Short story – Mythic Scribes Test Site

Avoiding Fantasy Fatigue

If you’re reading this article you might be thinking two things:

1. Why would a fantasy website feature an article about being burned out with fantasy?

2. I’m burned out on fantasy, so I want to see what this guy rants about.

Well, to put this into perspective, I’m a life-long fan of fantasy, have written it for years, and consider it my bread and butter. However, I often hear the advice, “Read outside your genre.” The same can apply to writing. Embracing different styles and genres might just increase your love for your “main genre.”

Is it bad to abandon your main genre for a spell and try something else? Let’s explore this idea together, shall we?

Help! I Accidentally Wrote a Novel

by A. Howitt

Okay, so the story wasn’t an accident, but its length was.

I searched for any way to pass lonely Wisconsin winter hours while my coworkers paced an empty showroom floor, waiting for clients who needed a vehicle badly enough to brave low temperatures and icy streets.

I hated all of it. In fact, I never meant to sell cars, either. While in school for auto body repair, I turned in an application to the body shop and they sold me the job on the showroom floor!

During slow times, I wrote. I scribbled notes on the backs of financing forms, filled pages of lined paper with a story, and even based my character off my predicament purely for inspiration—not as some sort of immature way to deal with my frustrating job. So what if a few salesmen wizards had a few bad things happen to them?

The Iron Pen Anthology is Now Available!

by Mythic Scribes

We’re excited to announce the publication of the Iron Pen Anthology: Volume 1.

This is a collection of stories written by members of Mythic Scribes. Each of these stories was written for one of our Iron Pen contests, which challenge writers to come up with fantasy stories based on four prompts.

This anthology features eight winning entries, which have been further expanded and polished, as well as a bonus story.

The collection includes:

Using Multiple Texts to Develop Your Story World

by Lisa Walker England

Recently at Mythic Scribes, we’ve enjoyed some exceptional articles on world building. I have incorporated tips from several already, with noticeable improvements in my organization and productivity in this challenging craft.

This process has also led me deeper into my worlds. In fact, lately I have been almost overwhelmed by all I have yet to discover about them—let alone communicate to my audience.

Faced with the gargantuan task of immersing readers in a whole world, one novel seems kind of, well, puny.

So I asked myself: “How can I redistribute that burden?”

10 Easy Steps to Crush Creative ADD

by Philip Overby

You’re working on your current project when a beautiful faerie lands on your laptop and says, “Hey! Why are you writing this boring story? Look over here!”

Wow, a story about elven wyvern hunters in 18th Century Central America is much more interesting than my current Work in Progress (WIP) about mutant horse-thieves in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by centaurs.

The faerie grabs your hand, hovers it over a new Word document, and jumps up and down on your finger until you left-click it. Ah. Like sinking into a warm bath. The feeling of cleansing away your dirty, stinky WIP and starting a pristine, new document, that little blinking cursor sending shivers up your spine.

Flash Novels: The Future of Fantasy Fiction?

by Featured Author

This article is by Leif G.S. Notae.

What if I told you that I could condense The Lord of the Rings or A Game of Thrones into less than 25,000 words? You’d think that I was crazy.

I assure you, this is not my intention. However, it is possible.

Flash fiction, which is a style of writing that emphasizes extreme brevity, is becoming increasingly popular. While it has been around for years, it has recently been garnering respect in literary circles. Even conventional novelists find it useful to experiment with flash fiction, as it challenges them to approach writing in new and creative ways.

Knowing What You Want

by Benjamin Clayborne

Question Mark | Image via Wikipedia — Do you know what you want?

It’s hard to know how to get started as a writer. Should you write short stories or a novel? Should you stick with one genre, or try several? Should you get an agent and submit to traditional publishers, or try the self-publishing route?

The answers to those questions depend entirely on what you want. A full-time career as a writer? Financial stability? (That’s a tough one to achieve by writing!) Fame and respect? To simply be able to say that you finished a novel-length story?

Some people say “I want to be a writer!” without really figuring out what that means. Other folks just want to be able to say “I’m a writer” at cocktail parties and high school reunions. They might not even need any publication credits; simply having tried makes them feel like a writer.