Writing Forum

When I completed college a few years ago, it was my intent to go to law school. Then, after really considering the matter for a while, I said, "To heck with that---I don't want to practice law." What I wanted to do and still want to do is to write an epic fantasy novel, one to rival JRR Tolkien's in beauty, profundity, and importance to our literature, our history, and our culture.

So, I literally set out to "train" myself how to write an epic fantasy novel---And I'm still working on it. I read a few authors whose names I will not speak aloud here--- or write aloud here. But I read the works of these epic fantasy writers and thought, "I can write better than that---I can imagine a better story and tell it with a more compelling voice."

Having set that goal, I have since taken advantage of anything and everything I could get my hands on that might teach and instruct me in the craft of writing, specifically the craft of composing epic fantasy literature. I still consider myself a student. I still watch the videos of Brandon Sanderson--- and now I watch the videos of John Green too, his "Crash Courses," as they're called. I watch other videos as well when I get the chance.

I read rapaciously, mostly in the epic fantasy genre. Right now I'm reading Joe Abercrombie. But it's important to note that I've even changed the way I read novels. I no longer read simply for the visceral pleasure of a good story. I now read with an eye on craftwork, trying to note the way an author goes about putting his story together, the elements they chose to include, the prose voice employed, the character development, all sorts of minute details that ten or twenty years ago I wouldn't have given even a single thought to.

I complain even that a site like Writing.com here is too much a place of social networking and not enough of a training site. I complain there are no writing groups near where I live, nor any reading groups either for that matter. I complain my friends don't realize that writing fiction is not just a "hobby" for me, that it's actually my real job, the one which I'm constantly working on improving, while writing legal documents for attorneys is just a lame bit of sideline work that helps me pay the bills. I complain there aren't any---

Okay, nevermind about all of that. Just suffice it to say that, yeah, I complain a lot.

So, the answer is that I personally try to absorb all sorts of material about epic fantasy, while trying to read as much of it as possible, while also trying to incorporate elements of story that are more universal and less genre-specific, while also actively working on maintaining the perspective of a student, a trainee, an apprentice, but one that having gone through a so-called "higher learning" experience is now on a self-guided, self-taught study of the specific field of epic fantasy. When I went through college there were classes available for speculative fiction---encompassing sci-fi and fantasy---but nothing specifically covering epic/high fantasy, like the work of Tolkien, Lewis, Erikson, Martin, Jordan, Abercrombie, and others of their ilk. So, I work within a classroom of my own making, of my own imagination, my own research, of my own study, and of my own personal adoration.

Why? Because, like Toni Morrison said:

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”


She didn't write epic fantasy, but Ms. Morrison is a pretty smart lady and I think she is absolutely correct.