Writing Your Series, Part 4
When you begin to write a series, there are a number of strategies that you can adopt. Each has some advantages, and each has some pitfalls. It reminds me of the story of a traveler years ago who was getting ready to take a long dirt road that was filled with ruts. A sign at the beginning of the dirt road said, “Choose your rut wisely. You’ll be in it for the next 22 miles.”
Writing Your Series, Part 3
When you put out the first novel in your series, you’re trying to get two things—a large number of sales, and a high velocity. In other words, the booksellers are always looking for something that’s “hot.”
Writing Your Series, Part 2
When you write a series, under ideal conditions you can get some traction with your books and build toward hitting the New York Times Bestseller’s list. In order to hit #1 on the list, you need to do a few things:
Writing Your Series Part 1
Every week or two, someone asks me whether their first novel should be a standalone or if they should begin a series. The answer to this question can be rather complex. So I’d like to write a few articles that deal with the hows and whys of writing a series. First, if you’re writing […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips—Learning to Think and Write Critically
I’ve noticed in the past that the best writers are quite often the best critics. If you concern yourself with the making of stories, it sort of makes sense that you will get good at it.
Making Better Magic Systems, Lesson 10
When Fantasy Fails Sometimes I read a story that is well written and it leaves me empty. It’s like feasting on cotton candy—there is an illusion that there is something to it, that you’ve consumed a huge volume of food, but ultimately . . . well, cotton candy is just sugar with a few dyes […]
Making Better Magic Systems, Lesson 7
Organic Magic Some magic systems just don’t make any sense. That doesn’t mean that they can’t be fun, it just means that the audience will frequently be reminded at how silly it all is. When this happens, it reminds the audience that this is “just a story,” and can effectively remove the reader from the […]
Making Better Magic Systems, Lesson 6
Get Real One essential part of making better magic systems is giving real imagery to the reader without telling them what to see. Very often I will read stories where the author describes a magic spell like this: “As soon as he entered the room, Kyla felt the powerful magic. She reached out with her […]
Making Better Magic Systems, Lesson 5
Spellcasting Catastrophes When you create a magic system, you want it to be clean and concise, right? You want it to be simple and foolproof. That’s human nature. It’s also 100 percent wrong! Making better magic systems requires more rules. Many new authors forget to establish rules about how magic spells are cast. In developing […]
Making Better Magic Systems, Lesson 4
The Wellspring of Magic When you create a magic system, you have to consider the source of your magic. Very often, the source of the magic and the price of the magic are bound together, but not necessarily. Making better magic systems requires sources. In looking at magic systems around the globe, you will start […]