Someone asked me to write her a fantasy story. I am going to try, HOWEVER, I got no clue what I am doing. What are fantasy story cliches....things to look out for.....neat ideas....I saw an article posted yesterday about it, but it wasn't everything I was looking for.
My main issue is suspending my own disbelief. I do write airy, cryptic stuff sometimes, but I just can't let go enough to write it. I just think, "man this is dumb, this never happens." ect ect It doesn't seem grounded or....logical or......I don't think I am making sense.
I have started it, and to be honest, it's dark and gritty as shit. It's nearly empty, lots of people are hungry, there is little magic or mythical beasts....it's at the end of a war and lots of people are dead....
Help?
Have you seen Game of Thrones? Its one of the best fantasy shows on cable, it has mythical beasts and war and is dark but its also about love and family. The good guys are noble while others are corrupt with power.
All I can say is watch that show, it does everything right and has restored my faith in the fantasy genre.
See, no. I am not cut out for it. I enjoy it on occasion....but might just not be my thing....even the one I am writing is nihilistic, dark and sort of brutal. It's the way I always imagined those time periods...it's violent, everyone is hungry , dirty, ignorant. I could send it to you Danny if you want....
If you can make us cry when a character gets their head chopped off then you have written a successful fantasy story. Also make a character so despicable that the reader hates them with a passion and can't wait until they die. Game of Thrones has literally had me furious. You want to evoke powerful emotional responses, the only way you can really fail in fantasy is getting lost in the mythology and forgetting the story...kinda like Lord of the Rings with the damn tree people and by the end, I wanted to throw Frodo and the damn ring into the lava.
Well,
It looks like you need to do some reading Brah. Fuck watching film or T.V.
And it sounds like you don't have a ton of time if it is a request. So short stories would probably be the most efficient.
Fantasy doesn't have to be all mythical creatures and dungeons and dragons and knights and princesses getting done from behind.
I like
Ursula K. Le Guin
Eoin Colfer
Roald Dahl
China Mieville
Gregory Maguire
Terry Pratchett
Clive Barker
Neil Gaiman
Most fantasy stories always begin with a return of some ancient evil that was thought to be long dead such as dragons, undead creatures, or a brotherhood of warlocks.
The lore within the fantasy story makes it more immersive so I would recommend a history lesson for the readers on what happened in the last war and possibly mention an enemy that could return in the future to cause destruction/mayhem within the world.
There's always a band of characters of various races and skills. To make it more personal you could add a personal quest of one of them or have one of them be related to an enemy somehow. Religion and ethics could be an important part of the story, to show how other people react to those of another race like humans hating dwarves or elves or by the faith other people have chosen. A character with inner turmoils can help the reader sympathize with said character.
Just a few suggestions, if I think of anymore I'll post them up. I hope this helps.
Matt, just my opinion, but avoid the traditional fantasy archetypes if you want to write original literature.
There is enough unoriginal horseshit out there. Why make more?
http://damiengwalter.com/2011/11/28/why-crap-books-sell-millions/
This blog is outside of the mass-idiot stream.
Yeah, well I showed Danny and he said: "For someone who isn't into fantasy, it is written pretty well and it seems like you have a good grasp of that world. Just keep going with it."
So I reckon I'll keep going. It's just a matter of letting go and not thinking "that never happened" or "that's not real, this is dumb" I like things to be realistic....so who knows.
I have started it, and to be honest, it's dark and gritty as shit. It's nearly empty, lots of people are hungry, there is little magic or mythical beasts....it's at the end of a war and lots of people are dead....
@matt
This sounds like an excellent start. Tons of fantasy stuff are set in low/minimal magic settings. It doesn't have to be high fantasy. Game of thrones has a bit of magic, but it's not the focus of the story. The Lord of the Rings even, while had some magical elements was still pretty sparse with the sorcery. The Sword of Truth series had a decent mix, but started to lean on magic a little more heavily the further you delved into the series.
I think you're over thinking it. Focus on the story. The setting will help shape the story but doesn't necessarily define it. i.e. The dune series is a perfect example of a fantasy theme put into a future/sci-fi setting. etc.
I do quite a bit of fantasy writing, it's where I was first published. Slipping into the Noir genre is fairly recent. On the plus side, it's helped tighten up my writing and made me re-think my approach to a lot of things I had written out.
I had a similar issue with the fantasy stuff early on: too much reliance on magic, too many ridiculous circumstances, etc. For most of my writing, I steer away from using magic too heavily. It's a crutch. For me, if I include magic in a setting, I treat it the way technology has functioned historically. When it's new, it's a trump card. Eventually, people find a way to counter/mitigate/duplicate it and it becomes somewhat commonplace. Magic (like technology) changes the ways that people look at things, their problem solving skills become inflenced by it. (a-la if the only tool you have is a hammer, then everything starts looking like a nail, etc.)
I swear we had this conversation somewhere before where we were talking about sci-fi/fantasy/steampunk/victorian settings.
Hi - I've never written fantasy. However, when I wanted to write in a time period i didn't really know and wasn
t sure how to go about it someone gave me some good advice. They said, "Lisa, the story is the story no matter where it is set, and then there is the setting. So you write about love, hatred, prejudice, relationships -- its the same in any setting. I think fantasy is the same. I guess.
