Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by my Wattpad Block Party post! For those that are unfamiliar with me, I'm a published author and Featured on Wattpad, and when I'm not writing I'm an animator for children's TV shows (anyone know Doc McStuffins??).
Last WBP I posted a detailed and lengthy article about How To Write A Story and the storytelling process, which I think is very helpful for those who are interested in such things. Be sure to check it out here: https://www.wattpad.com/376438180-wattpad-block-party-winter-edition-iii-alecc0%0D
This time around I wanted to do something else that might be helpful for people (more so than a character interview or special chapter for stories that most people might not be familiar with). So I present to you my writing tips and thoughts about Writing Fantasy.
Big thanks to KellyAnneBlount for having me again! Cheers! *clink*
Types of Fantasy
So, writing fantasy. First of all, fantasy is such a huge genre that it's first best to define what kind of fantasy you want to write. For example we have Epic/High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi Fantasy, Urban Fantasy etc. This article suggests there are at least 64 subgenres: http://bestfantasybooks.com/fantasy-genre.php.
Some are seen as 'overdone' more than others, such as Portal Fantasy (Chronicles of Narnia, Alice in Wonderland, The Magicians), where a magical gateway leads to a fantastical land. So if you choose a well-explored sub-genre, be sure to make it different enough to stand on its own (more on this later). For myself I enjoy writing Fantasy Adventure mixed with Space Opera (my biggest series is Island Legends, which can be seen as a mix of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars). Whatever you choose, I'd recommend going with something you're passionate or greatly interested in.
What are your favourites subgenres of Fantasy?
Fantasy Tropes
These are the usual elements that are seen in fantasy, such as wizards, magic, dragons, evil sorcerers, princesses etc. Many are considered overdone clichés that people are generally fed up with. Think about the poor boy who learns that he is destined to rule the kingdom, or the wise old mentor who dies in front of the hero. Here is a big list of fantasy clichés: http://amethyst-angel.com/cliche.html
When writing your fantasy story, think of which tropes you will explore. Maybe you have several already without realising. It's okay to feature some often-used clichés, but it's best to put your own spin on it. And careful about using much used 'spins' on clichés, such as a princess who is also a tough badass, or a macho bully who is secretly sensitive and sweet. I like mixing a few different ideas together, for instance the fighting style of Dragon Ball Z with an RPG game and a Studio Ghibli visual style, perhaps. It's good to learn about the tropes, and then try to make them your own. Always try to tell a story that only you can tell.
What are some of your favourite fantasy tropes? Which ones are you sick of seeing? Any ideas for a 'new spin' on a trope that hasn't really been explored yet?
Characters!
It's all about the characters. That's the way I see it and think that's the way it should always be. Any story in any medium should be character-centric. A strongly defined, well realised, sympathetic character is one of the most powerful elements to a story. Now they don't have to be fully relatable, such as conflicted assassin or an evil god, but they must be sympathetic – we must be able to understand them and their motives. Consider Dr. Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs. He's a psycho killer cannibal, but also one of the strongest and most memorably characters in film history. When writing your fantasy story, think about what motivations your main character has, and what obstacles they could face, what developments/arcs that could occur with them. Whatever it is, they need to be 'real'. From their dialogue to their thoughts and actions, they need to be real for the character. Nothing forced or out of place. As Stephen King says, 'Write the truth'. As with the tropes, it can be good to put a twist on the typical types of characters you'll find in fantasy, but the same applies: make them unique to your story, in a way that only you can do.
What kind of personality do you like to see in characters? What are your worst character traits?
World Building
A very important factor and an essay in itself. Building a believable and lived-in world can take a lot of work and consideration, but it's also not as daunting as some people may think. Things to think about: is it a completely different world/planet or is it our world but with a twist? For example, in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, the world is very much like our own, but everyone has their 'soul' on the outside of their body, in the form of an animal that best suits their personality. Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy is pretty much set in our world, with the addition of several people that are able to consume metals that give them special abilities. A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) is similar and relatable to our world, but has seasons that last for years. Think about how these extra features of the world relate to the story being told. A city, town, land, can be a character in itself.
You can have a map,if you like, and if you think it's necessary. It can help if the story willexplore many different places and the reader may need something to refer to.Any simple map will do, and it's best not to get too focused on it. Here is thefinal continent map I made for Island Legends: The Awakening of James Island(hopefully it isn't too similar to that Clichéd map I linked earlier!):
Setting up and explaining what this world is like is a tricky thing to get right. You don't want to pause the scenes too much and give a big infodump, and you also don't want things to be too unclear and lose the reader. I'd suggest only including information that is relevant to the current chapter. No need to explain a part of the world that won't come into play until much later, or mention a characters background or town history if it's not organic to the moment. It's good to drop bits of info within the action of the moment, scattering the infodumps while the story and pacing are going forward. A reader won't mind a scattering of info as a character is running over building tops or fighting a gang, as much as a couple of chunky paragraphs that pause the scene to tell us about how the world was made. Here are 10 infodumps done well: http://io9.gizmodo.com/5481558/20-great-infodumps-from-science-fiction-novels
Consider a timeline of the world – when is this story set, what has happened before to shape the world/characters. What are the social conventions and classes of the society? Understanding the history of the world will help you write the story, even if none of it makes it into the forefront of the story, knowing its history will help guide you. Like knowing a detailed background for a character even if you never really explore their background in the story.
