# Are there any young fantasy Authors?



## Xanados

Hello, everyone. I'm making this thread because the following question is on my mind: Where are all the young established Authors? I've just been searching through a list on Wikipedia and it seems that most Authors that are still living were born in the 60's. This worries me because I'm eighteen and it seems to me that writing may come to an end…because no one from my generation is interested in it. I was born in the wrong generation. 

I'm trying to think of Games Journalists that are young and I can only think of a few. I'm not even sure as to the purpose of my writing this but I feel that if there were younger Authors today I would feel happier. I'm not even sure why, right now. It may be that I have chosen a career path that no one my age, as far as I'm aware, is interested in anymore.


----------



## The Blue Lotus

I'm not published but I'm an 80's baby... does that help?
There are LOTS of young writers but most of them are not published (yet) 
Here is a link to a site where you can find some of the teen authors or wannabe authors.  http://figment.com/forums/5-The-Writing-Life/topics  enjoy!


----------



## Kaellpae

I was born in '89. I am not published. If I could get something published in a book for before 30 I would be happy. Published in a magazine is my first goal. That would be a major boost to making me think I could actually go somewhere with writing.

If there really aren't many of the 80s and 90s generation writers you could search for some and make a little club. Tolkien and Lewis had a literary club, right?


----------



## Codey Amprim

I was born in '93. I'm interested  And I'm a few days shy of 18   Oh and I write, if you didn't know  But far from established.


----------



## Kelise

Most current fantasy authors say you need to be near your 30s before you have the life experience and writing talent - which you get from years and years of practice - before you can 'expect' to be published.

Whether I agree with that or not, I'm not sure. I don't think you should think your writing should come to an end while you're still so young, though. There's heaps of time yet, and the popular trend in books is always swinging around to focus on something different. Currently it's paranormal romance. In ten years it could be something else entirely.


----------



## Xanados

That’s quite interesting, indeed.

Yes, Tolkien and Lewis did have a literary club and that sort of inspires me. What if someone was to start something like that? 
I have quite a technological background: Creating 3D Game Assets for online game design teams, making small websites, video production and all that sort of stuff. The idea intrigues me and I may start up something like this for all serious and mature writers 16 and up, or something.


----------



## The Blue Lotus

Xanados said:


> That’s quite interesting, indeed.
> 
> 1) Yes, Tolkien and Lewis did have a literary club and that sort of inspires me. What if someone was to start something like that?
> 
> 2) I have quite a technological background: Creating 3D Game Assets for online game design teams, making small websites, video production and all that sort of stuff.
> 
> 3) The idea intrigues me and I may start up something like this for all serious and mature writers 16 and up, or something.



1) there are plenty of these sites out there if one takes a few moments to look... 
2) (N.C.)
3) "Serious" and "Mature" are not attributes usualy found in teens. They are unfocused (usualy) and not very skilled in the more eloquent forms of writing. I am sure there are a few but for the most part not so much...


----------



## Xanados

The Blue Lotus said:


> 1) there are plenty of these sites out there if one takes a few moments to look...
> 2) (N.C.)
> 3) "Serious" and "Mature" are not attributes usualy found in teens. They are unfocused (usualy) and not very skilled in the more eloquent forms of writing. I am sure there are a few but for the most part not so much...


Why am I reading your post in a negative tone? You've come across this way. I was merely musing.  
I agree with your third point. I am not your typical teenager, but we shall leave it at that. 
I suggest a forum Moderator/Administrator now close this thread.

Thanks.


----------



## The Blue Lotus

Not negative... Sorry if it comes across that way. 
Just pointing out some facts. 

Before someone decides to start a new forum which is costly (I am assuming) and a time eater they should know there are established ones out there already. 

As a business owner cost vs demand are the first things I notice. That is all nothing more.

Yes you do seem to be the exception to a generalized rule of thumb, but having said that in 20 years you will look back at the work you do now and have a strong dislike for the early mistakes we all make. 

Whats the point of getting old if we don't grow while we are at it?


----------



## Dante Sawyer

Codey Amprim said:


> I was born in '93.


Yeah, me too. I turn 18 in October. I'm not published yet, but  I have written a novel and I do hope to send it off to publishers by Xmas or so.
As for the real topic of the thread, I think Brandon Sanderson may be one of the younger fantasy authors currently writing.


