I have asked myself this
question many times. When I first embarked on this journey, I though it would
be simple to put pen to paper, but as I quickly discovered, writing such a
complex and diverse world as I have chosen to do, is not so easily done. If you
have read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin,
or the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson, you understand the complexity of
their worlds; the sheer amount of detail and realism that was embedded into
these amazing works of fiction would make any aspiring novelist bow down in
humility. If you don’t recognize the books or authors above, find them and read
them.
Just to underline my
point, Tolkien created entire languages to accompany Middle-Earth. He didn’t
just make up a few words and call it good. He created a complete language you
could actually learn if you really, really wanted to. That is mind-boggling.
That is exactly what I
want. I want to boggle your mind, my dear readers. I want you to read my
book(s) and become enthralled with the characters, the cultures, and the world.
I want to create an entirely new place for your imagination to run freely and
enjoy the new splendors that I have set about for you; I want you to experience
my world as though you were truly living within it.
So, how do you write such
an epic novel and not have it turn into a complete disaster with no structure,
form, or fully developed characters that no one invests in because they don’t
care about him or her? I have no clue. BUT I am figuring it out and I am
getting help from many places. I have my wonderful husband who gives me great
advice and a much needed male perspective. I have my dear friend Kayla, who is
the author of the much raved about Nevermore series, who, as a published
author, gives me clear insight to my characters and voice. And I have many
other friends and family who are all willing to read my Book In Progress and
give me honest and well thought out feedback.
I am also using a book
written by Donald Maass called How to Write the Next Break Out Novel (workbook
edition). This book has been extremely helpful and I have only gone through the
first two exercises. However, it is detailed and incredibly thorough. The
exercises provided, along with real-world book excerpts, gives a clear perspective
of what to do and what NOT to do when creating a new world and developing
characters.
Writing a novel is
complex, whether or not you are creating a brand new world, or if you are setting
it in a time or place that already has or does exist. The most important thing
you can do, as an aspiring novelist, is flushing out your characters and making
them believable. You want your readers to love your good guys and hate your bad
guys. You want your readers to cry when a favorite character dies and jump for
joy when the big bad is finally defeated. If you can evoke those emotions in a
reader, you have done your job and done it well. I hope that by putting down my
process and my thinking as I write my first novel (and hopefully not the last)
that someone who wants to be a novelist will be helped and intrigued by my
words.
Again, thank you for
reading and I hope you have enjoyed your time. I will be posting more and more
about my process but I also plan on posting short stories and legends of the world
to come. So thank you for spending your time here and I hope you will come
back!
Sincerely
A.M.
