Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lavec 08-10-06, 05:47 PM	Obviously I am of the virulent tribe of newbies that crowd this forum...I apologize for misposting my origional questions in the general FR thread.... This thread is a chance for anyone else attempting to write an FR novel to help me out or share advice. I've gone over the submissions site for WOTC and am a bit disheartened to find that a potential author cannot even submit an idea for FR unless wizards asks for it. And then it has to be specifically designed to their parameters. I guess it makes sense and has been done that way in the past, but now I've got to retool my novel to fit into a world unknown. I may even scratch the whole thing because my protagonist was basically designed around FR knowledge, and the plot was a bit Salvatorian, so I knew it would work in FR well. Argh. This is already a really great novel in progress, and it was an extremely fun campaign to play. I just hope that in their attempt to maintain a sovereign influence on Faerun, that wizards and their acolytes do not strangle the creative artery that nourishes D&D's future in novels. I try to be humble, but have no disillusionment about my ability as a writer. This novel is better than anything ever written in the FR setting, save maybe one or two. I'd say which one I think that is, but I don't want this thread to blow up with debate about it :) thanks for any alleviation you can provide to a simple young bard.
Red_Wizard 08-11-06, 10:24 AM	I'm not really sure what your looking for people to tell you man, but i'm kinda skeptical on your bold statements of best novel ever. It's seems kinda un-orthadox, but perhaps you could post up a sampler here for some of the disbelievers i'm sure you've sparked with this post. If there was a question, please highlight it, or reword it so someone can answer it, cause otherwise all i'm really seeing is abit of ranting on the wizards guidlines, and some self-inflated views of your own work. IMO ofcourse.
Yokinobu 08-11-06, 10:33 AM	I agree, that's quite a boast. But who am I to refute it? I haven't read it. Why don't you write to some current Realms authors and try to get advice from them, or see if they'll take a look at it for you and put in a good word if they like it? I don't know, it's worth a shot.
BadCatMan 08-11-06, 10:50 AM	Everyone hopeful author thinks they've written the bestest bestest thing ever, at some stage. They usually haven't. I know, I've been there. So some advice: 1) Humilty. Say "I believe I am reasonably competent at writing", but only after someone who isn't related to you and isn't a friend or colleague - in fact, a complete stranger who's job involves sorting through submitted stories - says something nice about it. Always know/think that you suck, so you can continually try to do better. 2) You want to write for FR? They don't take unsolicited manuscripts. So write for everything else: fiction magazines, web sites, heck, even fan fiction. Something safe and easy, where you can stand out in a small crowd and build an impressive cv before moving onto larger, more important works. 3) Don't just do FR fanfic or generic fantasy. Expand to unique fantasy ideas, sci-fi, heck, even non-speculative fiction. Go wild. Having wide tastes and talents will always serve you well. 4) Stay away from novels, they're too much investment for too little return. You don't want to spend months writing x0,000 words, print it and post it only to have it rejected, even without being read. Short stories are quicker and easier and more efficient, and more likely to get accepted (possibly just as space-filler). They also have more focus to show off your ideas and talents in. 5) Find a writer's group, either in RL or online, where people share their work and rip eachother's to shreds mercilessly. Because this is the best help you can get. 6) Keep writing, always keep practising. Online RP boards are great for this. Good luck, and you've reminded me that I should get back to my writing. Eep. I got distracted by the online RP bit.
Old Sage 08-11-06, 10:55 AM	lavec, I'd also recommend you pop on over to the Candlekeep boards where you can engage official Realms writers in such discussions. They're more than likely to share a few pointers with you, as they've done so with others in the past.
Joffre_Tremblant 08-11-06, 12:18 PM	4) Stay away from novels, they're too much investment for too little return. You don't want to spend months writing x0,000 words, print it and post it only to have it rejected, even without being read. Short stories are quicker and easier and more efficient, and more likely to get accepted (possibly just as space-filler). They also have more focus to show off your ideas and talents in. 5) Find a writer's group, either in RL or online, where people share their work and rip eachother's to shreds mercilessly. Because this is the best help you can get. 6) Keep writing, always keep practising. Online RP boards are great for this. These 3 points are the absolute best advice you can ever give any aspiring or even established author. Take Stephen King for instance, both in his youth and in the now he does tons of well-written short stories for magazines, periodicals, online, and published sources. Moreover, his Dark Tower series (7 amazing books, his ode to Lord of the Rings, though Western style) was originally just a bunch of short stories he submitted to a literary mag. I haven't frequented the Candlekeep boards yet, but if you have access to realms authors such as Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, and others where they might even possibly critique your work or just plot ideas, all the better. Lastly, I believe humility must always be tempered with confidence and a dash of pride. Though, you are probably going a bit far as to saying it is the best piece of Realmswork, save for one or two. Anyhow, I would absolutely love to take a look at either the work in whole or just the general story plot points.
Krash 08-11-06, 10:27 PM	My only comment is that you've used the words "disillusionment" and "alleviation" incorrectly from the point of view of syntax and grammar. -- George Krashos
lavec 08-13-06, 12:16 PM	for the advice as well as noodle-lashings...this is one forum where I know it all would be done in a positive manner. I'll respond in a personal msg to the few that took the time to help me out, as to kill this thread born of frustrated, coffee induced writer's haze. If anything, I did coin the word Salvatorian. Then again, probably not laf -L