Phantastic Phantasy Forum Tips for a Novice Writer

Stephen Scaggs	Tips for a Novice Writer 16 Years Ago Though I took English classes in high school, I never took any writing classes. As a novice writer, I'm hoping if there is advice that a critic, an experienced writer, an older individual, or anyone in particular can help me to grow with. My poetry isn't really my object of issue here, I've wrote 200+ poems from seventeen to nineteen and I still enjoy writing poetry. But lately, I've been yearning to write a book. So I started up writing a book... writing about five-seven pages on Microsoft Word per chapter. My biggest issue to date when writing a story (because I've attempted stories before in the past) is having a topic that you are excited to write about, and then you lose that burning desire to write it. Maybe it was my mind that changed as I wrote? Anyways, any advice is appreciated. Bye, Stephen Scaggs
Johnzo	[no subject] 16 Years Ago I've only dabbled in writing in the past, and recently started my first novel. For me personally I like to write all my works in the same world and just build a thick interweaving world of different people places and events. This gives me a greater creative pool to draw off from as I continue to write. I guess still the trick is starting with something with enough potential to hold your interest for extended periods. For me the original world concept just clicked and I knew I wanted to keep describing this world and building it up. Also, I recently came across this article describing the writing habits of some fairly famous authors: I thought it was very interesting. Turns out even the best have their foibles and struggles.
Christopher Kneipp	[no subject] 16 Years Ago From my experience the number one rule is write. I know that sounds obvious, but if you can get your basic outline worked out to begin with the that will help you with the first draft. The first draft should be written through in relatively gungho fashion; A hard lesson for me was to avoid going endlessly over each chapter again and again. You'll have enough time to rewrite when you finish the first and begin the second draft. I also have a couple of spreadsheets going as I write, One for Characters, (Names quirks appearance etc), One for Places and background information. Thes help me to maintain consistency and it saves trying to find how you spelled the unpronouncable name of your wizard/elf/etc, or remember that he's left handed. Hope this helps Chris K