@FencerforJesus: FencerforJesus I am so happy for you!!!! I pray that God will Bless your book!
I was wondering, are you going to have illustrations done for your book?
Also I don’t know if you have or if you don’t want to, but I really didn’t read anything on the old NarniaWeb’s writing topic so I might have missed it, but do you have a synopsis for your book?
I was wondering what it was about if you don’t mind me asking.
If you don’t want to though it’s ok.

So out of curiosity is there a limit to what types of creatures you can use in your story? For an example I Love the Chimera from Greek Mythology, would that be ok to write it into my story? I just love some of the classic creatures and also the lesser known ones from mythology.
But how much mythology from our world can I put into my created world?
Also would this be in line with Mythopoeia (genre) standards? Does anyone known what separates a Mythopoeia (genre) story from a regular fantasy story?

And something else I was wondering about, how should you describe character’s actions?
Like if two characters are talking to each other and I picture person A fiddling around with a stick in the sand as he is talking to the other person, do I write “He picked up a stick and drew in the sand as he spoke?” or is that to much detail. Is it to crowded sounding if I write that much detail?

I am a horrible artist, so no, I have not done any illustrations. I'll be working with my editor about a cover art, but at this point, I don't plan on there being chapter illustrations like you see in Narnia. I have done plot synopsis before on the new forum but it is on the early pages and I'm not about to go look for it. So, here is the gist of the novel.

After leading a raid on an enemy fort, Arven, a Squire for the castle of Arcidium in the Kingdom of Heaven, finds himself to be the primary target of the dark lord, Kivuli, leader of an army of half-humanoid, half animal creatures known as the Fallen. Little by little, Kivuli works at isolating Arven from his allies for a prophecied showdowon.
James Proctor, during an outreach event at Redloub City Park, meets Aaron Nyles who appears as the very image of an ideal Christian teenager. Tragedy strikes when James' best friend is killed in a car wreck and the two discover the works of a small gang intent on destroying every Christian presense in the city. It only worses when James' brother, Ryan, gets involved on the wrong side.
Caught in the middle is Peter Saxon. A year older than James, Peter tried to get by in life going to church and doing good deeds, but also wanting to live his own life. As the battle around him becomes clearer every moment, Peter finds himself recruited by both sides and he must decide once and for all whose side to be on...or get crushed in the cross-fire.

According to the editor that reviewed my work from Writer's Edge, they said it was the best depiction of spiritual warfare for the everyday believer they had ever read. Many of the key plot points are based heavily on true stories. Based on the responses I have gotten so far, this is going to be a big thing. Because of my 20 years mission experience, I have made friends from all over the country and many are highly anticipating the release. And it will be available on Amazon.com so it will not be merely a local release (though it might only be carried in book stores at the local level for a while). Once I get a date, I will be sure to post it here and in the books thread.

Many of you don't know this, but those that knew me growing up consider this to be a much bigger deal than what would be expected. Writing a book is one thing, getting it published is another, but coming from my background is an entirely different issue. Some of you know I have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a mild form of autism. Many who knew me as a child never expected me to be able to live on my own or go to college. I am currently living on my own at college and am about to graduate with a 3.26 GPA.

But on the topic of writing, I didn't have any reading comprehension when I was a kid. I could tell you what was on the page and where, but I couldn't tell you why or the context. That didn't start coming until I was about 12 years old. And here I am 15 years later about to publish. It is pure testimony to the Lord, something I can use for any public speaking event I decide to do. This has been such an amazing journey and I can't wait to see what comes next.

F4J, I'm not a fan of many of your characters' names (that could be my Australian culture talking) but I'm eagerly awaiting your book. I've been following it's development (on NarniaWeb) and it sounds fascinating. You're doing great things. Congratulations mate!

Lady Haleth, when describing a character or creature, only focus on the details that matter, the unique features. If you're describing a cat, you don't need endless description including every feature (unless your character has never seen a cat, but even then you must avoid info-dumps). Your readers will know what a cat looks like. Just focus on the obvious details eg. the smokey short-haired cat glared at the boy, its torn ear ripe with blood. Endless description stalls the story, is redundant and unnecessary. Just my two cents.

I've never been in a romantic relationship, yet I wish to write about a married couple in my WIP novel (on hiatus for far too long) - Echoes of a Silent Mind. Talk about stretching myself! How do you write something like that realistically? (I don't want any of that Mills and Boon crap). Thanks

A belated congratulations to you, Fencer! I know this has been a long journey for you and I'm sure it's a relief to be coming to the end.

Rather strange that Lighthouse contacted you. Have you found out yet how they heard about your book? Maybe it was through that one conference you attended, or something like that. Shows again that networking (virtual or not) is crucial when it comes to this sort of thing.

You may not feel comfortable with sharing this, but I'm curious - is Lighthouse royalty-only or do they pay your a small sum at publication as well? I'm always interested in how payment works with various publishing houses.

