HOW TO WRITE FANTASY
Ideas to Get You Writing the Fantasy Book You’ve Always Wanted to Write
Greg Strandberg
Big Sky Words, Missoula
Copyright © 2014 by Big Sky Words
Kindle Edition, 2015
Written in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Connect with Greg Strandberg
www.bigskywords.com
Fiction
The Jongurian Mission
Trouble in Jonguria
The Jongurian Resolution
The Warring States
The State of Chu
The State of Qin
Tarot Card Killer
Black Walnut
Room 223
The Hirelings
Wake Up, Detroit
Ale Quest
Nine Amusing Tales
G.I. JOE: The Dreadnoks
G.I. JOE: JOE Team-13
G.I. JOE: After Infinity
G.I. JOE: To Its Knees
Florida Sinkholes
Bring Back Our Girls
Lightning
Fire
Dulce Base
Colter’s Winter
Flight 370
Non-Fiction
Tribes and Trappers: A History of Montana, Volume One
Write Now! 20 Simple Strategies for Successful Writing
English Rocks! 101 ESL Games, Activities, and Lesson Plans
Tarot: The Mystery and the Mystique
Write to the Top: A How To For Website Content Writing and Increasing Website Traffic
English Last: True Accounts of Teaching in China
Ten Minute Tarot
Priests and Prospectors: A History of Montana, Volume Two
Sell Your Book: 75 eBook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales
Design Your Book: 75 eBook Cover Design Sites That Increase Amazon Sales
Visit My Site, Bitch! Unconventional SEO Tactics for 2014
Please Say Something! 25 Proven Ways to Get Through an Hour of ESL Teaching
Tour Your Book: 50 eBook Promotion Sites That Increase Amazon Sales
Teaching Abroad: Making the Move To and From ESL Teaching
Teaching English: 25 ESL PowerPoint Ideas That Get Students Talking
Teaching English: 10 Proven Ways to Make Shy Students Talk Now
Bilingual Teaching: Making Your Students Ready for America Fast
SEO & 80s Movies: An Old School Approach to SEO and Content Marketing
Bilingual English: 25 More ESL PowerPoint Ideas That Get Students Talking
Braves and Businessmen: A History of Montana, Volume Three
Fun English: 10 Fast and Easy ESL Games
From Heaven to Earth: Ancient Chinese History, 8500 – 1046 BC
Google+ for Authors and Bloggers
Hustlers and Homesteaders: A History of Montana, Volume Four
Keeping Sane: English Teaching Strategies for ESL Teachers
Stand Out: Your 2015 SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing Guidebook
Social Media Politics: Using the Internet to Get Elected
Feds and Farmers: A History of Montana, Volume Five
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I – How to Write Fantasy Fiction
1: Elements of Your Fantasy World
2: Economy of Your Fantasy World
3: Transportation in Your Fantasy World
4: Class-System in Your Fantasy World
5: Entertainment in Your Fantasy World
6: Education in Your Fantasy World
7: Politics of Your Fantasy World
Part II – A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a Fantasy Novels
9: How to Write a Fantasy Novel
10: The Setting
11: The Setting (The West)
12: The Setting (The East)
13: Main Characters
14: Supporting Characters
15: Writing a Fantasy Novel in Installments
Part III – Your Fantasy Novel’s Book Cover
16: New Fantasy eBook Covers
17: Three New Epic Fantasy eBook Covers
18: New Jonguria Maps
Part IV – Writing a Fantasy Novel That Sells
19: How to Write a Fantasy Novel That Sells
20: The Setting
21: The Protagonists
22: The Antagonists
23: The History
24: The Timeline
25: The Religion
26: Characters Ideas
27: Story Ideas
28: The Character & Story Outline
Conclusion
About the Author
Introduction
I’ve written more than 25 novels and novelettes and several of them fall into the fantasy realm. Over the years I’ve written about writing fantasy on my website, and I figured I’d put all of that together in a way that will give you tips for writing your own fantasy novel.
The book is structured into four parts.
– First, we’ve going to look at various fantasy world elements that will help you come up with a cool worldbuilding idea, one that fantasy fans will know and love.
– Next, I want to take you through a step-by-step process of creating a very simple fantasy world and the characters that inhabit it.
