Complete Stories: Rick's Tips
.png)
"Children need to read about ‘heroic legends."
JRR Tolkien, author of The Hobbits and Lord of the Rings
Start Your Child's Storymaking Journey and Build Lasting Family Memories
WHAT’S YOUR END GAME?
BOOKS
Fun: Share with family & friends in a “rough draft” form (minimal revising & editing)
Private Publishing: Create informal printed copies for family & friends (moderate revising & editing)
Self Publishing: Make a commercial book (maximal revising & editing)
​TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING/MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT PROJECT
Idea: Submit TV show/movie script or proposal for board/video game or graphic novel (maximal revising & editing)—either directly or via intermediary, e.g., agent
CREATIVE PROCESS
Plan: Generate new idea or concept
​
Organize: Move into action
​
Implement: Make it happen
​
Complete: Finish, submit, or publish
-
Personal copy for family, & friends
-
Proposal for media/gaming companies; also likely will include storyboard
-
Manuscript for “family & friends” private book
-
Synopsis + Query Letter + manuscript for literary agent, e.g., fiction book
REMINDER
-
Prioritize
​
-
Focus
​
-
Complete
​
TOP 3
-
Wake up thinking, “What are the Top 3 things I must accomplish today to advance my story project?”
​
-
Start with #1 on your ACTION LIST—such as write, revise, or verify consistency—and try not to do anything else until you get that done
EXAMPLES
Road MapÂ
​
​Star Life Keepers: Roadmap to Track Act 1 Chapters and Point of View
​
​
​
SLK binders vs single printed SLK book​​​​
​
Star Life Keepers: An Example of Competing a Book Project​
​
-
Started with notebooks for brainstorming (left)
-
Created binders to develop project (center)
-
Organized complimentary computer files
-
Ended up with 354-page Star Life Keepers book (right)
-
Studied & followed writing books (bottom shelf)
​
TIPS & TRAPS
-
Perfection is the enemy of good
-
Pareto Principle: 80% of a project’s impact comes from 20% of what we do
-
Parkinson’s Principle: The project will expand to the time allotted
-
Close out project for review or submission unless it’s a fun project to pursue indefinitely
-
Avoid "Fantasy Worldbuilding-itis"
-
A common problem with building new fantasy worlds — and new sci fi worlds — is to fall in love with the project and work on it……endlessly
IF WE CAN DO IT, SO CAN YOU!
LEARNING & DOING
When my grandson Brady and I embarked on our fantasy kidlit journey, we knew nothing about fantasy story development, worldbuilding, Hero’s Journey, etc.
We studied comparable successful books and used those as a catalyst to establish our own model
Fantasy writing is learned through trial & error just like coding, painting, music, etc
ORIGINALITY
It takes a lot of time to be “original” or, as Brandon Sanderson says, “familiar but different.” We must strive to be the best we can be; not a poor copy of someone else.
ROLE MODELS & RESILIENCE
We need pathfinders like Brandon Sanderson who have gone before us to slash through the rainforest and carve out a trail we can follow.
“Overnight successes” are usually people who worked for years and failed. Brandon had a drawer full of rejected manuscripts before publishing of Elantris in 2005.
OUR JOURNEY
On this website, we’ve shared details about how we developed/completed a creative project— such as Star Life Keepers—plus some resources for you to consider using. In the back of Star Life Keepers, we included a list of comparable books/series that motivated and activated us.
Feel free to contact us with your questions: Contact