And something I'd like to add on a more general note:

So play with it and you will find yourself with a stronger story, characters that people will want to get to know, and a higher level of satisfaction in your work.

Very true: characters are key. But I would add that this really isn't something you can be taught, characterization. You must live life, collect a variety of experiences (within reason), read widely, and keep writing, and your characters will eventually grow richer. It's a natural process, and not something you can force.

Well, as for me, I got my second rejection of the year yesterday, which I suppose is my second rejection ever. I submitted a short story once several years ago and never got a response back, but I'm not counting that ; my other two were accepted by Silver Leaves. My writer's group is actually suggesting I start a folder with all my rejections in it ... it will motivate me to get those manuscripts back out there, and if one day I become a famous author (this is simply a pipe dream here, folks ) I can pull out the folder and show it to my grandkids.

Wow, Fencer, that is so exciting! Keep us updated. Chances are I'll end up reading your book when it's out. I, too, feel like I've been following this for a long time (though not nearly as long as you, obviously), and I'm eager to hear how it all works out.

7chronicles: I don't think anyone can 'limit' what you use in your fantasy stories. Chimeras, tanukis, vila, etc.are all fair game. If your story is influenced by the Greek epics and histories, then adding creatures or elements of Greek origin/influence would be natural. Using lesser known creatures will make the story rich in the culture, too.

On Nano without preparation: I did that last year and made it to 60K. I didn't finish my story, but I find sometimes that as I write plot opportunities will pop up here and there, and by chapter 3 or so I have a much better idea of where the story is going, and usually an outline that'll carry me through to the end (and usually improve along the way).

Warrior 4 Jesus, what do you mean by you are not a fan on my characters' names? I am assuming you are refering to Arven and Kivuli. Or are you refering to the mix of the foreign names with the modern names? I know I will not please everyone with my names or my work for that matter. I pretty much just went through baby names and listed down certain names with particular meanings that fit the character. On the modern names, I picked what came to mind. If you are refering to the mix, it is because they are essentially two different time periods and I mix the naming conventions to help distinguish when I switch back and forth.

lysander, I know exactly what you mean about how Lighthouse contacted me. I still don't know how they found me. The only possible scenarios I can think of was they looked at my listing on the Writer's Edge website or they heard about me through the Writer's Conference I went to. But I don't know how that would have happened. The Writer's Edge is possible but in a way unlikely because it was a year ago when I submitted and was accepted. My listing would be buried deep in the archives. I initially thought this came through my contact with Operation Mobilization when I met with them in July, because both are located around Atlanta. I asked how they found me, but no response on that. I can only thank God for putting it together.

Lighthouse is a royalty based publisher. I did have to pay an intialization fee of $300, which sets them up with Amazon, gets ISBN # and bar code set up, and other set up costs. But I get 50% commission off every book sold on Amazon (after marketing costs), and I get my own 50% discount for any book I buy to selll personally. I also keep copyrights and can switch to a bigger publishers at any time I wish (30 days notice).

I don't know if relief is the word to describe how I am feeling about it. I'd say more elated, excited, and in total awe of my Lord who has led me down this path and enabled this to happen. I knew it was worthwhile to wait when I had a chance a year ago with WinePress. God is so good and I can't wait to see how this pans out.

And in regards to your comment about characterization: I wholeheartly agree. You cannot necessarily teach it. I personally would not consider myself an expert at characterization. I can tell you what to look for and ideas on how to approach it, but when it comes to carrying it out I often struggle. (I'm like that with in my computer science degree, which I know the theory like the back of my hand, but can't code for the life of me.) Characterization does require experience, by meeting people with different personalities, different features, different cultures, etc. And one person made an excellent observation about male authors in thier description of leading/supporting female characters: they always start with words like 'beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, etc'. Or they are the total opposite. While the character may be that, it becomes cliche really quick, so just be aware of that.

Wow, 50% is a nice commission. The $300 initialization fee is a drag, but depending on how much a copy costs, it shouldn't take you too long to recoup that cost. Is Amazon the only market (besides their own website) that Lighthouse is involved with?

Creating strong, three-dimensional characters of the opposite gender is one of the hardest things a writer can do, I think. Writing from that point-of-view is even more difficult. Again, life experience helps (I think C. S. Lewis credited Joy as a huge influence on Till We Have Faces, which several friends of mine have cited as having great insight into the mind of its female protagonist).

Amazon is their primary market, but they also market through thier magazine to a number of bookstores. They will also assist me with setting up book signings and stuff like that. I have absolutely no concers about making up the $300 and beyond. I already have a long list of those waiting with baited breath to buy it.

Another things that suprised people that know me is that writing is NOT my trained field. My training is in math and science. Most people think English to a science/math person is like studying Greek. For many one field is a foreign language to another. And yet God has gifted me to be able to do both. I am so excited about this, it is hard not to talk about it. I'm making an announcement about it at my Intervarsity Bible Study tomorrow and I really can't wait for church on Sunday.

