Anyone do any fantasy writing?

[Galenavar]

Personally, when I write, I generally start with a basic idea for characters and then develop as I go, giving details on their history and such. I usually know what I want to happen in the plot and jot down ideas, but that will frequently radically change by the end of the story. In fact, most of everything I plan on happening in my stories changes by the time I reach the end of my stories. I just can't control them sometimes.

[Lief Erikson]

Languages is one thing I don't bother with in The Uirlon Cord. Racism is another field I ignore. I'm in the middle of watching FoTR at the moment, and I was really struck this time around by how much racism really is in it. Elrond against men and men and elves against each other and Sauron and Saruman against everyone.

I have to go now to eat supper- I'll post more after we finish FoTR .

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Probably I'm not going to do too much with most languages; not much beyond even development to make names. But the Elder Tongue will be different.

What do you mean by 'racism'?

[Lief Erikson]

By racism I mean prejudice against another race or species. Hmm, thought of another one, though I suppose that's not racism but is more like just plain prejudice. Sam's against Gollum.

I suppose it's unfair to say Sauron and Saruman are racist- I doubt that they really are. Elrond definitely was though. Listen to his remarks about men in the scene where he and Gandalf have their first conversation that we hear. He's talking about 'men are weak', among other comments, completely ignoring how much men are sacrificing for the sake of the world. Elves and dwarves, even in the books, have been long prejudiced against each other.


Your god system is interesting. I'm a little unclear as to how you explain your magic, why it is inherant in the races. Or is that just left sort of unexplained, or perhaps is it an extra extention of the races that only a few try to get linked with?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I'm not really certain what you mean, about why it is inherent, or an extention of the races?

Sorry, my brain is half-off tonight.

[Lief Erikson]

I was asking about the origin of magic in your races. Was it created as a part of the races, so that all creatures can have it but only a few do, or was it only for a select few?

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Ah, I see. Most of the non-human races have inherent special abilities. Elves have abilities dealing with nature and life, Dwarves can command stone, Dryads have power over trees, and so on. They are parts of the races, which they were created with; racial gifts, so to speak.

[Lief Erikson]

Okay. That's nice . I like the distribution of powers to the dwelling places of the creatures and their links to those places.

With my world, although I might change this, magical bases are in everyone. Some people it is strong enough in that they can learn to manipulate it to accomplish various things. The stronger the strength, the more the person can accomplish and the larger things he or she can do. Pretty similar to Robert Jordan's, in that respect.

I don't discern between flows like Robert Jordan does, like he creates Fire, Water, Air, Earth and perhaps one other kind of flow. I have only one kind of flow and I've made a logical reason for these flows, and for the reason they're called flows.

They basically all are currents in an ocean, and the ocean is a magical sphere that surrounds the earth. On top of the sphere is the spirit realm, and it has three (Possibly four, I'm still considering the fourth) access points at which it has direct contact with the physical. One godlike being commands each of these places, for they are the access points of those creatures upon the earth.

I've still not decided why precisely some people have stronger magic than others, but I'm turning over some interesting possibilities still.

[Lief Erikson]

Originally posted by Galenavar
Personally, when I write, I generally start with a basic idea for characters and then develop as I go, giving details on their history and such. I usually know what I want to happen in the plot and jot down ideas, but that will frequently radically change by the end of the story. In fact, most of everything I plan on happening in my stories changes by the time I reach the end of my stories. I just can't control them sometimes.

