Let's Talk Books!!

Well, I missed the April post...... eh heh. Sorry about that xD

AnYwAy

How about we talk books :D
I'd like to introduce you to some of my books, ahem, WIPs, which will give you an interesting view into my crazy brain as well as help said crazy brain maybe get some of this straight to myself AIGHT LE'S GO

note these are in no particular order :>


1: The Sign of Royalty
Status: In progress
Basic plot: Two Elf siblings who may or may not be important ;) are adopted by an Elven ranger. They grow up with him and his son, until sOmEtHiNg happens and things almost go downhill but they're good eventually BUT THEN SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENS AND HECK, PEOPLE AREN'T ALWAYS WHO THEY  SAY THEY ARE  0_o
Favorite thing about this book: writing the siblings xD They're legit so awesome. Also Elves in general and cinnamon roll characters (who i could honestly squeeze to death because askjflkasjflk) and headstrong characters and ok I'm rambling ._.

2: The Jewel of Life
Status: In progress
Basic plot: There's a desert and a Phoenix and the Phoenix (who goes by "The Phoenix") has a best friend who is a cat named L'Kiu (pronounced like you say the letter Q, the L is silent) and then there's a mysterious illness and THE WORLD IS IN DANGER and adventures ensue and KNIVES
Favorite thing about this book: Well I haven't gotten too far into this one yet (it's relatively new), but I think my favorite thing about it is going to be either sICK KNIVES or writing the friendship between L'Kiu and the Phoenix who are cool dudes. I can't wait to have some time to work on this one lollll

3: Swanwing
Status: In progress
Basic plot: Basically a retelling of "The Wild Swans", if you haven't read it you need to, cuz it's amazing, here is a Wikipedia article, you're welcome :D https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Swans
Favorite thing about this book: so. many. boys. babies and castles and kingdoms and brothers and fairytales oH MY

4: The Angel Story (a short story)
Status: Complete (wait what omg what is tHIS???)
Basic plot: When a little boy gets kidnapped, it's up to his Guardian Angel, the monster under the bed, and his favorite stuffed animal to rescue him-- enter hilarity, stage left :P
Favorite thing about this book: I got the idea for this book from a prompt from Pinterest, and it was super fun to write xD I think my favorite thing about it was Biscuits, the stuffed rabbit. He's British and hilarious xD It's not that great of a story, and I think it could use some work. It's the first short story I've ever written, but y'know, the first time isn't always the worst time :P This is also the first story I've ever completed, so yeah xD

I don't have a picture for this one ._. lol

What have you been working on lately? Do you want to know more about these ridiculous stories of mine? Feel free to ask me anything! :D

The Eagle of the Ninth

Howdy howdy, Elflings!

So today I wanted to tell you about a super awesome book that you have to read or else. which I read recently. Well, I listened to it on Audible.

'TIS CALLED.

*drumrooooooollllllllllllll*

The Eagle of the Ninth!!

*ba dum tshhhhhhhhh*
*polite applause*

SO for all of you who may have never heard of this book (as I certainly hadn't before a couple of weeks ago), it is a novel written by Rosemary Sutcliff, and set in ancient Roman Britain.

*inhale*

OHMIGOSH I LOVE THIS BOOK TO BITS AND PIECES
IT WAS SO AWESOME
NONE OF THE CHARACTERS DIED. THAT MADE ME SO HAPPY
THE PLOT WAS AMAZING
THE SUSPENSE WAS SO REAL
MARCUS AND ESCA ARE SO. DARN. COOL.
ESCA IS AMAZING I LOVE HIM
UNCLE AQUILA IS LIKE. THE EPITOME OF COOL RELATIVES. IMHO.
ASFJASLKFJSALKFJASDKLFJS
ROMANS AND EAGLES AND BRITONS OH MY!!!

*inhale*
GO READ THIS BOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY. GAH. HARMFGLFMFMEFM

I believe this book was turned into a movie. I haven't seen it, and I can't give you any info on that. BUT. The BOOK. GAH.  I CAN"T EVEN.


I feel like this picture describes my feeling about this book (and a lot of other books and movies, for that matter):

ESCAAAAAAAAAA

*cough* Anyway. If someone has seen the movie let me know how it is. 

My favorite quotes from The Eagle of the Ninth:

“Better to be a laughing-stock than lose the fort for fear of being one.” 

