I'm new to writing.

[Autumn Ren]

I'm very excited to be here and I hope to learn a lot and share what I'm doing. I'm 18F and have been interested in writing for years but am finally doing it. I'm working on a dark fantasy novel as my first book and it's coming along very well but I really don't know what I'm doing yet.

Help?

 

[pmmg]

Howdy autumn. Welcome here.

Help if we can.

 

[Finchbearer]

Welcome Autumn,

What does 18F mean?

Start your own thread and ask away or join in the discussion.

 

[BearBear]

What does 18F mean?

That's a Reddit thing I think. Age:18 Female

Welcome Autumn Ren, now all you need to do is bring your dark fantasies and haunt:

[Game] Last one to post wins!

The rules are simple: the last person to post in this thread WINS.

mythicscribes.com

Join us, we're not like the others, man, really.

 

[Autumn Ren]

Thank you! pmmg and Finchbearer

Yes, BearBear is right, sorry.

Okay, I'll check it out.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Welcome aboard! New and 18 kinda go hand in hand for old bastards like m'self.

 

[Azul-din]

Salutations from the other end of the age spectrum. Looking forward to hearing about the novel. Can you give us a quick peek? What exactly are you having trouble with?

 

[Autumn Ren]

Can you give us a quick peek? What exactly are you having trouble with?

I'd love to but it's so rough right now, and it's graphic. I need to see where it's going, I'm at 44,000 words right now and I'm only in act 2 now, so this'll take a while.

Do you think having three main characters is too many?

 

[Azul-din]

I'd love to but it's so rough right now, and it's graphic. I need to see where it's going, I'm at 44,000 words right now and I'm only in act 2 now, so this'll take a while.

Do you think having three main characters is too many?

No, of course not. It gives you a chance to show three different pov's , jump back and forth in time, etc. Are the three characters together or separate?

 

[Prince of Spires]

Welcome!

Enjoy the ride of your first novel! There's nothing quite like it. Writing it is the best education in writing novels you can get. When you're done, set it aside for a while and then take a look at it to see what worked and what didn't.

 

[Super Fantasy]

I try to start with one main character who meets companions in his or her journey, the main character might be a merchant or a occultist and as he or she explores the fantasy world, he or she meets others with similar interests who become main characters as well.

 

[Autumn Ren]

No, of course not. It gives you a chance to show three different pov's , jump back and forth in time, etc. Are the three characters together or separate?

They're together, but with a dark fantasy, they're probably going to have hardships and be separated. I'm not 100% sure about Act 2's crisis yet. It's kind of evolving on it's own. I have a rough outline and it's not following that without a lot of force at this point.

When you're done, set it aside for a while and then take a look at it to see what worked and what didn't.

Did you release your first book or just keep it secret?

 

[Azul-din]

They're together, but with a dark fantasy, they're probably going to have hardships and be separated. I'm not 100% sure about Act 2's crisis yet. It's kind of evolving on it's own. I have a rough outline and it's not following that without a lot of force at this point.



Did you release your first book or just keep it secret?

Excellent. If they are separated you have the opportunity to broaden your scope beyond what just one character experiences, develop each individual character to the point that they think and act independently. What's done often when you have a group of characters is to switch back ad forth between how each perceives what is happening. Sometimes this is done by giving each a separate chapter, without changing the time line, if that makes any sense. BTW- about outlines- remember that they are beginnings, and if the plot changes direction as you are writing, go with it!

To answer your reply to the other chap, my first three books were read only by friends. When you have someone who will stick with you for 200,000 words you have a REAL friend.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Did you release your first book or just keep it secret?

I did release it. It's still out there for sale. However, I didnt release the first version of it. I gave it a lot of editing before I felt it was good enough to put it out there. Also, it was my first completed novel. I had written a novella, a bunch of short stories, and started several attempts at novels before starting this one. So it wasn't my first writing project.

Only you can decide if you release it or not. I felt (and still feel) that it was a good enough story to put it out there. It's relatively short, 50k words or so if I remember correctly, and coherent. It might not be the best novel or prize winning prose, but it's a nice enough story.

As for your outline. Two things to remember: you don't have to outline your story. Many writers don't. And you don't have to follow your outline if you have created one. An outline is a tool. And as with any tool, use it if it helps you, and change it or ignore it if it doesn't.

I outline. Simple reason is that I can't write without an outline. I've tried, but I always run into a point where I have no clue what's happening next, and then the story just sort of fizzles out. An outline helps me maintain forward momentum. However, my actual story always deviates from the outline. At the start the changes will be minimal. Maybe a character turns out to have a different motivation, or a secondary character walks on, or any other small change. However, as the story progresses, these changes have a bigger and bigger impact. Sort of like the butterfly effect. So I find that I always have to revise my outline by the time I get to the 3/4 mark (give or take). Sometimes I just do so in my head, if it's clear what the ending will be like. But for my current project I've sat down during one or two writing sessions and actually created a new outline going forward, simply because the changes were too big so that my outline didn't work anymore.

 

[pmmg]

Do you think having three main characters is too many?

I might alter that to say POV characters. I dont think it matters so long as they all have their own story, arc, have clarity, and hold a readers interest.

In my own stories, while there is one who is the most MC, there are many would could be as well. They have many scenes, and are POV characters. I dont think this is unusual.

They're together, but with a dark fantasy, they're probably going to have hardships and be separated.

Let's not be like a Bear, there should be no probably about it. Hardships need to come their way. And a whole lot of other stuff that makes them struggle.

 

[Autumn Ren]

Thanks everyone! I'll think of more questions soon!

 

[BearBear]

Let's not be like a Bear

You wish you were like a Bear