Fantasy creators have always lived in an enchanted world depicting battles fought by heroes riding alluring dragons, But while imagining the universe is an important part of the fantasy book, there’s so much more to the story. You will need to construct a detailed and plausible universe, design interesting characters, and make sure the storyline remains interesting and engaging.
In this guide, we’ll outline the fundamental principles for writing a fantasy book that departs from customary boundaries; students should surprise themselves with the unpredictability of it all.
World-Building: Creating a Realm of Possibilities
The world the narrative takes place in is always a core component of all good fantasy books. Depending on the setting, it could be another universe, a realm full of magic and the supernatural or another dimension. The world must be rich in detail and substance to fully captivate the reader’s attention.
Defining the Geography and Setting
Start with the geographical outline that will form the foundation of your world. What does geography consist of? Are there deserts, mountains, forests, or some islands? The geography must not only provide uniqueness but act as a setting as well.
You may find it helpful to draw a map outlining your world and its important areas. Doing this can help ensure continuity and coherence of your story as the characters visit different locations.
Building Cultures, Societies, and Governments
Your fantasy world’s culture and society should be centered on its respective people. These people should have their own unique beliefs, traditions and customs, and even a social organization and a value system. You can even envision how various races, kingdoms, or tribes have created relationships, whether hostile or friendly. How do their governing structures function?
Having such elements adds up to the dimensions of your narrative. Take for instance, it is possible that there is a particular kingdom that has a totalitarian rule and another that has a group of traditional witches controlling them. It is possible that such a structure also creates conflict in your narrative.
Crafting Magic Systems
Magic makes it much easier to write about various fantasy worlds, since each world has its own set of laws that govern the use of magic. A solid magic system is critical to maintain cohesion throughout your world.
Use the following questions to frame your own world:
- Who can use magic? Who can wield magic? Is doing so reserved for a specific type of person, creature, or society?
- What are the limits of magic? Magic should always have limits otherwise it is merely an easy avenue for advancements in the plot.
- How does magic interact with the natural world? How is magic incorporated into the environment? Is it natural, come from relics, or is it ever learned?
A strong system of magic is often required for a good plot since it increases the suspense but does not make the plot seem far fetched.
Developing Engaging Characters
Any story will always have engaging and strong characters as its cornerstone. Your fantasy book shall depend on powerful and ever-developing characters throughout the story.
Creating a Protagonist
The main character can be a person that no one would expect to be a hero or a lone sorcerer who is still trying to figure out what kind of powers he possesses. No matter the image, let them have some clear touches of motivation or shortcomings that can be appreciated by the audience.
Consider this:
- What is the protagonist seeking, or in need of? Is it the case that they are seeking vengeance, redemption, or have a certain heightened sense of obligation?
- How do events affect them throughout the events? For this sort of character, it is quite normal for them to change and impact everyone around themselves as well.
Villains and Antagonists
And of course, every fantasy book must be written containing the well-thought out antagonist. The adversary could be a dark sorcerer who is cynical all the time, tyrant ruler that everybody upholds, or maybe an ancient evil that crawled itself out of the abyss — lunatic, yes, but with a logical explanation behind everything. Just as with the protagonist, the readers need not be left in the dark about what their antagonist’s purpose is – even if misguided, they are likely to have a clear understanding of how and why they do what they do.
Villains have a tendency to develop rather large fanbases, so if you have an interesting concept in mind don’t be afraid to elaborate on it.
Supporting Cast
All the other people intertwined in the story – sidekicks, mentors, or companions – would have a reason to be in the story in the first place. They could be there and be functioning as humor, as guides, or even as contrasting figures to the main character’s ideals. Create such people in a way that they have their ideas and reasons for acting in a particular way.
Structuring Your Fantasy Plot
After you have created the setting and the characters of your series, it is now time to determine the sequence of events in your plot. A lot of fantasy writers base the outline of their novels on a single schematic which is dubbed as the “hero’s with a thousand faces”, but this is not the only possible structure for your tale.
The Call to Adventure
In the opening section of your book, adjust the focus on the principal character as well as the background setting. Thereafter, something must occur which moves the plot forward: this is the ‘hero’s journey’. It can be a magical object’s unearthing, a war that’s on the horizon or a quest that needs to be achieved.
