The Best Writing Advice

Anyone who dreams of writing a book or a poem, a song or an essay, can find literally thousands of "top tips" articles scattered across the internet, magazines, groups, and books. Advice is everywhere, and each advice giver claims theirs is the best.

Well, today is my day. I think my advice is the best. Why? Because it keeps you focused on what really matters. If you observe this piece of advice, and let all of the other bits find their place behind it, you will never go wrong.

The best advice in the world for anyone who wants to write right is two words:

Just write.

The beautiful thing about writing is the revision process; you can always go back and do things over again. So if you afraid you're going to make ten thousand mistakes, cool. If you've caught the Writer's Block, cool. You're just like everybody else. Neither of these things is really an excuse to stop writing.

If you're not sure how the next part of your work should go, try forcing something out. Then do it again. And maybe even a third, fourth, and fifth time. Give yourself some options to test. Perhaps none of them is right, but they'll get your mind headed in the right direction. And if you don't feel comfortable doing that, skip the part you're stuck on and write the part after it. Then go back and tie the two together. There are many routes to take, just keep writing.


As far as I can tell, there are two things that will kill a writer's dreams: 1) believing you have to have everything perfected before you write it down, and 2) stopping. If you stop writing, it will become your escape. Every time you feel stressed about writing, you'll just quit. Your work will never progress, you'll lose heart and eventually your dream of writing will fall by the wayside.

Never stop writing. If you get yourself in a pickle...

Just write.

Writing anything that keeps you going, and eventually the pickle will pass.

Top Five "Feels" So Far

Have you ever found yourself yelling at a book or movie screen? Have you ever cried over the death of a character? Have you ever longed to get revenge on a fictional villain? Have you ever felt "the feels"?

It seems that whenever we see a good movie or read a great book, there are always characters our hearts go out to. Some people may become more emotionally exposed than others (crying, yelling and what have you), but we certainly respond to the characters' experiences with empathy and sympathy and invest ourselves in their welfare, especially if we find ourselves intimately connected with them.

About a week or so ago, I received an email about "the feels" experienced by one reader as she read each of my books. It was one of my favorite fan emails thus far. But there was a catch: this email also came with a challenge, a very good challenge.

"Now that you know how much I love these stories and how big of a sucker I am for them, can I give you a challenge? I challenge you to write a blog post where you list your top five feels moments from the books you've published so far, including both the Kingdom Chronicles and Oblivion's Gate. That's something I'd really love to see..."

It was quite a challenge, but I accepted it, and at last my five are ready. Are you ready? I hope so, 'cause were we go.

S. R. Ford's Top Five "Feels" (So Far)

5. "Fallon was gone" (The Elements and the Exodus)
Three tragic words that kindle feelings of panic, terror and fury. The group has just won a major battle, the world is bright and cheery, a whole city is singing for joy, and everything should be happily ever after; but no. While no one is paying attention, Shunul appears. He reveals that they've played right into his hands, and in a fell swoop he kidnaps Fallon. There is no trail to follow--there's not even a hint that Fallon's still alive, and yet the world sings on merrily, oblivious that anything has happened. 

4. Axsem (The Kingdom Chronicles)
I can never get over how much I love Axsem's entire character. This may be cheating a bit, but I count him as one large "feels" moment. Everyone has a story they never want to tell, something they wish they could forget but can't because it makes them who they are. Imagine what it would be like to know that you were the only surviving piece of something that was once great and good, something you had to watch sink into decay and destroy itself. Imagine you had to survive by living on only promises and faith that something good was going to come. Imagine how that would define you. In the Kingdom and the Crown Axsem first appears bitter and hateful--a racist man covered in thick emotional scar tissue, but as he is forced to recount the downfall of his nation and aid in its rebirth, we see the true Axsem emerge from the guilt, heartache and loneliness. Axsem, to me, models the strongest type of person. Yes, he may have lost his way and let darkness and pain overcome him for a time, but in the end he proved to be one of the most kindhearted people one could ever hope to meet.

3. Dan's Dream of Alice (Mimgardr)
The relationship between Dan and Alice Barker is beautiful. Any two siblings that share a bond like these two is lucky, and any who deliberately push away such an one are foolish. The story Dan tells of Alice in Mimgardr is so tender and loving that when he closes with the statement "She was my Christmas, Aaron, and now she's gone," your heart can't help but ache. And that feeling only multiplies when he dreams of her a few chapters later. Right before Alice passes through the gateway into Hafenu, leaving Dan alone in the darkness, you get to understand just how he and Alice feel about each other and the pain of their separation, feelings many people around the world perfectly empathize or sympathize with.