“And what will they do to you when you have told them this story?' 
Esca said very simply, 'They will kill me.' 
'I am sorry, but I do not think much of that plan.' Marcus said.”


“But these things that Rome had to give, are they not good things?” Marcus demanded. “Justice, and order, and good roads; worth having, surely?” 
“These be all good things,” Esca agreed. “But the price is too high.” 
“The price? Freedom?” 
“Yes—and other things than freedom.” 
“What other things? Tell me, Esca; I want to know. I want to understand.” 
Esca thought for a while, staring straight before him. “Look at the pattern embossed here on your dagger-sheath,” he said at last. “See, here is a tight curve, and here is another facing the other way to balance it, and here between them is a little round stiff flower; and then it is all repeated here, and here, and here again. It is beautiful, yes, but to me it is as meaningless as an unlit lamp.” 
Marcus nodded as the other glanced up at him. “Go on.” 
Esca took up the shield which had been laid aside at Cottia’s coming. “Look now at this shield-boss. See the bulging curves that flow from each other as water flows from water and wind from wind, as the stars turn in the heaven and blown sand drifts into dunes. These are the curves of life; and the man who traced them had in him knowledge of things that your people have lost the key to—if they ever had it.” He looked up at Marcus again very earnestly. “You cannot expect the man who made this shield to live easily under the rule of the man who worked the sheath of this dagger.” 
“The sheath was made by a British craftsman,” Marcus said stubbornly. “I bought it at Anderida when I first landed.” 
“By a British craftsman, yes, making a Roman pattern. One who had lived so long under the wings of Rome—he and his fathers before him—that he had forgotten the ways and the spirit of his own people.” He laid the shield down again. “You are the builders of coursed stone walls, the makers of straight roads and ordered justice and disciplined troops. We know that, we know it all too well. We know that your justice is more sure than ours, and when we rise against you, we see our hosts break against the discipline of your troops, as the sea breaks against a rock. And we do not understand, because all these things are of the ordered pattern, and only the free curves of the shield-boss are real to us. We do not understand. And when the time comes that we begin to understand your world, too often we lose the understanding of our own.” 
For a while they were silent, watching Cub at his beetle-hunting. Then Marcus said, “When I came out from home, a year and a half ago, it all seemed so simple.” His gaze dropped again to the buckler on the bench beside him, seeing the strange, swelling curves of the boss with new eyes. Esca had chosen his symbol well, he thought: between the formal pattern on his dagger-sheath and the formless yet potent beauty of the shield-boss lay all the distance that could lie between two worlds. And yet between individual people, people like Esca, and Marcus, and Cottia, the distance narrowed so that you could reach across it, one to another, so that it ceased to matter.” 

“And it came to Marcus suddenly that slaves very seldom whistled. They might sing, if they felt like it or if the rhythm helped their work, but whistling was in some way different; it took a free man to make the sort of noise Esca was making.”

^^ That one made me so happy, given the context. Thank you, Goodreads, for letting me steal borrow some quotes even though I don't have a Goodreads account. :D

What did you think of this post? Do you want to see more of my Booky reviews? (lol)

OH OH OH. Almost forgot.

I PROMISE that that Tolkien post will make its appearance SoOnEr Or LaTeR. it SHALL. I am DETERMINED IT SHALL. 

OH and one more fangirl post because there's no denying reality. :D

YAAAAAAAS

TALK TO ME PEEPS

What I have learned about my Swanwing Characters so far!

Heyyyyy Elflings!

So you may have seen the title and gone, "Whoa, we only just got notified of this book like, a few posts ago, and she's already trying to inform us on every little ting..." :P And I don't blame you! (Oh, by the way, Swanwing is what I decided to call my "Wild Swans" retelling, and auto-correct does not like it xD) But I am so excited to be writing this book that I can't hold it in until I've gotten more written! As of yet it's only an intro and two chapters. Of course, as I write more, I will of certainly "find out more" about my characters, so keep an eye out for possible updates. ;-) So! Pardon the lack of material, but here goes!

What I've learned about:

Iskander (the king)
 Iskander has turned out to be the ladies' man... in his younger days before he was married. Ahhh, don't you just love writing flashbacks?? xD He is also super intolerant of unnecessary speeches :P

Imayn (the queen)
Imayn is SUCH a dear heart! She might have been a bit of a people-pleaser in her younger days (again, based on a flashback), and was so eager to have proper etiquette. She is such a cute mother, especially since she is so girlish, although mature. I LOVE HER!!

