I started writing Fantasy of Frost in August 2014, the very day I woke up from dreaming it. Do you know what’s weird? My first visualization of The Tainted Accords was Olina riding on a horse (later a Dromeda) behind her mother, through sand, to meet Jovan for a peace negotiation.
How much did the story change? Kedrick was added in, the sand was removed and a bit of fire and ice chucked in, and The Tainted Accords began to take shape.
Sometimes you just awaken with THAT story. The one that consumes you until you’ve finally put pen to paper. Sometimes you don’t. That doesn’t mean your story cannot be built. That one scene you think of over and over, or the picture that struck a chord within you. All of these instances can be developed, lifted, and deepened into a novel.
Just because the dream tells you there’s a girl riding through sand on horseback, doesn’t mean this girl can’t become the Tatuma of Osolis running through a Kaur forest in the second rotation. If you get my drift…
The amazing thing about writing is there’s no write answer (The pun potential there was too strong to deny). You can start your manuscript with only a general idea of the main plot points. OR you can plan everything out from start to finish; equipped with names, dates, snapshots of dialogue, and character description. Every author has a different process and this is why ten different authors could be given the same plot, the same characters, and the same setting, and still produce ten different stories.
I need to stop here and emphasize that we will never run out of stories! This makes me very happy.
If you don’t know what the hell your process is, don’t worry! Try one way, see how it works for you. If it doesn’t work, why didn’t it work? Try another way. Why did this way turn out better?
Reflect and repeat.
Each time you attempt a manuscript, you will learn from your successes and mistakes, and eventually your writing process will be cultivated.
Be Excited About Your Writing!
Kelly St. Clare
When Kelly St Clare is not reading or writing, she is lost in her latest reverie. She can, quite literally, drift past a car accident while in the midst of her day dreams, despite the various police sirens and chaos.
Books have always been magical and mysterious to her. One day she decided to start unravelling this mystery and began writing. Her aim: To write stories she would want to read. As it turns out, this failed miserably. Do you know what it is like to read something you’ve written? Impossible. Not to mention, the ending is ruined before you’ve begun. Never-the-less, Kelly loves it and spends every free moment crafting new stories.
Fantasy of Frost, the first title in The Tainted Accords, is her debut novel. Two of the three sequels, Fantasy of Flight and Fantasy of Fire, are now available.
A New Zealander in origin and in heart, Kelly currently resides in Australia with her soon-to-be husband, a great group of friends, and some huntsman spiders who love to come inside when it rains. Their love is not returned.
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If you would like to check out her books, you can do so here.