2. Zarrys's Revocation (The Elements and the Exodus)
There are really only a few experiences that I think generate more intense feels than the death of someone you love dearly, and this is one of them. At the end of the Kingdom and the Crown, Zarrys had become perfectly familiar with Vagahem (a GOD), had been filled with power and light, had a strong connection with a companion, had seen his post-mortal parents, had been crowned king, shown a vision of potential future events, and topped it all of by taking Namine's hand in marriage. It was really a cloud nine moment. However, as book two goes along, we watch Zarrys's personality contradicting with his better judgment until he makes a mistake that costs him everything. All of the goodness he had been given is torn away from him and he is left to wallow in the same darkness as Malystryx. His power, foresight, connections, influence--everything--is stripped away from him. Can you imagine what that would be like? Can you imagine the hellish agony?

1. The Death of Ilia (Mimgardr)
Why does this beat the rejection of a god? Because that's something I don't think any of us can perfectly empathize with. None of us have known a god intimately and been given earth-bending powers and psychic connections and then lost them. But there are many out there who have lost a spouse, and that pain is exquisite.
In the case of Dan and Ilia, though, it goes a bit deeper into feels territory. When the Battle of Mimgardr begins, Dan's family is gone, his friendships are wavering, he thinks his in-laws have rejected him, his self-esteem is shot, and the list goes on. In the midst of the battle, he learns that he's a pawn in Morgan's plan and is being sacrificed to destroy the Fallen. Finally, at the end of the battle, victory is won and Dan is actually hailed as a hero by the Asketillians. Perhaps things are going to be all right. But then a man appears and attempts to stab Dan in the back while his guard is down and is only stopped by Ilia who appears between them and takes the blade through her stomach.
The last anchor in Dan's life begins to slip away from that moment on: the murderer escapes, Ilia's mutation is revealed, and any hope of a healthy relationship with Merlin is obliterated shortly before Ilia dies. Then Merlin is killed and Dan, marked as a murderer, flees to his island with Ilia's body, hoping beyond hope that he can still revive her.
Not only did Dan lose his bride that day in Mimgardr, he lost everything, including himself. Tell me that doesn't hit you right in the feels.

So there you have it. Those are my top five "feels" (so far), out of the many I had to choose from.

Now I turn the challenge to you. What are your top five "feels" from my books? Answer in the comments section below, or shoot me an email!

Happy reading!

The All-Seeing Floor of Pukwan's Temple

The Kingdom Chronicles draws its inspiration from the endless realms of fantasy and religion; but because the series carries no singular religious affiliation, I love seeing the ways that people from all over the globe choose to connect the story and characters to real world things and places. So often the allusions they make teach me more about my readers than about my books.

One aspect of the book that is based on religious writings is the throne room in the Temple of the Crown, where the throne is carved with representations of their planet's present solar system, two fire-breathing dragons defend the throne (though needlessly), and the very floor has the ability to reveal anything the Great Vagahem wishes to see: things past, present, or future in as vast or minute a scope as He desires.

There are long discussions about every part of the Temple of the Crown and Mount Ryel that could be had, but today I want to focus on the throne room floor only.

When I created this aspect of Pukwan's temple, I drew from verses and writings of both Judaism and Christianity. References such as: "The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool" (KJV Isaiah 66:1), "...and beneath his feet was...like the appearance of the heavens..." (Pentateuch, Exodus 24:10), "...thy walls are continually before me." (KJV Isaiah 49:16), "...but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all... And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created;... For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them." (Moses 1:6, 8, 35.), "and I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire:" (KJV Revelation 15:2), and my final example, "but they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord" (The LDS Doctrine and Covenants 130:7). There are many others, and too them I added my own thoughts and expectations.

If a being is all-powerful, all-knowing and ever present, there really is nothing to put limits on it except itself. There is no one who can give it boundaries or limitations. Essentially, such a being would be an unstoppable force and an immovable object, living far outside the captivation of space and time. To perfectly contemplate the grandeur of a god is a feat that no finite human could ever accomplish, for we know of no such condition as infinity, only the limits we face in and of ourselves; everything we know is governed by some law not its own and has some sort of a limit. Therefore, no person will ever have the ability to prove or disprove the existence of a god unless a god chooses to reveal itself to us and prove that they do in fact exist.