----------



## Telcontar

Couple of problems with asking about 'young, established fantasy authors.'

For one, it takes time to become 'established.' By the time you really are established you're probably not that young anymore. Self-defeating definition.

For two, young writers usually don't write that well. Even the ones who write well for how young they are. I submit to you this humorous essay by John Scalzi. He explains it all pretty well.


----------



## Xanados

That’s an interesting article. 

I really do not wish to be saying this, as I'm not usually one to promote myself in such a way, but my writing is leaps and bounds beyond that High School essay of his. I don't think he mentioned his age, though. I realize that it is quite a foolish thing to submit this http://mythicscribes.com/forums/showcase/954-beginner-writer-writing-practice-1-a.html, a small practice, but I feel it is far more sophisticated and I have only been out of school for one year and am currently working.

If there is one thing I try not to be it's this: someone that is blind to their own work. I know that it could be better. I'm a novice. My point still stands that I see it as being more sophisticated.​


----------



## Jian

Have none of you heard of Christopher Paolini who wrote his book at 15? I'm not much of a fan of his writing and series, but yeah, that's pretty young. I'm 13, and I'm at page 303 in my Mature Epic Fantasy book.


----------



## Ankari

> Mature Epic Fantasy



Don't advertise it as such.  Usually, when I see stuff like this, I assume it's the opposite.  I once read a blurb on a movie case jacket that said "Lord of the Rings Meets Beowulf."  For some reason, I rented it.  For some reason, I invited friends to my house.  For some reason, I mixed the two together.  Now, I'm known as the worst person to pick movies.

Moral of the story: Just say "Epic Fantasy."  You can even say "Dark Epic Fantasy."


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

Ankari said:


> Don't advertise it as such.  Usually, when I see stuff like this, I assume it's the opposite.  I once read a blurb on a movie case jacket that said "Lord of the Rings Meets Beowulf."  For some reason, I rented it.  For some reason, I invited friends to my house.  For some reason, I mixed the two together.  Now, I'm known as the worst person to pick movies.



 I must know what this horrible abomination of a film is. TELL US!


----------



## Chilari

Jian, yes we've heard of Christopher Paolini. And granted, his books are popular. I gave up reading after Eldest. It was just a bit boring, a bit rehashed, not merely unoriginal in plot but also in approach. I think its success probably depends on how well it translated to film. It's a great story for a movie, lots of epic shots and cool effects, and I suspect without the film, the series would have faded quickly into obscurity.

Read the article linked above, the advice to teenage writers. That pretty much sums it up. I remember being a teenager - I was about 12 or 13 when Eragon came out and I loved it, mostly because it said to me: you might be young but you can get published too. And I wrote and I went on writing forums and I showed what I'd written to my parents and to my friends and my English teacher even. I was so proud of it, and I basked in the praise of my classmates. But it was awful. It was terrible. It was cliched, the characters flat and/or Mary Sues, the situations so manufactured, more what I thought was cool than what was realistic, because I simply didn't have the life experience at that time to understand how people felt about things. I tried writing about things I did not understand, things I had no experience of, had done no research of, just stuff I'd read in other fantasy stories. And what I produced was utter rubbish.

What I'm writing now is a hundred times better than what I was producing a decade ago, and at least thirty times better than what I was writing in my late teens five years ago, but it is by no means perfect. But how did I get better? Four things: by reading other genres of fiction; by writing all the time; by experiencing life and love and complicated family relationships and meeting new people and having new experiences (ie by living in the world); and by studying ancient history and archaeology. In the latter I learned critical thinking, how to research, and an awful lot about pre-industrial societies which fed into worldbuilding (my teenage worlds were all stereotypical underresearched medieval worlds with magic; my post teenage worlds have had so much more variety - I've used as inspiration Bronze Age Greece, Bronze Age Israel, Iron Age Scotland, late archaic Corinth, Etruscan Italy, Anglo-Saxon Shropshire, and more). I thought I was so smart bck then. I filled out one of those fantasy writers questionnaires and saved it on my computer and I read it more recently and I was so infuriatingly smart-mouthed and smug about what I thought I knew about writing and history, and I was so wrong, so ignorant. When I was right I was brushing the surface and thought I knew as much as I needed to know, but knew almost nothing.

