Netflix’s Marianne – Review

Netflix has recently released one of the most terrifying horror originals to date with an eight-episode French horror series called Marianne.

This film kicks things off into high gear right off the bat with very environment rich scary vibes.  Things start off with creaking, old radio sounds, and even a caged crow that sets the tone for how things are going to turn out in this series.  Set in an old fashioned French house things get dark quick but I won’t ruin the first few minutes, so you will have to watch and experience that for yourself.

Our main character of this story Emma Larsimon who is a successful horror novelist is the center of attention in this epic horror that will keep you on the edge.   The horror series that has made her so successful and rich to boot is also probably haunting her and driving her insane.

Emma’s books about a demon’s wife are based on her real life nightmares from her teenage years.  Emma now grown up and long moved out of her childhood home goes back to the broken-down coastal town of Elden to check up on her parents.  This checkup quickly turns gruesome for Emma as her past quickly catches up to her and the nightmares she had are now haunting her once again.

As with all horror movies, shows, and stories the delivery is key to bringing a good scare to the audience.  Director Samuel Bodin is a fan boy of the old school eighties horror films so his understanding of how to scare an audience is superb. The eerie coastal setting, mixed with the author of successful horror stories as the main protagonist is genius and extremely well executed in this series.

This series also had excellent camera footage and great use of drones that were used to grab some amazing shots of the rocky coast line, and dead winter trees that really added a level of suspense to the show.

One of the best parts of the show to me was the main character Emma as she was extremely complex, tough, demanding, and very self-centered.  She has spent most of her life dealing with these nightmares and has used it to become a horror author rock-star per say.  If you are looking for a show with a strong cast, great story and loaded with suspenseful terrifying moments, then you definitely need to check this show out.

Growing Through Blogging

One of the most daunting tasks in blogging is making a schedule for writing and sticking to it!  Personally, for me, I am a night owl and most of my writing is done late night after the family has found their pillows.  I’ve been blogging a lot over the last few months, as well as spending a lot of time on my fantasy novel which takes most of my brainpower and writing focus.

Outside of the fantasy novel I’m working on, and the increased writing schedule here on the blog all my content has been with my podcast; All Things Geekery that my co-host and I do twice a month.  Podcasting was just the next step for my co-host and I as we had both wanted to get into it for a long time.  I’ve still got a huge passion for writing and always will, but my focus has changed on how that content is published and driven.  Which is all based around the outlets I’ve chosen to create material in like WordPress, Podcasting, Twitch, Writing etc.

My love for writing started when I was a kid and has continued through my adult years and blogging was where this crazy journey really changed things for me.  Blogging is such a great way for writers to grow and connect with an audience or just have that creative outlet for the pure enjoyment of writing. This outlet gives us a way to go in-depth with our topics unlike most social media outlets, aka micro-blogging outlets like Twitter.  I’ve enjoyed blogging for years and it’s given me a place to hang out with others in my little corner of cyber-space.  If you’ve spent any time at all blogging or writing, you know it can be tough and at times brings some stress with it.

So with that being said, here are just a handful of tips I’ve learned over the years which I hope help you all in your writing adventures.

1. WRITE THOSE IDEAS DOWN

You never know when a good blogging idea is going to pop up, so hot those things down!  I personally go old school and use a Moleskine journal for my blogging ideas along with sticky notes, which I use different colors for different topics.  It may sound like madness but it works for me and helps keep me organized for my writing schedules. Especially now that most of my writing is going towards my book.

2. BACKLOG & SCHEDULING

Learn to schedule posts best you can and how they fit into what you want your writing life to look like. If you have time and can do it, schedule posts throughout the week and keep a backlog of posts if you are trying to hit a specific number of posts per week or month that you can quickly choose from.

3. GUEST BLOGGING

Find you some blogging friends that will allow you to do guest blogging, and or co-blogging as that’s a great way to market your content and grow each other’s sites.

4. STOCK UP

You never know when an idea will hit and you’re looking for an image of sorts to show off this lovely idea you want to blog about. Browse through images you want to use for your blog posts and keep a stock in a folder for future posts.  This will help with the last-minute search for an image, though lately, I’ve been making my own depending on the topic.  See what works best for you and your schedule.