– After that, it’s time I show you a bit of my own fantasy books, primarily things that will help you, like cover, map and marketing ideas.
– Finally, I’m going to give you a detailed look at how I created a world for a fantasy trilogy that’s selling on Amazon and other eBook retailers now.
By the time you get to the end of this book you’ll really have some good ideas of what the fantasy genre is capable of, and how you can contribute to it. So stop dreaming of that awesome fantasy book and start making it happen – begin your fantasy writing journey now!
Part I
How to Write Fantasy Fiction
Over the next few chapters I want to talk about fantasy fiction.
That’s a big topic, and I want to focus on what it takes to write fantasy. We’ll explore various aspects of world-building as well as developing characters. Here’s a list of some of the topics we’ll discuss over the next two weeks:
– Elements of Your Fantasy World;
– Economy of Your Fantasy World;
– Transportation in Your Fantasy World;
– Class-System in Your Fantasy World;
– Entertainment in Your Fantasy World;
– Education in Your Fantasy World;
– Politics of Your Fantasy World.
What we’re getting at with a lot of these points are motives. You’re learning the motives of your characters. What drives them, what makes them do things, and makes them not do things?
These are important things to consider, and they help with character development. More than that, though, they make a good story. And stories take place in worlds, worlds of your creating, worlds of fantasy.
Let’s get started.
1: Elements of Your Fantasy World
I like writing fantasy, and you must too if you’re reading this. That’s why I started this book, but I’ll say right now, there’s no way it can ever be complete.
There are quite a few little things that I’ll miss when I do these chapters, and some have already been pointed out to me.
– How about magic? That’s a pretty big part of most worlds.
– Weather is another that can really do some damage t
o characters and stories. How will it play out in your fantasy realm?
– What about monsters or creatures? You could have a whole menagerie that doesn’t even appear in the D&D Monster Manual!
Mainly with elements you’re thinking of the little things, I think. These are often the big things too.
– What are the physical laws? Do objects stay down with gravity? That’s pretty easy and you don’t think about that – unless you’re writing sci-fi, perhaps – but other laws you might want to consider.
– Do the planets and astrology and things like the moon have any affect on your world? We could be meandering into fantasy world religion here, but it’s something to think about. If I had ships in my book, I’d consider if the world was flat or not.
– How about the environment? Are trees being cut down at an alarming rate to fuel some pre-industrial world, or is it a hard-scrabble lifestyle that doesn’t leave much room for such earthly contemplations?
We can get into money when we talk about economics in a later post, but it’s good to think about these things.
Consequences
Another thing you might want to think about are consequences.
It’s easy to put a group of city watchmen in the path of your heroes, or villains, and mow them down. The same is true for that group of stone giants or trolls.
Those “unimportant” characters have families too, and if you do manage to get up to a Book 7 or 8, consider having a young waster of life and limb come at your heroes. After all, they killed daddy when he was almost done with his shift, and just before junior’s birthday.
So these are all things to consider when you’re writing fantasy fiction and epic fantasy fiction. After all, what makes those books so epic is their length, and the small print.
Hey, these books get so long because they go off on tangents and explore the peculiarities and complexities of a fantasy world to its fullest.
And that can annoy readers. I have a fine collection of 1-star and 2-star reviews on my epic fantasy perma-free book, and many complain of how boring it is. When you create a detailed world, you’re apt to explore it. And that can sidetrack story and hinder your ability to finish your tale. Many books are lost in that uncharted territory, and would-be authors never attain their dreams.
So discipline is key, and that’s another element to consider in your fantasy world – discipline. What happens when your characters mow down that group of city watchmen or that gaggle of trolls? Surely at least some laws of nature or man are broken…what are the consequences – a half-assed chase or some pats on the back?
What makes a fantasy book epic, perhaps it’s time to ask. It’s tough to figure out, but we’ll try as this series unfolds.
Your Series
Another thing you may want to consider are multiple volumes. Are you doing a trilogy or a series or something so open-ended that it has no name? In that case, these little plot holes or that lack of character development can help you. If that transition between chapter 7 and 8 was a little unclear, maybe that can be explained in Book 2. Or how about the sidekick’s strange habit of scratching himself their while talking about his sister? That could be a cool story for later.
