For some time, I'm stuck with part of a Fantasy story in my head.
It would consists of three parts:
- Creating a Talisman (like in First King of Shannara)
- Questing to assemble a band of heroes (like many AD&D RPG's)
- Some sort of confrontation with $Evil (like most Fantasy stories)
It could be written as three books, or as a single volume with three parts.
The only part that bounces around my head at this moment is the last few chapters of Part 1; They'd be a plot twist, a climax, and a cliff hanger all at once. I have ideas for the ending of parts 2 and 3 too, but they are much less concrete.
The three endings would all be unique, they'd each hint toward a different Fantasy book, which an avid Fantasy reader would (probably) immediately recognize. They'd be sort of a homage to the stories/endings I liked best up until now.
The story itself would contain recognizable elements from many different Fantasy sources: Tolkien, Brooks, Salvatore, Eddings, Martin, Goodkind to name a few, and even elements from some (AD&D) RPG's.
I'd like opinions on the following:
1. I've never written anything fictional before, except school reports and my final thesis to finish my studies. (Uh. Maybe that came out the wrong way.
I meant, beside writing stuff for school, years ago, I never wrote anything.)
2. My native language is Dutch. My knowledge and understanding of English is comparable to Dutch, but I am not a language expert, not even by any stretch of the imagination. I know I *will* make subtle, or maybe even some blatant mistakes, even if I'd write in Dutch. (Which I won't. I don't even read in Dutch anymore, except if the original work is Dutch.)
3. Should I actually start writing this, and *if* I ever get it done, (self-)publish it? I can imagine that many people would think: "Oh noes! Another indie Fantasidiot producing bad writing! NOT AGAAAAAAAIN! WAAAARGGGHHH!!"
I have the feeling that I'd finally want to write a story after reading so many by others, especially because I have that ending bouncing around. However, I doubt that I have the experience, knowledge, and patience to actually write it. I'm even in doubt with regard to the world needing yet another "standard" Fantasy story, even though it will (probably) contain some original elements. To be honest, it even feels a bit as if the entire story would be a filler, mere padding, just an excuse to write the three endings.
And if you say: "Yes, write it, even if it's only for yourself", then what should I aim for? Try to create a world, outline it, set the story in it, divide it into three specific parts, of maybe 150 pages to end up with a 450 page book (if I ever finish it), or "just write and see where it ends"?
edit: with regard to the last question, I'd be inclined to go with the first approach. As I'm a software engineer by education and work, I have a feeling that designing and writing a story would (should?) be similar to designing and writing a computer program. Stating what you want, dividing into objects, tasks and subtasks, and so on...