We are on Day 7 of National Novel Writing Month and I am just shy of 14,000 words. I hope to be at 15,000 by the end of the day. NaNoWriMo really pushes the idea of quantity over quality in terms of word count and I can assure you, I’ve embraced that philosophy completely. I’ve typed out 14,000 of the most awkward combination of words ever to share a manuscript.

So what’s my novel about? It’s complicated. I can tell you that it falls squarely in the fantasy genre. At least I think it does. It takes place in another world, there are various types of humanoid races each possessing a unique ability (although I won’t go as far as to call in magic), there are great battles, lots of deep lore… so yeah, fantasy, right? As I write this fantasy story, this story that’s been kicking around inside my head for years, I realized that I have no idea what I’m doing. The story is crystal clear in my mind, but when I try to convert my brain waves into written words, I quickly realize that I am at a loss for those very words. Then I realized why. I never read fantasy. I read sci-fi, classic literature, history, science, philosophy… everything but fantasy. This became clear to me when I tried to describe various parts of a soldiers armor or the weapons they carried or the ancient watchtower overlooking the sea. I didn’t have the right words. Sure I could do a little research, but it’s more than that. I’m lacking the proper tone in my story that one expects to find when reading fantasy. So that’s when I decided, five minutes ago, to throw some fantasy into my literary mix.

I just finished reading Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle, Sirens of Titan, and Mother Night (which I may elaborate on in another post). I still have Breakfast of Champions and Slaughter House Five on deck, but I’ve decided to put them on the back burner and take a sharp detour into the realm of fantasy. By the way, I cheated in the middle of my Vonnegut spree and read How to Win Friends and Influence People and The Definitive Book of Body Language. Both were fantastic. Sorry Kurt, I’ll get back to you shortly.

Game of Thrones by George R R Martin is the fantasy title I have chosen to help hone my fantastical story telling skills. It’s part of his highly acclaimed A Song of Ice and Fire series and, from what I understand, is extremely well written and epic in scope. It also looks pretty damn cool.

Finally, I want to throw out links to two podcasts I’ve been listening to for the last three or four months which have been invaluable to me as a new writer, I Should Be Writing and Writing Excuses. Check them out and may they be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.