5. MAKE A LIST & CHECK IT TWICE

Make yourself a list of items to check before you hit that publish button.

6. BREAK IT UP

Break up your posts into multiple parts if they are running long. This will help keep the reader’s attention and hopefully coming back to check out those next parts.

7. CHAT IT UP

Use those comment sections as it can be a gold mine.  Watch for questions and good topics for conversations and even potential notes for future posts.

8. DON’T SWEAT IT / DON’T STRESS IT

Life happens and if you are like me well then blogging is a hobby, so don’t stress if you don’t make those post counts you wanted.  The best thing to shoot for is consistency but when you can’t don’t sweat it.  I try to post twice a week but that doesn’t always happen.

9. REFURBISH THAT CREATIVITY

Don’t fret about reusing previous posts or topics either.  You don’t want to repost the same exact post you’ve already used, but when you are in a crunch and the creative juices aren’t flowing, then maybe an older post will kickstart things again….rework that thing and use it!

10. LEARN TO HAVE GRACE

Give yourself some grace. This is a journey that should be filled with fun and moments of learning, but also filled with mistakes and curveballs!  When you find that crazy typo or sentence that makes your eye twitch, or just doesn’t make sense at all…..”DON’T WORRY” Learn from those mistakes and let those moments become part of the journey, part of the fun and something that makes you want to become better.

These are my bread and butter items I use whether I’m writing a small blog post, or working on my novel series.  Hopefully, these few items will help you along your writing/blogging journey as much as they have helped me!

Writing A World Of Fantasy

Doing something a little different for today’s post!  I’ve been putting a ton of time into plotting, world-building, and just getting that much needed time into writing on my novel series, so I wanted to share some fun tips I’ve learned along the way about writing in the fantasy genre.

Writing a fantasy novel is great fun – you can literally let your imagination run wild.  It’s a little different when writing a novel set in the real world as unlike books set in a reality where you can use real-life as examples, you’ll have to invent everything in your new fantasy world.  Do you enjoy writing, are you working on a fantasy novel, or have you had the notion to start one?  I hope the next few minutes while reading this helps you no matter what stage you might be in for writing a novel.

One of the best things you could do to kickstart things is to read as many classics as you can find!  No matter the type of book you begin writing this will give you a good idea about what works and what doesn’t.  Remember though that reading other people’s works is something to help with idea spawning and relax your mind.  You must take note not to simply copy the ideas you’ve read from any of the good old classics or other pieces of work you find.  If you find yourself dealing with elves, halflings, and orcs whilst being a reluctant hero on a quest to destroy a powerful item, it’s probably best to scrap it and start again. It is true that all stories are a combination of those the reader has encountered over the years. But, you should always try to find an original angle and it certainly should not be obvious what the source material was. Reading the classics will also allow you to discover how well-crafted characters interact with each other as the story progresses.

Tip 1: Use established myths and legends as the basis for your fantasy world. Think about what your fantasy world might be like.  Do your studying and find out what your world and culture are mostly like….Is it Celtic, Roman, a medieval world or a blend of multiple cultures with your own twist on it? Once you’ve chosen, go and read about the myths and legends that relate to those cultures. The mythological creatures and characters and their stories will give you a great basis for your new world.

Tip 2: Get to know your imaginary world – you need to be able to describe it in detail if you are going to convince your readers, for the duration of the book at least, that it exists. Be thorough and detail everything you can possibly imagine about the world you are creating.

• Physical – what does your fantasy world look like? Think about and make a note of:
  • the color of the sky
  • what other planets can be seen from the surface
  • whether the air is breathable
  • what the plants look like
  • what creatures live there
  • whether there are seas
  • what the landscape looks like
  • futuristic world or something older
• Residents – decide who lives in your newly formed fantasy world. You should spend time thinking about how they look, what they eat, how they move, whether they need sleep, how they speak to one another etc…
• Society – what kind of society exists? Do they need money to buy things? Is there a complex system of politics they follow? Do they have a police force, a king or president? Is there a religion?
• Special powers/magic – Do the residents have any special powers or use magic? If so, what are they and why do they exist? Does everyone have the use of them or only certain people?

