BASIC TIPS

Okay, so you have decided to write a fantasy.  Great! fantasies are in
my opinion the best and most interesting kind of literature out there.
Being the best, they can also be pretty tough to write.  A good fantasy
requires these key things:

A well developed world
A well developed time period
Well developed characters
Strong definition of the forces that be(magic, machinery)
A sense of physical realism(90lb. girl doesn't weild a 100lb. sword)
Complex, yet well defined plot/conflict

In the following paragraphs I will explain each of these concepts in detail.

First and of high importance is a complete and well developed world. In 
most fantasies, chances are that you will be writing about events that
take place in a world different from our own.  In order to prevent your
reader from being confused, the world must be well defined and clearly
lain out.  Most importantly, the entire world of your fantasy must be as
clear in your mind as your backyard, you must know all about it.  It helps
if you sit down and draw a map, label all the places and write a bit about
them.  As you begin writing your story you can refer back to this map and 
add more information about each place.
When talking about any areas in your story, it is important that you make
it clear where the area is and what areas surround it.  For example, 
instead of saying, "I went to Balno", say "I proceeded to Balno, the
outlying foothills seemed an odd place for a trade town like the one that
was situated in my destination."  As you can see the second sentence is 
much more interesting and leaves a reader with a much better sense of 
what the protaganist is thinking, seeing, and experiencing.

The next thing on your list should be to identify and describe the time
period in which your epic will unfold.  Some things that you should include
in this description are: government in power, if many governments, give a 
brief overview, if no government, describe the situation of the region
and the nature of the anarchy; the weaponry of the time, are there guns
and missles or swords and clubs? Is magic used? or is some other force
utilized?(see section on forces at be for more on this); economy and trade,
how do people get around? what items are high commodities? where are the 
economic centers?

One thing that needs to be a constanttly evolving factor in your story
is the characters.  You need to develop characters in as much detail as 
possible, but refrain from over describing which can make for a boring read.
All major characters including heroes villains and neutral powers need to 
be developed a great deal.  The reader should be able to connect to the 
different aspects of your character and put themselves into their shoes. 
It isn't very easy to step into the shoes of a character who you know 
nothing about, and it is the same way for the reader.  Minor characters
are a different matter all together.  Their developement should be only as
deep as is needed for their part in the story to be complete.  If you find
yourself having to do major development on a minor character, chances are
that that character should be classified as a major character.  It helps 
me if before starting to write I list all my characters and state how big
of a role they play, also include a brief description of them.  As you 
write, you can add to the list and refer back when needed.  It takes 
a lot of practice to learn how to develop a character just enough, but
not to much for their particular role.  With some work, you will get it, 
this can be one of the most difficult part of fantasy writing.

In fantasies there is often some force like magic that drives and/or ravishes 
the world.  If you want your reader to truly understand your world, then it
is important that this force, whatever it may be, is thoroughly explained.
What is the force? What does it do? How is it viewed by the people? How does
one obtain it? Can everyone obtain it? Is it used for battle? Peace? Both?
All of these are questions that should be anwered when explaining the force
that exists in your world.  Depending on your story and the significance of
the power, it may or may not influence the entire essence of your world. 
Throughout your story, you may also want to address if the power is a cause
of hate, prejudice, or war. For example, perhaps the power of magic is only used
by those of noble birth, or maybe machinery can only be utilized by people 
who follow a certain leader.  As you've probably guessed, such powers are in
many cases the cause of conflict in fantasies.  Whatever it is in your story,
if it is at all, just make sure that before saying, "He shouted 'Firo'" and a
piercing flame shot from his blade" that your reader knows that this character
has the ability to use whatever force "Firo" may be.

Last but not least by a long shot is the plot.  The plot of a fantasy is very
different from the plot other writing genres.  In a fantasy, the plot is the
story that you make from the combination of the all the things i just outlined.
However, it is much more complicated than that.  You must introduce each aspect
of your plot, but at the same time keep the story flowing.  In order to do this
you will have to use a technique that I call simultaneous action-description(SAD)
SAD is simply combining your development with the advancement of your plot.  Here
I will show to passages.  the first does not use SAD, and the second does.

The knight walked towards him.  He was plated in steel with a black cape that
enveloped him in a cloud of darkness

The steel-plated knight walked towards him, his black cape enveloping him in a
cloud of darkness.

On this small level, both sentences seem fine, but when you get into a story and 
are forced to describe something in a great deal of detail(i.e. a town or building)
you will definately find that your story moves at a much brisker pace if you use SAD.
When it comes down to it, you are really on your own, just try to use techniques
you know and be consistent.  As long as you know your fantasy realm, then your
plot will turn out fine.






With these tips you should be able to write a very good fantasy story, after you
have followed these parameters and have a good feel for fantasy writing, you are ready
for:
ADVANCED TIPS
Coming Soon!

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Copyright © 2003 Eric Carmen.  All rights reserved.
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