Posted: February 13, 2024
Since there’s far more than just ten tips to improve your fantasy writing, here are ten more.
It’s almost always obvious when a writer knows the world they’ve built, or if they’ve done a half-baked job of it. Confidence comes through in writing, and if you’re showing hesitation because you’re not sure about one thing or another in the world you’ve created, most readers can see that too. That is why its essential that you know the world like the back of your hand.
Some tricks to increase your familiarity may include further research and planning, but also just writing smaller stories that take place within the world. Try exploring parts of the world that you’re not sure about; practice with those aspects most of all.
Visuals help as well. Draw a map, even if you’re not the best at art, and mark where your characters are or where they’re going (if they’re travelling). Game of Thrones, for example, has a map that’s constantly changing, so it is a great tool for readers to flip back to while reading to better understand what’s going on.
Vitally important, though, is that you don’t just give the reader a block of text to describe the things around your characters. A lot of writers complain that editors take a lot out of their work, but most of the time, they’re removing flowery writing or excessive description. Give the readers only what relates to the story itself, keep it brief, and give comparisons where possible.
This is also the place to consider what your narrator focuses on—especially if your story is being told from multiple perspectives. One character may focus more on the people around them, whereas another would immediately mark all available exits in any space they enter, whereas someone else may focus more on nature than humanmade structures, or something within their interest. Musicians may always relate things back to music, artists back to art, etc. That’s just part of their syntax (word choice), but it comes in handy when differentiating narrators in description as well.
And knowing the world doesn’t just stop at the setting and descriptions. Like knowing the laws of your world inside-out, writing multiple short stories within the world can also help you familiarize yourself with the geography. Write these stories without connection to the main story; this will give you more creative freedom when writing.
Fantasy worlds are immensely fun to create and explore but avoid getting lost in the mystique. You should have a general idea of how the story ends while you’re writing it, so keep an eye on that and try not to stray. Ensure you don’t fall into the trap of simply adding as much as you can about the world you’ve created. While worldbuilding and plot should work together to tell the story (you can use your world to tell the story just as well as the characters can), remember that you must keep the story moving forward. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that your world is exciting or interesting enough that nothing else of note must be going on.
Keep in mind what happens in every scene. None should be wasted; each should progress the plot a little more in some way. If a scene exists without directly affecting the plot, it’s called “filler.” You don’t want filler in your story. Keeping things concise and moving forward will ensure that your readers are engaged right to the very end. Everything that happens in the story should somehow tie into the ending.
Whereas non-fiction is learning through information, fiction is learning through imagination. It’s fun, but the best fiction teaches you something along the way. Using real-world themes in your writing—culture, the environment, misogyny, politics, racism, technology, violence—increases the depth of your story and helps teach your readers important morals and lessons.
“Fantasy” is an umbrella term for so many different subgenres. Knowing exactly how your book is categorized will help you immensely (especially if you’re self-publishing).
Some books use multiple subgenres, the first level being high fantasy, low fantasy, or something in between. High fantasy doesn’t refer to anything that more fantastical than any other; instead, it refers to the span of the conflict in the story. High fantasy books are the “world is at stake” stories, whereas low fantasy books have problems that are more personal to the characters. For example, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling would be a high fantasy book, as Voldemort is a threat to the entire Wizarding World (or at least Britain) whereas a book like Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman would be a low fantasy book, as it deals with Richard Mayhew’s desire to return home.
Beyond high and low, there are dozens of subgenres, including but not limited to:
Fantasy stories are often more complicated than others because of the mesh of the plot with all sorts of subplots, so you’ll have to be certain of your subgenres as well.
“What makes worldbuilding tick? Specific, sensory detail,” says Michelle Hope, who’s previously worked with George R.R. Martin and Blake Crouch. “So my advice for fantasy authors is, simply: you can be as inventive and magical as you want in your work if the writing is detailed enough to seem authentic.”