This being the case, if a god did exist, I would imagine that such an infinitely powerful being would also be the most perfectly compassionate since everything that has come into being, including time, space and the laws of nature, has done so by the god's sanction and appointment. In essence, it created the game, which means it also created the rules and their loopholes and has the power to transcend them all for its own purposes.

These thoughts and others, along with the verses noted above, all played into the creation of Pukwan's all-seeing floor. Using the special surface as a medium, Pukwan is able to open up a view beyond time and space to display anything He so desires. Instead of having to preserve His kings on a journey across time and space constantly, He can simply throw open this fantastic window and show them as a distant observer something they could not otherwise behold. He knows the limits that He has placed on His mortal kings, and so He utilizes means whereby He can give them a glimpse of His knowledge or purpose without destroying, harming, or frightening them. The all-seeing floor is just as much a manifestation of compassion as it is a tool of instruction and revelation.

What do you think? How have you interpreted Pukwan's character in the books so far? What expectations would you have if you were to interact with an eternally infinite being, a god? Please leave a comment, and take them anywhere you want to go. I don't care if you believe in a god or not; if you don't, just pretend for a minute. What if they did exist? What would they be like?

Simpul Post with a Kweschun

Good morning, everyone!

I hope my terrible spelling caught your attention. It should read "Simple Post with a Question", and that's because this post is only a question.

I need you to give a one- to two-word answer in a comment below (please not on Facebook or Twitter), then pass this on to your friends so they can comment too. The more answers I can accumulate the better.

Here's the question:

What is your favorite mythical creature?

The time is now yours...  :)

Music and Subconscious Needs

Isn't life more fun when there is music playing? Workouts work out better, athletes compete better, romantics romance better, dreams even modify to the influence of music--everything just seems to get better with music. My favorite aspect of music is its effect on the clock. Time seems to pass faster when music is on (as long as you like the music that is playing), thus making it feel like it takes less time to do your work. Contrariwise, however, music has just much leverage on subconscious self-revelation. The music you listen to and play oft times says more about your inner workings and feelings than about the tasks at hand.

To illustrate, let's step into Mimgardr for a second. While Dan is cleaning the second floor of Merlin's tower following a particularly distressful turn of events, he chooses to break a few rules and incite some early morning mischief in response to the early happenings. He uses magic to make his treasured Fazioli pianoforte play out some powerful tunes while the mops and brushes work. He chooses two pieces of music that hearken back to the days of his childhood and remind him of doing chores at home while his father would play. The first piece he chooses is Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, which builds from a gentler beginning to a very energetic end. He follows the rhapsody with "Danse Infernale", or "Infernal Dance" in English, from Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, which definitely earns its title for the overpowering, crazed sound of the music.

For those of you who don't recognize these pieces by name. Here are two excellent examples from the endless realms of YouTube. I've hunted down certain piano performances to better illustrate how the music might've played into Dan's scheme in the wee hours of morning.

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt. This rendition was performed by Ádám György, who studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and posted to YouTube by dexsst5 on 15 Sept 2009.

"Danse Infernale" from Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky. This rendition was performed by
Francesco Piemontesi, and was posted to YouTube by ClassicalMusicVideos on 07 Dec 2008.

As you can hear, both pieces are a bit more fast paced, aggressive and energetic than most people would be accustomed to hearing when they first get up in the morning. However, I felt that they perfectly illustrated Dan's desires by starting out very simply and purely mischievous, and building to an obnoxious finish. In a way the selections reveal not only Dan's intent that morning and portions of his past, but they also reveal the storm that's built up inside his heart. On the edges of the storm Dan seems to be purely mischievous, but as one slowly peels back the layers they find the spite, heartache and fear buried deeper in. With the choice of music he subconsciously reveals his whole soul to the world in a desperately aggressive cry for help. Unfortunately, the volume and hostility of the music only serve to drive away the people dearest to him and increase his own bitterness. Maybe that's why his older counterpart appears then. Perhaps the visit was due to the music chosen that day. Perhaps it wasn't so much of a recruitment as it was a desperate act to preserve young Dan's own emotional health. He had already contemplated suicide once, so maybe there's more to the story than meets the eye.

What do you think? Do you think these pieces of music accomplished these various ends? Or am I just blowing smoke? What songs or pieces might you have chosen to illustrate these points?

Please comment below.

Top Ten Tips for Writers

Do you have a story buzzing around inside your head? Is it one you can't wait to write down but simply know where to begin? Well, maybe this will help. This is my top ten countdown of tips for writers:

10 - Talk It Out - Tell the story verbally. Or at least run pieces of it past your friends and family. This will give you a chance to think through things before you write it as well as giving you a chance to see how other people react to it. Do they like it? What feedback can you get? Are there ways to improve the story and your telling of it?