Jian, that's not to say you can't write brilliant stuff now. There are always prodigies - Mozart wrote Twinkle Twinkle Little Star when he was 8 years old - but mostly, writing requires experience and hard work. It requires an understanding of human emotions and desires and actions you most likely haven't grasped yet, or your characters will be flat, one-dimentional, archetypal. It requires research and patience and knowing how to approach things and finding a method that works for you, and that comes with experience. (I've been writing since I was 10, I'm now 24, and I think I've just found my method, but it will take a whole novel to test it and I'm only 4000 words in; I have tried numerous other methods/approaches before, including various levels of planning, methods of planning, approaches to editing as I write or just writing, sticking to detailed plans or winging it, setting out scenes before writing, and so on).

So I guess what I'm saying is, keep writing but don't be disappointed if/when, in ten years time, you're sitting in an office doing data entry surrounded by people earning at least twice as much as you, still living with your parents, unpublished and still a ways away from it. But don't stop dreaming of a future five years hence when you're attending the London premiere of your bestselling debut fantasy novel. Because it's good to dream, it's something to aim for.


----------



## Jian

Ankari said:


> Don't advertise it as such.  Usually, when I see stuff like this, I assume it's the opposite.  I once read a blurb on a movie case jacket that said "Lord of the Rings Meets Beowulf."  For some reason, I rented it.  For some reason, I invited friends to my house.  For some reason, I mixed the two together.  Now, I'm known as the worst person to pick movies.
> 
> Moral of the story: Just say "Epic Fantasy."  You can even say "Dark Epic Fantasy."



Yeah, I was lost for words at that moment. xD 

To Chilari, yeah, I realize that. Especially since I remember when I wrote this horrible book when I was about 10 years old. It was really the worst piece of thing to ever be written, to be quite honest. First of all, the protagonist was in a comma for the first half of the book, he was burnt alive, drowned, stabbed multiple times, and in the "boss" battle at the end, he got hit on the head by a rock and got a concussion. Afterwards, I pretty much read all the books I could so I could avoid being as ignorant as I was of proper literature during the time I wrote it. Still proud of it, though. 

It was quite horrible, but it made me learn. After about three years, I'm confident in the fact that my skill has improved enough that I can write a good book, but I'm still a long ways from being a MAGNIFICENT author. A handsome one... Yes. xD

Oh, and I disliked Eragon. I just know of it cause my sister told me about it while I was writing my first book at 10, considering Paolini is one of the few people that wrote something at such a young age. His books didn't really inspire me in that way, though... Well, I guess you could say I _was_ rather inspired, in a way. I was inspired to write a better book and publish it before 15. It's a really weird motivator, but it got me past the 90k mark, so it's working, at least. xD


----------



## Chilari

Jian said:


> I was inspired to write a better book and publish it before 15. It's a really weird motivator, but it got me past the 90k mark, so it's working, at least. xD



Not a weird motivator, that's what motivated me at that age too. 90K is very impressive; I never actually finished a first draft until I was 20, and that was 78K words, and had about three stories that topped 30K before then. So it looks like you're ahead of where I was at your age (darn you!) as far as writing is concerned, but don't forget the rest. Go out and experience things. I remember how naive I was at that age, probably not helped by going to an all girls school and being a bit of a loner. Ask older people about their jobs, what they did when they were young adults, what life was like for them in decades you're too young to remember. Grandparents are great for that. My mum has her grandfather's WWI war diary and I heard for myself from three of my grandparents what their WWII experiences were like, and Pappi (my grandad) has told me about how when he was young a neighbour's kid died and his father (my great grandfather) who was a vet (in both senses of the word) paid for the coffin because they couldn't afford to; they couldn't even afford shoes for their children. My mum told me how when Pappi got his first car he would drive her and her sisters to the end of the road in the mornings on his way to work and they'd run back and grab their school bags and walk two miles to school, just the three of them, dropping off my youngest aunt at the primary school before going on to the secondary. My oldest aunt was 13 at the time. It's amazing how different the 1930s or the 1960s were to now.