Take pop culture’s current fantasy darling, Game of Thrones. “Crisp air, hooves clattering on ironwood planks, a warm tongue, women’s perfume, summerwine, soft fur. The writing's full of these concrete details,” points out Hope. “So when the author expands the universe to include fantastical elements, we buy it. Dragons? Sure! Face-swapping assassins? Why not? Frozen zombies? Didn’t see that coming, but the author’s sensory style already established the world as believable, so we’re primed to accept anything thrown at us.”
That said, abstract clichés don’t count. No-one’s going to be impressed by your description of a man with piercing gray eyes that are the color of a storm.
Instead, use the senses to make the reader feel like they’re there. “When a reader can viscerally inhabit your world, they won’t question it when you introduce the fantastical into your story,” says Hope. “They’ll take your word for it.”
This was mentioned in one of the points above, but don’t get lost in describing your fantasy world. You, as the author, must know all these details so you know how the world works, but your readers won’t always be interested in being bogged down by details. Often, authors of fantasy fall into the trap of believing that their world by itself is interesting enough, but you must keep in mind that the readers are there for a story—and you must give it to them.
Fantasy stories often have many details anyway, sometimes with hundreds of names, locations, and important facts, so you want to avoid all unnecessary information, or your readers may get frustrated by not being able to keep everything straight. Infodumps are never fun.
Newbie fantasy authors will include huge chunks of text full of information and details that not all readers will appreciate. They want to be as thorough as possible, want to give their readers as vivid an understanding of the world as possible, but that’s not the way to do it. Don’t choke them up; give them the bones, then let them use their own imagination to fill in the gaps.
Always be asking questions about your world. It’s the best method for worldbuilding, as it gets you to really think, not only of the answers, but of the questions themselves. What would you ask yourself?
Perhaps you’re making a map, and you want to include a mountain range in a particular area. You might ask yourself, Why did these mountains pop up? Is there a fault line nearby? Was it a glacier moving through to make a valley? A story I once read included a mystery that took place in a swamp. The characters were looking for a lost pirate ship full of treasure, and one of the characters noted that there was a hill in the middle of the swamp in Louisiana. He pointed out that hills don’t pop up in swamps; that’s not how geography works. The characters then discovered that the hill was, in fact, the pirate ship, which had been buried from bow to stern in debris.
Ask all sorts of questions of yourself, not only to influence the plot, but so that your world makes sense. Fantasy is never real, but it has to be believable, and for that to be true, it needs to make sense. So question everything.
There are countless tropes out there—for the world, the characters, the plot—and sometimes this is a detriment to the genre when the same old tropes are repeated and worn out. It can also be a treasure, as many fantasy readers love when their favourite tropes pop up.
Don’t ever be afraid to use a trope in your writing but always aim to make it stand out. Take the trope and make it your own by putting a unique spin on it. Percy Jackson takes the Chosen One trope and twists it, just a little, by ending the series with Percy not, in fact, being the chosen one in the prophecy. In The Princess Bride, the “man in black” trope was subverted with the villain being dressed in white, and the hero being dressed in black (same as in The Chronicles of Narnia with the white witch).
So many fantasy stories include magical creatures of some sort, which is one of the more fun parts about the genre. You could use any kind of creature—myths and legends, modified real-world animals, or creatures all your own.
What’s even better is for you to make that creature your own. Dragons are an excellent example of this, as it’s such a versatile mythical creature. Whether European, Asian, Middle-Eastern, or something else entirely, subvert expectations so that they’re something your reader will surely remember.
Keep in mind that magical creatures shouldn’t exist purely for the purpose of existing; they should have some impact on the plot or story at large. Use as few as possible to avoid overcrowding (as with all other details of the world).
Why did you write this story? It may sound like a silly question, but really think to yourself: what do you want the reader to take out of this story? Everyone has a different reason for wanting to write, and often, it’s not just to entertain, despite what some may believe. Find your reason, and always keep it in mind.
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