Yeah...I haven't developed any type of colleges or schools of thought for the magic.  I'm not sure I want to categorize it that way or not.  I'll have to think on that and make a decision. 

I've always been more fond of the Gandalf-esque magic; the source of his power being unexplained and mysterious.  But I think I need to be a bit more structured than that.

Maybe the type of things people can do with the energy depends on what source they pulled the energy.  Say...if they harvested energy from a boulder, they can only do earth-based things.

So I'm developing the use and nature of magic for my fantasy series.  I was wondering if anyone had any advice about what to think of when approaching the development of a magic system.  Thanks!

I'm a novice outliner.  I am normally too impatient for them.  But my next novel (not NaNo) requires me to know what I'm doing before I start.  So what I'm going to do is not so much an outline, but a treatment.  A bare bones play-by-play version of your novel.  "Johnny does this, which causes this other thing to happen.  He struggles to solve the problem, but remembers something he learned from his father when he was young, which at the time seemed pointless, but it turns out to be the exact solution Johnny needs."  And so on, for the entire novel.

Write the entire book in 20 pages or so, keeping to the bones of the plot.  No pretty words.  No imagery.  Just write what happens and make it pretty later.

Mostly I was referring to when I was growing up in Everton, MO.  It's still sort of a problem now, but not nearly to the degree it was before.  I've changed my writing schedule to 4am, so there is little opportunity for anyone to bother me anyway.  And the fact that I'm waking up at 4am to write is gaining me a lot of credibility as a practicioner of the craft.

After work yesterday I got home and he was all wound up and ready to go to Borders for a few hours of writing.  I had been up since 4 that morning, working on my own novel before I had to be at work at 8.  I was beat.  Felt like I'd been mauled by Jesus or something.  But I agreed to go with him, even though I just wanted to sink into my bed and pass out.  I didn't want him to decide to stay home because I wasn't going.  And I had a few hundred more words in me to put into my novel anyway.  So we went.  He wrote some, talked about his other projects he wanted to do.  I wrote a paragraph or two on my book.

And in the course of our conversations between writing, I think I figured out what the deal is.  He is writing this fan script so we can produce it and turn it into a fan film.  It's not really something he wants to do.  He's just writing it as a favor for our film producer buddies so they can have something to film.  Plus it's fanfiction.  He is itching to start on his own work, his own novel.  So I don't think that the problem is with his passion for writing, it's simply about his interest in WHAT he is writing at the moment.

I may have to have a talk with him about that.  I don't want him to burn out his writing engine on something that very likely won't go anywhere when it's finally produced.

So I have this friend who has a passion for storytelling and writing, but he finds himself distracted, mostly with real world things, as we all do.  I feel like I'm a bit more evolved in the writing process than he is - not necessarily a better writer, mind you, I just think I've gotten through a lot of the beginning writer battles that he is still fighting - and I feel that I should use my experience to motivate him and help him through some of the early fights.

But I don't want to seem like I'm trying to make him write.  He keeps saying he wants to write, but I don't know if he's really sat down and thought about to what extent.  It seems like he wants to do it professionally, but then again he seems to hold a grudge toward writing for all the free time it takes up.

I don't know if I should lean on him gently, or just let him be.  I like support and motivation from fellow writers when I am slacking off, but that's because I want to be a professional writer and I love being immersed in the craft.  I am on the fence here.  I don't want to badger my friend and make it seem like I'm disappointed in him because he isn't writing regularly, or working toward a career in writing.  He's my friend whether he wants to write or not.

Anyone ever been in a situation like this?  I could use some advice on how to proceed.  Thanks.

Yeah, all of this stuff is encouraging.  It will be a big lesson to just finish.  Throughout this long road of the WIP I've taken two hefty breaks to write a couple of short stories just to feel the relief of finishing something.  Both stories turned out great and simply finishing them was a great refresher and motivator.

So I have to imagine finally finishing this novel will be a huge sensation of accomplishment for me, even if the first go-round is crap.

I like the idea about reading my fav how-to's before I rewrite.  Stephen King's "On Writing" is probably my favorite one, because it's more of a "why-to" than a "how-to".  I found that book to be one of the most inspiring things I've ever experienced.  That and the simple books like "101 Things Every Writer Needs to Know" or this one similar to it that slips my mind at the moment...I can't even remember the author's name right now...grrr. 

Anyway, thanks for the input guys.  I think I just needed to churn the butter a little and step away from my despair and frustration of the muddled plot.  I've also been reading a new (to me) author named Patrick Rothfuss.  His writing is the kind that is impossible to read without having a flash fire of inspiration spark in your brain.  Reading him is helping tremendously.

Thanks again guys!

BLG

So I'm in the final battle scene of this monstrosity of a fantasy/horror novel I've been working on for almost 3 years now.  This thing began as a one page romp, just to break the monotony of my office job.  It spread like a rash, and now I'm 400+ pages into it, and nearly finished.

I'm losing steam though.  Because i was writing by the seat of my pants, many of the scenes seem forced to me.  It is very apparent that I had no idea where the story was going.  I like the overall story, and some of the characters are good, but the book is so meandering and disjointed that it's just depressing to think about.

My plan is to use this as a rough draft/treatement, and go back after for a restructuring and a serious rewrite.  I feel I should finish this thing, get the rough draft to its completion, but I'm so disinterested in the thing as it exists right now.  At this point I'm just putting words on the page to get the thing done, and everything is coming out half-assed and lame.

I'm sure everyone has been in a spot like this before.  What did you do?  Finish the crap draft just to tie up the lose ends before the rewrite?  Or set it aside and begin restructuring instead of putting a lot of time into the few final chapters?

I'm trying to get this thing to a stopping point by the beginning of October so i can have that entire month to write a treatment of my Nano novel.