And they are brothers. I think that would work. Thank you!
(It was better than when I had Findsom, Findor, Findas, and Findal running around. I was weird that way.) But I've changed so many names lately that I'll leave these the same.

That must be so amazing that your book got published!! An encouragement to us others, I'm sure.

Publishing is not for the faint of heart, and especially for the impatient. This was a near four year process with a number of twists and turns along the way. I did my first draft very quickly and while it got me going, it flat out stunk. I won't let others read it because it simply doesn't do what I need it to do. That is one of the first difficult hurdles for a writer seeking publication to realize. If you want to get published, you have to write for an audience and not for yourself. And it takes some time for that to sink in.

Editing is a beast for anyone. My final printed version is what I could consider my 8th draft/editing phase. Though in reality it was the 7th that finally allowed me to present it to a publisher (#7? hmmmm....). It took passing my book on to others for feedback and even getting rejection from a screening service (Writer's Edge Service) that helped me to see where I need the work.

And of course, once you get the editing to where a publisher would accept it (for me a 2nd submission to Writer's Edge and it was ready for consideration), then you have to deal with the publishers themselves. In many cases, the publishers you want, like the big names ones, won't take you unless you are already established and have a recommendation like from an agent or a hot-selling book with another publisher. You also have to sort through the publishers that really just want your money, print your book and leave you on your own to actually sell it. I had to caution a friend of mine who got a contract offer about the dangers of some publishers and she wisely turned it down at this time.

But if you are willing to go through that, then you can one day see your work published. Mine happened to go faster than many others and I still don't even know how Lighthouse found me (they contacted me out of the blue). I can only suspect it was from my listings from Writer's Edge, though I have no proof of that. But to know my book is now released is a feeling I can't describe. It is still very surreal to me because I don't have the book in hand yet. I am in the process of making my first order for gifts, my first book signing at my church, and to sell on the side, and hope to have them in hand by middle of next week. I just have to figure out how to pay for it (since the Lighthouse site won't get updated for another couple weeks) and hope that is sorted by tomorrow. This feeling will remain surreal until they arrive and even then it is a feeling that you simply can't describe in words. God is so good and I am so excited to see what he does through this novel.

Does anyone know of any good world-building resources? I have this one culture that is kind of medieval (at least in leadership and weapons) and I'm trying to make them different in other ways so they aren't just like everyone else's fantasy culture.
And what do you think of Dark Lord villains? A lot of the writing sites I belong to really dislike them, because they say they're cliched. But I have one in my story, sort of. He's different in that he doesn't really have a fortress, but he's a spirit who doesn't always take bodily form. He can also influence others, and that is primarily how he leads. So do you think this is a good idea, or is it too cliched.

I think it would be fine if you added your own unique touches to it. Cliches are usually ony cliches if they are general and alike to many other villains. Do something to make him stand out and be your own, and it should be fine.

~Riella

I pretty much agree. There is hardly anything new under the sun these days. It will be virtually impossible to find something that hasn't at one point or another been done before. What can differ is the approach and the angle of looking at it. My novel is nothing new. Frank Peretti is IMO the standard when it comes to the supernatural thriller (in a spiritual warfare context). But his approach to spiritual warfare in his novel is different than mine, so while they both discuss the same issues, our stories will read as different. So it is fine if you end up with something cliched as long as you put your own twist to it.

Do you realize the similarities between The Lion King and Hamlet? Very similar stories and plot lines, but very different context which makes each unique. So don't worry about it as long as you put your own spin on things.

On another note: I am yet another step closer to seeing my publishing dream truly realized. It's one thing to know that your book is out. It's something else to have it in your hands. I made my order of my first 100 copies of my book today and hope it ships out tomorrow because I want it in my hands by middle of next week or next weekend at the latest.

I'm also having problems with this High King of mine. I thought he was too perfect, so I gave him flaws. The problem is that I gave him so many flaws that I wonder why anyone would want him in power at all. I think I'll go back to the original idea of him--where his main problem is that he wants to please people too much.

Isn't it hard to find that happy balance, Lady Haleth? I know that I struggle with it a lot. To avoid it, I do my best to draw from life; to loosely base my characters off of people I know either for exercise, or in my novels, so that I have a well-rounded character with flaws, but that is likeable.

