How to Write an -Awesome- Story

How to Write an Awesome Story

 _Ryan Freeman

The blinking cursor of death is the bane of my existence.

Seriously.

How do you start when all you see around you are the great, professionally finished products of the masters? It can really get you pumped... and then get you down. You're just one person... you probably dont have a killer editing team, lounging around in your PJ's sipping Starbucks in some otherworldly location... with interns and the like (ok, maybe I'm fantasizing here a bit, but hey... it's what I do, right?)

What about the regular people, like you and I? How do we start?

Here's the secret I figured out. (ready?)

You're already in it.

Bam.

There.

You're already in it. You're apart of it.
 You are already a character (probably in more ways than one). You are living in a story, and you are apart of it. What you do and say every day matters. You save lives by what you do and say. You make or break your world by who you are, what you mean, and how you act. You are the hero, or the villain. You are the wise old sage or the wicked step-parent. You are the manliest legend or the most spell-binding beauty- or the coward and the witch.

You probably just blazed through that last paragraph. I know I did. But it's super important. Right now you're reading an old tome from a grizzled adventurer. You're here on common purpose because you're searching- hunting- exploring a perilous realm of life itself.

Take time to breathe in this new world you are apart of. Feel your place in it. Understand who you are and what you really, truly mean to yourself, others and the world at large.

Then... when you're feeling particularly whimsy and painfully honest... find yourself an excellent imagining/creating spot (mine was a quiet dorm room in Missouri), and start drawing- writing- playing music... from your world. The one you always go to when you close your eyes and dream. I realized all the places I go to in my mind are really a vast, continuous extension of the same world.

Start your journey and see where the path takes you. Start and don't forget about or quit until you get there. Don't worry about being perfect- just take a single step out of your proverbial front door and keep journeying. Take with you only what is mindful. Use who you are- your own strength of character and personal powers of being. If you're in a weird mood, use it. Write weird scenes or moments in your story where your characters probably are feeling similarly.

I'm excited to see where your own story takes you...


For more on Rienspel, check out http://www.facebook.com/Rienspel
or help make it real- donate @ http://www.gofundme.com/Rienspel
Thanks

Why Rienspel?

Why Rienspel?

I started first officially dreaming up, drawing and writing what would eventually become Rienspel roughly eight years ago. I was a Freshman in college at the time... and I recall one Friday afternoon being invited by a bunch of the guys to go camping over the weekend. Here's the thing: I love camping. So I kinda surprised myself when I told them, 'no thanks'. I remember returning from lunch and sitting in my quiet dorm. The late morning light was pouring through the windows, spilling onto my desk in the middle of the room. Without much forethought, I tugged a couple of pieces of paper out from a notebook and started drawing. To be honest, I wasn't really paying any attention to what I was doing until I was finished. I remember looking down- it was past noon by now and there, sprawling over five sheets of lined paper was an immense, detailed map. I had no real clue what I had done, but as I stared, a bit astonished at my work, I knew deep inside how the whole thing was steeped in stories.

'So,' I thought, 'I'd best start writing them.'
And so I did. (and still am)

During those first early months, I really have two people to thank the most. First is my roommate and friend Robert Dean, who was also writing his first historical fiction on the first crusades, Blood for Glory (excellent read, by-the-way... not that I'm biased or anything...). I remember watching down cup after cup of coffee as he researched and wrote at his computer, or trudged off through the bitter Missouri winds to our school's library. I witnessed his dedicated tenacity for writing and thinking and was hooked. 'Hey,' I thought, 'maybe I can do this, too!' The second person who helped Rienspel off the ground was a girl then named Stephanie Worcester. She is my current record holder for most intelligent conversation ever held about The Silmarillion. During the early days, I would make my way down to Central Christian College's cafeteria for a late brunch on Saturdays. One particularly busy weekend morning, all the tables were full. So I carried my tray into the cafe area were there was one high table chair left open next to Stephanie. I thought I remembered her from a couple of classes, so I set my tray down across from her and tried to make small talk while I scarfed down eggs. Apparently small talk that day consisted of finer points within Tolkien's epic fantasy work. I was delighted. It must have been an excellent conversation, because she started helping me co-write a fantasy story which eventually became Rienspel. Oh, and did I mention we liked talking and hanging out that we decided to marry each other after college? Now I have free editing for life!

Writing Rienspel, and creating the whole world in which it takes place is a quest in itself. And like in any great story, you need friends to help see you through to the end. Rien's Tale would have never begun if not for so many other dedicated friends who have helped along the way. The world becomes a far richer place when other friends get together and lend their imaginative power towards something. By doing this we are transported among fair world unknown... and who knows what we may discover then?