The requirements of writing great stories | #106

And my process writing Project Dylan, a low-fantasy crime novel

Hello, this is Celeste. I have been writing poems since 2017 and a low-fantasy crime novel since 2022. Letters for Creatives is the place where I share my thoughts on creativity, resources for creatives, and interview creators and authors. Welcome 26 new readers of this creative tribe since the last letter.

Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Worldbuilding and the writing process

I have immersed myself in learning more about storytelling lately. So today’s letter will be filled with fiction-writing tips.

Kris Fajardo shares tips on outlining, world-building, editing and other writing tips as she writes her manuscripts.

Some of her videos that I find useful:

• Figure out the story with outline

• World-building a new Adult Fantasy

• How I write stories faster, a dialogue focused/non-linear writing method (This might save some of you a lot of headache. I have quite a headache pushing the story forward for Project Dylan.)

Lynn D. Jung also shared her tips on transitioning between plot points in a novel, writing characters that are smarter than the author and so on. Also, she has been nominated for Pushcart Prize! Asian American authors are thriving recently.

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Jeannine Ouellette

shared eleven helpful things she has learned about writing, which is very useful for someone who is struggling through the draft of their first fiction.

The author’s thoughts, feelings, memories, ideas, explanations, predictions, and so forth—be careful of this reflective writing. Working out these ideas in our journals may have value for us as humans, yes, but sharing those same ideas in the same way in our creative writing can be ineffective at best and grating at worst.

I have kept quite a bit of Project Dylan’s back story and notes for my reference. The back story would not be in the story because you don’t want to bore your readers but surprise them. (Author note: Dylan needs a more valid motivation)

Part of my character notes for the main character Dylan, hence Project Dylan

Project Dylan

I have been writing on and off for Project Dylan after NaNoWriMo. It has been such a ride. The idea for the book title kind of popped into my head one day, it would be the address of one significant location. (I am giving so many spoilers before the first draft is even done!)

The rest of the behind-the-scenes and this week’s creative challenge would be behind the curtain for paying members.