Whenever beginners like me start writing we feel this extreme amount of pressure to be original. How can I write something different from anything else? The answer to this question is, you can’t. It’s impossible. Too many people have written fantasy novels. This means that you shouldn’t even try, just quit trying to be original. Instead, just write about what interests you. That is the most sure-fire way to make sure you actually finish the writing process. This leads me on to the first step of my to-do list, concepts… fun.
Writing Someone Else’s Story
If you are actively pursuing the writing of a fantasy novel, I presume you also enjoy reading them… it’s kind of a prerequisite. The issue with this, is that it means we’re all fans of our favourite books. This can mean we end up writing a story very similar the ones we enjoy, and I don’t just mean writing in a similar style or theme. We can quite often write as if we’re trying to copy our favourite books, and while mimicry is the best form of flattery, it doesn’t make for the best or most original books. It’s very noticeable when someone has written a book in this manner.
To avoid this, it is often recommended that you not read any fantasy books while actually trying to write your own. You need to make sure that your story is truly your idea. Make sure you’re writing something that you’re actually interested in, not just something you read recently. By doing this you’ll be able to write a book that uses your own original style and voice. It’s important that you develop our own unique way of telling stories, it’s the only way to ensure you write a good, and original, book.
Too Many Ideas
Now, this isn’t one of those humble brags that people do. If you enjoy reading as much as I do, you naturally become interested in many different types of stories, I’m sure this is the same for a lot of beginner writers. However, your book can’t be all things at once. You cannot, and should not, fit all of the concepts you come up with into one book. It becomes very confusing, trust me. You need to carefully pick and choose which concepts and themes feature in your story. They should fit together like a jigsaw and complement one another. Your book should not be the fantasy equivalent of a jack-of-all-trades.
Now, I suppose I should share my own personal experience on this topic. I recently created my concepts list, as I said I would, but it wasn’t easy… is it ever? I fell into the trap of having concepts that make absolutely no sense when put together. So, naturally, I started trying to jam them together as if it would help my situation… it left my brain broken. I eventually decided to start crossing concepts off my list, which actually did help. I managed to narrow my concepts down in way that made fitting them together far easier. I cannot stress this enough, your story needs to make sense in your head before you move on.
Conclusion
This first step was nowhere near as easy as I thought it would be. I thought I would make a list and everything would just start falling into place… simple. Nope. Not easy. Nothing ever seems to be easy. But I struggled through it, and now I have my direction. I know what my book is going to be about. Not sure I should tell you what it’s going to be about, but I’ll do it anyways. I’m planning to write a political military fantasy novel. I’m not sure if that’s a new sub-genre, but it’s going to be my sub-genre. Yay.
Post #7: A Novice’s Fantasy Book To-Do List
This topic is going to be another one that people have disagreements over. Fantasy writing is definitely an art form, and no one should argue otherwise. A lot of writers, like Rowling, have a dislike for to-do lists, or simply don’t like using them. However, I do not work well that way. I’ve been in…
Post #6: Perspective
Initially, I was going to combine this topic with the last post on the importance of point of view in fantasy writing. However, after some extensive research (aka. a google search), I have decided that it was a large enough topic to have its own blog post. Now, many people may get confused at the…
Post #5: Point of View
This wasn’t a topic that I thought I would have to dedicate an entire post to, but it seems that a cursory google has proven me wrong. Not many aspiring writers really think about this when they start planning their book, and I fall into that category… unfortunately. And those who are more experienced in…
A Novice's Befuddled Writing Journey 