It can help to base your world on our real world. Try not to go too fantastical (that may sound strange, but it's better than risking being too unrelatable/unrecognisable and losing the reader). You will have to use many of our existing words, even if they have origins from things in our world that are definitely not in your fantasy world (like words with French/Greek origins). You can play around and make up different terms for something like the hours in a day (call them bells or cycles or sun positions) but then where does it stop? Do you make up another name for the weeks and months? Which existing words can you use and which ones should you make up? I'd suggest just doing what feels right for the world. Whatever the case, the reader must sympathise and relate to the characters and the world they live in – even if it's an underwater world in the belly of a giant space turtle.
Have rules for your world, such as restrictions for your magic and the abilities of your characters. Fantastical elements need limits in order to be most interesting, and can add conflict and drama, rather than things being too easy for both the characters and story convenience. Think about Spiderman having a limited amount of web fluid (or his anxiety problems affecting his natural webbing, whichever version of Spiderman you like). As well as having rules and restrictions, it can be very effective to break them! Set up how the magic system works, and then have a character come along that seems to do things differently. Say there are 6 types of magic, but then someone discovers a 7th type. Brandon Sanderson is a master of breaking the rules he sets up. His lecture series on Youtube is highly recommended viewing, and should be mandatory for every writer: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ_Yq-hCQ9kmCiNdDeIrbgA/videos
What do you think of world building? Do you have any examples of a unique fantasy world? Anything you're fed up of seeing?
The Hero's Journey
I'd highly recommend looking into The Hero's Journey, detailed in Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It helps to understand the stages and elements of a story that goes hand in hand with a fantasy story (or any story). It can be argued that every single story ever told is derived from the Hero's Journey. Some of the steps are: Call To Adventure, Refusal Of The Call, Meeting The Mentor, Crossing The Threshold. Some of the most popular examples of stories that heavily lean towards the Hero's Journey are: Star Wars, The Matrix, and Harry Potter. Learn the reason for the stages of the journey, and not just copy them like a blueprint without understanding what purpose they serve.
Which steps of the Hero's Journey do you recognise from other popular books or films? Sidenote: Finding Nemo closely follows the Hero's Journey.
Make It Your Own
One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to tell a fantasy story that only you can tell. Are you from Scotland? Include some Scottish history/culture in your made-up world. Did you move around a lot as a child? Use that 'new in town' feel. Vacationed a lot around the Spanish islands? Have a single parent? Have nine siblings? Are you a maniacal evil supervillain? Use them in your story in a way that only you can. For me, my family are originally from Cyprus (I was born and raised in London), and we spent many summer holidays in Cyprus. I loosely based the local people in my fantasy world on the Cypriot/Mediterranean culture, which helped me develop them. My action novella, Dark Light, was set in London, and the sequel, Dark Light 2, was set in Dublin (where I currently live). Using what you know usually works best, even for fantasy stories. Same goes for the fantasy names you use. Like how J K Rowling based many of her magical spells on Latin words.
What are some examples of how you could make a fantasy story in your own way?
Writing Tips
Before you start writing, start writing (you can quote me on that!). Just write anything that comes to mind, not worrying about how it sounds or looks, even if it isn't fully relevant to the main story. Like an athlete stretching and warming up, a writer can benefit from some rough writing to begin with. But try not to get too caught up in the warm up and neglect the actual story – something that some people can get trapped in.
Know the ending. Plenty of times people start writing a story after coming up with a great premise – the bad guy turns out to be the hero, a city on a meteor, a young girl descended from dragons – and they write a few chapters before losing steam, not having connected with the characters and not knowing where to take the story. Know the ending, and work backwards from it. Outline the main 3 act beats, and then break those down into major scenes, keeping in mind the themes and lessons and where they fit in. For instance, character has a fear, character faces the fear and loses, character overcomes the fear. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.
Allow the characters to guide you while writing. Don't get too caught up in your outlines and planning. If something feels right/wrong, if the characters inform you of what they might say or do, then go with it.
Try not to be too fantastical with your names. Nothing too crazy/hard to read. The main character in Mistborn is simply called Vin. Luke is the hero of Star Wars. Frodo and Bilbo are easy and fun to say. Some of the main characters in my stories are called Zan, Cam, Liana, and James. Having a main character called Shk'vakj!goua might put many people off.
It's better to be quick and succinct, and not too wordy. If something can be said in 5 words, don't say it in 12, or even use up entire paragraphs for something that can be said in one sentence. Avoid too many adjectives where possible. 'The big sweaty man ran quickly down the narrow dark alley' could become 'The exhausted man sprinted down the alley'. A few extra words here and there can add up to hundreds and thousands in a large piece of work. That's a lot of extra, unnecessary words!
Despite what some people think (everything is pretty much subjective) it's ok to stick with 'he/she said' dialogue tags. No need to try and mix things up with 'he grunted/she hollered'. Perhaps a 'he whispered/she muttered' would do, if it helps the scene, but generally just 'saids' are good, and most people don't fully read the dialogue tags anyway.
Keep a notebook with you at all times – I use Evernote on my phone, and I'm always jotting down ideas and thoughts that come to me. I have a huge list of unused character names, location names, and miscellaneous names, along with scene ideas, cool things that could happen, solutions to problems I've been thinking about. Anything and everything.
What are some tips you have about writing and planning stories?
Lastly, remember: all writing is rewriting!
So that's it for me. I hope you've found something helpful in here. I look forward to talking with you all and answering any questions you have.
- Too long, didn't read - Here are some tips from George R R Martin instead: https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/11/ten-tips-on-writing-a-fantasy-saga-from-game-of-thrones-author-george-r-r-martin/
And 10 from the granddad of literary fantasy, J R R Tolkien: https://writingishardwork.com/2012/04/29/tolkiens-10-tips-for-writers/
Thanks everyone and enjoy the rest of the Block Party!
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