*wants to write, but must movie edit instead*

I am so happy for you FencerforJesus!
I pray God will Bless you and your Book!
I am going to try and buy a copy soon, I can't wait to read it!
Again congratulations!

I've worked out my High King's flaws (overly romantic views on certain subjects, occasionally letting his brother get away with things he shouldn't.)
But now I'm stuck on the MC's motivation. I made her a warrior so she would be at the battles that are very major events of the story. The problem is that I can't think of a reason that this quiet, shy girl would want to pick up weapons in the first place. The whole rebellious princess thing has been done to death, and it doesn't really fit her character anyway. I had the idea that maybe she was keeping a promise, but then that leads to the question of who would want her to make such a promise, and why. Possibly trying to keep a disaster from happening again. Either way, I wanted to make her a little less selfish. Anyone have any ideas?

Maybe it's not a promise to anyone. Maybe it's her views of life and a firm belief that she has to fight in these battles-- for her country, her family, to right the wrongs in the world, etc. It's not just the bold and the brave that go to war; the shy and the quiet do too, because of their beliefs and the thought that they must uphold those beliefs.

That's fantastic news about your book, Fencer! Congratulations! Praying that all goes well for you.

Lady H, on Dark Lords: You know, as cliched as they sound, I don't recall ever reading two books with "identical" Dark Lord-type characters. There's always something that sets them apart, makes each one unique. Your particular idea sounds very interesting to me - if you like it, go for it!

On flaws: I didn't do a whole lot of thinking about my characters before I started writing - or even during my first draft. The funny thing is, a lot of their flaws just came to them. As I wrote, I was able to learn more and more about them until eventually they seemed to develop flaws on their own. I don't know how to describe it much better than that. But my advice? Don't worry too much, just write and see what happens.

On motivation: The same thing happened to me here, where I discovered things about my characters that I didn't know before. Many of my characters are motivated by things that happened to them in the past. From reading the description of your MC, she didn't come across as selfish at all, but I guess I don't know enough to say for sure. What did stand out to me is the contrast between "shy girl" and "warrior". Stories are all about how characters change between the beginning and the end. It sounds like your story is trying to turn this shy girl into a warrior. That doesn't mean she has to lose her shyness - she just has to be changed somehow in the end. Like sweeet said, there's a lot of ways to go about doing this just by looking deeper into her character. Perhaps she has an experience that causes those beliefs to come to the surface?

Maybe it's not a promise to anyone. Maybe it's her views of life and a firm belief that she has to fight in these battles-- for her country, her family, to right the wrongs in the world, etc. It's not just the bold and the brave that go to war; the shy and the quiet do too, because of their beliefs and the thought that they must uphold those beliefs.

I like that. Thank you, that really fits her.

I think that the hardest part when writing a story is finding an good solution. Normally there is only one fitting way to end it. However sometimes it takes awhile to figure out what it is. I usually try to come up with the ending before I do too much work on a story. It is easier to build a story around an ending.
How about you guys?

In other news, I am considering entering a writing competition at my school. I'll probably submit an essay if I do. I have a lot of essays to do for my courses though, so I don't know if I'll be in the mood to do another one! hey, maybe I'll do a Narnia related one! That would be sure to get my juices flowing.

Quite often that's true. Most authors don't have a problem with their beginning and ending but struggle to connect the two. It's always tricky to find the right ending as well as beginning, but it often depends on the author. For my now released novel, it took me a while to get an ending I liked and a lot of that has do with the subject. I started out with a sermon type thing that some didn't feel to be preachy but I did. After several revisions of the whole novel) and mostly when I started working on my sequel, I found a way to do what I wanted in a much cleaner way that not only wrapped up the first story to completion but also set up the sequel.

So here is a question to go with this: when you figure out the story, what is it that you start with? Is it a theme? A beginning scene? An ending scene? Or something in the middle? My novel kicked off with a single image that came to my head. It moved around in my story's placement and settled at the character climax which set up the finale. My image is a way to view the transformation from a lost sinner to a saved saint through the Blood of Jesus. This image/scene has brought tears to at least two of my draft readers. I'm looking forward to the general comments as my book gets out and people read it. What image or concept sparked your story?