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Every great journey begins with a single step and writing a fantasy novel is no exception. It’s a magical journey where you discover things about yourself that you didn’t know before (or noticed). Above all, it’s great seeing the fantasy world you’ve created in your imagination come to life on paper.
However, writing a fantasy novel is not all fun and games. There’s a great deal of work to do, far more than you think. It’s this reason why writing a novel is one of the most difficult things to do and it’s no wonder why so many people give up partway through.
It’s crucial to understand that it’s easy to get discouraged when writing a fantasy novel. Nevertheless, it’s imperative that you don’t let it dissuade you from doing it. Use it as motivation to push yourself to do something not many people were able to.
If you’re still determined to begin writing a fantasy novel, it’s immensely helpful if you take the whole process from beginning to end and break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. This way, you can focus on doing one thing at a time at your own pace.
Think of it like riding a horse through a fantasy world. You can only go so far each day and yet, there are important milestones like cities and rivers in your path. Each one you reach takes you one step closer to completion, which is more than enough to spur you to keep going. Before you know it, you’ve reached your destination and you’re happy!
This article kicks off the writing a fantasy novel series. As such, this is more of a general one that focuses on what to expect throughout this adventure. Topics will be covered more extensively in following articles. We have many other articles for you to peruse and they can be found on our blog page.
We begin with the very first part: what to do before you can start writing.
Writing a fantasy novel begins when you come up with one idea that you find yourself coming back to over and over again. Maybe you were watching your favorite fantasy show/movie or playing a video game where you’re fighting orcs or you were reading a book you love that features wizards? This idea just takes hold of you and before you know it, you’re furiously writing it on paper or typing it on your computer.
This is called brainstorming and it’s one of the most instrumental steps before you can start writing. This is where you just freewheel it, letting your creative juices flow. Don’t bother putting it in a logical order. Just let inspiration strike you.
Once you’ve written down enough ideas, it’s time to move onto the next step. Putting them together in an orderly manner helps you see things in a logical progression. This is called outlining and you’ll be referring back to your outline constantly as you write your novel.
Important components of the outlining process include creating characters, settings, and weapons. Before you can start writing a fantasy novel, you need to have them all clearly defined and you do so here. If you’d like, you can put them in a separate area so you can easily refer back to them as needed.
With the outlining process mostly done, it’s time for you to devise your writing goals. It’s hard to juggle writing a fantasy novel with family, work, and other activities. You want to create a flexible schedule that works for you so you can work on it at your own pace. Writing should be enjoyable, not stressful!
There’ll be times where you feel like you need to take a break. You feel like you can’t write anymore and the realization that you still have quite a ways to go before you can declare victory strikes fear in your heart. This is burnout and it happens to everyone. It’s part of the writing process and you need to have a plan in place when burnout strikes you (and it definitely will!).
Finalize your outline and you’ll be ready to move onto the next part!
Now we move onto the step that will undoubtedly take up the bulk of your time in your journey towards becoming a fantasy author: actually writing a fantasy novel. You’ve made all the necessary preparations so it’s time to get started.
Writing a fantasy novel sounds so simple, doesn’t it? You just fill page after page with many words and sentences. It’s tempting to think that but there’s so much more to it than merely putting words on pages.
For instance, you have to show story progression and character development. Stories and characters are dynamic, meaning they change over time. Old plot-lines and characters fade as new ones replace them. It’s up to you to make the transitions seamless and fit naturally in your book.
The novel is split into three parts: beginning, middle, and end. Each one serves its own function and they also have their own moving parts that, when you put them all together, makes for a complete book. Even though this is just a manuscript, you still want to take your time as you work through each part so you have less work to do later.
One of the most important elements of writing a fantasy novel is scenes. They serve a purpose and each one drives the story forward one way or another. It’s vital that you place them in an order that makes sense, for how you arrange them can dramatically affect the story’s tenor. The tale should progress organically but make your readers want to see what happens next.
The last thing to do is to tie it all together. Have important storylines come together in a crescendo that affects all your characters somehow. The protagonist’s final showdown with the villain is a perfect representation here. Every move both sides made throughout the novel led to where they’re now, battling each other with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Regardless of what happens, the outcome will affect everyone.
After months of writing, you just finished the last page of your book. Congratulations! You did it! You wrote a fantasy novel and you should definitely be proud of yourself. Successfully writing a novel is a great accomplishment.
But it’s not quite over yet. There’s still quite a bunch of work to do but you’ve already done the bulk of it. Before you continue, take a break. Taking time off from writing enables you to regain your energy and come back to it with fresh eyes.
Returning to work after quite some time, you begin reading the book you wrote but from a different perspective. You look at it through the prism of a reader. It’s easier to spot mistakes or make changes since some time has passed and not everything is still fresh in your mind. This is called the editing process and it’s the most important step in the post-writing process.
Here, you take a wide variety of considerations as you pore through the pages of your book. Is the story pacing too fast or too slow? Are some characters fully fleshed out or should I add new plot lines or eliminate some that don’t affect the main story in a meaningful way?
You won’t necessarily edit your book just one time. Instead, you’ll do it multiple times as you iron out the kinks and polish it until you feel like you’re ready to have someone else read it.
Usually the first people to read your book are the ones closest to you. While family and friends are great sources, keep in mind they just want the best for you which means they might not tell you what you need to do to make your book better. If you just wanted to write a fantasy novel just for the fun of it, you can stop here but if you’re determined to publish it, you should hire an editor to do it.
Publishing your book is a whole other process in itself. You’ll still be making revisions to your book as you make the changes your editors suggest, though they’re just suggestions. You don’t want to rely on just one editor, you’ll want two or more (unless the first one is the perfect candidate — so in that case, just stick with him!) since different editors bring something to the table others don’t.
In the lead-up to launch day, you’ll be making the final adjustments to your novel and going through a whole bevy of decisions like choosing the cover, setting the price you’re going to sell it at as well as where you’ll sell it.
Launch day’s arrived which means people can now start buying your book. But they need to know about it which is why you’ll have to do some promoting. There are several avenues to promote your book but the more people that know about it, the more potential customers you’ll have.
Writing a fantasy novel isn’t for the faint-of-heart. Rather, it takes discipline and motivation (and a great deal of willpower to boot!). However, the payoff is worth it, for you’ll have written a novel, which is an impressive feat, especially considering many people have already given up by this point.
Before you undertake a project of this magnitude, you need to understand what you’re getting into. Being aware of the scope of the work that goes into writing a fantasy novel will help you decide if it’s something you want to pursue or not. If you feel like it’s not for you, it’s okay!
On the other hand, should you choose to press on, you need to draft a plan of attack. Writing a fantasy novel with a plan in place makes the whole process easier (and less stressful!) for you can take it all and break it into bite-sized pieces so you can focus on knocking out one at a time.
The full process is broken into three components: pre-writing, writing, and post-writing. Each part plays an important role which means they’re not something you want to rush through. Instead, take as much time as you need to ensure that your novel is the best it can possibly be!
This is the beginning of our writing a fantasy novel series. We’ll have many more articles that cover the whole process so rest easy, you’ll be prepared as you embark upon the magical journey of becoming a fantasy author.
Are you ready to begin writing a fantasy novel?
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Thanks for reading this and until the next time,
Sunfire
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