The Princes Regent
Nothing much as of yet. I mean, we're only two chapters in, so there isn't really all that much. Although Johann is the ladies' man already, at the young age of one xD Lol, all the court ladies LOVE him xD

Elise
Um... she's still a baby? xD Let's see... she's a really cute baby. :D


Ok, now I am wondering if this post had a point at all xD So how about a snippet or two? Sure, why not? :D

(Imayn is pregnant in this snippet, talking to four-year-old Gervase about babies)

"...Do you know, Gervase, that just now, I'm keeping a baby in the safe place for us?"

"Really!" he exclaimed. "Do you keep the baby in the treasury with Father's money? 'Cause that's a very safe place."

Imayn giggled.

"No, son, not in the treasury. The baby stays...in here." She took her son's little hand and put it on her stomach, which was just starting to show signs of the growing life within.

Gervase's eyes widened and his mouth gaped.

"There's a baby in there?" he gasped.

"Isn't that exciting?"

"Can I hold it? Please, can I hold the baby? Can you take it out, 'cause I really, really want to hold it!"

Imayn laughed.

"Not yet, Gervase! The baby still has to get big enough for us to hold."

"Is it gonna be a boy-baby or a girl-baby?"

"I don't know, but I hope it's a girl."

"Me too!" Gervase always wanted what his mother wanted. "I gotta go tell the others!"

He jumped down and ran out, and Imayn could hear him yelling "MOTHER'S GONNA HAVE A GIRL-BABY" at the top of his lungs all the way down the hall.

(This is part of the flashback I mentioned up there)

Later that evening, at the ball, Imayn was talking with a group of her friends. She was just about to say something when all of them gasped and started squealing behind their hands.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my!" gasped one of them.

"Is that--" began one.

"I think it it!" breathed a third.

"It's Prince Iskander!" swooned all five of them.

"Prince Iskander?" Imayn gasped.

"Yes!! And he's LOOKING AT YOU!" squealed Avariah, the youngest of the six.

(Fangirls, lol)

I know this post was short, but what do you think about it? Do you want to see more of this? What is something you would really like to see in this book? Let's talk: tell me your thoughts!

HAPPY NEW YEAR MA LEETLE ELFLINGS + Writing Fantasy Fiction: Dos, Dont's, and Absolute No-Nos (Part Two, the Dos)

Hey Elflings! 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! (a month late, sorry, eh heh...)
And to prove it's going to be a great year, I have a PRESENT for y'all!


Are you ready for it?




Part Two of Writing Fantasy Fiction: Dos, Don'ts, and Absolute No-nos--the Dos!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Readers: It's about time, Lacy...)


Aren't you EXCITED?!?!?! Of course you are! Let's get started!

BTW, sorry this took so long. Life, you know. :D


One and two go together somewhat:

1) Give your characters personalities.

2) Flesh them out nicely.

Have you ever read a book and felt that the character was, in some way, unfinished? The author probably didn't give enough thought to making the character's personality. So make sure you know how your person acts :D Give them quirks, feelings, looks, likes/dislikes, and all the things that make them "real"! 


3) Find yourself a person who will give you their honest opinion of your WIP if you ask for it. 
This is very important, bold, underlined, highlighted, italicized, twenty-eight-point Times New Roman. If you have someone who is reading your book as you write it, you want them to be honest with you when they give you their thoughts on it. 

What if you have a minor plot hole (and of course the audience starts screaming that plot holes are NEVER minor)? What if you don't notice it? That does happen, you know. If you have a beta reader who notices the plot hole, but doesn't tell you about it, you can have (and will most likely have) MAJOR complications later on. 

Another example: let's say you created *character*, who you think is great, but to others is like, um, borrrrr-ing. If your beta reader doesn't give you an honest opinion about *character*, your later readers will probably only read your book when there's nothing else in the house to read for whatever reason. OR, to throw in a worst-case scenario, your book won't even make it past the PUBLISHERS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!  
And why? Because your beta reader didn't happen to tell you that *character* could use some work.
So find yourself a beta reader who can help you to see and change the things that need to be seen and changed. Unless, of course, you're trying to write a boring book. :P

4) PLOT DAT BOOK.
Refer to Part One, number one, for the reasons why this is important. :D


5) Have an element of fantasy.
Ok, so it is sorta obvious, but when you're writing a fantasy novel you need an element of fantasy. Otherwise it won't be fantasy. :P If you have a world where the unicorns talk and there are blue-skinned woodsmen, then don't leave out the talking unicorns and the blue-skinned woodsmen.

