The Fantasy Fiction Formula

I’m still on the first few chapters, but that’s a good thing because it means the book has depth. By using this book, I have developed much richer characters and improved my world building. I know so much more about my protagonist and other characters and this means that I can write better, more believable prose. Definitely recommend it for first time authors.

I've always enjoyed the works of Jim Butcher and have been looking to write a novel for some time. After watching a video on youtube he mentioned how he had learned from his tutor, followed her advice and from this came the Dresen files. I looked into it more and found Debohra's book. Where better to get advice from a successful author, thats helped other authors become successful. I have been working through the book and I'm sure I'm highlighting enough parts to drain a fresh pen. Its helped me with building scenes, plots and story questions. Understanding my characters and how they interact with each other and within scenes. Sage advice that can be used in what every story you are working on.

I cannot recommend this highly enough. Even removing the fantasy element, this text was extremely enlightening in almost every aspect of story telling. It helps that Deborah Chester is a successful author with an even more successful student, so it is a proven method so to speak. In this book she addresses a lot of things I was struggling with as a writer. A few highlights were character creation and introductions. Overcoming the mid-point dip. Sub-plots. Building and releasing of tension. Points of view. And even some advice on dealing with publishing. I can honestly say this book made me a better writer, gave my story much better focus and helped everything coalesce. I would recommend an aspiring author of ANY GENRE read this.

This is an utterly brilliant book. All aspiring writers should read this. Even if fantasy isn't your genre, I'm certain the advice is relevant regardless. I'd been struggling to make my plots work, and after a few hours studying this I was able to work out where I was going wrong and how to fix it. I also found myself reading other novels, and even watching films, with new insight. I felt a bit like someone had let me in to a big secret. You should definitely read this book!

This book is more than just a dos and don'ts of fantasy writing. This book is written by seasoned fantasy writer Deborah Chester and the biggest take away for me was her advice on your protagonist. The answers should be: yes No Maybe Yes but. So basically, what I am saying is: don't let your protagonist win every time, or lose, give them what they need sometimes and everything else, make them work for it and leave them changed but deeply affected by their actions at the end of your novel. If you do all of these things, you will make it past the finish line and deliver a well rounded and compelling page turner, that people will love. That's the pros. Here's the cons. Chester advises early on that if you diet of fantasy has been served to you on the big screen, rectify it straight away and read fantasy novels. I agree 100%, but she then recommends you read the entire Jim Butcher, jk Rowling and George rr Martin back catalogue for examples of scene structure! I don't have any of these books and I don't wish to rebuy them! I suppose If you have kindle unlimited, then its not a problem. She also says she uses 1950's ancient Roman Hollywood films for dialogue cues, so read books or watch films? Which one is it? Am I knitt picking? Probably. Overall, this book is worth reading and will equip you with everything you need to write a great fantasy book. I changed my ending on my WIP because of her advice. Buy this book and take the advice that helps you the most. I do recommend. Happy writing.

I gave been writing for many years now and still managed to pick up some new ideas from this book. I dud nit find the introduction, or the author, to be condescending. Jim Butcher and the author both have many books published and both plan and work hard to ensure their next book sells. Hard work creates good stories. As JS Bell has said in other books: fiction that breaks all the rules to be speculative is also called "fiction which doesn't sell". This book will go a long way to teaching you the art and craft of producing good fiction, the hard work is the part you must provide.

If you want the perfect mixture between analysing and practical advice this is it. Written by a very successful author and teacher, this is a fantastic how-to-book. It might sound like something only Fantasy Fiction writers would find useful but anybody writing adventure genres in the widest sense will find their money's worth here. Higly recommended.

I've bought - and read - scores of how-to books on writing fiction over the years, but this is surely among the ten best books of its type that I've ever read. Sure, there were plenty of things in it that I already knew, but there was so much else that I hadn't considered, and I feel that my own writing will be enriched as a result. The book had been strongly recommended to me, and now I recommend it to you.

Sehr gutes Buch - jedem, der selbst Fantasy-Romane schreiben möchte wärmstens zu empfehlen. Die Autorin weiß, wovon sie schreibt. Alle Lektionen sind mit vielen Beispielen erläutert. Einer der besten Schreibratgeber, die ich kenne.

I have read a lot of books on writing. Yet so many of them just felt like repeats of each other. More than that, I had a strong feeling that they were incomplete. That there was a piece of the writing puzzle that no one was talking about. I finally found the information that I was looking for in this book. And it is suitable for any type of writer not just fantasy. Highly recommended

An excellent book, it explains in detail with good examples and easy to follow one of my favorites for sure!!!

Brutal.

Deborah Chester ha pubblicato oltre 40 libri fantasy, ed il suo allievo più noto (Jim Butcher) ha in corso di pubblicazione una delle saghe più di successo del fantasy urbano contemporaneo. La signora sa quello che fa. Leggere il libro è come scoprire come usare i propri superpoteri. Vengono spiegati semplici meccanismi emozionali di incredibile efficacia. Viene data meno enfasi alla semplice descrizione strutturale di atti e scene, e grande risalto ai metodi per coinvolgere il lettore nella storia e non fargli distogliere l'attenzione. Una meraviglia!