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Hi there! Yes, it's me, Leger~ over here in the Fantasy newsletter! I'm your guest editor this week; normally you'll find me once a month in the Short Story newsletter. 
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** Image ID #998112 Unavailable ** Since I'm here, I thought I'd jump right in with some opinions on what makes a good fantasy story. I admit, I read more romance than fantasy, but I know what makes a good story when I read one.
Research: A fantasy world is very complicated. Doing research is important. Creating a complex background on a fantasy world is crucial to getting your reader into the setting, even if the reader doesn't "see" your entire world. You need to know where your characters are, what they will do and who's in charge.
As a reader, I will always make "real world" assumptions. So, if your fantasy world doesn't have normal gravity, or a terrain I can associate with on Earth, you'll need to describe it in detail. Detail doesn't mean giving your reader a laundry list, it means incorporating essential descriptions, as your reader needs them. Remember, your reader is blind until you put the pieces of the visual puzzle together for them.
Ordinary Objects: A fun part of writing fantasy is making ordinary objects can do extraordinary things. The magic wand has been done...and done...and done. As a writer, you can make the most ordinary object have different qualities normally associated with that object; for example, a candle that works like a key, or a sword that will not cut but acts as a compass. The possibilities are endless!
Stretch your imagination; twist the ordinary into something surprising. For me, nothing is more interesting to read than fantasy world gadgets and how they work! I want one of those creatures that devour dust. Intrigue your reader, think outside the box and give them fascinating objects.
Characters: The best characters I’ve read in fantasy have been the ones that had human qualities. While it’s fun for fantasy characters to have interesting physical attributes, the best stories show characters dealing with the classic struggles of human weakness and strength. Struggles that readers cope with in their own lives. The more emotions your reader can relate with, the stronger your work becomes.
Stephen R. Donaldson, in the Thomas Covenant series gave the main character weak attributes. In our world, he is a divorced, reclusive author and a leper. Society shuns him. When a police car hits him, he revives in another world. In this new world, Covenant is seen as the reincarnation of Berek Halfhand, whose white gold wedding band is a revered talisman of power. The first character he meets, Lena, heals his injuries with hurtloam. His sudden healing causes him to lose self-control and Thomas rapes Lena. With the help of a giant, Saltheart Foamfollower, and after meeting the evil Lord Foul, he reaches Revelstone and the ruling Lords name him ur-Lord. He found out from Foul that the Cavewrights possess a powerful Staff of Law.
Covenant trips from the fantasy world back into the real world where only a few hours have passed. A month goes by in the real world, and when Covenant fades back to the fantasy world, forty years have passed. Throughout the series, Covenant is presented as the Unbeliever. He feels he is there against his will, thinks he has no powers and unwilling to think he can help, is impotent to try.
This is the main character? I despised him. I kept thinking, he's so weak. What a loser. C’mon! Do something! He wasn't doing what I expected an ordinary hero to do. The point is, as a reader, I was involved. I knew what the new world looked like, I knew who the characters were, and wanted to know what happened next. Those are the things that make a successful story. I won't give the ending, but for those of you who haven't read the series, I would recommend it. 
In closing, when writing your fantasy fiction, think beyond the ordinary and stretch your imagination and talent to its limits. I'll be waiting to read and enjoy your stories. 
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Excerpt: Winter was finally losing its death-grip on the waking forest. The cold air, damp with the essence of life, permeated everything. Thin blades of grass crept up through the dead earth. Leaflets were forming on the wet branches. Soft orbs of snow swayed in the rhythmic wind. It was winter’s final breath of desperation.
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Excerpt: They followed the child as he wandered through the wood. At first there was only one, then two, then three, until finally there was a whole menagerie of them - floating eyes that darted in and out among the trees.
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Excerpt: Evil had won. The once colorful and spirited city of Andigar lay in ruins. Trees burned. Houses burned. Blackness and shadow replaced beauty and light. Like gravestones marking all that the city once was, the proud turrets and spires of castle Andigar rose above the desolate streets, flagless, forlorn, and defeated. Groups of soldiers wearing black armor swarmed about like angry iron wasps, smashing anything left standing and setting ablaze that which refused to be toppled. There was no joy, no celebration in their triumph, only hunger for more destruction and further conquest.
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Excerpt: I thought -at great insufferable lengths hoped -that I had died like a single candle flickering and fluttering upon the gloomy winds of sorrow before giving way to darkness, to Death’s cold eternity.
Excerpt: Sometimes what is meant to be, does not necessarily come to pass. Sometimes the destiny to which one is born, is not the path that is finally followed.
The sky was overcast with a broad band of darkness brimming on the horizon. The sun had hidden its face as if ashamed to look upon the goings on below. The looming expanse above, resigned to its somber duty, regarded the steady stream of Kheol warriors with indifference.
Excerpt: Drizzle soaked through her skirts and trickled down her neck. She hated outdoors.
"What am I doing out here anyway?" she mumbled under her breath as she trudged along. Loneliness was a miasma surrounding her, a visible weight pulling her head and shoulders down until she was visibly stooped. Her mood was as gray as the afternoon she walked through.
Excerpt: The sea smelled of salt under the baking sun. Gulls soared high above the docks in the crystal blue sky, occasionally swooping down to the water’s surface to snatch a tasty fish. The carts of bread, fruit, and foreign spices were easier pickings though, and the merchants on the docks could often be seen swatting the white birds away with sticks.
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This month's question: What are some of your favorite twists of the ordinary in fantasy?
I'd like to hear from you!
Reply to my question and I'll print it in my July guest edition of the Fantasy Newsletter. |
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Fantasy: June 14, 2006 Issue [#1085]
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