6) Have something that your readers can relate to.
I read a book recently. It wasn't really a fantasy book, in fact I think it was dystopian. But I didn't really relate to anything in it, probably because it was all about boys, and I am not a boy. xD By the way, the book was Lord of the Flies, if you wanna check it out and have nightmares. Anyway, whether it's a feeling, or experience, or whatever, you want something in your book that will make readers say, "Yeah, I know what THAT feels like!" or "Oh, I remember doing something like that!"

7) World-build.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have never world-built before. But a friend of mine has, and she told me that world-building can help you keep track of your story's geography. And world-building isn't just sticking mountains and lakes all over your imaginary world. It's also shaping the customs and traditions of your people. For example, there are questions as to how they greet each other. Here are some examples from this website:

When meeting someone, how are they greeted — wave, handshake, bow, some other gesture? How did the greeting gesture originate (example: shaking hands to prove one’s weapon hand was empty)? Is there a special I-am-not-armed gesture for wizards?

Is there a difference between the greeting offered to an equal and that offered to a superior or inferior? Is there a difference between the greeting offered a man or a woman? Human/non-human?

Is there a way of changing a greeting gesture to make it insulting?

How are two people who have never met normally introduced to each other? What is the order of precedence when there are several people of differing sex or social status present, all of whom need to be introduced to each other?

Are there classes of people/beings who are never introduced to other classes of people/beings? Are “true names” significant, and if so, under what circumstances would someone be given another person/being’s true name?

Are there customs involving the way in which someone is named when being introduced (for example: giving all of a person’s names and titles at the first meeting, but never repeating them afterward, so that he’s always referred to as “George” even though he’s introduced as the Duke George Edward Canterbury Gorden de la Suis-Foule, Marquis of Horsham, Whitewater and Framingham, Earl of St. Peter’s Close, and Vicount of Abernathy)?

(^^ I almost died xD)

Is there any difference in the way you greet someone you already know, compared to greeting a stranger (or does everybody just always hug or shake hands or whatever)? How does someone acknowledge seeing an acquaintance at a distance (passing on the other side of the street) — by a nod, tipping the hat, wave, smile, or not at all?

So you see, world-building can be complicated, but OHMIGOSH DOESN'T IT LOOK FUN?!?!?!? I wanna do this now! And ohmigosh, I can just imagine having a completed "Guide to *insert name of country in which book is set*" to read. That would be so cool! You could "visit" the world just by opening it!!!!

I am definitely going to do this!!

8) Give a hint as to how the cliffhanger is resolved.

If your book ends on a cliffhanger, the last thing you want to happen to your readers is this:

Am I right or am I right? Give them something to hold them over until the sequel. ;-)

9) Write an epilogue.

If your book does not end on a cliffhanger and is a standalone book, give some after-party in an epilogue. In the book Wait For Me, Watch For Me, Eula Bee, which is a great book, a lot of stuff happens and only at the VERY END does the girl remember her brother. LITERALLY. THE LAST SENTENCE. Here it is:

"Then he felt a touch at his side and a cool, small hand slip gently into his.

"'Lewtie?' came the one soft word."

AND THAT'S THE END!!! AND THERE'S NO EPILOGUE!!!!!!!!! AND AS FAR AS I KNOW IT'S A STANDALONE BOOK!!!!!!!!!! WHAT. NO. That drives me crazy!!!!!!! I wanna know what happened after that!!!

10) And finally, have fun.
Have fun writing your novel! Don't let it be something that gives you the same feeling as schoolwork you've gotten behind on. Oh, and catch up on the schoolwork. ;-)

Well! I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and once again, I am sooo sorry that this took so long! I accidentally took a hiatus in January, but I hope to be more consistent from here on out. :D

What do you think about Part Two? Do you agree/disagree with anything I've said here? Did I leave anything out? Tell me what your opinion is! I love hearing whatever my readers have to say. :D

My New WIP!!!

Hello my Elflings!

