Hi everyone

[GM4LSWC94]

Hey Everybody!
My name is Shane and I am an aspiring novelist. Ever since I can remember I've written stories or done what I now know to be world building and monster creation. When I was like 7-8 I made a "Book of Monsters" comprised entirely of monsters that I came up with. I drew monsters in the high double digits, and each had it's own name and description . I'm almost 29 now, and for the last few years the desire to write book series has grown ever stronger. Over the last couple weeks I've been deep into world building and character development, even have a few rough pages wrote and around twenty pages worth of material about my world. Lore, religion, races, languages, characters and more I'm really getting into it to the point I'm gonna start dedicating a lot more time to my writings.
I have now found my way here because, I unfortunately don't have anyone in my personal life I feel comfortable sharing this intimate part of myself with. I really would like to make a few friends I can share my writing process with. I desperately want to talk about my fantasy world, get feedback on my ideas and constructive criticism on my writing style. I'll lose the motivation to continue, writing is a huge therapy for me and I know I need some kind of support to maintain my motivation. I am also a big fan of reading other people's stories. Anyway I don't really know what else to say. I hope anyone reading this is doing well and writing something you love.
Thanks!
-Shane

 

[pmmg]

Howdy Shane, Welcome here.

I used to share my work with the people around me, but I find now, I would prefer not to. I find they say they want to read it, but they dont really mean it, and its not really their thing anyway. I'd rather we just stayed friends in other ways without the pressure of they said they would, but didn't hanging over things. Now I have people who avoid me because they dont want to say they did not finish it. What good is that? I dont need ppl doing me favors. I need people who want to for the right reasons.

GM4LSWC94 is a funny way to spell shane

 

[GM4LSWC94]

Howdy Shane, Welcome here.

I used to share my work with the people around me, but I find now, I would prefer not to. I find they say they want to read it, but they dont really mean it, and its not really their thing anyway. I'd rather we just stayed friends in other ways without the pressure of they said they would, but didn't hanging over things. Now I have people who avoid me because they dont want to say they did not finish it. What good is that? I dont need ppl doing me favors. I need people who want to for the right reasons.

GM4LSWC94 is a funny way to spell shane

Haha, yeah I was in the Navy and that's an old username I used to use on the ship. I agree with you on your reasoning for not sharing your work, those are some of the very same reasons that I don't offer anymore. The people close to me in life know I write but I almost never ask about it, even if I mention it. That's ok and everything, but writing is a part of myself that I have neglected for such a long time I don't want to anymore. Honestly I just want some people who will look at my work and say "that's as cool as you think it is" or "nah my guy that sucks let me help you develop it in a better way."

 

[pmmg]

Most often, when i tell ppl i write stories they never ask me about them. They just tell me about the stuff they would write. But i don't think they ever will.

 

[GM4LSWC94]

Most often, when i tell ppl i write stories they never ask me about them. They just tell me about the stuff they would write. But i don't think they ever will.

What kind of stories do you like to write? What's your writing style? Idk what mine is really, at least not the technical term.

 

[pmmg]

Heheh...turned that on me.

We just had a thread on that. Something about writing styles.

I like/write stories which focus heavily on characters and not so much on plot or world. I like vast and complicated stories with lots of moving parts. I like big questions, religious and philosophical themes. I like things to go in the way they should, every action has reaction, and events follow. I like politics (though I've not had it as strongly in my stories as I thought I might). And I like writing women, more than men.

My style, is one I have worked on for many years. It has a cadence and a flow to it I work very hard at. Its an epic story teller type of voice. I like to say just enough in an artistic way to have flare when needed, and not when its too much. My strengths are characters, dialog, and meaningful actions and events, and a twisty way of writing sentences. My weaknesses are clarity (at times) and a brain that just does not see when words are missing.

I have written five novel length stories, and more than a few short stories. I have had some things published, but they are not my favs. Oddly, my favs never found a home . I am currently writing book 3 of a 5 book series, and am near the end. I intend to publish the whole thing soon.

I have had several muses, but they have changed for each story. Not sure why that happens.

And I hang out here more than I should, but I dont fight much where my energy gets spent, I just go with it. I am introverted, introspective, and I look for what is true in just about everything. If what you say is not true, I will likely challenge it.

What about you?

 

[GM4LSWC94]

Heheh...turned that on me.

We just had a thread on that. Something about writing styles.

I like/write stories which focus heavily on characters and not so much on plot or world. I like vast and complicated stories with lots of moving parts. I like big questions, religious and philosophical themes. I like things to go in the way they should, every action has reaction, and events follow. I like politics (though I've not had it as strongly in my stories as I thought I might). And I like writing women, more than men.

My style, is one I have worked on for many years. It has a cadence and a flow to it I work very hard at. Its an epic story teller type of voice. I like to say just enough in an artistic way to have flare when needed, and not when its too much. My strengths are characters, dialog, and meaningful actions and events, and a twisty way of writing sentences. My weaknesses are clarity (at times) and a brain that just does not see when words are missing.

I have written five novel length stories, and more than a few short stories. I have had some things published, but they are not my favs. Oddly, my favs never found a home . I am currently writing book 3 of a 5 book series, and am near the end. I intend to publish the whole thing soon.

I have had several muses, but they have changed for each story. Not sure why that happens.