Tip 3: Make your characters believable. This is one of the most essential parts of the book if you want to hook and keep readers interested in the story. A great way to achieve this is to apply logic to every character in every fantasy world you create. This means creating a set of rules that apply to the world and the character. The rules can be based on either real life or they can be simply invented by you.  Remember if you are creating the rules of the world, don’t let a BOX hold you back from being creative.  Sometimes creating our own ways is just the push we need to make that next step in our creative writing.

Tip 4: Make sure you keep careful notes of all the details you invent for your new fantasy world. This will help you maintain continuity throughout the novel. There are many ways of doing this, some writers like to have a set of cards with the details on, others set up spreadsheets; so play around with different systems to find one that suits you the best.  I personally use a book mapping chart I created in excel that helps me track all major parts of the book I need.  I hope these few steps help you get started, or give an idea of what steps to take next in writing your new fantasy novel!

Remember, have fun!! That is the first and foremost thing I can say when writing… Have Fun and lots of it!

Godzilla: King of the Monsters Review

Godzilla: King of the Monsters quickly sets the tone that it won’t be the same thing we’ve seen in the past. 2014’s Godzilla rebooted the classic king of monsters for modern audiences, but the latest portrayal of the iconic monster gives us huge monsters everywhere within the first few minutes of the film.  If you came to see monsters, then you came to the right spot as this film is loaded with a more classic outlook on Godzilla and other monsters from the past.

This film was well written and directed in my opinion from co-writer and director Michael Dougherty who you might know from an interesting horror film released on Christmas a few years ago called Krampus.  Dougherty has an eye for suspense and building a story, and Godzilla: King of the Monsters wasn’t short on drama, action, or suspense by any means.

Monsters everywhere in this film! Besides Godzilla, we get to see classics like Mothra, Rodan, and the Hydra King Ghidorah but this time with a little more classic thrown in that takes you back to their origins.  As for Godzilla, as we saw at the end of the 2014 film, he is clearly set on the side of hero and ready to do battle to help protect humanity. If you came to see an award-winning film loaded with Academy Awards and the best acting you’ve ever seen then this isn’t the film for you.  This is purely an action-packed monster film loaded with HUGE monsters destroying everything they touch.  The human interaction between the monsters is well done in most scenes, between the moments of fear to the occasional understanding that Godzilla is here to help.  All in all the actors pulled off a fun and exciting movie that was a blast to watch and fun to see what the director had around each corner.

We came to see Godzilla kick some monster butt, and this film delivered on that more so than any other to date including a massive monster battle including an exciting, final battle between all the monsters.  King of the Monsters keeps you engaged with its story, monsters, explosions, and more…..and if you are a Godzilla fan then this movie is everything you could have possibly hoped for.  The film looks absolutely amazing with its impressive beasts, to technology it brings.  One major thing King of the Monsters did was to give the audiences MONSTERS and a lot of them as the 2014 Godzilla film was a bit lacking, but I’m excited about the next installment…..that is if they pursue the little hook they left at the end of the film.

Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1 Review

One of my favorite series on Netflix over the last few months has definitely been The Haunting of Hill House.  If you are a huge fan of the novel from Shirley Jackson written back in 1959 then you need to see this adaptation of the popular horror novel.  One of the best parts about this show is the drama it brings to the screen, but also a level of terrifying moments that truly dig deep into the roots of the horror genre.

Following the Crain family and the ghosts of their past in 10 emotional packed episodes left me with needing to see more of this show now.  The show starts with the Crain children, who, after growing apart, are tragically brought back together after one of the siblings dies. The Haunting of Hill House is loaded with a timeline you have to keep up with pretty close as each timeline is impacted throughout the season.

When the kids are young and still living in Hill House, they continually get visions of ghosts, zombies, and a tall slender man, but these visions follow them into adulthood, but most of these ghosts they face seem to be of their own making.  There’s a complex theme throughout the story concerning the house’s complicity in all of the kids’ failings as adults. This is where the show begins to take a really scary turn as things begin to manifest in the adult’s lives, and the plot really begins to thicken with a rich story.

When the story begins to expand on the children’s lives, Hill House and their father the scares kick off big time.  In the flashbacks with the children, the directory used an amazing slow camera pan technique that really added a dark feeling to the overall story. While the children are the main focus of the narrative for Hill House, a family tale of ghosts and curses wouldn’t be complete without Mom & Dad.  Hugh and Olivia Crane are introduced early on in the show but with a twist that unfolds throughout the entire season.  Carla Gugino plays Olivia Crain, and Hugh Crain is played by Timothy Hutton which the two made a great pair and delivered some amazing performances.