Of course, doing this is kind of skirting responsibility, putting off for tomorrow what should be done today. And God do I love to do that.
How many times have you read through your book and thought, ‘man, that’s just not working’ or ‘I should change that?’ But then you don’t.
I guess that’s what editors are for, but those things you skip over become elements of your fantasy world too. After all, readers read them and they remember them. You told them to come look at your world after all, right when you told them to buy the book…about half a million times.
These are all things to think about, and I hope they can get you through another chapter of that fantasy manuscript. I’ve put out a lot of fantasy books and fantasy-style books, so I know what you’re going through. Just keep doing a little each day and you’ll get there!
2: Economy of Your Fantasy World
What is the economy of your fantasy world like?
Why does the thing function? Who greases the wheels? Who wins and who loses?
These are all things you need to consider when you’re writing, and you need to consider them early on. After all, they drive your characters and cement your setting.
So what is your fantasy world’s economy like?
– Maybe it’s capitalist, where everyone is scrambling to make a buck and free enterprise and initiative count for all.
– Perhaps you have a socialist system, where everyone gives most of their earnings to the state, and is in turn supplied with most or all of their needs.
– Could it be that you have a communist system, where everyone makes the same amount of money but everyone is provided for as well?
– I’d like to think some of you will enjoy a feudalistic system, where the rich manor lord takes all, but protects all as well.
– Ah hell, about a good dose of anarchy, perhaps a failed state or just plain old chaos?
There are lots of options for your economic system, but few things are going to drive your characters as much. It causes them to lash out, to sing praises, to make families, and see them torn apart.
Your economy is everything, as far as I’m concerned, but then I look at things through an economic lens. More and more I’m viewing things as an economic historian, trying to fit the pieces of the financial puzzle together while also measuring its slices of pie.
It’s tricky, and hard to understand at times. Your characters probably won’t understand your economic system, or exactly the part they play in it. But like all good cogs in a wheel, they are a part of it, and they are allowing it to function.
So that gives you a catalyst, a break – are your characters fighting within the economic system or against it? Most stories have characters fighting against it in some way, for even in the doom and gloom stories where money doesn’t play a part, that whole system will crumble along with everything else when the whole shithouse goes up in flames.
There are many battle hymns, and whichever one your republic is founded upon will probably have as its cement an economic system that holds it together.
Components of a Fantasy Economy
What do other say about your fantasy world economy? One article called Your Fantasy Setting: Economy will appear shortly and laid out these main features:
– Trade and Goods;
– Jobs;
– Taxes.
The author mentions kingdoms and taxes and how “most people don’t join the army for fun.” You know those guys your heroes or villains are always fighting against? Remember how we talked about their families in our last post? Well, what about the money to pay them in the first place? And if you think about that, you realize the whole system that your fantasy world is built upon and the potential it has.
I really delved into fantasy world economics in my book The Hirelings. There we see a ‘down on your luck’ group of adventurers that need money – it’s their overriding concern. Well, perhaps more overriding is how unfair the current economic system is, how unjust it’s become.
Designing a Fantasy Economy
An interesting article that appeared on Role-Playing Games was called Fantasy economy: how to design a deep, sophisticated crafting system? It goes into the idea of “commodities and raw materials” and “where to get them.”
Wow, that sounds like a great adventure, or a terrible dungeon crawl. Either way, these are things that you can use to drive a group of characters not through one book, but through an entire series. The economy can serve as the backbone of your world, creating one new adventure after another!
Another great question this site asks is about trade and transportation, and what “the possible pitfalls of trading” may be. Again, I think of old Drizzt books, like where he was on the ocean for several years. I also think of those old maps of the Forgotten Realms, with
those vast road networks, and all the caravans that were ransacked.
There’s always need of mercenaries and guards to protect them. And there’s lots of bends in the road, and places that branch off…all perfect opportunities for adventure or calamity.
Those are things you can think about when it comes to your fantasy world’s economy. Hopefully they’ll get you another few thousands words further along on that book.
3: Transportation in Your Fantasy World
How do your characters get around?
– They’re certainly not driving cars and trucks, we know that…right? Because, I’m not sure it’d be fantasy if they did.
– So they’re riding horses…right? Because I know if I don’t have a car I can damn-well have a horse. How much do they cost again?
How to Write Fantasy Page 1