And I hang out here more than I should, but I dont fight much where my energy gets spent, I just go with it. I am introverted, introspective, and I look for what is true in just about everything. If what you say is not true, I will likely challenge it.

What about you?

That's really impressive you've written that much. I hope your favs find a home though. I hope I can say I've written 5 novel length stories in the future lol.
In general I also like character driven stories, oddly enough the series I'm starting is plot and world heavy, though the characters I'm working on, that are the main characters are all very deep and complicated characters. I can't honestly say if I like writing men or women more, definitely like writing creatures. Giving them mannerisms and little idiosyncrasies is a lot of fun for me. I think my series is leaning towards being plot and world driven because of the amount of lore and history I have written for the world already, I feel like I need to include most of if not all of it at relevant points in the story. I'm not really sure I guess, like I said writing is a passion of mine that I haven't really given much attention to. Though I can say I also like the kinds of stories you described.

 

[pmmg]

Well...It seems impressive looking back, but it does not feel impressive. Still looking to get it all together and break through.

World building is the toughest part of my tale. I don't share much more than the characters would know, and they don't know anything, or those that do, do not continue to ask questions about it. The MC is uneducated, illiterate, and not very worldly. They don't know anything at all. They slowly learn. After two books, the world building has not been very heavy. Book 3 has a lot more in it, but if you are looking for Tolkien and long explanations of WeatherTop, I am not your author.

I also don't have many monsters so far, and nothing in a monster perspective. Part of the story is that a lot of the monsters of old have been defeated or pushed into dormancy in the past. Some are slowly making a reappearance, but mostly they are still dormant. They are book 4 and 5 material. I personally think Men are the most scary anyway. I kind of regret that I brought in other fantasy races when I started. I might have done okay with just a human world. But, that train has already left.

I have been writing this tale for 20 or so years. When I started, our world was not so heavily focused on female action roles. I feel I missed that window, but so it goes. I think my story is better than most of them, so maybe it will still get traction. Who knows?

So far, in the entirety of the three books, there is only 3 paragraphs of info dumping. And even that I wonder if I should remove. If you are not following the characters, it will be hard to get the window you are looking for.

I personally thought it would make no difference to me, whether I wrote men or women. I have males in starring roles in some of my tales. But as I moved along the writing journey, it just happened that way. I often start with a male as the main POV for a thread, but when a female enters, she slowly starts to steal the scenes and becomes more interesting. But in fairness, the men have a pretty straightforward task...find the bad guys and go fight them. The women have a lot more to do.

Anyway...

What about writing the monsters makes them your thing? Whats a monster you have brought to life?

 

[GM4LSWC94]

Well...It seems impressive looking back, but it does not feel impressive. Still looking to get it all together and break through.

World building is the toughest part of my tale. I don't share much more than the characters would know, and they don't know anything, or those that do, do not continue to ask questions about it. The MC is uneducated, illiterate, and not very worldly. They don't know anything at all. They slowly learn. After two books, the world building has not been very heavy. Book 3 has a lot more in it, but if you are looking for Tolkien and long explanations of WeatherTop, I am not your author.

I also don't have many monsters so far, and nothing in a monster perspective. Part of the story is that a lot of the monsters of old have been defeated or pushed into dormancy in the past. Some are slowly making a reappearance, but mostly they are still dormant. They are book 4 and 5 material. I personally think Men are the most scary anyway. I kind of regret that I brought in other fantasy races when I started. I might have done okay with just a human world. But, that train has already left.

I have been writing this tale for 20 or so years. When I started, our world was not so heavily focused on female action roles. I feel I missed that window, but so it goes. I think my story is better than most of them, so maybe it will still get traction. Who knows?

So far, in the entirety of the three books, there is only 3 paragraphs of info dumping. And even that I wonder if I should remove. If you are not following the characters, it will be hard to get the window you are looking for.

I personally thought it would make no difference to me, whether I wrote men or women. I have males in starring roles in some of my tales. But as I moved along the writing journey, it just happened that way. I often start with a male as the main POV for a thread, but when a female enters, she slowly starts to steal the scenes and becomes more interesting. But in fairness, the men have a pretty straightforward task...find the bad guys and go fight them. The women have a lot more to do.

Anyway...

What about writing the monsters makes them your thing? Whats a monster you have brought to life?

Yeah I've only actually read the Hobbit. I think the reason I am leaning into world building is because I have a movie in my head of my world and I really want to capture every intrinsic detail. I think the way you describe writing style for your books is similar to the way I want the perspective of my books to come out. Idk if you've ever read the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks or the Demon Cycle by Peter V Brett, but those are more the kind of blend between the characters and the world as a whole I would want. Buuuuuut to answer your question.

The creature I'm currently working on for this first book is called the Fallaciter. It's a mischievous thing that is part centipede, part human and the head of an ant. It lives in this forest and causes people to hallucinate, or it will mimic something that person knows. It can also see into a person's heart and use their deepest secrets against them. It is the guardian of the spirits that inhabit the forest and it also keeps a treasure that one of my MCs has to get.

Fantasy creatures, monsters, beasts, are my thing because I generally like animals more than people. Beyond just that, there's a complete freedom that I feel comes with that. This thing that I am creating can be whatever I want it to be, idk I know that kinda applies to all fantasy writing lol. Also might have something to do with the fact I'm a big mythology buff haha.