Olivia like here children are affected by the house, but you also see a woman who is losing grip on reality which could be due to a troubled marriage, and stress of raising her five children.  The director did something brilliant through the telling of the story and how things unfold to create a doubt in your mind as the viewer.  You truly aren’t sure if what you are watching unfold on screen is because of a crazy family with mental issues, or if this family truly is seeing ghosts and have been living in a haunted house.  Personally, the Haunting of Hill House has been one of the best Netflix original horror series released to date.  Season 2 can’t get here fast enough to continue the unfolding of America’s most haunted family and haunted house.

GIVEAWAY!! Little Nightmares Complete Edition – Enter For A Chance To WIN!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

All Things Geekery is hosting it’s very first GIVEAWAY!! Enter to win a copy of the Little Nightmares Complete Edition for the Xbox One – Ends 1/23.

Enter Here: https://bit.ly/2EOTbxZ …

The Review

Little Nightmares is a wonderful 2D horror puzzle platformer that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

When you begin the game you will be in charge of guiding a small character called Six through The Maw (an ocean facility with a slow reveal of its awful purpose) loaded with death hazards and tons of puzzles.  Being a fairly short game around five hours long, Little Nightmares feels a tad too short, as the implied scale of the game suggests there was more of the Maw to see.

Little Nightmares’ has some very similar related games like Limbo, and Inside, not just because of the child in danger, but in how cleverly it brings together puzzle design and storytelling. Every enemy, every room, every meat grinder you use to make a rope of sausages to swing from, contributes to the story of The Maw and Six’s survival.

The Maw itself is something like a death trap dollhouse.  The developer Tarsier knows exactly how to bring a mix of suspense and horror and still keep you interested in the story. I don’t recall a single jump scare in the entirety of Little Nightmares’ runtime, but I know I flinched and had that uneasy feeling most of the game.

Six is thrust into a world that is lit like a haunted house, regularly forcing you to flick open Six’s only possession, a tiny cigarette lighter. This place – with its nurseries full of restlessly sleeping children, curious packages transported by hook, and some truly disgusting visitors is strangely functional as a world to bring horror.  All these details and mixes bring one of the best gaming locations I’ve seen in years.

Now for some of the negatives of the games which is a shame as it’s quite a wonderful looking world, but Little Nightmares does have some issues.  One of the biggest problems is the movement of an almost 3D platformer. The slightest move at the wrong angle or direction can send you plummeting into the abyss of death. Likewise, a few of its instant-death obstacles are the kind of trial-and-error puzzling that become frustrating to finish. Pair that with inconsistent checkpoints and ridiculous long load times (a trade-off presumably made to allow entire chapters of the game to be played seamlessly).

Overall those occasional issues, though, more than made up for in the constant pleasure of exploration, which is enhanced by some subtle tricks. Environments are often built just bigger than the camera’s field of view…..just urging you to look into the crevices of this game. The camera itself moves with an ever-so-slight delay and sways with The Maw’s ocean rocking, giving the impression of not being a perfect lens which makes for an interesting experience.

This game has much more to enjoy, from Six and her lighter, to the boss battles that require some thought and tactic. Little Nightmares will make you re-evaluate where all the baddies could jump out from and at what point will you pulled into the black abyss of death.  It’s a well-designed game with lovely animations, impressive sound engineering, a world with breathtaking visuals, and a story that pulls you in.

A Puzzled Rime – The Game Review

Hello again everyone!

I hope the week has started off well for you all and the creative vibes are still flowing for writing.

Today I want to jump in and look at a Rime which I just finished over this last weekend.  Rime is an absolutely gorgeous game filled with some pretty amazing music and beautiful art.  The game has some very mysterious elements which fill a strange world you get to explore, but the game lacks new ideas to make it stand out from other puzzle platformers.  Unfortunately, most of the puzzles in the game are bland and instead of a challenge we get monotonous.

