11.1 : The Need to Exercise your Creative Muscles
Sitting down to start writing your fantasy novel when you haven't written for a while can be daunting if not impossible. It's like trying to bench press a hundred kilos when you can only manage about forty in reality. With continued training you will be able to slowly work up to a heavier weight. It's the same when it comes to writing. By exercising your creative skills with writing exercises you can get to the position where writing a good fantasy novel is still a challenge but no longer impossible.
11.2 : Writing Prompts
Sometimes as a writer, you just need to practise writing. It doesn't really matter what the writing is about and it can be just for you and not meant for anyone else's eyes. This gives you the freedom to simply write; similarly as you would a journal, without having to worry what anyone else will think. When you sit down to write sometimes nothing happens and your mind just goes completely blank. This is where writing prompts can come in handy so that you don't need to think about a setting or characters. The idea is provided for you and you can just use your imagination and writing skills and see where the story goes. Not only is this a valuable way to practise writing about different situations and circumstances, but it can also give you some real inspiration for your fantasy novel.
And if you've reached a point in your novel where you've become stuck or come up against a problem, then using some time out to practise with writing prompts can be a great way to feel refreshed and ready to write again afterwards, hopefully with some good new ideas.
Assignment
Estimated time: up to 120 minutes
Following are a few writing prompts which are specifically aimed at the fantasy genre that you may like to try.
Use them to write a short story and it may be a good idea to give yourself a time limit of about an hour or two.
There are also plenty more you can find online by doing a quick search.
1. A woman gets home from her trip to find out she picked up the wrong suitcase from the airport. The contents include a medieval spell book.
2. Two little girls are getting water from a well when one accidentally falls in. The other jumps in afterwards and they find themselves in a strange underwater world.
3. A teenage boy sees and interacts with magical creatures all around him that other people cannot see. Eventually he meets someone else who can see the creatures as well.
4. A young couple are watching an old movie at their local cinema when slowly they realise they are part of the movie.
5. In a faraway land a young girl travels home after a long trip to find her father is critically ill. He reveals that he made his fortune breeding and selling dragons to lords and kings. He urges her to continue his business to stop it falling into the wrong hands.
There are many writing prompts to choose from and you may even want to make up your own.Another good way to get prompts for stories is to ask someone for three random words. Then make them link together in your story. Read your short stories back and give yourself critique. Is the plot strong? Is there too much backstory? Are the characters developed enough? Does it have structure? How is the dialogue? You may choose to share these short stories with others and get their feedback too.
11.3 : Writing Exercises
Following are some different exercises which look at particular parts of your writing such as dialogue or backstory and also encourage you to develop your own style. Take one of your short stories written from a writing prompt. Re-write it in the style of yourfavourite author. Now re-write it as if it was a news report. Try it in some other styles You can also take existing chapters of books and switch up the styles. Take a Tolkien chapter and rewrite it as George R.R. Martin and vice versa.
Writing in different styles and mimicking other authors' styles will help you find your ownstyle. Choose a well-known story; it could be a fairy tale or a favourite book. Write the story briefly from memory but only use the author's voice so no dialogue allowed. Then write it again but purely using dialogue, as if it were a play.Looking at the difference between a story with dialogue, action and backstory, compared to one where you only hear the author's voice shows how important limiting backstory is and adding dialogue. When writing pure dialogue it can be difficult to convey the entire story effectively.
Start writing a blog. Pick a subject that you love and write a few articles each week. Use funnyanecdotes, dialogue, different styles and make it as creative as possible. Invite your friends and family to read it.Writing something for public consumption is something you will have to get used to if you plan to have a career in writing. It is no good being shy about your work, you need to be able to get used to people reading it and offering feedback whether you want it or not. Writing about something you love and keeping it light-hearted is a great way to start. Write some stories about your childhood. It helps if you can re-visit some of your old haunts that will trigger memories and help set the scene. It could be anything from a single event to a whole summer spent with friends.
Telling a true story about yourself gets rid of all your character, setting and plot issues. You already know all of these things. You are therefore free to concentrate purely on the way you get your story across including the style, use of backstory, engaging dialogue and a coherent structure. It's a great way to practise storytelling without the complications of having to invent a story in the first place.
11.4 : Allowing friends and family to read and criticise your work
This can be a scary and daunting prospect as you are opening yourself up to be judged by your nearest and dearest and they can often be brutally honest. But this is the whole reason that they are good people to ask feedback from. You can choose to ask them one by one which is less intimidating for you, but you might find that they are kinder and less honest than if they were in a group supported by other people who may have the same opinion.
Arranging a time when a group of people can all read your work and then discuss it together may be more cringe worthy for you, but it will reap better results. Try it when you next meet with your family for lunch or dinner. Pass round the same two or three pages excerpt to everyone before eating and then you can discuss it during the meal. Note down the different points people offer. Don't get upset or defensive as otherwise they will just resort to lying that it's perfect to avoid confrontation and you won't get any benefit from the exercise.
11.5 : Finding a Workshop
Getting feedback and criticism from family and friends is a great start but to really improve you will want the opinions and advice from people who are in the industry. Fellow amateur writers as well as professional writers will know how to suggest improvements, rather than just be able to tell you what is wrong. They will be able to point out the problems but also will be able to help you solve them.
A great way to seek out this much revered professional expertise is by joining a writing workshop. Have a look online and you will likely find several regular meetings near you. The general gist of a writing workshop is that you will discuss some external works and gain some instruction about creative writing. You will also be required to offer up some of your own work to everyone else to discuss. This may sound terrifying and to be honest, it is rather! But it is also extremely valuable and rewarding and will give you tips that might just make the difference between your work getting published or not.
Remember that everyone is in the same position and you will be reviewing their work as well. This is also a useful tool as noticing problems and hitches in other peoples' work will make you more likely to notice them in your own in the future.
Course type workshops
Some writing workshops run like a course so you have to commit to the entirety of it. You will be expected to write an entire piece during the time period the course takes place over. It will start with working on how to generate ideas, developing these ideas and then choosing one to continue with. You will then be encouraged to create a first draft, rewrite and edit it, correct any grammar, spelling and punctuation issues and finally share it with your peers. The whole process can last from a week to a month depending on how in depth it goes into different writing techniques.
Whichever type of writing workshop you choose to join you can be sure to be welcomed into an atmosphere of encouragement and support where people will provide you with genuine constructive criticism. You might feel worried that, as a beginner, the others will mock or belittle your ideas but that couldn't be further from the truth. Meeting other people who share the same interest and passion as yourself is mutually beneficial for them and you. Now when you have a problem in your novel and you don't know how to solve it, you have a whole group of new friends who will be willing to spend time talking with you in order to try and solve your problem.
Writing retreats
Another great idea if you have the time and money is to attend a writing retreat. There are many different types available in many different locations but they are usually in a beautiful setting where you have nothing else to worry about apart from your writing. Often food as well as lodging is included and there are daily tuition sessions or workshops to attend so you really have nothing to do but write and learn about writing. Some retreats are aimed at only women, some specifically for fantasy and science fiction authors; there are all kinds of different ones. They take place in all sorts of places too; you can choose anywhere from a Danish castle to a Mexican volcano!
Lessons Learned
If you started any other new trade you would surely (hopefully) take some kind of training or course before introducing your services or product to the market.So why should writing be any different? Practising your creative skills by using different writing prompts and exercises as well as attending workshops is an invaluable way to develop yourself as an author.
.svg)
