Becoming an 'Expert': A Fantasy Writer's Journey

Hello again!As we approach the month of July, I will be using the next five days to prepare for one of my favourite writing challenges of the year: Camp NaNoWriMo. Although this means that I won’t be focusing on my Becoming a Fantasy ‘Expert’ journey via research and reading, etc., I will be working on my writing which favours fantasy and speculative genres. My progress on becoming an expert will continue in August.If you are unfamiliar with Camp NaNoWriMo - or its parent, NaNoWriMo - you can find out more here: https://nanowrimo.org/ In short, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and is a virtual yearly challenge set in November that asks writers to write 50,000 words (the minimum word count for a novel) within the month. The Camps, set in April and July (also virtual), last a month as well, but they allow participating writers to choose their own word count goal to achieve during the challenge. As well as a writing challenge, the NaNoWriMo website also acts as an online…

Hello!I have spent the past few days looking into which books the fantasy community considers the most influential and inspiring throughout time to find out who/what our classics, our greats, are. My research resulted in an extensive list that was far too big to reveal on this post. You can, however, find the full list as it stands at the top of this blog. I wanted to include a summary and subgenre categories for each one but it was too big a list for the page as well so I have had to cut those features out. I have plans to read several of these books though and will therefore explore them in much further detail for you in future posts.While compiling this ‘Greatest Hits’ list I also noticed some elements I found intriguing. For example: some eras seem to have produced more 'classics' than others and there are some authors who have more than one mention. These are just two observations (out of many) that I would like to explore. Therefore, my future plans will include doing ju…

Hey, there!
Following on from my previous posts, I knew my next direction was to research into the history of the fantasy genre. It is in learning about the past of our craft that we can appreciate it and mould it into our own. Fantasy is one of the longest standing genres of story-telling to exist in human history; going as far back as mythical creatures in ancient cave drawings. 
The genre has always been a way for us to explain things that, at the time, seem inexplicable. Like associating the weather and seasons with gods and goddesses, blaming unseen monsters for noises or uncertainties that occur in the dark, and believing in miracles when seemingly impossible circumstances or accidents happen. It fuels our dreams and forges our imagination almost collectively, and there have been several examples of cultures spanning many countries apart, sharing fantastical ideologies and beliefs. For example: fairy tales across the world share the same format and purpose (good vs. evil, focused …

Howdy!My next step was to see just how many fantasy books I own as of this moment. I wanted to do this because I was curious to see what percentage of my book cases comprised fantasy books - though I was certain it was a high number - but it was also helpful so that when I buy more books, I won’t end up with duplicates. It was necessary research and very nostalgic of my childhood.I thought I would share with you my current fantasy collection, which I definitely will expand! Compare my list with your own if you wish, perhaps you will see a title which grabs your attention, maybe you’ll notice that we have the same books as each other, or laugh about the fact that yours is a much larger compilation than mine, haha. Either way, here it is for you to see. Bear in mind, that it consists of books from different fantasy sub-genres and intended audiences and that I have not yet read all the books listed. My Current Fantasy Collection The Best British Fantasy 2014 - ed. Steve HaynesTerry pratche…