Overall Rime’s story is pretty basic: you wake up on some strange island after a shipwreck, and have to solve a mix of puzzles in this new world to try and piece together what really happened.  You start the game with a nameless character who doesn’t speak or have many features you can make out except his figure and a red cloak.  Your guide through the game is a small fox who has more personality than you do…that’s for darn sure.  This fox mainly helps you navigate the world and points you in the right direction which is a huge help through the game.  You can do some exploration as the world is pretty open, so it’s nice to have a guide back to where the next progression point is.

The games puzzles you complete throughout the world seem more like simple tasks and don’t offer a lot of challenge to figure out.  Exploring the world can be fun as it’s got an amazing art style to it, but ultimately all the puzzles and tasks to figure out pull away from things instead of adding to the beauty of the story.  Even though I got bored at times from the puzzles, I love artistic style games so that’s ultimately what caught and held my attention in Rime.  The world exploration does offer up some hidden collectibles you can gather, but at the end all they gave you was a picture that showed up on the menu screen.  I gave up the pursuit of finding all the collectibles pretty early on honestly as it seemed pointless and didn’t add to the game or story you were just thrust into.

I go back to the aesthetic aspects of this game being it’s winning factor for holding my attention again, as the game was littered with bugs and performance issues.  Multiple times I had camera issues where it got stuck in strange places, and an overall clunky climbing experience while all topped off with some choppy screens due to loss of frame-rate.  This game has a mystery to it that had me glued to the screen but at the end of things it didn’t deliver.  I loved the open world feel, the artistic beauty and hooks to keep you interested in the story along the way….but all said and done this game wasn’t an experience I enjoyed once things came to a close.

The Greatest Captain Returns

We are in the age of revivals lately for classic TV shows that we all loved like X-Files, Lost in Space, and even a good old modern spin on Evil Dead to name a few.

Just a few days ago one of my favorite shows of all time had some very exciting announcements, from the one and only Patrick Stewart!  Yes that’s right, Patrick Stewart announced recently that he will be reprising his role as Jean-Luc Picard in a new Star Trek series for CBS all access.  Needless to say the internet and Trekkies worldwide went bonkers about the news.

Of course, bringing Picard back has a weight to it for the fans and brings huge excitement….it does beg the question of is it a good decision to revise his role?  Most of the modern day remakes lately have had mixed reviews and up’s and downs at best so this move to revise a Star Trek show could fall in to a fate just like these other shows have.  My personal opinion is the show will do well because of the fan base and nostalgia around the Star Trek franchise.  Patrick Stewart has aged well and I’m hoping his return to the screen will be a huge success for the franchise.

When announcing the news at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention, Patrick Stewart said the team hasn’t even started writing scripts for the show yet.  We don’t know much about the show, but what we do know is it will take place 20 years after we last saw Picard.  One of the things I loved about Star Trek the Next Generation was the stories and plot and Stewart will be an executive producer on the new show and will be involved in the story.  Captain Picard was originally introduced to the fans in 1987 which is mind boggling as I was only six when TNG debuted.

The last time we saw Picard on the big screen was in Star Trek: Nemesis so I’m excited to see where the future of Star Trek goes now that Picard is returning.  If you look at the rich history of this franchise it has spawned multiple shows, movies, and a fan base that is massive!  Take Star Trek: Enterprise for example which is set a hundred years before Captain Kirk’s era, or the JJ Abrams reboot which retold Kirk’s origins and early years of a star fleet officer.  Where could they go with this new show…..well the book is basically wide open for any number of stories and directions.

Stewart did mention he is excited to come back and reprise his role and is looking forward to seeing the creative process and working with the teams again.  I wonder who else we will see return on this new adventure? Will we see any other old familiar faces make appearances or any cameos in the show….or will we see a whole new cast?  I’m truly excited about this new venture into the Star Trek franchise and I do hope we get to see the deck of the Enterprise one more time!

Lost in Space – Season 1 Review

Hello everyone!

So this week has been quite the blur due to the busy schedule and I had a couple days I wasn’t feeling well.  Needless to say I haven’t felt like writing the last couple days and my mind has been out of it today honestly.

I know this week was supposed to be about connecting and potentially co-working on things with someone….but with not feeling well and my brain being mush tonight’s post is all I could focus on and put together.