9 - Read About It - Who are your favorite authors? What are some of your favorite books in the genre you're writing for? Read them! A lot! The styles of writing you read tend to replicate themselves in the way you write (including grammar and punctuation), and by reading similar books to your own you'll also be able to see what other writers have done and how they've done it.

8 - Sketch It Out - Draw some pictures and make some biography sheets. Maybe even a Pinterest board or two. They don't have to be masterful creations. Simply sketch out some fundamental ideas. What does this character look like? Who are they? What does this place look like? Where is it? What does this trinket look like? Stimulate your visionary imagination.

7 - Break It Up - Don't envision writing a story as an A-to-B trip from the first capital letter to the closing period. You may find it more productive to write all of the important scenes first and then work on linking them together with subplot, journey accounts and dialogue. You may even be one who finds that writing the story backwards (from end to beginning) is easier. If you hit a snag or writer's block, skip the scene. Jump to the next one, write that, and then come back and smooth out the connection.

6 - Act It Out - Never be afraid to unleash the inner child as a writer. Don't be afraid to rehearse character conversations with yourself in the mirror, nor to act out a whole battle scene in your office or bedroom. Getting your head completely submersed in the game will help you get it onto paper better.

5 - Get Inspired - Here's a point where some writers will disagree with me, but I find it helps many authors get a better idea of where their story is going. This tip goes along with Read About It, but from a different angle. Watch movies and listen to music that help you better visualize how your story is going to go. You'll find examples of how your characters might act or appear, what places in your stories might be like, how events might pan out, how realistic the event is, and much more. The better you have the ideas pulled together in your head, the better you'll be able to write about them, and the more confident and excited you'll feel while doing so. Therefore, any means of creative inspiration is advantageous.

4 - Study It Out - Do some research. Ensure that your usage of fantastical things is correct, that you name pieces of armor correctly, that your science is feasible, that characters really act the way they should, that you match the phraseology and style of the time period you're writing about, and so on.

3 - Plot It Out - Plot out the story in short form. Whether it be a bullet list of events or summarized paragraphs, get the whole thing down on paper. This will help you figure out major plot points and where the chapter breaks might go. More importantly, it will help you to not forget details and subplots as you're writing, which will help prevent writer's block and discouragement.

2 - Purge It Out - Cut out the fluff, simplify, condense. If you make the story too complex, you will find it incredibly too long, too confusing, too disoriented, and too boring. You may think lots of complexity is good while writing the story, but when you finish and are reading through it for the first time you will find yourself regretting a lot of it and wanting to simplify things down.

1 - JUST WRITE - This is my #1 tip of all time! "Just write." When you come down to it the most important part of writing is writing. Everything else can be fixed once the original draft is complete. If you run upon a story snag or writer's block, do not stop writing. If you're unsure of where you want the story to go, that's fine, but do not stop writing. You can always go back and rewrite and reorganize later. The key is to never let yourself fall off the writing wagon. The best cure for writer's block and confusion is to write your way through it until better inspiration comes. Don't spend a lot of time just sitting around thinking about it, do it. And don't focus on your grammar and punctuation yet either; this is your first draft. Grammar and punctuation can be cleaned up and fine-tuned later. Just write. There's nothing wrong with going back and rewriting later, just write and keep the the story going. Once it's finished, THEN go back and clean it all up. Just write.

Well, what do you think? Hopefully this list has helped you new writers out there get a better idea of where to find some footing. Maybe it inspired more seasoned writers with some new ideas. I hope so. If you have another suggestion for a great writing tip, please leave it in a comment below.

Fans, Assemble!

This is going to be short but very important. I am working on a project, and in order to get it done right I need your help.

Here's what I'm working on:

I'm pulling together an assortment of Kingdom Chronicles and Oblivion's Gate paraphernalia that fans of the two series will be able to collect and share with their friends. Phase One of that plan includes creating more memes, quote pics, and wallpapers (Like the one to the right). All of these Phase One treasures will be free to download, like, share and pin.

Here's where you come in:

I want these piece of official fandom material (that sounds fancy) to bear your influence. So, I need you to write in your favorite moments, images, lines and quotes from all three of my books. All of them. There's no limit on the number of submissions. In fact, the more you send in the better. I just ask that your submission contain as much detail as possible (character, book, chapter and maybe even a short why). Please send them in either on a comment below or an email via the contact link to the right of the screen.

