Advice?...

[MysticFire]

I'm trying to 'get my ducks in a row' and figure out how to write a book. I'm interested in the sci-fi/fantasy, at the moment, but would like to branch out into suspense, mystery, that type of thing.
I'm gathering information on how to write a book but...how do you ever find names, places, backgrounds for the sci-fi/fantasy genre? Never mind the languages people can come up with...but it must take a lot of thought and, frankly, how does one go about it? Any advice would be greatly appreicated. :o

[DrRita]

I'm no expert and I believe there are a few on this site who would be more knowledgeable than I but here's a link to browse and get the creative juices flowing. I don't particularly advise you go to the whole trouble of answering the questions all before you begin but it may get you going. http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm

SFWA is science fiction writers org and it's pretty good. Hope this helps.

[David Meigs]

You can have a lot of fun with that one. You can take places you already know, and switch them around some. You can do the same with people you know in real life that you want to fictionalize, by changing here and there. This is a little known fact, but in the Frank Peretti book, "This Present Darkness" there was an actual cult that inspired the novel. The cult was in a community on Vashon Island called Docton. Frank called his fictional community "Ashton" which is a combination of the two. Try it; it is fun in a twisted kind of way. Be careful that you are not too obvious... ;)

David

[MysticFire]

Unless you come from such a boring place like me...but maybe I should get a map, and see what I can do with that :p Or someone can come up with names for me? :D No? Worth a try...

[AngelAzariah]

_____You could always start here for fun and giggles.
The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Clichés (http://enphilistor.users4.50megs.com/cliche.htm)

[MysticFire]

That's an awful long list. Seems like everything's been done or over-done, as the website puts it. I think everyone ends up clicheing' it a bit (that word looks so wrong...), but I think everyone has something unique, just have a hard time of saying it.
You try so hard to be original, that you get lost in the whole point of being original. Makes me wonder how anyone can come up with something...different. Ideas, places, names, people.
I've seen a few people who write a series and basically...repeat themselves in their books. Same plot, no surprises. What surprises there are has nothing to do with the story itself, but a character's personal conflict. It's no fun to repeat yourself.

[AngelAzariah]

_____"There is nothing new under Heavan," I think that's how it goes. For most people wanting to be published right now, the idea is to find your own nitch. I've found mine to be sure. I just need to know how many people are interested in the nitch I'm in. :D

[MysticFire]

I've read some of your stuff and I don't see why you're not published. Your work reminds me a little bit of...Oh, help me out here...What bothers me is I have the book (well, my sister does) I just haven't read it in so long, I forgot the name...It's about how these kids find this stuffy bear and a dyslexic fox and are transported to their world. Trust me, I will look up the name of this book. It's driving me crazy that I can't remember it... :mad:
By the way, anyone know any good...fiction medieval sites, anything of that sort? Kind of along the lines I'm going for...

[AngelAzariah]

_____You could try this site out.
http://www.free-online-novels.com/index.html
_____I've thought about submitting my work there, but I'm too busy to right now. :p

[paulajo]

April:

Tom Ipasta is a "know-it-all"; get acquainted with Tom and you will never have need for asking anyone else anything, except for the sake of satisfying your curiosity as to what their thoughts on the subject might be.

"T" is for the title. Every subject must have a word to identify it...separate it from all other subjects to keep it set in a category or pew of its own.

"O" is for objective. What is the purpose you hope to gain, or goal(s) you hope to achieve?

"M" is for the materials you will need to achieve your goals, or complete the task you are about to tackle.

"Ipasta" is the procedure for rolling your ball. You "introduce" yourself and/or the subject. You "present" the subject -- This is for classroom instructing: ask questions, summarize, test and make assignment for the next session, etc. For writing your book, you will not need that of course.

My point here is to make analysis of your proposed desire; this method is adapatable to anything you may decide to analyze. It works for me.

Everyone of his/her own choosing. No more than I have observed you, perhaps I am premature to make any suggestion or give you advice. You seem to be genuinely interested in doing something that fits with promulgating. But what you want to say has a serious bearing on how you want to say it. Grabbing Interest is one thing; 'keeping' that interest is a whole new ball game. I am not at liberty to say what I want to say to you here. E-mail me if you are interested in what I might have to say.

[MysticFire]

I get some of what you're saying. I'm sure if, with the right words, I could get people interested in what I want to say, but it's the whole thing of...how to say it. The research, making sure you've got the right idea, the right audience.
I think...I'd be happy if I could just get my words right and it touched just one person. I'm not for fame or money, just that my book has touched and changed someone's life, like the countless books I've read have touched me.

[ellenjames]

If you're looking for Medieval Novels, try "In the Shadow of a Queen" by Martha Watson Riebe, my cousin. I'm not sure you'll find it in a bookstore.

Ellenjames

[MysticFire]

Actually, what I'm looking for is...basically, how they got their material for medieval books. As I said...I'm doing a lot of research...
And if ya'll want some good books, my suggestion...go to Amazon.com and type in 'christian fiction books' or something along those lines...or, I believe, there's a website called christianbooks.com...Something along those lines, I could be mistaken.
"Crown of Eden", "The Devil's Mouth", and "Bride of Stone'' were particuarly good, in my opinion, if you want medieval novels. ;) !thumbsup!
But where do they come up with the material!?!?!?! :confused: :eek:

[MsSherry]

Are you asking how they researched for the books or how they generate their ideas?

If you mean how do people generate ideas, I think it's using a lot of imagination and playing around with things in your head and then putting them on paper. Brainstorming is helpful sometimes and using writing prompts.

