted to encourage you to keep writing for yourself at least, if not for others.
I started out writing 3-minute fiction: that is, stories so short you can read them in under three minutes. I have worked my way up to stories that are around 75,000 words, so far. I find the idea of writing something thousands of pages long daunting, but I'm still trying to learn.
I hope you choose to continue, too.

Yeah, still working on it...the progress became slow since the 12 hours of working jobs, but during the weekends i can manage to write between 1-3 chapters...which i did last week.
It is a fine hobby for me, and fun to do.
If considering the plan that i was working on since September, the whole story should have around 26 chapters...but could be less (or more) due to the fact it is not an accurate science. But still appreciate the fact someone seems to be interested with this "project".
I'm currently on fire with this, and due to careful planning of course, i can manage to speed up with it.
 
It 's good to know you 're still writing. I know how hard it is some times, but once you start, you can't live without telling stories.

I just made a thought: writing is, actually, telling believable lies. This practice helps me telling less lies in life.
 
I was reading this thread a few weeks ago for tips. Now that it's been bumped I feel like it's okay to post in here. I'm working on a fantasy novel myself. But I think I'll wait a few decades before I write it out. Hopefully by then I'll be wiser and a better writer.
It's a story I've had in my head since I was 10 years old and I've gradually added onto it over time. Every so often I revisit it and think "Hey! I really had something good here!" And then I add on to it a little more. Maybe one day I will finish it.

Anyways, good luck to @SerieLis in your own artistic endeavors! :D

---------- Updated at 12:46 PM ----------

A few pages back someone mentioned reading books is important. So I guess if I were to offer any advice to the OP I would say this: read William Morris's famous novel The Well At The World's End. A lot of people think Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy, but the real father of modern fantasy is William Morris (b.1834 - d.1896.) And I say that because all the fantasy author's of the early 20th century --including Lewis and Tolkien-- cite him as a major influence. He is not as good as Lewis or Tolkien, but reading him will give you an idea of where it all started.
 
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