This last year may have been crazy, but all of the extra time gave me the opportunity to read a whole ton of new and amazing books (many of which have become my favorites of all time). I'm a bit late, but I wanted to do a blog at the end of this year recommending the absolute best I found (difficult as it is to narrow it down to a manageable number). 

​Here goes. 

This is the second part of my Ideas to Book blog series. (If you missed the first one you can find it here.) The last post dealt with finding an idea that can become a book.

​But a single idea really isn't enough to do it, no matter how good that idea might be. So you need more than one. A book is a bunch of ideas that fit together to form a story. Ideas that can feed into each other, and work together to create a compelling world and narrative.

I thought it might be cool to do a blog post about how a single idea can turn into enough of a story to make a novel. After doing a rough draft, I decided that it would be too long for one post, so I'm going to split it into two. 

Part One will be about the spark of the first idea. The one that starts it all.

​I recently started world-building for a new story idea (I know— bad when I'm supposed to be in the middle of revising my current project) but in trying to figure out the level of technology and feeling of my new world I got lost in google searches about the different punk genres. 

So I decided to make a master list. Mostly for me, but also because I needed a subject for my (very very late) monthly blog post. (Seriously, it’s becoming a bi-yearly blog post at the rate I’m going). 

So punk genres. 

NaNoWriMo is less than a week away...is anyone else starting to freak out? Because I am. I've been spending every spare minute prepping to start writing on the first of November. 1,667 words a day. That's not so many words, when you think about it, right? 
 
The problem is, I'm already feeling the crunch of a deadline, what with work, editing, life in general, and Inktober (why did Inktober and NaNoWriMo have to be back to back anyway?) So next month is even going to get busier. But the hard part isn't the writing. The hard part is making the time to write and staying focused and motivated and excited about your project. 
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So this blog post will be about finding that inspiration. Gathering dreams and ideas and magic and characters and using that to fuel your drive to do this crazy month-long challenge. 
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Magic. It’s one of the defining characteristics of the fantasy genre. A writer has unlimited possibilities to choose from when building their world and the magic that shapes it. Flying. Shapeshifting. Characters wielding fire or healing with a touch. Magic potions and runic spells. Demon magic and necromancy. Witch marks and superheroes.

This is an abbreviated blog post of my booklet guide to creating a magic system. Sign up to my blog mailing list (to the right) to get a downloadable PDF of the complete booklet, which goes into a lot more detail on each step, with a ton of room dedicated to examples and ideas to get your juices flowing. Or, if you'd prefer, keep reading this post for the highlights. Either way, hopefully by the end, you have a working draft of your magic.
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But writing stories takes time. 

​I’ve spent the last nine months working on a novel, and I only have the first six chapters done. It could easily take years to have a completed draft. And even when I have a finished product, it isn’t likely to make much money, if any.