I also think what works for one person may not work for another in terms of "feeling inspired to write". Some people can go straight to the computer and type for hours and have a wonderful finished product. Some people like to plan and do outlines first.

I'm not sure if that helped at all. :cool:

[MsSherry]

This site, listed in the CW Resource Directory might be helpful. I've only scanned through a few of the time periods, so I don't know if it will be what you are looking for.

http://www.odinscastle.org/

It has links to various historical periods.

[ellenjames]

My cousin, who wrote "In the Shadow of a Queen", traveled to England to get a sense of the setting and did lots of research on English history.

Ellenjames

[MysticFire]

I have two or three ideas, but I could make it into a series, if I do it right. So what I want is...how they get their resources. I'd rather be pretty much accurate, even though it's fiction. :D
That site you sent me seems pretty close to what I want, thank you. :D It goes from medieval, to Greek, to American history...yes, this will be quite helpful, I think.
Gotta wonder, though, how people can get that much information, I mean...I plan to write and...I doubt I'll ever know as much as this person does for his website. Then again, his wife helps him, I think. Explains a lot. ;) :p

[MysticFire]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND I AM VICTORIOUS!!!! *does a jig* The book that reminded me of your type of writing style, Angel, is...."The Bloodstone Chronicles'' by Bill Myers. Thank God, I figured it out.... :D :rolleyes:
Though, I don't know if you'd ever read it...or have read it...it's mostly for the kids to young teens, I think...but I found it amusing. And it has several good points made. ^_^

[paulchernoch]

I am finding that a thousand little things can add up to a big thing. Here are some of the little things I use to help me fill in the details:

1) babynames.com - This and other baby name sites are great for coming up with unusual first names, especially ones which have a desired meaning.

2) altavista.com - This search engine also has a translation feature. I use it to get last names for my characters. For example. one character I had in mind was an irritating woman. So I typed in various synonyms for annoying, irritating, etc. and picked various of the supported languages and asked the website to translate. I found that "irriti" is the Italian word for irritating, and named my character d'Irriti. This can be a lot of fun.

3) Biblespeak. When I was in Romania on a mission trip once, I found a way to communicate with people who did not speak English. I would use my concordance to find a verse in the Bible close to what I wanted to say, then point it out to them and they would read it in their Romanian bible. Online translations of the bible into many languages are available. If you want a character to say something in a different language but do not want to pay for expensive translation services, this might get you out of a tough spot.

4) Personality types. If you find that you have a difficult time dreaming up unique personalities for your characters, try visiting websites that discuss the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory or similar personality tests. Myers-Briggs breaks people into sixteen broad categories and describes how such a person will react to different situations, and how they may interact with various of the other personality types. This may stimulate your thinking.

5) Law. If you are going to design a world, you need to create one and maybe several legal systems. The laws of a people define their form of government, court system, reflect their morals, and have a great influence over everyday life. Having some understanding of not just our American legal system but the systems of other times and places is very useful. I found useful information on the internet concerning the legal systems of various states and countries, but the best source for me was the four volume "Legal Systems of the World: A Political, Social, and Cultural Encyclopedia"; Herbert M. Kritzer, Editor. Some of the more interesting topics concerned church canon law, Islamic Sharia law, Gypsy law, etc. It is expensive, but available at some libraries. I got used copies via abebooks.com for a reasonable price ($25 per volume). I also read "The Criminal Law Handbook: Know Your Rights, Survive the System" by Attorney Paul Bergman & Attorney Sara J. Berman-Barrett from Nolo, which is quite readable and filled with puns and humor to balance the dryness of some of the material.

6) Once you have settled on the geography of your world, you need to plot several subcultures. Some examples are seafaring or river peoples, nomadic (such as horse riding), agrarian, urban, slave owning, etc.

I could come up with more, but times winged chariot is hurrying near...

- Paul

[MysticFire]

I never thought about that, for last names. My sister has this name book, which I might use. And there was this one website I found a long time ago...wonder if I can find it again.
It'll probably take several years just to get everything sorted out, much less write a book. I'm in no worry but...writing has to be one of the hardest things in life. You have to know a little bit of everything, at least.
And with fiction, you have to have some truth in it, so you can't make everything up. You have to know your history, the present. The future, I cannot say how you can come up with that, but you have to know some of every field, I think, for it to be considered worth reading. Then again, what do I know? :rolleyes:

[paulchernoch]

MysticFire,

Being a voracious reader is a very helpful trait in a writer. I will read almost anything you put in front of me. If it is well written, I will get something from it. When I need a one-liner, a little bit of background, a small touch, that almost always comes from memory, not research.

As for the future - my first inclination was to write sci-fi, my old favorite as a kid. After a few years chewing over an idea, I gave up. My ideas were too ridiculous, boring or cliched. You really need to read up on the latest trends in science on a regular basis to come up with good sci-fi ideas. I may tackle sci-fi someday, but it will take some work. (And I already have a bachelors in Physics from MIT!)

- Paul

[MysticFire]

I love sci-fi, but I don't think I could ever write it. All the..military and medical and science things I never could understand...I loved it anyway.
What I mean by that is...with sci-fi, there usually is something...wrong. Whether it be medical (you need a certain thing that hasn't been in existance for a while), military (one person is at war with another, so you have all this political background, which I sometimes don't understand), or something is scientifically wrong.
I also love some history, medieval, fantasy, suspense. If it has a good story line, I'm not going to turn it down. But some of these things, I don't think I'll ever write about. Doesn't mean it's not good when other people write about it. ^_^