Writing an "Epic" fantasy.

All this writing I've been doing over the last couple of years has been invaluable. I think it has taught me that my natural genre is still fantasy. Not only that, but epic fantasy.

But how do I go about it? What have I learned?

One: I'm more fertile when I write at random. Just write scenes, ideas, characters, plot points. So I'm going to do that, and figure I can assemble the book at the end of the day.

Two: Think of it as more "assembling" than writing. I can write. I can write all day long. So that isn't the worry. But I think I need to be able to both explore the process of epic writing and also do the actual writing, and also make it my research.

Three: If I run true to form, I'll have multiple story lines, beginnings, endings, tangents. That's O.K. because it will give me options.

Four: I need options because it's too easy to fall into predictable plot paths. Lord of the Rings was such a strong template that it is nearly impossible to break away from. Then again, quest fantasy or epic fantasy has elements that you really can't break away from without becoming something else.

I've noticed that so many authors are either totally, boringly predictable, and/or try to do something unusual, which in the end doesn't work. So many fantasies I read actually seem to shrink over time, instead of expand. Or they spin out of control. Or they just somehow don't ring true, or fizzle out.

I think, ultimately, the reason for this is that they really don't have enough background to sustain the story. Tolkien's LOTR's was actually a kind of superficial top layer gleaning of the huge mythology he constructed. For so many fantasy authors, they're straining just to fill in the story they're writing, and ultimately, either they fail, or they fall back on predictable tropes.

I too fall into predictable grooves. My working process is such that I discover the story by writing it, so I sometimes feel like I can't avoid that. So what I want to do, is go ahead and write, discover where the story is going, write again, see where it goes elsewhere, and then chose among all the different elements of the mythology background, where I want to go that but fulfills the promise of epic fantasy, and at the same time avoids too much predictability.

In other words, I want it to be both traditional and fresh.

The common denominator I've noticed in fantasy books I've liked recently; Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMasters Bujold; Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss; is that they are not ongoing endless stories.

So I'm going to try to keep it to a trilogy. If it was good enough for Tolkien, it's good enough for me.

The other common denominator of the recent fantasy books I've liked: Um. They are really well written.

I've got to work on that.

All of this may or may not happen. I can only start the process. I'm talking years, here. Daydreaming, and first drafts, have always been the most enjoyable part of writing for me.

Meanwhile, I'll keep writing this other stuff, and actually try to finish it. (Actually finishing a book is pretty enjoyable too.)

So, a lot of writing ahead of me, hopefully.