I can completely understand that . With the novel I'm working on now, it was originally started to give background to another book I'd written. However, as I got further into the book, I realized that it was limited by its sequel in ways I didn't like. So eventually I decided to skip out the sequel and pretend it didn't happen.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I started one book which was to tell of the recovery of a group of holy Scrolls upon which were scribed the Laws of Eltarn, which were lost from His Temple when a King arose in Canrath who worshipped Vilkroth, and eventually banned the worship of Eltarn. He eventually mustered an army and marched on the Temple of Eltarn, planning to destroy it. But rather than allow His Temple (built by His own hands) to be destroyed, Eltarn destroyed him and his army; but the High Priest had heard of his plans, and took several of the most sacred artifacts (including the Scrolls of Law) and fled the Temple. He sought a suitable resting-place, and finally found it in the North-lands, among the Vikarzik (a barbarian tribe converted by Alkath, a priest of Eltarn). He laid the artifacts to rest in a monument the Vikarzik had built honouring Alkath. Shortly thereafter, three evil Dragons (possibly the number may change) came breathing flames and shaking ground, and drove the Vikarzik from the monument. This was all originally in a prologue to a book which details how a group of divinely ordained individuals recovers the Scrolls. Now the prologue has turned into the first two parts of a trilogy.

[Lady_of_the_Golden_Wood]

I write, well, I'm not very far in an untitled book about (OMG!!! An elf...) Well, I have about fifty pages, yeah, not to much, but, oh well at least I have sumthan

[Lief Erikson]

Originally posted by Gwaimir Windgem
Now the prologue has turned into the first two parts of a trilogy.

Yep . That sounds familiar .

Pretty much the only way you could have changed that is by giving the whole prologue in narration. You're doing it in third person writing, correct?

[Earniel]

Originally posted by Lief Erikson
I've still not decided why precisely some people have stronger magic than others, but I'm turning over some interesting possibilities still.

Magic is becoming so inmeshed in fantasy that it's nearly impossible to create a fantasy world without magic. Personally I find it hard to write about magic. In the end it seems so 'common' in fantasy that it's hard to be original. But that's my view. I prefer a very vague more suggestive form of magic but to attain that elusive feel of magic is sadly beyond my writing skills. So I end up giving races and characters more exceptional skills rather than real magic.

[Lief Erikson]

Fantasy writing is almost called fantasy writing because of the existence of magic in it, in my opinion. It is extremely common to be found in fantasy books, as you point out, and there are very few fantasy books without magic. Those generally go the other way, and do things with quests to slay dragons or things of that sort. It has to be outlandish and impossible in some way, or it might run the risk of being labeled historical fiction !

My magic is not illusive, unfortunately. That's something I really enjoyed in LoTR, but in mine it's quite blunt and flashy. However, there are some key differences in it from normal magic, if not in exterior effects, at least in its source. The reasons behind it and the way it links into the spirit realm (Which does manage to keep some of the illusiveness I enjoyed in LoTR) are pretty good.

[Laurus Nobilis]

Magic is one of the subjects I find most interesting to write about. I enjoyed very much thinking about the different kinds and levels of magic that different races have in my stories; and I especially like to contrast it with the humans, that in my world have no magic whatsoever and have to depend on their intelligence and adaptability to solve problems.

I like both subtle and "flashy" magic- in my stories the two kinds appear. Subtle characters make subtle magic and flashy characters make flashy magic.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Actually, both. The prologue was almost entirely consisted of a character being brought up to date by a Prophet, and endowed with the mantle of the leader of the Lawbringers; so the 'prologue' was really pretty much narrated to him by the Prophet. But I do write in third-person.

Lief, your magic system is very interesting, indeed. Sounds quite good.

[Lief Erikson]

Thank-you. It's still got a ways to go in terms of working out some details, but that's all right. It'll be a few years before I have to have a really, really solid model.

Man, that prophet in your book must be a longwinded speaker! If this one person's speech is two parts of a trilogy ! Or perhaps I just misunderstood .

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Hehe! No, the prologue was the original background to the one story, and I decided to 'flesh it out' with two previous volumes. One telling of how High Priest Fallos fares during the reign of Gulstan the Accursed, and the other telling of his wanderings throughout Lisman after he takes the artifacts and flees, and his eventual stopping in the lands of the Vikarzik.

[Lief Erikson]

Okay, so he describes in brief what happened in the past in the prologue of . . . part 3? And then you decided to write everything's happening. Okay, gotcha.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

Yeah. Though I'll still have the prologue, as some of the occurences won't be recorded in the first two.