Dulee Paranavitana

If you are starting out as a middle grade fantasy author, one of the first questions you get asked is, “what is your story about?” In other words, most people will ask this question if you tell them that you are writing a book. Coming up with a plot can be challenging. But here are some sources where you can draw on to begin, add to or expand the plot of your story. Your Experiences While the adage that you know can sometimes not be what we want to hear, you might want to dig into your personal experience to get inspired. While every moment of your life might not be story worthy, there are moments in our life that can spark a story, maybe something funny that happened to you like a toddler mistaking you for their dad or something outlandish and hilarious, or maybe you ran into a friend you thought you’d never see again. Incidents like these can be the start or have a story seed that can grow into a whole new story. Mythology and Folklore Yes, this is true even if you don’t write fantas...

  If you have always wanted to be a writer and write your own stories, then you might have wondered how to build your own world. This is very relatable if you decided to write fantasy, which is often set away from the life we live everyday, though sometimes it might overlap. If you are struggling to build your fantasy world, here are some ways to kickstart your imagination and get going. Read both the Classics and Latest Books Most of us either read the classics and ignore the latest books that are being published or viceversa. But if you want to become the best writer you can be, you need to read diverse books, not just limit yourself to one area or genre. Sometimes stories from other genres might spark an idea if you will feel like writing and developing into a full blown story. Just think about stories all the time, and remember to rest too.  Watch Movies, and Listen to Songs While some writers say not to watch movies, I think movies can offer us a lot of inspiration, as lo...