Getting
Started in Fantasy Writing
By
Sandra C. Durham
©
2003, Sandra C. Durham
his is a newcomer’s
guide on how to get started in the genre of fantasy writing, from one newcomer
to another. The majority of what is
discussed here has come from the Forward Motion community as well as from
occasional meanderings on the Web based on pointers given by members of that
writers' community.
Writing fantasy,
whether in the form of short stories or novels, does not necessarily follow a
set pattern or formula. A fantasy
story can contain aspects of most other genres, including mystery, horror, and
romance. The underlying elements of
the story determine the category it fits in.
A recent post by Forward Motion member Emily Horner listed sub categories
of fantasy from Terri Windling’s The
Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.
These sub categories included (along with sample novels):
- Contemporary
and Urban Fantasy –
Stories taking place in the real world, but with an element of magic or
fantasy.
Memory
of Fire by Holly Lisle.
- Epic and Heroic Fantasy - Stories
that involve a battles of Good vs. Evil or quest.
Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien.
- Historical
Fantasy - Stories that
are set in factual History, but contain fantasy elements.
Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
- Mythic
Fiction - Stories
directly inspired by myth, folklore, and fairy tales. The
Gates of Sleep, by Mercedes Lackey.
- Humorous
Fantasy - Light hearted
fantasy stories. Xanth
series by Piers Anthony.
- Science Fantasy – Stories where
science and magic work, or science extends to magical abilities.
Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
The best approach to
writing in any genre is to know your field.
If you have not read modern works of fantasy, you may want to go out and
buy or borrow a few books in a sub genre or two that interest you.
Like most things, the field of fantasy has changed over the years, and
what sold well ten or twenty years ago may not have the same popularity today.
This can be approached by scanning for recent bestsellers, this year’s
award winners (Hugo, Nebula, etc), recommendations from other’s who read
heavily in this genre, or a quiet afternoon spent in the fantasy section of your
favorite bookstore.
Once you have your
book collection, read them carefully. If your experience in this genre is dated, note the subtle
differences in the more recently published books. While a fantasy novel about a woman who battled her way out
of the kitchens to become the first female ruler of her kingdom may have flown
off the shelves in the 1970’s, the same basic story element may stagnate in a
time where women’s equality is not at the forefront of societal issues in the
real world.
A next logical step in
progressing as a new fantasy writer might be to pick up a few good books on the
subject. A few suggestions are
- How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy
by Orson Scott Card
- The Writer’s Complete Fantasy
Reference, from Writers Digest Books.
The first book gives
an overview of the field from a writing perspective.
The second provides an introduction into elements of fantasy worlds that
may be part of your stories - discussions of ritual magic, medieval life, or
cultural differences.
A critical step in
writing fantasy is a concept called world building.
Workshops exist on this subject at Forward Motion, and books abound.
World building is the effort of designing the world in which your story
and your characters live. Depending
on the subcategory of fantasy you are dealing with, this can be as simple as
introducing magical elements into modern life, or as complex as designing the
geography, history, language, and culture of a world that exists only in your
own imagination.
Each step in the world
building process is crucial to providing a cohesive background to your story.
Writing thousands of words to describe your new world is not uncommon,
even though this effort never becomes a direct part of your story. Consider it as if you were writing a history story or
article. Though you may understand
and remember a good part of the focus of your history article, you may not be
able to link important subtle issues without going through the detailed process
of investigating your topic. World
building is the investigation and discovery of your new world.
It provides the rich detailed backdrop of your fantasy story that enables
you to work in subtle nuances like Faylin the Chief Bard hates raspberries
because a particularly thorny bush sat outside his childhood home, and his elder
brothers used to toss him into the bush at any occasion.
A final step in all
this is market research: who are the publishers for your field of interest, and
what have they published lately? Many
resources exist for this, both as printed material, and as online references or
newsletters. Fantasy markets exist
in novels, ebooks (electronic downloadable or online books), magazines, and
ezines (electronic or online versions of magazines).
Research and keeping up with the publishing market for your stories are
crucial steps to your eventual success in publishing your efforts.
Writers Digest is an excellent resource on many levels, for both their
comprehensive annual Writer’s Market guide, as well as their monthly magazine,
and online article archives. Unfortunately,
for the tight budgets of many aspiring writers, little of this comes free.
A less expensive route
may be options like the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America).
This organization has interesting articles and links off their web page,
as well as a quarterly bulletin available even to nonmembers (membership
requires being a paid published author, and may not be an option for a beginning
writer). The bulletin has a
reasonable fee, and focuses exclusively on the science fiction and fantasy
markets, unlike the Writer’s Digest magazine, which covers all genres of
writing.
You can glean current
information about the market for your stories from numerous resources on Forward
Motion and other writing sites online. One
of the upcoming resources includes the Writers Research Index effort started on
Forward Motion, which covers all aspects of what has been introduced here.
Beyond these general
guidelines, fantasy stories must contain all the usual elements of good
storytelling – plot, characterization, description, and dialogue.
There are many resources listed in Vision articles, and on the Forward
Motion web pages. Learning the
basics of writing and storytelling means writing, whether you write the first
draft of your proposed novel, or you write a series of short stories.
No one learned to ride a bicycle by reading about it, and few have likely
learned the skill of writing and storytelling solely by reading.
An excellent resource
for honing your writing skills is critiques.
These are editorial reviews of a story or subsection of a novel.
At Forward Motion, you can request that others review your story, after
you have gone through the effort of editing it yourself.
You can also learn much about writing from doing critiques for other’s
stories. Crits, as they are called,
are not just a good community service. Critiques
can be a tool to sharpen your eye for seeing issues in your own writing.
Entering the world of
fantasy writing can be equal parts excitement, and frustration.
The elements of storytelling and other genres combine with the rich
depths of your own imagination, to produce stories to amaze or entertain.
With these introductory tools, perhaps your steps to creating the stories
that burn in your mind's eye will come more easily to the written word.
Books referenced :
The Year's Best
Fantasy and Horror: Eighth Annual Collection
by Ellen Dalton (Editor), Terri Windling (Editor)
Publisher:
St. Martin's Press; ISBN: 0312132190
Memory
of Fire by Holly Lisle.
Publisher:
Eos (Mass Market); ISBN: 038081837X
Lord of the Rings,
by J.R.R Tolkien.
Publisher:
Houghton Mifflin Co; ISBN: 0395193958
Mists
of Avalon, by
Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Publisher:
Del Rey; ISBN: 0345350499
The
Gates of Sleep,
by Mercedes Lackey.
Publisher:
Daw Books; ISBN: 0756400600
Zanth:The
Quest for Magic
by Piers Anthony.
Publisher:
Del Rey; ISBN: 034545328X
Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
Publisher:
New American Library; ISBN: 0886775930
How to Write
Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
Publisher:
Writers Digest Books; ISBN: 158297103X
The Writer’s
Complete Fantasy Reference, from Writers Digest Books.
Publisher:
Writers Digest Books; ISBN: 1582970262
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