We often begin a story with very little in mind—a powerful image from a dream, a play on words overheard during a conversation, an emotion that we want to capture, a clever idea for a twist. As these ideas coalesce, we begin to form a story.
I often feel that the ideas that give me the genesis of a story are
When I opened the Runelords series, I knew that I didn’t want one of those endless book series that just kept stringing the reader along—something like Tarzan 28, or Sherlock Holmes 15. I mean, there are characters that I love, but I just can’t stay interested in a character after he has grown through his major conflicts.
With my own first
When you’re a writer, there are a lot of jobs in the field that are somewhat related. I’ve worked on videogames and movies, edited computer manuals, helped write proposals, written a little nonfiction, and so on. Certainly one of the most common careers is teaching.
Now, when I was in college I put a lot of my emphasis on editing, and
What story treasures do you have buried deep inside of you?
Very often as a reader, I’ll come across a story that is well written in many regards: The characters have strong voices, the setting is energetically created, and the action progresses in a surprising, logical, and emotionally
“When you get writer’s block, if you will go back in your story to what you wrote the day before and check your work very carefully, you’ll find that you wrote something that your subconscious mind recognizes as being utter baloney, a lie. So you have to find out where you went astray, and start writing from that point forward.” I really think that this needs to be expanded upon, for those who feel stuck.
Bestselling author David Farland has taught dozens of writers who have gone on to staggering literary success, including such #1 New York Times Bestsellers as Brandon Mull (Fablehaven), Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time), James Dashner (The Maze Runner) and Stephenie Meyer (Twilight).