If you ever need help with researching ancient civilisations (especially the Greeks and Romans), drop me a PM and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction. History is a great inspiration for settings, but it can give ideas for attitudes like beliefs about magic too - in fact I wrote an article for the front page of this website on it a little while back.


----------



## Steerpike

Just remember that Paolini's parents started a publishing company some years before the publication of Eragon, and they were the ones who first published, and then traveled around the country promoting it. They did a heck of a lot of marketing and promotion. Then Knopf ultimately picked it up.

If the average fifteen year-old (or fifty-five year old, for that matter) writes a book of the quality of Eragon, I think it is safe to say it would most likely be rejected by agents and publishers.


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

I enjoyed the first three Eragon books. Then I started writing my own novel, and this made me hyper-critical about prose. I started reading the fourth Eragon book and couldn't make it more than two chapters, the prose was so awful. I should go read a plot synopsis so that I at least know how it turned out in the end.


----------



## Graylorne

I haven't read Paolini, so I can't judge the quality. Still... 20 million copies sold. Plus a movie and a video game... He must've done something good. That's a lot of money.


----------



## Endymion

Telcontar said:


> For two, young writers usually don't write that well. Even the ones who write well for how young they are.



Damn right! Although I totally agree with you, that still felt like a kick in the bollocks .


----------



## Endymion

Graylorne,
Stephenie Meyer sold even more and we all know that her books are... Pretty average.


----------



## Chilari

Graylorne said:


> I haven't read Paolini, so I can't judge the quality. Still... 20 million copies sold. Plus a movie and a video game... He must've done something good. That's a lot of money.



Like I said, it's got some good visuals and is cliched enough to make a good film, but paired with the bad prose Ben mentioned, it doesn't actually make a great set of books. But then we're writers; we're more discerning about what we read than most because we know the processes behind it, just as a professional guitarist is better placed to judge the technical skill of another guitarist. But rubbish music still makes the charts. You just need some catchy lyrics and those four chords to place high on the charts, and often the same is true for stories: popular elements that are fairly enjoyable, bonus if they translate to film well, and you've got a bestseller on your hands. Fortunately people are still capable of recognising genuinely good books, or the best seller lists would be just like the UK top 40 played by stations like Radio 1: largely ignored by those of us with different tastes from just what's popular (I'm a rock fan and rock music never dominates and rarely features in the top 40 lists).


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

Chilari said:


> Like I said, it's got some good visuals and is cliched enough to make a good film, but paired with the bad prose Ben mentioned, it doesn't actually make a great set of books. But then we're writers; we're more discerning about what we read than most because we know the processes behind it, just as a professional guitarist is better placed to judge the technical skill of another guitarist. But rubbish music still makes the charts. You just need some catchy lyrics and those four chords to place high on the charts, and often the same is true for stories: popular elements that are fairly enjoyable, bonus if they translate to film well, and you've got a bestseller on your hands. Fortunately people are still capable of recognising genuinely good books, or the best seller lists would be just like the UK top 40 played by stations like Radio 1: largely ignored by those of us with different tastes from just what's popular (I'm a rock fan and rock music never dominates and rarely features in the top 40 lists).



There's also the phenomenon that particular niches are sometimes open for a new interpretation to take root. I would submit that the Star Wars-style callow farmboy meme was due, and _Eragon_ came along at the right time to fill that niche. It checked every box on the checklist and so became popular. (Probably the fact that it was written by someone so young led people to read it who wouldn't have otherwise; even if it's not great, you still have to admit it's pretty good for a 15-year old.)


----------



## Jian

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> There's also the phenomenon that particular niches are sometimes open for a new interpretation to take root. I would submit that the Star Wars-style callow farmboy meme was due, and _Eragon_ came along at the right time to fill that niche. It checked every box on the checklist and so became popular. (Probably the fact that it was written by someone so young led people to read it who wouldn't have otherwise; even if it's not great, you still have to admit it's pretty good for a 15-year old.)



I actually disagree, mate. I don't believe we should ever go, "It's pretty good since he's only -insert young age," in this day and age. I mean, I do agree that most 15 year olds write some pretty generic stuff, but the more we go, "Well, good enough," the more they'll think to themselves, "If it's good enough for them, it must be good enough for everyone; no need to improve!"

