Fantasy newbie :)

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Jokerette

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I have 3 gorgeous, mouthy Siamese. Funniest creatu
I'm a published author and currently I ghost-write as well. My latest is fantasy: have always loved good fantasy, but it isn't at the top of my list.

My current gig involves 30k already written: the last 50 is yours truly. Been researching like a bandit for couple of days.

I =think= this is Epic Fantasy, genre-wise... the first 10 chapters involve a hero, magical guilds, sigils... it smells a bit like 13 century UK. (Client specified 13 century AND middle earth: period.) The content I have does not include hobbits or anything of that ilk.

As I do have 10k written in the style & voice he prefers, no problem there. But I need to research lingo! Or even buy books written in such a genre (whatever it may be.) High fantasy for sure, methinks. I checked "Historical" and that doesn't fit. Any ideas? I saw a spot here for links:am hitting that next.

I believe I just need to be pointed at a good source for writing fantasy. Sure didn't find it from Google... the one site had. ah. less-than-helpful information.

(BTW, someone did nice SEO on this site! Did find YOU, thank God :D
 
It may just be lack of coffee (I just got up), but I can't seem to understand what exactly you are asking about.

Setting? Well, if you're writing in a Middle Earth-esque setting, then of course Tolkien comes first to mind as reading material. For the magical part I can strongly recommend Trudi Canavan's Magician-trilogy (conveniently named, that one). And for a vastly different magic, Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn-series.

If I understood right, the client has written 30k words already? Shouldn't he know the genre? If not, then this List of genres - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia might help pin it down.

The basics of writing good Fantasy are just like the basics of telling any good story. It doesn't matter how cool a world or magic system you've created if we don't care about the characters and what is happening to them. The difference (compared to an adventure book set in our own world) is, then, the setting and possible magic and/or non-human intelligent species and/or fantastical animals, monsters and entities.

Try googling for Fantasy World building, fantasy magic systems and such unless someone else comes by and drops a nice link to an all-inclusive site. (I didn't find one either on a simple google-search, not right away at least).

I hope this helps a little bit, even if I'm not sure I managed to understand or answer any of your questions. I'll get more coffee now. That should help.
 
Welcome to chronicles, Jokerette. Love your bio pic on your website - am sure you'll fit in here! :)

So, let me see if I get this, you're currently ghost-writing a novel for an existing author? Or someone who wants to be an author with you co-writing?
 
Chel: I've had MY coffee and I still have no clue what I'm talking about, myself. LOL However, I researched to death before posting. Wiki? All over it. Writing fantasy? MANY different spots.

MY client knowing his own genre? Well I =was= drinking coffee: now my screen is enjoying it! God bless him, he adores fantasy. Has come up with a GOOD idea for a novel, no doubt. It's an ugly story in itself, his pursuit of a writer for his novel. (He has the entire thing in his head: entire plotline PLUS subplots, characters, the works. He claims he himself can't write: I =will= find out. If possible, I'll gently push, prod, etc - next one on him.) I digress.. he hired yours truly. (NOT off my fantasy-writing creds, mind you: Suspense, vampires - got you covered. Guilds and so on, written in a formal UK blend of archaic English???? GOD HELP ME roflmao!)

Man, I thought the legal thriller was bad: there's a REASON lawyers write those things. THIS? Makes slogging through vile, nasty murder 1 trials a walk in the park.

Your genre list:

He
  1. roic: protag is NOT reluctant to be hero. NOT humble origon, no royalty in past. Yes he's tested often: and yes those events beyond his control.
  2. High/Epic: mythical? Not per se. No gods/goddesses involved, if that is how they're defining 'mythical.' Highly-developed chars/plots? OH yes. Char-driven.
  3. Sword and Sorcery: mighty barbaric hero (hmmm. He's a Knight of the Knight Guild: not 'barbaric'.) Pitted against human and supernatural? Check.

All 3 are possible. ???

World-building: yay for sci-fi! BTDT.

I know I need the correct actual genre (publication, PR) but my actual current issue is the English used. I've completed a chapter: not happy. Need to find English used for writing fantasy genre: as it happens, the client JUST popped up. ^*)@*&^ because I'd hoped to get the research done and a fast re-write before this poor fellow laid eyes on it. :( Ah well, going to remind him it IS a rough draft.

THANK you guys so very much :D
 
 
If you have the time and need, there is some good historical fiction for that period. I would recommend:

Ellis Peters -- The Cadfael Mysteries, under various titles (also a BBC production, available on Netflix). Monks, knights, townies in let's see 1100s or so.

and also Robyn Young's Crusader series, which is about the Knights Templar. The first book in the series takes place in the priory of the English branch of the Templars near London.

Hope that helps.
 
Wellll... lol I pulled myself out of that contract. You got to know when to hold em...

Happens! (Only once before - that was a tech piece. I could NOT grasp 'proxies' LOL! After the contract, I figured it out.) This time, though, I fear NEVER AGAIN rofl! Bless his heart, the poor guy. I feel awful, as I'm #4 (!!!) what can ya do?

On the bright side, you guys have me remembering... oh I am literally afraid to ask or research. Anne McCaffery. Is she still... writing? Her son take all the way over?

If EVER i dabble again, =that= I could do. But figure out "old English" in two days? ROFLMAO I gave it a shot! Oh Beta - Knights Templar have been an addiction for years. Utterly fascinating. They started out as bankers, yes?

You =might= be right. If I'd had time (month or two minimum research,) MAYBE could have pulled it off. As it is, I sat here in utter desperation with everything from a Middle English translator (!) right down to Babylon Dictionaries. THEN I bought a clue and had my UK bff take a look...

He claims my 'sentence structure is too complex." Mind you I had the first 30K - that writer has had some minor success as well. So when Mike told me that, I realized he was right: other guy NEVER used colons, semis, ellipsis ... nothing.

Moreover his structure almost never changed: noun, verb. Noun, verb:

He did this. He went into the glorious morning and took flight. He wasn't sure....

Not in this lifetime, I realized. Right or wrong, I can't undo years of writing complex sentences, playing with clauses, etc.

So, from the folks who know... all fantasy writers that simplistic, would you say? (My butt literally ran for the hills lmfao)
 
he needs a poet then for that kind of thing..
why don't you send him to an editor? boneman here has an editing service, as does theresa edgerton... both excellent writers on their own, and theresa is an amazing author and very gentle...

by the way i think it would have been in the style of william blake or chaucer.
as for fantasy writing the last time i read that sort was from a lord dunnessy novel. 'The king of elflands daughter' to be precise.

you know he could jump in here. after he has the post count he could put some pieces up for help...
 
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