I expect to hear back from Lighthouse any time now as the contract should have arrived. Once I get an editor, I'm going to ask about the processing time, mostly due to the waiting list. And somehow (I have to be VERY careful about this) I need to manage my time for my classes while working on this. Hopefully I won't have that much editing to do which would make my work load so much easier in these last two months of my semester. I'll let you know how it all goes. It's not very often you get a chance to share the experience of getting published with others as it is happening.

Good work F4J!
As for your name choices, maybe it's just my personal preferences, but they don't seem to flow well or sound good to the ear. The pairing of ordinary names with something almost Tolkienesque doesn't really work. Please understand that I realise creating good, appropriate names is difficult. I just feel that an awkward sounding name filled with meaning is not as useful as a pleasant, flowing name that has little relevance. Names should reflect characters but you don't need a character eg. to be called Cruella Deville, to know she's a nasty devil type character. Just my thoughts.
I'm keen to see your work published.

I've finally plucked up enough courage to post here, I've wanted to for a while but was so very shy. I guess I am something sort of like a writer. I love to make stories up in my head but it isn't so easy for me to write them down. I have in my head now five fully complete stories, eight almost complete ones, three that in which I have gotten the basic plot out but am not sure of the details and three that are still just an idea forming in my head (seriously I am not exaggerating, I made a list recently) stories come a bit natural to me, I'll see something, hear a song, watch a video or read a book and it give me the insperation to think up a story around it. Most of them are short stories or novellas and I have two novels. Getting all those stories down on paper is more difficult that making them up, and I hope to find some help here I know it is better to start with one story, write it, finish it and then start the next and I tried doing that. But while I am writting one another starts forming in my head I have almost completed my first story which sadly still has no name. To me a story with no name is like a person with no name. It has to have one, but sadly this one doesn't so my sister's and I started calling it 'the nameless story' and now the name has stuck....oh well. Anyway things are coming along so far with it, I've only got a few chapters left till the end (at last....I've been writing it for ever so long ) I did notice while I was writing it that I have a serious weakness for dialoge. I go on and on making two characters talk and talk and then I stop and realize that I've overdone with the dialoge again and I have to go back and cut out half of what I wrote, otherwise it will be very boring for my reader. I was wondering is there anyone else here who enjoys writing dialog to the extent that they sometimes overdo a bit, I do it constantly

Welcome to the Writer's World thread. No one should feel ashamed or shy to post here, even though a hot topic right now is the contract I just received from Lighthouse Christian Publishing. Let say this: four years ago, I was in the same boat as everyone else. I always had stories working in my head, but getting it written down never ended up being good. I kept ended up with the perfect Molly Sue example: where I was the main character. It had no basic plot, no characterization, and it simply went from one action scene to another, most of which did little to advance what little plot there was. My dialogue did little to advance the plot too and it was very boring.

I don't know how, but it all changed 4 years ago when a friend of mine wrote a fictional biography and asked for my critique. In that process, he told me I ought to try writing. So I decided to give it a shot, and I purposed to keep myself out of it. And that was when my writing ability really started to take shape. My actions scenes were still my strong point, mostly due to my fencing experience but I had the basics of good plot, characterization, and more dialogue that meant something. I have a difficult time with taking knowledge in one scenario and applying it to another. And that is something a fiction writer must have. And yet I somehow did it. This novel is something God put on my heart and I when I get my mind on something, I tend to hyper-focus. That is how I was able to do my first draft at 250 pages in six weeks. And as time has passed, I have learned so much and matured both as a writer and as a person.

So all you other aspiring writers out there. You don't have to get published to be 'successful'. Success does not mean making the big bucks that some of these rare authors get (in some cases regardless of skill and quality of writing as well). Most writers have something they want to tell and if they can get it out to one other person, that is successful. Success is setting out to do something and doing it. But there are even some cases where dropping a project is also successful. Sometimes it is just not feasible to do and if you drop one thing to be able to focus on something else, that is being successful as well. Keep at it. Many projects are never really 'done', just set aside for the time being. I look forward to sharing similar success stories with some of you as well.

Don't know if this is the proper place to post this--but when are we going to start a NaNoWriMo'10 thread? I'm really getting excited for it.

Queen Susan, this isn't an "official" date, but I imagine the NaNo thread will appear soon...EDIT: here it is!

wild rose, welcome to the Writer's thread! We're a friendly bunch and always willing to help out fellow writers with questions and advice.

Hi there wild rose! Yes, come on in! Don't be shy!

If you go back one page to my post way at the top, you'll see a link to a blog post about "story-hopping". I think it might help you with being able to finish your stories. You also might want to check out this one here that talks about dialogue. (In case you haven't noticed, I like answering questions with blog posts )

ok, two nights ago, I had a dream, and then I got an idea for a story
the series title is "Vanishings" and the first book title is "Collide"
I am working on it right now.....