And that's exactly what happens to most young people that write. I was blessed with a sister that was really... Well, she ripped my book apart. The first one. But I improved exponentially, or at least, I like to think so. Point is, if we were to hear about an old man writing a book, we wouldn't think twice of it. Depends on the person, not the age. xD

I actually respect Paolini's enthusiasm in getting his book out there. As a writer, I don't really think his stories are all that good, but at least he really tried his best, which is evident in the history of publication. Unlike Stephanie Meyer. She... Well, no words can describe what she did to literature... And Chilari, I'm actually a history buff, so I'm gonna hit you up with a private message. xD Thanks.


----------



## Graylorne

Well, I do think you can say 'pretty good for someone of 15'. because your performance grows with your age and what's pretty good for 15 isn't good enough for 35. You still need to improve.


----------



## Jian

There's room for improvement for everyone, but a 15 year old can be as good as a 35 year old. It all depends on the gusto and enthusiasm of the person. In fact, said 15 year old can even be better, though it's rather rare. Practice does make semi-perfect (I say semi since no one is perfect) , but the way by which we write depends a lot on whether or not we're completely dedicated to it. 

For example, a year ago, I tried to write a different book. And I have to say, it was exhausting. It was a crime thriller, and writing about Chinese Triads in New York City takes a lot of research. I made it to about 30k before I lost track of it and started writing my fantasy book instead, so a few months ago, I looked at both of them. Each of them had about 30k in them, and I had to make the difficult choice of picking one of them to finish first. I chose the fantasy book and have never looked back since, and it's been productive. Because I've dedicated myself completely to it, I managed sixty thousand more words within the span of months. Granted, that does not guarantee its content, but it depends on personality and the motivation to learn and improve, not the age.

It's rather like comparing Brandon Sanderson's and George R.R. Martin's prose. Brandon Sanderson is younger, and Martin is older, but both of them have basically the same skill in writing. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. Martin is 27 years older, yet in some aspects, Sanderson is actually better. Does that mean Martin is in any way lacking in skill? Of course not. Just a number, really. Just like how 90k is merely a number; it does not define the book, it's merely a way of counting the number of words that DO define the book.

Young people have mad skill if they try hard enough, and maturity doesn't come with age; it comes when you want it to. Subconsciously, we humans like to live as kids for as long as possible. But, if you wish it, you can grow up at... Age five. So, a 15 year old or a 13 year old can write a Dark Epic Fantasy or a Happy Good versus Evil fantasy just like how people like Abercrombie can write Dark Epic Fantasy, or people like Goodkind can write good versus evil fantasy. (I'm really not a fan of Goodkind, though. xD)

Just a number.


----------



## Steerpike

Jian said:


> Unlike Stephanie Meyer. She... Well, no words can describe what she did to literature....



Jian, Paolini makes Stephanie Meyer look like Dostoevsky. _Twilight_ is so much better written than _Eragon_ it isn't even a close competition, and that's saying something given that _Twilight_ is mediocre in terms of writing quality. As between those two books only, it is clear why one had to publish through his parent's company, and the other was picked up on a massive advance by a traditional publishing house.


----------



## Steerpike

I don't care about the age of the author, either. Once the book hits the shelves, it deserves to be judged on its own merits in relation to everything else on the shelves. That's respectful of both the author and the readers.


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

Jian said:


> I actually disagree, mate. I don't believe we should ever go, "It's pretty good since he's only -insert young age," in this day and age.



Good thing I didn't say that we should do that, then.  I said that his writing was pretty good for a 15-year old, not that it was good enough to qualify as generally of good quality. The bigger point was that he got more readers than the writing quality deserved _because_ he was so young.


----------



## Jian

Benjamin Clayborne said:


> Good thing I didn't say that we should do that, then.  I said that his writing was pretty good for a 15-year old, not that it was good enough to qualify as generally of good quality. The bigger point was that he got more readers than the writing quality deserved _because_ he was so young.



Very true. In fact, I bought his book because I knew he was 15. Still, those that bought his 3 other books have no excuse. xD


----------



## Benjamin Clayborne

I dunno. The prose is bad but the story was still pretty engaging. It was only once _I_ started writing seriously that the prose got to be too much for me to handle.


----------