So I had this AMAZING STORY IDEA the other night!
Have you ever heard of The Wild Swans? It is an awesome story!
Here is the overview from Wikipedia:

In a faraway kingdom, there lives a widowed king with his twelve children: eleven princes and one princess. One day, he decides to remarry. He marries a wicked queen who was a witch. Out of spite, the queen turns her eleven stepsons into swans (they are allowed to become human by night) and forces them to fly away. The queen then tries to bewitch their 15-year-old sister, Elisa, but Elisa's goodness is too strong for this, so the queen has Elisa banished. The brothers carry Elisa to safety in a foreign land where she is out of the reach of her stepmother.

There, Elisa is guided by the queen of the fairies to gather stinging nettles in graveyards to knit into shirts that will eventually help her brothers regain their human shapes. Elisa endures painfully blistered hands from nettle stings, and she must also take a vow of silence for the duration of her task, for speaking one word will kill her brothers. The king of another faraway land happens to come across the mute Elisa and falls in love with her. He grants her a room in his castle where she continues her knitting. Eventually he proposes to crown her as his queen and wife, and she accepts.

However, the Archbishop is chagrined because he thinks Elisa is herself a witch, but the king will not believe him. One night Elisa runs out of nettles and is forced to collect more in a nearby church graveyard where the Archbishop is watching. Ghoulish spirits that devour the bodies of the dead are also in the churchyard, and the archbishop believes that Elisa is in league with them. He reports the incident to the king as proof of witchcraft. The statues of the saints shake their heads in protest, but the Archbishop misinterprets this sign as confirmation of Elisa's guilt. The Archbishop orders to put Elisa on trial for witchcraft. She can speak no word in her defense and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake.

The brothers discover Elisa's plight and try to speak to the king but fail, thwarted by the rising sun. Even as the tumbril bears Elisa away to execution, she continues knitting, determined to keep it up to the last moment of her life. This enrages the people, who are on the brink of snatching and destroying the shirts when the swans descend and rescue Elisa. The people interpret this as a sign from Heaven that Elisa is innocent, but the executioner still makes ready for the burning. When Elisa throws the shirts over the swans, her brothers return to their human forms. (Unfortunately, the youngest brother has a swan's wing instead of an arm, as Elisa did not have time to finish one sleeve of his shirt.) Elisa is now free to speak and tell the truth, but she faints from exhaustion, so her brothers explain. As they do so, the firewood around Elisa's stake miraculously takes root and bursts into flowers. The king plucks the topmost flower and presents it to Elisa, and they are married. And the youngest prince's wing becomes normal again.

Now isn't that an awesome story? So I decided to make an adaptation of it! I am so excited for this one. The version I have, though, names the princess Elise instead of Elisa, so I am going to use that. I also named all the characters, as they don't really have names in the story. And you see that it says the youngest prince's wing becomes normal again? I think that, in my story, I am going to leave him with one arm and one wing! I mean, would that not be cool? To have a swan wing? A swan wing that has the striking power of a baseball bat? Oh yeah! Sucker's keeping his wing alright! 

I suppose you want to know what I renamed them... of course xD

Here is a list of all characters I named:

King Iskander (Elise's father and ruler of Ivoria) 

Queen Imayn ( Iskander's first wife and co-ruler of Ivoria)

Queen Elewys (Iskander's second wife and evil stepmother)

Prince Regent Gauvain

Prince Regent Raullin

Prince Regent Giraldus

Prince Regent Renier

Prince Regent Bayard

Prince Regent Guerin

Prince Regent Tedric

Prince Regent Rogier

Prince Regent Gervase

Prince Regent Mainard

Prince Regent Johann (the one who keeps his wing)

Princess Elise

I also made pictures of them using the DollDivine website!
(I had to make two separate pictures for the Princes Regent 'cause there are so many of them xD)

l-r: King Iskander, Queen Imayn, Princess Elise, and the evil Queen Elewys:

l-r: Princes Regent Gauvain, Raullin, Giraldus, Renier, and Bayard 

l-r: Princes Regent Guerin, Tedric, Rogier, Gervase, Mainard, and Johann

(DOESN'T GERVASE JUST LOOK LIKE A GERVASE?!?!?!?)

l-r: the evil Archbishop Ouidart, Ricolda (the old lady Elise meets in the woods), Morgana the Fairy, and King Alexedris of Skaris (who marries Elise)

...and the reason that there are so many Princes Regent is that only one of them can succeed their father (duh), so the rest act as Regents. And Elise isn't a regent because there's only one of her, and her fate is pretty much decided as the final tie of an alliance xD  but then things happen *mysterious music* The prince's full titles would go something like "Prince Regent Johann Avar of Ivoria, Swanwing" Avar is the royal family's last name, and the italicized word is a title that they earn when they turn twenty, taken from the most important thing that they did or that happened to them in the years before.

