I'm writing the first fantasy novel in a series and need suggestions. Do you have any?

Question

Ok. I'm writing a book called "Splitting the Arrow". It is the fist in a series I'm calling "A Stroke of Destiny".
"Splitting the arrow" is about Seth Lepton (age 15), a guy who just wants to hide from the world. But when he's called by the Crown Prince Wilhelm to spilt an arrow (this story is just like King arthur, only Seth needs to split an arrow) and become a hero, Seth reluctently aggrees to do so to make his father (who's ashamed of him because Seth was blamed for crime when he was 10) proud.
I got Seth to switch groups. He first was with Wilhelm and now he's witha lady tracker callede The Vixen. Seth has almost died once. And now, The Vixen and her caravan are teaching Seth swords, kun-fu, and archery.
I don't need suggestions for that.
I have a villain who's a lot like puppet-Snape who I call Snapper. I've just rescued him for a danngerous river. (Steh is safe from him...for now.)

Any ideas for what to do next (after I teach Seth the skills of a tracker)?

Answer 1

Well, have him track someone (or something), naturally. After all, why are they teaching him to be a tracker? Out of the goodness of their hearts? Or to establish a debt with him that he will have to pay off by hunting down and killing their sworn enemy (at great risk to his own life, of course)? Consider that *all* of these people who are teaching and/or helping Seth have the same enemy (maybe they're all refugees of The Enemy's conquests). They all want to stop The Enemy, but none of them alone can infiltrate his demesne. Together, they would make too large a group - they have determined (after losing all their best warriors) that only a single warrior has a chance to succeed - and that warrior must possess all of their skills if he is to have even the slightest chance.



Another piece of (unsolicited) advice: don't dive into writing the book with the idea that it will be a series. *Leave room* to make it a series, but *finish* the book. Make certain that it has a very definite ending so that, when someone reads it, they won't say "the author didn't bother finishing this book!" Instead, when your reader gets to the end of the book they should say, "That was a great story! I wonder if the author is going to write a sequel?" In other words, put everything you've got into this one book. Once you're done, you can put everything you've got into the sequel.



I hope this helps.



Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 2

Okay. I've had this problem before with a medival fantasy book. It is quite like this so I think I can help.



First of all, the question is not what does my character do next. It's what does he do next to move the plot forward?

There is one thing that always helps me. It's to make a list. Here is an example:

Say a women who has been happily married for a few years comes home to find her husband has run off with,say, the office slut :) anyway, you can make a list of what would happened next.

1.) She becomes horribly deppressed and stops talking

2.) he kids what to go with their dad

3.) She sells the house/ moves

4.) She goes broke

5.) She quits her job/ gets a new job

6.) She falls in love again



And there you go. Just write whatever comes to you. What happens after she falls in love and starts dating.Does he husband come back after leaving her? Do her kids not accept the new man? You be the judge.



PS I think The Vixen should be with the Snapper dude all along. I love a good betrayle story :) :) :D

Answer 3

Ouchie, I can see how you'd be stuck.



Well, what happened to Wilhelm? Isn't Seth going to use his skills against him? Wouldn't The Vixen want that?



Or maybe, what happens to Snapper, after the river-incident?



All I can do is give you questions and expect you to answer them by finishing your story. Wishing you nothing but luck! =)

Answer 4

Hey, your the writer. This is your book. YOU fill in the blanks. Just keep writing and the next step will come when your characters will tell you.