Quite an interesting forum you guys seem to have. I only found it yesterday but have already read lots of helpful comments and advice for a possibly-beginning fantasy writer. Spent most of yesterday reading the articles outside the forum, and will probably do the same tonight. Don't usually go beyond lurking, but I was interested in peaking into the Brainstorming section which seems to require 5 posts.
Also don't usually reveal personal information online, but to share a little I am in my early thirties, located in a larger city in the southeastern USA, have basically no experience with fiction writing, and am generally way more interested in science/math/tech stuff than the creative arts. This definitely feels like getting outside of my comfort zone, which is good.
Currently I'm in the researching and brainstorming phase for my idea. Having no fiction writing experience, and being more interested in just writing one really cool story than making a career out of it, I wanted to read as much as possible of the advice/tips/dos/don'ts from more experienced people. I'm also having a heck of time deciding on the actual story I want to write. I'm very clear on the genre (hard science fantasy, if that is a thing), premise, major theme(s), a few of the main characters and antagonists, their motivations and things that should probably happen at some point, but tying it all together into a nice tapestry that doesn't feel forced is slow-going. I didn't really want to start until I knew the major strokes of the plot (beginning, end, major scenes and subplots, etc.), so I wouldn't end up having to rewrite hundreds of pages over and over every time I have a better idea. There's also a strong temptation to just "fill in the gaps" with whatever, rather than restraining myself a few more months or years until I really know exactly how it should go. Worse yet, it seems like these are things no one else can help me with, I just have to muddle through them myself.
That's about it for a rather long intro. I thank you all for sharing your experience with the world, and you'll probably see a few more posts from me as I reach for that 5 post minimum.
Also don't usually reveal personal information online, but to share a little I am in my early thirties, located in a larger city in the southeastern USA, have basically no experience with fiction writing, and am generally way more interested in science/math/tech stuff than the creative arts. This definitely feels like getting outside of my comfort zone, which is good.
Currently I'm in the researching and brainstorming phase for my idea. Having no fiction writing experience, and being more interested in just writing one really cool story than making a career out of it, I wanted to read as much as possible of the advice/tips/dos/don'ts from more experienced people. I'm also having a heck of time deciding on the actual story I want to write. I'm very clear on the genre (hard science fantasy, if that is a thing), premise, major theme(s), a few of the main characters and antagonists, their motivations and things that should probably happen at some point, but tying it all together into a nice tapestry that doesn't feel forced is slow-going. I didn't really want to start until I knew the major strokes of the plot (beginning, end, major scenes and subplots, etc.), so I wouldn't end up having to rewrite hundreds of pages over and over every time I have a better idea. There's also a strong temptation to just "fill in the gaps" with whatever, rather than restraining myself a few more months or years until I really know exactly how it should go. Worse yet, it seems like these are things no one else can help me with, I just have to muddle through them myself.
That's about it for a rather long intro. I thank you all for sharing your experience with the world, and you'll probably see a few more posts from me as I reach for that 5 post minimum.