Doris
asked
Ærick Graham:
I was born and raised part of my life in NorthEast Oregon. Wallowa County and lived most of my childhood in Lostine, OR. I loved to fish in Wallowa Lake in Joseph, OR. If the national park service has not moved it you will see the burial site of Chief Joseph. My question is where do you get your ideas and how do you develop them? My genre that I am reading is Fantasy with the mythology of the Scots and Irish.
Ærick Graham
Hi Doris! It is great to meet another Oregonian! Chief Joseph is a very important figure in our local history. A tragic story, as with all native Americans. I will have to make it out there to see his burial site.
Thanks for your question. I could really deluge you with detail. lol. Like most writers, story ideas start with observations, introspection and a desire to explore. For me, personal relationships are the foundation of stories. Characters have stories to tell. Conflict and inspiration comes from diving into personal interactions.
For my first book, I wanted to tell a story of a father and son. How the young son sees his father as a hero and infallible. Then an event exposes the son to the dangers of the world, and the perfect image is shattered as the father struggles to keep the family safe.
I approach story telling in layers. So the character story is one layer. The next layer is creating the fantasy mythology. I try to be a student of Tolkien. I love the idea of creating a history, from world creation to semi industrial era, and chart all the major events in between. For this story, I landed on a 'dark age' era. Pre medieval, because I wanted the world to still feel primordial in remote areas. That the ancient still remain, though they should have expired.
I don't have a specific European culture that I drew upon for my fantasy, but I use primarily old English words for personal names and place names. So it has a bit of a Anglo-Saxon feel to it. Somewhere in my world, there will definitely be a Scot/Irish/Celt flavor. As well as African, Arab, Chinese, Indian and all the other richness of our world.
My main character wears a torc, inspired from Celtic culture. The significance of this is that his people claim to be original inhabitants of the land. So analogous to the great Celtic civilization in the pre Roman era, before the Migration period.
My last comment on idea development, is to find an original or unique take on fantasy. My last blog speaks to this dilemma, that we are all under the shadow of Tolkien, so it is too easy to have a mythology similar to his, or any other author that has come after him. I think I was successful creating a unique fantasy setting. If you have not yet, I invite you to read my book. And I would love to know what you think about it. Cheers!
Thanks for your question. I could really deluge you with detail. lol. Like most writers, story ideas start with observations, introspection and a desire to explore. For me, personal relationships are the foundation of stories. Characters have stories to tell. Conflict and inspiration comes from diving into personal interactions.
For my first book, I wanted to tell a story of a father and son. How the young son sees his father as a hero and infallible. Then an event exposes the son to the dangers of the world, and the perfect image is shattered as the father struggles to keep the family safe.
I approach story telling in layers. So the character story is one layer. The next layer is creating the fantasy mythology. I try to be a student of Tolkien. I love the idea of creating a history, from world creation to semi industrial era, and chart all the major events in between. For this story, I landed on a 'dark age' era. Pre medieval, because I wanted the world to still feel primordial in remote areas. That the ancient still remain, though they should have expired.
I don't have a specific European culture that I drew upon for my fantasy, but I use primarily old English words for personal names and place names. So it has a bit of a Anglo-Saxon feel to it. Somewhere in my world, there will definitely be a Scot/Irish/Celt flavor. As well as African, Arab, Chinese, Indian and all the other richness of our world.
My main character wears a torc, inspired from Celtic culture. The significance of this is that his people claim to be original inhabitants of the land. So analogous to the great Celtic civilization in the pre Roman era, before the Migration period.
My last comment on idea development, is to find an original or unique take on fantasy. My last blog speaks to this dilemma, that we are all under the shadow of Tolkien, so it is too easy to have a mythology similar to his, or any other author that has come after him. I think I was successful creating a unique fantasy setting. If you have not yet, I invite you to read my book. And I would love to know what you think about it. Cheers!
More Answered Questions
Doris
asked
Ærick Graham:
Tolkien, Salvador, Rothfus, Brooks, Moning;(Karen Marie Moning)*She is the author of Fever series*If you are into this type of fantasy I highly recommend her. I personally own the first 30 novels/books of Terry Brooks "Shannara" series. Knaak. Do you use all layers of writing your fantasy's? Do you feel that a person should have a B. S. to write novels?
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