Also, feel free to offer ideas and requests for other fandom goodies that you'd like to see come along with Phases Two and Three.

Thanks so much for your help! You fans are important to me, and I want to include you as much as possible.

Klalumpelo!

My Ilia

Good morning, Medleretz! Today I wish to explain a bit about the name of Princess Ilia in Oblivion's Gate. So get ready, all you fans out there. Here comes a bit of trivia knowledge.

If you will take a look at the pronunciation guide at the end of Mimgardr, you will see that Princess Ilia's name is not pronounced the same way as it is in common Medlerene usage (something akin to "Eel-yah" or "Ill-yah). You will find it pronounced "Ahy-lee-uh." This is because Ilia's name in Oblivion's Gate comes from the realms of her elfin bloodline, not Medleretz.

Here in Medleretz, the world you and I occupy, the name Ilia can be spelled a host of different ways, including Ilia, Ilya, Illya, Illia, Illija Ilja, etc. All of these forms are transliterated and transcribed compositions descending from one of three roots. The most dominant of these roots is the Russian-ized version of the Hebrew name Eliyyahu, or as we know it better in English Elijah, meaning "My God is Yahweh (Jehovah)". The second root is a Kurdish name meaning "Great and Glorious." No matter which route you take, both of these are normally reserved as masculine names. The third root, however, is the feminine one and the only one pronounced with three syllables (ill-ee-uh). It comes from the Latin Ilia, which is a secondary name for Rhea Silvia, the mythical mother of Romulus and Remus. All three roots are great and any person named with them should be proud, but they are not my Ilia.

If you will reread the first few pages in Mimgardr, chapter 39, "Blood Blossoms," you will find yourself enlightened by the words of Ilia's mother as to the meaning of Ilia's name. Did you find it? In one line she calls her daughter "my little star," and a few lines later calls her "my Ilia." Coincidence? Could be. But it isn't. Ilia's name is Elvish, and in Elvish Ilia means "Little Star", which is more important than you might think. Ilia has a huge role to play in this trilogy, despite what became of her in the Battle of Mimgardr. But that's all I'm going to say about that for now, because I'd hate to spoil the surprise for you and I've explained what I wanted to explain. So to summarize in two sentences: Ilia is an Elvish name in Oblivion's Gate. It is pronounced "Ahy-lee-uh" and means "Little Star".

I hope I've wet your taste buds and instilled a craving for more background details. I promise there are loads of little coded secrets tucked away in the pages of my books, and I'm excited to see how many of them you can find. I did put them there for you after all. :-)

Have a great day today, and please take a minute to leave a comment below.

Help a Reader: The Heart Render and the Nova Core

I was questioned recently about the quests for the Heart Render and the Nova Core, two artifacts of immense power, that take place in Mimgardr. I was going to answer them myself, but I think I'll turn the inquiries over to you readers and see what you think.

Here's a little review to start:

The Heart Render is a dagger-shaped shard of White Blood that was magically enhanced until it became a type of scalpel for operations on the human soul. Conversely, the Nova Core remains a mystery; we aren't specifically told what it does, only that it resembles a cut diamond mounted in the heart of a golden sun. Both artifacts are so powerful and potentially devastating that they were hidden in specially designed places. But when Dan Barker's life comes into serious jeopardy Morgan reveals that these two artifacts are the only things that will allow him to save the apprentice. So with the dominant vote of the King of Hearts Dan himself, Oolong and Ilia are sent to retrieve the Heart Render from the Master of Elvarheim while the Master of Hearts and Aaron, his apprentice, journey into the Kemem Desert to retrieve the Nova Core.

The quest for the Heart Render is only partially described in Mimgardr but results in successful recovery of the artifact. The adjoining quest, however, is anything but a success, turning instead from a journey of retrieval to a battle of wills, and before they can reach it the Nova Core is lost to the enemy.

With the loss of the Core both quests are reduced to folly and Morgan's plan is overthrown, so the Heart Render passes into the hands of King Michael and disappears for the rest of the book. The Nova Core, however, reappears at the Battle of Mimgardr when Dan is struck down and Hades, Lord of the Fallen, uses his powers to join the Core into the Oblivion, and there it stays until the end of the book.

Now, here are the questions: What was the point? Why would [I] write a journey into the story that does nothing but go in a circle? Or does it go in a circle? Do the Heart Render and Nova Core even matter? What do you think?