This post really has nothing to do with this weeks theme in Blaugust, but like I said my brain has been mush the last couple days and this is fresh on my mind.  My family and I love to binge watch a good show when one does come along which happened just recently with Netflix’s Lost in Space.  In my personal opinion it’s one of the greatest sci-fi remakes of our time and an amazing family adventure series as well!

First off let’s jump in with the….what made the show so great!

Creators Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless did an absolute amazing job bringing the show back to life and giving it a great 21st century look.  The world was absolutely beautiful and the characters in the story were so like-able….well most of the characters anyways.

Who wouldn’t love the Robinson family which personally was the shows strongest point for sure.  If you’re not familiar with the story…..here’s the what on the story!

If you haven’t seen the show yet, well then ****SPOILERS AHEAD****

Let’s start with the Christmas Star….yes that’s right the Christmas Star!  This object is a mysterious object that crashes into Earth which forces humanity to look for a new habitable world to call home.  Humans have a base ship of sorts called The Resolute which is leading the mission for finding this new home.  They also have smaller jump ships called Jupiter ships, which is what the Robinson family use for a large portion of there exploration.  The Resolute runs into a massive space-time disruption event of some sort which forces an evacuation of the Resolute, and a crash landing from the Robinson’s in one of the Jupiter ships on an unknown world.

The show really starts to take root here and show it’s colors and genius with the Robinson family at the center of it all!  One of the best parts of the show is how the Robinson’s are a dysfunctional mess but they don’t really see it at first and truly just stumble over one another.  Especially when it comes to working together.  The creative writing done in this show was crazy good and the writers used a ton of flashback scens to really tie the story in together. The flashback are what help bring all the information to the table and really allowed you to connect to the Robinson family.

That classic saying from the show so became a hit so many years ago is back as well!  Yes, that’s right, “danger Will Robinson” is back with a very creative new presentation of the beloved robot.  The robot has a very unique story and is quite different from any other that has ever been told to date.  One thing that does remain close to it’s original roots is Will’s relationship with the robot which becomes apparent quite early on of how distant Will’s father has been, and that’s why Will is looking to the robot for friendship.

As far as the Robinson ladies of the show they are pretty amazing when it comes to the dynamic they bring to the table.  Maureen, the mom, ultimately is the leader of the group.  The daughters also bring a weight to the show that really draws you into the family dynamic.  One of my favorite characters in the show is Judy, the oldest daughter which I think has the most baggage and biggest change in the show.  She has a massive weight on her shoulders and has gone through some pretty traumatic experiences in her life already even with only being 18.

Now let’s move on to the worst part of the show for me….the villain!

Dr. Smith played by Parker Posey is one of the most manipulative characters I’ve seen on screen before.  Dr. Smith comes into the good graces of the Robinson’s early on but they don’t understand the evil they just let into the family.  Dr. Smith lacks complexity which is ultimately why I don’t like her, but also because she’s the bad guy and I’m not a bad guy fan…no matter how good the actor is.  The writers even tried to give some backstory on Dr. Smith but I think by the time it happened people were probably already set on the decision of “I Hate This Character” and didn’t care.  Personally in my opinion Dr. Smith’s character added nothing to the story.

Overall though I think this series is a massive win and something you could sit down and enjoy with the family together!  The Robinsons are an amazing family and have a huge story of survival and redemption they tell all along the series.

Creating a Fantasy World & Plotting a Novel Series

Ok, so I know this week was supposed be about generating topics for your blog that you can sustain yourself for the rest of the event.  So far I haven’t put out but one post outlining topics like this.  My brain has been focused largely on writing fantasy over the last few months and it has been hard to break out of that.  Here is what I’ve done for this post though is slap together eleven tips I’ve learned about writing fantasy and writing in general.

Have you ever asked yourself what it’s like to write a novel, or how one goes about it?  So have I, and I’ve learned that each has to find there own way of bringing the inner creative writer to paper.

I’ve been working on a novel series for several years now, upwards of the last seven years but I haven’t spent all of those years just writing.  I’ve currently finished two books in my Brothers Three series and I’m currently half way through the third book.  This is a high fantasy novel series that honestly started almost twenty years ago with a note I wrote down.  It was just an idea, and it’s morphed and changed over the years into an actual book.  One day I do hope to be a published author and will continue to strive for that dream.

