Hey everyone
I am new to this whole idea of creating a book series. I would love some tips for a newbie.
I have been dreaming a lot lately of writing a book series about a group of friends that gets transported from a game world to a new land by a god of chaos.
It would basically be a LITRPG.
And if i do end getting serious about it. I would also love to give a few people or a lot of people a copy of it and get feedback.
Stephen King - On Writing, is a great resource for you.
I recommend that book.
I’m not sure if it counts as a LitRPG, but as a kid, I used to read / play the hell out of those Lone Wolf books. Had combat, decision trees, etc.
I second AMASH’s advice about reading On Writing – although, it’s a bit… misleading. It’ll definitely help you get started, but some of the things he recommends are questionable. For example, he talks about how he freehands entire stories and novels and eschews writing an outline. I’m the exact opposite – I prefer to have an exceptionally detailed outline before even writing a single page.
I’d recommend learning basic storytelling principles (not saying that you don’t, but before I write ANYTHING, I still read this book) and check out The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. Hands down, the most helpful book you could read, in my opinion.
For Dialogue, check out the aptly named Dialogue, by Robert McKee. Amazing book. McKee is a bit long winded (and quite cantankerous in person), but the book is a masterclass in writing amazing dialogue.
Another trick I learned in undergrad was the “SFD” method once you finished your outline. SFD is an acronym for “shitty first draft.” It means, once you have your outline, sit down and write the book. Don’t worry about whether it’s good or not, because you’re going to spend a significant amount of time in editing. In order for this strategy to work, you MUST treat the SFD as sacred. No one can read any part of it at all. That way, there’s no urge to self-edit as you write, because you know NO ONE would ever read it. Once you’ve finished the SFD, then go back and edit.
Keep us posted!
One of the things I do in my profession is to help people write and publish non-fiction books.
One tip i can share with you is, stop thinking of writing a book and start thinking of creating one instead… it’s easier.
Instead of going through the act of writing, create a framework that your topics fit into, then sit down and speak your book, record it, then have it transcribed, word for word.
Use the transcription as the basis to then start writing, editing, filling in the missing parts etc.
You’ll find you can think and speak faster than you can write. Your content will be less formal and more conversational, you’ll do less pausing and editing than you would when writing.
This process works fantastic for would be non-fiction authors, I’ve not tried it on fiction or personal memoirs, but see no reason why it can’t work.
Try speaking and recording a chapter and see how it goes.
Hope that helps.
A fantastic and super quick reads are The War of Art and follow up works( I think there’s at least 3 others) by Steven Pressfield.
Hey Everyone
Hope everything is going well for all you people.
I have started world building for my book series and slowly writing it out. I am on chapter 2 right now. I have half the book planned out and part of book 2 and 3 planned out as well. My mind tends to jump around with ideas for the books so i make notes of them. Lately my mind has been pushing me to make book 2 of my series about the trojan war. I have lots of twists and turns for that which i think will make it stand out.
I would like to have someone from here beta read and tell me what i need to work on. Is anyone down for that? There is lots i still need to learn to get better and get this 1st book done.
I have been listening to EoG stage 1, UA, and CU for about 8 hours every day. I know i should probably up that amount by another few hours. I also have thought about taking a break from EoG stage 1 to move on to EoG stage 2 or maybe going back to Emperor or AM.
If you ask the average person, you can expect a review about the things they did and did not like, but you may not get anything specific about technique. For that you would need an experienced writer.
Also, if you’re writing about a real place, make certain it is historically accurate. Do your research. There’s always going to be people inherently negative about books if they know the places from those books.
Well since trojan war is still kind of fiction, there is no real harm in making it as you want. Plus this takes place on a parallel earth called Eden. So i won’t have to be historically accurate at all if i didn’t want to lol. I could make King Agamemnon a hobbit and King Priam a draconian warlock. I could make Achilles and Hector brothers at birth and then they end up hating each other. Then Achilles out of hatred for his brother and father goes to find a new place to call home in geece lol.
The world is going to be based off Earth but in different time periods. It is going to look like the gods chose their favorite time periods and mashed them all together lol. You could see roman and orc legions fighting greek phalanx and elvish rangers, or vikings mixed with elvish archers fighting samurai and a few dragons lol. It will all depends what god has done what to Eden. It is a fantasy world who knows what will be the full extent to what i add in.
In that case, there’s no issue with fact-checking.
However, although I get you’re making a point about all the things you can do, I’d still caution you to not go overboard with the creative additions. It is easy to start by adding a few fantasy elements in and end up adding in a cornucopia of things that end up overwhelming even the most imaginative reader.
I decided to go with Ultimate artist, Emperor v3, and limitless v2. I know limitless is in emperor v3 but i figured it would help with learning more about writing. And i hope emperor will help me concentrate on business too since i am trying to help my dad rebuild his accounting company.