HOW TO WRITE FANTASY FICTION: LESSON 1 – READ BEFORE YOU WRITE

Though I am an amateur writer and not published I still enjoy writing fantasy fiction. I consider myself a successful writer as, although I am not particularly fluent (any observer would find a stack of grammatical errors with this post (all intentional of course)), I feel I am able to adequately put my thoughts to paper. With this in mind, I have begun to collate my thoughts of how I can complete writing a novel and why it is I enjoy continuing to write.

Firstly, for many years I have enjoyed reading. My tastes have shifted and drifted across genres as my bookcases and shelves can testify. The old adage of ‘walk before you can run’ runs true with writing. Reading and absorbing details, plots, characters and language has allowed me to adapt to a writing style I enjoy. Reading is a pleasure and a research tool. It teaches one the rules of fantasy, crime, sci-fi and horror stories which can be flexed and bent to suit the stories I aspire to write.

As I wander about my study I realise my tastes are varied. On the left I stumble upon a collection of James Herbert hardbacks and bent and twisted paperbacks I bought over a decade ago. This leans precariously against an even larger blood soaked pile of Richard Laymon’s novels. This is just the beginning, the journey takes me over my Jeffrey Deaver collection and I take a guilty look at my Patricia Cornwell books and other female crime authors. I proudly display my John Grisham, Michael Crichton, Robert Ludlum, Lee Child and Reginald Hill books beside these to reaffirm my masculinity.

My eye wanders past the contemporary texts and I catch my toe upon some dusty classics by Verne, Conan Doyle, Robert Howard and Rider Haggard. I always feel I should have read more and make a mental note too actually purchase the Time Machine and other classics on the scrap of paper I have wedged between these volumes.

If I turn even further I smirk as I approach my Terry Pratchett books. Hardback and paperback they are equally well read, the spines are testament to my enthusiasm. Annoyingly my Dead Koontz collection is fragmented and books stand all over the room, my obsessive behaviour now demands I rearrange them.

That done I stroll onwards and clamber over the hardback Lord of the Rings. I refrain from opening the text as I know I’ll get suck into the Alan Lee illustrations and never complete this post. Similarly, I demonstrate restraint as I set eyes on a broad picture book of British castles.

Finally, past my Trudi Canavan, Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan books I land upon my mammoth pile of David Gemmell books. Directly above my desk they reside, hardbacks are wedged between paperbacks acting as thick book ends. There are two places set aside for the two books that are due to arrive by post tomorrow, one of which is a signed hardback copy of Troy (I’m really quite excited).

But it does not end there. An outdated copy of the BNF, anatomy texts and reams of clinical medicine stare back at me. They are a cruel reminder that in a few more minutes I need to hit the books. But this shows, that although I write primarily fantasy stories I read authors across genres. I could well post a list of every book I own, but then again this post is long enough and I have neither the energy nor compulsion to chronicle them all.

The lesson from lesson one is: If you want to write. Read. It has no bearing what you read, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of Nihm is pressed against American Psycho, so long as you do read. The more I read the stronger my writing becomes. Therefore, on that basis one day, maybe… my work may be good enough to reach someone else’s own bookcase.