One thing out of this process I learned a long time ago was planning goes a long way in being successful when plotting a story, or any thing you write.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a passion and love for writing, and seven almost eight years ago was when I really started pushing to one day have my material published.  Honestly, I can’t even take credit for the idea of seeking a publisher, as my wife is the one who talked me into it.

Currently I am doing a lot of character development for book three and as I said before…..it has been a lot of planning, character plotting, long nights of staring at a blank screen with nothing other then a hot cup of coffee, or twelve that gets accomplished. One might ask, after so long do you ever feel like giving up or even quitting?  The honest answer is YES and NO….yes it’s hard to find time to write when you work in another full time job, have three children, a wife, and other responsibilities that come before a hobby. At times it is frustrating when you hit a wall and have absolutely no words, direction, or even a faint hint of where you need to go next in the story you so passionately want to get finished.

The biggest thing that helps keep me grounded in the perspective of writing, is my wife and three children!  My wife continually gives me feedback on my writing, both good and sometimes BAD, and these stories were originally birthed for my children as bedtime stories.  This idea kept in mind has pulled me through frustration, and the itch to quit at times and has allowed me to plot out the first five books in the series.  Having finished two of the books so far I have noticed the light at the end of the tunnel syndrome…..and getting to see this story come to life on the pages is quite overwhelming!

So, I write all this to say, if you are a writer of whatever genre then here are some writing tips I’ve learned along the way.  These have come from my own mistakes, my successes, and even mentors I’ve had over the years of how to put things in perspective and keep yourself on track!

Evaluate the Writing Style

If you have a love for writing, then you may find yourself slave to the writing itself. Remember you are the one doing the writing, and it is possible to create a schedule that doesn’t engulf your entire life around writing.  You do have a life, so go live it!  If writing is a job you wish to pursue and have as your job in life, then dedicate time to it, learn new ways of writing, evaluate how you come about writing.  Try writing in different areas away from the home.  A change in scenery can be a world changer for a writer as it helps open the creative flow.

Getting Ideas on Paper  

Do you have some good ideas or a potential story brewing in your head?  Sit down and make sure you write those ideas out on paper.  Typically you would have a character, or character in mind and a place in which these ideas would evolve over time.  They would be centered around some major events, like a war or even someones death.  Once you have the main ideas or plot of the story written out, start asking simple questions, like, “why?” “when did this happen?” “how?” and move onto more detailed questions like, “How did this affect the lands?” “Who is to take blame for this event?” etc…. Once you have these ideas sorted out, pass them onto a friend, fellow writer, etc to pick apart and ask them for a honest opinion.  In the end, this process can help you determine the the major plot lines of the story, where will the main focus of characters and development be, and even sub-plot lines.  All these things added together help you make the story become whole.

Making Your World and Places Come to Life

Where will your fantasy creations live? Is this a made up world that you’ve created, or is this some parallel universe with mystical creatures full of big tales to be told?  There are absolutely no limits on what the imagination can create.  Decide what places your story will be centered around and take into note the previous of letting another review your ideas. Go into detail when creating your world….the races, animals, plants, rivers, lakes, you name it and make sure you list it.

Keep a Notebook and Write it All Down

Never ever leave the house without your notebook.  You never know when you will have this amazing idea pop into your head for the fantasy novel to come.  Write it all down: Your main character, the major events, the kind of world it is, you name it, because all these ideas will come together and firm the story up.  Trust me it’s awful to have this fantastic idea pop into your head and find that you have absolutely nothing to write it down on.

Don’t Be Afraid to Change Things 

Always, Always, Always, take a look at the major underlying plot that everything centers around. Make sure that everything you’ve created centers around this plot because it’s easy to wonder off into a wild rabbit hole. Look at the major event or events and don’t be afraid to mold it, change it, as you have to make this event believable to the readers.  This is what your entire novel hinges on and if the plot line doesn’t make sense, or doesn’t hold the readers attention… well… I think we know what happens next.  Work on other characters who help build the plot line and your protagonist on his/her journey. Not every hero needs to be a loner and he/she could vary in anyway you want.  They may have a family, they may be cold at heart and emotionless until someone comes along they care about.  You name it! Don’t make your story revolve only around your character. Show the feelings of the people around your protagonist and how their decisions affect them. Don’t make a story of one person; make a story about the journey of one person.  Learn how to join sub plots and other events to the major plot line. These could be a birth of a child, or as in my book the birth of multiple children based around a prophecy.  These events will cause your story to have a sense of feeling, emotion, and building that brings the reader closer to the characters and story.  Make sure your characters grow over time in the stories, as the experiences should help mold and make them into who they are to become. After pulling things together, don’t be afraid to make changes (subtle or drastic) to your characters, and story. Make obstacles in your character’s life. Not everything will be easy for him/her. Make sure you’re writing a fantasy novel, not a walk in the park that becomes boring to read.

