Q: I’ve actually started writing my own fantasy novel and wanted to reach out to some authors for any recommendations on fantasy writing resources that you’ve found really helped you find your feet as a new author? Its kind of overwhelming starting out so I’d love some advice. I’m also keen to hear any personal tips or tricks you’ve found that helped you out along the way.
– Jaimee
Thanks for the question, Jaimee! As always, I love answering questions about writing, my books, or the fantasy genre in general. You can contact me at: jed.herne1(at)gmail.com, and I do my best to respond to every email.
Now, there’s no one right way to do this business, and there’s certainly no mandatory ‘educational process.’ Saying that, I’ve learned a lot of useful writing lessons over my 8+ years of writing (resulting in five books drafted, with two published so far). So, this excellent reader question has prompted me to put together a list of some books, videos, and resources that have helped me as a fantasy author.
Useful books:
On Writing by Stephen King.
This isn’t really a book about craft. It’s about one man’s painful, difficult, and at times ecstatic journey towards becoming an author. If you don’t already know him, King’s the writer behind The Shining, Carrie, The Shawshank Redemption, Misery, what feels like several hundred other bestselling novels. While I disagree with a lot of his writing craft advice (doesn’t work for me, but might for you), this book is profoundly motivational and inspiring. I recently re-read it for the second time and it holds up.
Story by Robert McKee.
This is the classic book on structuring great stories. It was written back in the 90s and still holds up today. While it’s mainly about screenwriting, all of the lessons cross over to novel writing as well.
Dialogue by Robert McKee.
A more recent release by the author of Story, it yet again shows why McKee really understands narrative. Dialogue is often maligned in novels (without the pressure of actors reading it, like in movies, it’s easy to be clunky), so it’s well worth brushing up on this vital technique.
The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass
Stories are about feelings. There aren’t many certainties in the writing craft, but that’s something everyone agrees on. Maass is one of the top literary agents in the world and his short book was packed with insanely mind-blowing, useful lessons. I think I put about sixty sticky notes in this book, and double that number of highlights.
Outlining your Novel, Structuring your Novel, and Creating Character Arcs by K. M. Weiland.
Why did I group these? Well, these are the three books that were most foundational to my craft. They also work perfectly as a package. Before Outlining your Novel, it took me almost a full year to write my first book, The Aeon Academy. The result was messy and convoluted, with the structure all over the place. Then I read Outlining. It was a revelation. I’d always thought writers had to just write and hope for something to make sense, but Weiland’s book showed me how to plan a story without taking away any of the joy of creativity and spontaneity. Her lessons meant I wrote Across the Broken Stars in 60 days. And, most importantly, it was much better than The Aeon Academy. Structuring your Novel and Creating Character Arcs work in tandem with Outlining in a highly effective way. If you’re going to read any books from this list, start with these three.
Useful videos:
2020 Creative Writing Lectures at BYU by Brandon Sanderson.
Sanderson has been my favourite author since early 2018 – so when I discovered that he runs a creative writing course, my first thought was: how do I get to America? Luckily, I didn’t have to worry. He posts all of his lectures online. For free. For free! This man is arguably the best working fantasy writer, and to be able to hear his thoughts on writing is an absolute gift.
Lessons from the Screenplay by Michael Tucker.
An excellent YouTube channel that analyses movies to extract useful writing lessons. Entertaining and highly educational at the same time.
Useful podcasts:
Writing Excuses, hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Howard Taylor, and Dan Wells.
Each episode is around about fifteen minutes long, and dives deep into a specific aspect of the craft. Between them, these authors have written dozens of bestselling books, with a particularly strong fantasy and science fiction slant. This is one of the few shows I listen to every week. Start with season 10, which is organised as a virtual ‘masterclass.’
Helping Writers Become Authors, hosted by K. M. Weiland.
This was the very first podcast I listened to, way back on a 2016 family road trip. When it comes to teaching the craft of storytelling, Weiland is one of the best in the business. Her books have changed my approach to writing and there’s been a fair few episodes of this podcast that did the same.
The Novel Analyst Podcast, hosted by Jed Herne.
Okay, this is a cheeky self-promo. Please forgive me. I’m including it because if you’re interested in my writing, you’ll probably be interested to see how I think about story. Each episode, I analyse one of my favourite books to figure out what makes it great. 80% of my episodes focus on fantasy books, since it’s my preferred genre. I’ve also had a few author interviews with some of my favourite writers. Perks of the job!
Personal tips:
- There is no right answer. Just your answer.
- Figure out if you prefer to outline your books, or if organic writing (i.e., without a plan) works better for you. Took me 360 days to write my first book with the organic approach. It stunk. I read Outlining your Novel, used outlining for book two, and the result took 60 days. It stunk a lot less.
- Regardless of whether you publish traditionally or independently, you need a platform of fans who like what you write. Social media is a great way to build an audience, but when it comes to building an audience of people who actually buy books, nothing beats at email list (at least in my experience). If you haven’t already started an email newsletter, I’d highly recommend it. Don’t have any writing to give them? Make a monthly reading recommendations newsletter, where you share your reviews of the top books you read that month. Or use the newsletter to interview authors. Whatever works for you, your email list will be your #1 asset. It’s not controlled by Zuckerberg, Google, or whoever else is out there. It’s controlled by you. The earlier you start building your platform, the better.
- Write what you like. If ‘Amish Paranormal Time Travel Heist Novels’ can find an audience (and they can), then whatever you’re writing will find an audience, too.
- The #1 writing craft tip I’ve learned? That contradictory characters are complex (and therefore compelling) characters. What does that mean? Consider this: a character trying not to cry is far more interesting than a character that’s crying.
(For more tips, you might want to check out another post I wrote, titled ‘Helpful Writing Habits from 7+ Years of Experience’).
Alright, I hope that helps! As always, I love answering your questions, so if you’ve got any ones related to this, my books, or anything else that’s tangentially related, you can contact me at:
jed.herne1(at)gmail.com
I read every email and do my best to answer all of them.
– Jed Herne
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