Okay! You want to write this awesome story but you don't know where to start. Typical. But, that's okay! As I mentioned on the home page, nobody writes an epic novel all in one sitting (or if they do, they probably don't do a very good job of it!), so the first thing you need to do is plan. You should start with an outline of your story: Barebones basics, not to many details, just enough for you to remember what's going on:

Deyne Tyneiszwrautr- mother killed by Purple Eye extremists, she and sister flee to Kiish, sister apprenticed to Master Songsmith but loses use of hand in accident, sister goes insane, Songsmiths move to Khana (Master Songsmith's home country) when threatened by religious fanatics, sister starts beating Deyne, Deyne hides in the forest, becomes near-feral and speaks to no one...

Once that's done, you should decide what information you want to reveal and when, then divide your story into chapters. Remember, you want to have plenty of background information about the world and such before you start going into detail, since something about the world itself could play a crucial role in your story, such as a kind of animal that feeds on magic, or said magic having a will of its own:

Prologue: follow Deyne and sister as they sneak away in the night and flee to Kiish

Chapter 1: follow Miss Takio as she is confronted by the sorcerer Verena while Deyne's sister is in a coma

Chapter 3: Deyne has a "vision" of priestesses searching for them after her sister wakes up from the coma, Deyne warns Miss Takio and they flee...

In this case, the big thing is that Songsmiths' hair starts turning silver when they are thirteen years old, and the Kukaiaseit preistesses suspect dark magic. If I had not included this odd fact in this story, the whole thing would probably have taken place in Kiish, but the combination of the sorcerer and the preistesses caused them to flee. Remember, there isn't necessarily a set future in your story, so different rules and courses of action can and will change the outcome. For another (and less serious) example, check out the gif below:

By the way, here are some tips on magic (written by my good friend Alison):

Dealing With Magic

 

I love fantasy. I like reading it, I like writing it, and I think it’s awesome. Everyone should try to write fantasy at least once. In my guide, I’m going to use extremely generic examples to make my point. Deal with it.

 

Fantasy, by nature, is fictional. However, it is important that there be an aspect of truth in your story, some explanation for why things are the way they are. For instance:

 

-The dragon has small wings, how does it fly? You might suggest that the dragon has internal helium-producing glands to help it be light.

-The dwarves live underground, how do they see? You could say that, like cats, dwarves have reflective corneas to help them see in the dark. You could also suggest something to the effect of echolocation.

 

You see, it is important to have the element of ‘magic’ with your fantasy, but it is equally important that there be some science, some logic. If you were to suggest that the aforementioned dragon can fly with magic, then that leaves you with a super powerful creature that no hero/heroine can defeat. Alternatively, if the dragon is on the side of good, it would be considered a ‘God-mode,’ a character with deific-levels of power. Readers have a strong dislike for this kind or character.

 

A good time to use magic to describe something would be such as then a unicorn heals someone with his/her horn, as so often happens in fantasy tales. I do not suggest you use this exact happening in your story. Another good time would be when the villain/villainess creates an army of skeletons, such as in the Black Cauldron series. Bad examples are when the character teleports (long travel periods are excellent times to develop character personalities).

Thanx Ninja!