Creating Your Visual Fantasy World 

This is one of my favorite things to do in bringing a story to a visual understanding!  Grab a piece of paper and a pencil. It’s time to start drawing out what you see in your head. Do a ton of research on land, rivers, map creation etc… If you’re planning to build a world from root, start drawing simple lines. You can make seas, oceans, lakes, mountains, and other strange factors in your world. Draw the lines of kingdom’s lands and empires. Put post-its and other notes on your map to locate some events. Remember: your map doesn’t have to be well made. Be free to use any materials you like, and have fun!

Deep Rooted History 

Do you plan on having a deep history and timeline in your story? Plot out a chronology of your story as this could help aid the reader and bring them closer to the events going on. Plot out the events that appear in your book, or just stories of other events that will indirectly explain the ones in your plot. Don’t think it’s a waste of time to build a world which, for the most part, won’t appear in the book. It’s important for the reader to know that the writer knows what he’s talking about and isn’t putting random things on the pages of his/her book. Make your characters tell a legend or mention some event that you have carefully planned out. As the writer, you have to know something that the reader’s don’t….and always make sure you know what you’re talking about.

Character Development 

Make sure you know the main character or characters, don’t just make a place holder in the story with a random name laying on the pages.  Plan everything about your character. This is where you put some deep well thought out time and attention into the story. Does he/she have fears (death, darkness)? Where/when was he/she born? Under which circumstances? Do they have siblings? Do they have someone they love? Be free as this is your story!

Things About your World 

Remember that chronology planning you read about earlier?  Not it’s time to take it a step further…. Be as detailed as you possibly can with the imagination you have!  What kind of homes do people live in? Jobs? Types of clothing? Government systems? Do they have schools, or some type of training grounds soldiers are sent to? Family bloodlines that rule the kingdoms, is there magic in the land, or some dark evil threatening the lands?  Can women fight in war too, or is it only for men? Are there any fantasy creatures roaming the lands? Don’t leave anything out as this will probably be the biggest step in your story. The base will be here. Everything you’ll come up with needs to be here. Don’t worry if you’re taking too long writing everything out. A good story needs to have a solid foundation that covers every base you could think of.

Plotting and Planning

This is one of the most time consuming and sometimes frustrating step in the process. Making the chapters of your story, and tying everything into itself. Define what kind of writer you will be. What will be the length of your chapters and book or books? Will you write in third or first person or take on the challenge of both?  Will you describe your characters and surroundings to make the story more personal to the reader, will you not care and just want to make an epic legend? This is one of those steps you can’t be afraid to change and touch multiple times, and sometimes with a very critical eye!  Reverse the roles at times and look at it from a readers standpoint!  I think I have spent more time plotting my books out then writing the stories and honestly that is what makes for a deep and rich story.  I spent the first few moths plotting out a simple book chart that lists (Years, Major Plot, Minor Plot, Characters, Etc…)  It is my go to before I ever even think of writing at times. Remember don’t be afraid to create, change, and plan!

Let Others Review 

Don’t forget to reach out to others and let them read your work. Print out your finished product and hand out multiple copies to people who may enjoy reading your novel. It can be a few close friends at first, but once you start getting feedback and start building confidence, you might want to consider trying to publish.  Accept any criticisms, good and bad as they will make you a better writer in the future. Fix anything that your editor tells you. Believe that you can be published if you put your mind to it, but try not to hope too strongly for your book to be published, since you could end up very depressed if all doesn’t go to plan. If your work is rejected by one editor, edit the story or send it to a different publisher.  Remember what drives you to write, and don’t lose sight of why you love doing this.  It’s easy to see the light at the end of the tunnel and get caught up in the moment of a job, instead of the passion for writing!