This book will have thirty chapters, unless I forget to add something and have to lengthen it xD

I can't wait to share the ins and outs of this book as I write it!

What do you think of this story idea? Do you want me to share it chapter-by-chapter as I write it? Have you had any great story ideas lately?

Writing Fantasy Fiction: Dos, Don'ts, and Absolute No-Nos (Part One, the Don'ts)

Hey my Elflings! Here is the promised super long post!
So I was having a discussion with a friend lately, and we were talking about our fantasy fiction WIPs. And I started thinking about how I can make my writing better. Nothing said about the friend's writing, because she wows me with her amazing ideas. :D

So I thought I would do a post about Dos, Don'ts, and Absolute No-Nos when it comes to writing fantasy fiction. I might do this with modern fiction, historical fiction, and the like in later posts.

So, let's get to our Don'ts.


1) Don't do the stupid thing I did and start writing a book without a plot.
This is a major one. MAKE SURE you know where you are going to take your story, because if you don't, you are going to end up with something that has no story, no point, and no appeal. Plotting also saves you a lot of trouble in the end, because if you write it all down in the beginning, you won't have to stop in the middle and go "Oh shoot, what happens next?" And even if you just have it in your head instead of writing it down, that's ok too! You will save yourself from a lot of hassle, and besides, if you can get it straight to yourself you won't have any problem.

2) Don't drag your plot.
Another major one here. I would say that this one most likely happens when you don't have a good plot (or you don't have one at all). Dragging the plot will lose your reader's interest and get you "meh" book reviews. No one likes reading a "slow" section of a book.

3) Don't have too many subplots.
Subplots are great. They give glimpses into the lives of secondary characters, supply information about the setting of your book, and allow readers to "see into the minds" of the super villain. But if you have to many of them you will most likely 1) lose track of how many you had in the first place, 2) neglect some and focus too much on others, and 3) feel like a juggler with too many balls in the air, and if you're like me, that would be a complete disaster from the very beginning, 'cause I can't juggle.

4) Don't forget the adventure.
If you have a WIP going at the moment and you reeeeally hate it, you probably don't have a problem. And that's a problem. I mean, come on! There are Rings needing to be taken to Mordor to save the world, and your characters are just visiting each other and gossiping in their happy little lives, PEOPLE!!! Get some DANGER going here! Seriously! A story without a problem is a boring story. This leads to number five:

5) Don't forget the antagonist.
Q: How do you have a problem if there isn't someone causing a problem?
A: You sorta don't.
Antagonists are the backbone to adventure. The Fellowship has no need to take the Ring to Mordor if Sauron doesn't exist (because no Sauron = no Ring). Bilbo wouldn't have gone on a quest if there hadn't been a kingdom to reclaim and a dragon to vanquish (because no Smaug = no problem). Do you need more examples? Let me just say this. No antagonist = no problem = boring story. Real life, you guys. People don't like boring books. Fantasy fiction writers really score by catering to the reader's inner adventurer, their love for something unreal, and their love of a good story.

6) Don't let your fantasy creatures get out of context.
This can be hard. I have very little experience in this area, but let me just give you what I have so far.
My amazing friend and I were discussing my two antagonists for my main WIP at the moment, called The Sign Of Royalty. I still only have a vague idea of what they are going to turn out to be (and I have only myself to thank for not plotting). So I was telling her over chat that I had *finally* figured out what to do with the antagonists (because they have to die, there is no other option. Sorry, antagonists.). They were going to turn out to be giant snakes. Here is the conversation:

Me: HAH

*FRIEND*

I HAVE IT

THEY ARE GOING TO BE GIANT SNAKES

HAHAHAHAHAHA

I GOT IT

YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

............you probably want to know what I'm talking about

MY TRAITORESS AND HER SON

MUAHAHAHA

YAS

THEY ARE ACTUALLY GIANT SNAKES

THEY JUST LOOK LIKE ELVES

THIS IS AWESOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME

 (...see what I mean? Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time xD)

Friend:  ............................

what?

