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Hi everyone :-)

Alison

Dreamer
Hi everyone!

I'm very excited to be here. I think I have now read all the blog posts on this site, so I thought I would check out the forums :)

I love that this place exists - so many fantasy fiction writers, readers and lovers - can't wait to meet you all!
 
Hiya :) Nice to meet you.

What kind of writing do you do?

While my main work in progress is an epic fantasy novel, I work on a few smaller projects--mostly short stories and flashfiction. While I am most comfortable in the fantasy genre I sometimes dare try and branch out and experiment a little with narrative or form.

What about you? Do you have a specific story type or characters that you like writing/reading about?
 

Alison

Dreamer
Sounds like we have similar likes!

I'm re-reading The Silmarillion at the moment. I really love world building. I use a blog to explore my fictional English county Farynshire: County of Many Lands

My main WIP seems to be a never -ending project that I am determined to finish!

Would you say your epic fantasy is more Tolkien or GRR Martin? ;)
 
Sounds like we have similar likes!

I'm re-reading The Silmarillion at the moment. I really love world building. I use a blog to explore my fictional English county Farynshire: County of Many Lands

My main WIP seems to be a never -ending project that I am determined to finish!

Would you say your epic fantasy is more Tolkien or GRR Martin? ;)

Nice blog!

I've not too long ago started using gantt charts to keep track of progress for both my novel and the other bits. According to the charts for my novel, I'll finish the first draft in 2023--I'm unfortunately not writing full time so I am giving myself some more room and space with how long I spend on it.

I tried writing a fantasy-scifi before this one, but got bogged down with the sheer amount of plot points and characters I wanted to develop, and combined with my schedule it wasn't easy keeping track of what happened as I wrote it since I'd often take breaks from it and come back to it without enough time to re-read everything.

I am determined to finish the first draft for this one, at least.

My epic fantasy--it's a bit of Tolkein mixed in with politics and "realism" of GRR Martin, but one of my inspirations is actually Dostoyevsky. I'm mainly focusing on one character and how he deals with the contrast between the hero in shining golden armour he wants to be and the ruthless murder machine the cursed black sword he wields turns him into when he loses control.

How far are you into your main project so far?
 

Alison

Dreamer
That sounds like a fantastic project! A real deconstruction of the typical Fantasy Hero. And I love the Dostoyevsky angle - that sounds like a very cool and unique take. If you're ever ready to share I would be intrigued to read it :)

The frustrating thing about my WIP is that it should be finished by now - but I am far too good at procrastinating! It's four shortish stories that follow and build on each other. The first one kicks it all off and is set in the near future, the next one is in steampunkesque world, the third is in a war in space, and the fourth is in a post-apocalyptic society. I've pretty much got the first three into a reasonable draft state, and I'm working on the fourth.

Maybe I need a Gantt chart! :LOL:
 
That sounds like a fantastic project! A real deconstruction of the typical Fantasy Hero. And I love the Dostoyevsky angle - that sounds like a very cool and unique take. If you're ever ready to share I would be intrigued to read it :)

The frustrating thing about my WIP is that it should be finished by now - but I am far too good at procrastinating! It's four shortish stories that follow and build on each other. The first one kicks it all off and is set in the near future, the next one is in steampunkesque world, the third is in a war in space, and the fourth is in a post-apocalyptic society. I've pretty much got the first three into a reasonable draft state, and I'm working on the fourth.

Maybe I need a Gantt chart! :LOL:

Thank you! It kind of starts off as a generic high fantasy but things keep going wrong for the main character and he faces choices that conflict with his morality. I might get back to you on it after 2023 lol

Yeah procrastinating is such an easy trap to fall into--there's a video I like to watch that kind of breaks it down/identifies procrastination as part of a thing called "resistance" in a creative endeavor:

It's kind of what got me into recording and planning more of what and when I need to do for writing. To try and get anything done even when I'm not in the frame of mind for it.

Your novel sounds awesome! In a way, the worldbuilding and society/civilization is a character in of itself, right? Does it follow random people throughout those different periods of time or does it follow a specific family/bloodline? It sounds a little like Asimov's Foundation (I've only read the first one so I am not sure exactly what happens in the sequels)

Good luck, you're so close to finishing it! It sounds like something I'd be into too.
 

Alison

Dreamer
That's a really good strategy - working on something even when the muse is on holiday. It also gives you a framework to work with and background notes - which I make a lot of use of. There's always something you can work on with a story even if you don't feel like writing - research, character work, word-building, flash fiction. Good luck with it!

Unfortunately I can't see the video - do you have a link for it?

Thank you for asking about my WIP! The first story starts it all off with two characters making a bargain with a sort of trickster god. He gets access to a lot of different worlds, but they can ensure some of the people on the worlds do not fall under his influence, meaning that they have free will. I see the characters in each story being associated, but they are not directly connected. The thing that appears in each story, the throughline, is a rock that connects souls to the trickster god (sort of). Thar makes no sense now I try and summarise it! :LOL::LOL: I think I will need feedback.

I really need to the classic science fiction writers like Asimov.
 