Me: lol, i saw that coming

ok

so

you know how I said something along the lines of the two bad guys from The Sign Of Royalty were gonna eventually turn out to be not Elves? Well, they are going to be giant snakes, actually. I just have to figure out how they function like elves. :P #confusing

Friend:um

ooookay.......tbh that sounds a liiiittle weird......

Me: I can just hear you thinking "this person is insane" 

I know

that's the point

:P

*cough*
.......................
.......................
 if I said "The Silver Chair" will that make it a little clearer? 

Friend:I know but it isn't weird in a like cool way just weird. just saying that it would sooort weird me out if they were giant snakes xD

Of course, I at once saw her point, thought about it, and went, "yeah, no, that's kinda weird.
Moral of the story, don't get too out of context with them fantasy creatures. :D

...I can just imagine her reading the first message and being like

...yeah xD

7) Don't get too detailed.
This is important. It's the sign of a good writer to be descriptive, but if you use too many adjectives in one place, your readers will start looking sideways. Consider.
This is good:
     The pretty girls tripped happily down the sun-lit lane, chattering eagerly of the upcoming party.
This...is not:
     The jauntily outfitted, happy-go-lucky, rambunctious females tripped ecstatically, wildly, and buoyantly down the sunny, bright, cheery lane, gabbling excitedly about the party that was to be held soon.

Did you feel a big, goofy grin coming over your face as you read the second example? That's the point, and that's exactly what we writers want to avoid.


8) Don't make your story too dark.
Have you ever gotten a headache from reading a dark book? Have you ever been scared by a book--and not just an adrenaline rush, but actually scared? Ten to one, the book that you read was really dark. Don't write something that will make moms cover their children's eyes as they pass it on the shelf. You want people to like your book, don't you? Don't write one that will only be read by the wackos with black lipstick, blue hair, and dog collars.
(no offense to anyone who has blue hair.)


9) Don't get too detailed about spells, if you have any.
Ok, ok, so it's fantasy. There is a 90% chance of some character having magical properties, and that's ok. Just be careful not to start writing spells, because, before you know it, you could accidentally get yourself involved in something not ok. The enemy slips in wherever he can.


10) Don't not have fun!
...basically, have fun! Who wants to write something that tortures their mind? Be honest. Even though your WIP might be frustrating at times, there are also those other times where ideas are gushing out of your ears, you found a bunch of Pinterest pictures that look just like the MC, and your Spotify playlist is doing a great job of setting the mood for the scene you're working on!!! Don't you just love that?

11) Don't give up.
Whatever you do, never ever give up. If your WIP is getting nowhere, don't throw it away. What looks pathetic to you could turn out to be a best-seller someday. If you have writer's block, put it down for a while and work on something else, or look for pictures, make an aesthetic, whatever! When you are ready to give it another shot, go back over your outline, see what you might want to change. This is a life lesson I learned from drawing. I would draw a picture, and when I was finally happy with it, I would put it down, walk away from it, and come back hours later. And when I came back, I could see what I needed to change. This can also be helpful with writing. Step back for a bit. See the big picture.
Let me tell you a story. A few months ago, a friend of mine told me that she was giving up on a story she was writing. Needless to say, I was devastated. I had read this story, and I loved it so much. Plus I was writing the companion story. I tried everything to get her not to destroy it (because I think that was her original plan). Finally she said that she was not going to destroy it. I re-JOICED! She then added that she was going to throw it into the lowest dungeon below the Mongrels' mountain...and I quickly stopped laughing. I was a little disappointed, but I was glad that she wasn't going to snuff it out forever. Fast forward a bit, and she totally surprised me with the news that she had re-written the plot, tweaked some of the characters, and was going to rewrite the book! You can imagine my ecstatic reaction! I mean, we had been co-writing these two cute little books since we were like, what, eleven? Yeah! So I was really glad for her. AND SHE ASKED ME FOR A NAME SUGGESTION WHICH WAS JUST COOL. Moral of the story, do whatever it takes to fix your WIP if you don't like it. Writers are, most of the time, the harshest critics of their own work, and sometimes they can't see the potential in their stories. Don't give up!



I hope you enjoyed this post about the Don'ts of writing fantasy fiction! I know that I probably missed something when I wrote it, but hey, if you know what it is, put it in the comments. :D

Did you find anything useful in this post? Do you plan to try any of my suggestions? Do you disagree with anything I wrote? If you do, I want to hear your opinion! After all, that's what the comments are for ;) Be watching for part two, the Dos!