Lately it seems like my muse has just absconded completely haha. But it does help to work on other smaller projects that are either unrelated or sometimes related to my main WIP. It's just to occupy myself with something outside of my day job that isn't mindlessly consuming entertainment I guess. Sometimes I wonder if it's just an excuse for me not to write on the main stories. At the moment I started writing a basic bible-esque creation mythos for both my "connected universe" stuff and separate worldbuilding. Just got an itch after reading a little bit of the old testament, of all things.

Sorry about the link, I wasn't sure if it would break any rules to just post the link and thought the "watch on youtube" bit on the video box would work.
Here it is:
youtube.com/watch?v=1lTcgSzf0AQ
Hopefully that works.Let me know if there are anymore issues with it--It's a good video.

That's very interesting, so the characters' main link really would be the god stone/rock of the trickster god? If it connects souls does it connect the souls of the previous/past characters as well--is that their association? Do the people with the free will know others are controlled by the trickster god? Is that what the "war in space" section would be about? Sorry about so many questions!

I could imagine almost like an avatar the last airbender but in the Foundation universe.


I have a similar concept of gods influencing mortals on a different project I am working on, where magic in general comes from one of the "lesser" gods and is used to enslave those who use it, to the will of that lesser god without their realization. One prophetic character finds out and he locks magic behind a metaphysical door or gate within each "human" being on the world, thereby locking away the influence of the god. Those who unlock that door in the eons thereafter are basically wizards, doomed to suffer madness the more they use that power. There's also how "humans" of that world were actually artificially created as well, mainly inspired by Nier Automata and Fullmetal alchemist.
 

Alison

Dreamer
Wow - that is an amazing video! I think we all recognise everything he says, and have done everything he talks about, but giving it a name hopefully means we can recognise it when it happens: "oh, this hot chocolate is really resistance" ;-) Stephen King always talks such sense: have a goal every day. Get something done. Thank you for sharing that :)

It sounds like the the work you're doing is all contributing to your WIP, even if you are not actually writing the main thing. I sometimes find that the reason I can't get going on with a story is because I need to work something out first - maybe to do with a character, maybe the plot - but I don't yet know what it is. You're worldbuilding bible will hopefully reveal what you are stuck on and how to solve it. Let me know!

I love your questions - thank you! The first story reveals many different worlds (the story just focuses on four). The trickster god wants access to all the worlds, and uses the characters in the first story to do this. They realise that they can also influence the other worlds, essentially pulling the threads of destiny from the trickster god, leaving some characters in the other stories with free will; some of them know this, and some of them do not. I should have said that this story is about humans and another species called wolvern. The trickster is originally a wolvern god, and the humans draw his eye in the first story. The war in space is between human and wolvern, for reasons long since forgotten, but this story focuses on how the war ends. Each story is a snapshot, really, of what happens in a world where the threads of destiny are pulled from the trickster god, and what happens next is down to free will alone. Still not sure it makes sense! :LOL::LOL:

Your second story also sounds amazing! I love reasons for magic in stories. And winding it in with gods is a great idea. Do the wizards have different powers once they have unlocked it? How is this story going?
 
Sorry about the late response! Glad you like the video though. It does help get me through some "writer" block moments at times.

Thank you, I do love worldbuilding in of itself, as well as learning about lore and background information on a lot of franchises/stories I am into.

No problem, I was worried the questions got too much but your story sounds really intriguing. It sounds like there's a lot of space for complex narrative/storytelling here.

Thanks for asking about that story!

I'm kind of using both soft and hard magic systems at the same time, it's kind of like a science, where meticulous study can forward people's understanding of it, however there are also aspects of it that are beyond their knowledge, and kind of like in science, there wouldn't ever be a point where anyone knows everything about it. For most of my stories though I've broken it down to schools (kind of like philosophical schools of thought, I guess) and categories that can slot within those schools. It also depends on the person themselves what kind of specialties they are most efficient in, kind of a theoretical mix of "working hard", natural talents, and even genetics. However one trade off with all of this is that those who become more knowledgeable, attain more power, eventually lose themselves to madness, and that again is varied on an individual basis. So even in a reality where immortality can be a common thing, there's still the barrier that can render it meaningless.

Now this specific story is still in its infancy stages really, but I have worked out a lot of systems and background lore/worldbuilding that it deals with it, and I got my main protagonist, an idea for the basic quest that sets everything in motion, but a lot of it is still up for changes.
 

Alison

Dreamer
I love worldbuilding too - and it always amazes me how ideas just shoot off on their own, or go in unexpected directions. Do you make maps for your worlds?

Wow - your story sounds intense, and very character driven. Are the philosophies based on anything in the real world? It sounds like your combination of Brandon Sanderson - with the in-depth, well thought out magical systems - and R. Scott Bakker - with the philosophies and human toll. I've heard good things about both authors! What happens when a magic user goes mad? Do they turn on people or countries, or become overwhelmed with their own power and have to be put down - and who does that??

I tend to write lots of notes before I start writing properly. And then write more notes as I go along. But it seems to refine the process until I get to a point when I'm just tweaking sentences or words and not re-structuring whole chapters! Do you outline your stories before starting?
 

Jenn

Acolyte
Your magic system sounds interesting- with the schools you said, how do your stories balance lore? Is it hinted at or do you tend to focus more on the magic system?
 
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