Trials and Challenges
In most parts of your narration, the main character has to confront several obstacles, and even defeat them. These might include wars, loss of principles, or clashing with diabolical forces. For each of the challenges, the story has to evolve in such a way that the protagonist gets prepared for the final fight.
The Climax and Resolution
The climax is the point of no return, where the main character has to go through numerous disappointments – be it in the form of a soldier fight, or a tussle with the ‘bad guy’, or even a mental fight. The resolution should clear out all the seams of the plot and give the audience a closure, whether that is a success, a sad story, or an opening for part two of that story or series.
Themes and Symbolism in Fantasy Writing
Readers may often find themselves enthralled with multiple ideas knit within a single fantasy novel. Such themes can vary from being the struggle between good and evil, searching one’s self or simply the abuse of authority.
Good vs. Evil
Although this classic theme is often portrayed in fantasy literature, it does not have to be black and white. By blurring the lines between good and evil, and showing that there are reasonable motivations and beliefs on both sides, the moral conflict in your story can be made much more interesting.
Identity and Self-Discovery
Personal truths are central in many fantasy novels as the protagonist has to go through some metamorphosis in their psyche. In the journey, he may also be at loggerheads with the questions such as ‘Who is he?’ and ‘What is their place in the world?’.
Power and Corruption
Power politics, magic, and even personal power are often at the heart of many such fantasies. Some may look for power, power may change them, while some may wield the power for personal gain which would bring destruction to them as well as others.
Pacing and Writing Style
In quite a number of instances, hundreds of pages separate fantasy novels, so structure action, world-building, and character development evenly throughout the novel.
Keep the Plot Moving
While such information regarding your world is useful, it should not be very large so that it tires the reader. Multi-layer global conflicts and block texts of exposition ‘show’ the world instead of long paragraphs ‘tell’ it.
Use Vivid Language
Considering the fact that your readers have no prior exposure to the surroundings of your created world, a valley of descriptions is warranted. Make sure to incorporate sights, sounds, smells, and textures into your descriptions.
Editing and Revising Your Fantasy Novel
After completing the first draft, focus on revision and editing. This is because fantasy novels are based on intricate plots and world-building, which normally takes several editing rounds to make sure everything is in context.
Check for Consistency
“Do you know what is better than standards? Principles! Because when you have principles you don’t set standards.” – Go without setting principles: Your world and magic system will rule over the book and over the characters in the book!
Cut Unnecessary Details
Do not over obligate your imagination. As much as undertaking the task of world building is important for any fantasy genre, you must take care to avoid unnecessary detail overload in scenes, descriptions, or even characters. Everything that does not move the plot forward or develop the character should be deleted or archived.
Get Feedback
I would recommend you consider sending out the manuscript to beta readers, more specifically people who are knowledgeable in the fantasy genre. Pacing issues, plot holes that you may miss while writing, and development of the characters is something which can be an issue or wherever there is scope, has a scope.
Be sure to explore our other blogs, where you’ll find more tips and insights on writing and storytelling.
FAQs
1. How long should a fantasy novel be?
In general, a standard fantasy novel varies in word count between the range of 80,000 to 120,000, however it may exceed that depending on the world-building and the plots. Do concentrate on completing your story rather than concentrating purely on how many words to get.
2. Do I need to create a new language for my fantasy world?
There is no such mandate, however for some fantasy authors, they do create languages as it seems to add more depth to the world building aspect of the book. Neither should there be a necessity to incorporate it anywhere, too much language is useless as it only serves to leave the reader baffled.
3. How do I avoid fantasy clichés?
In order to be original, do not rely on boring characters, boring plot twists and also a boring magic system. After all, the chosen one and the dark lord are just scorched earth tropes that have been seen over and over again so don’t be that cliche.
4. What is the key to creating a successful fantasy world?
Make sure there is consistency. If it’s your magic system; a certain generic social structure; and even the geography of your fantasy universe – abolish the feel that each new part ever was in the universe before. This will enable your readers to create a connection with the world completely.
5. Can I mix genres in my fantasy novel?
Indeed many fantasy novels don’t hesitate to incorporate sub-genres such as romance, or mystery or horror. Just when doing this make sure that the different sub-genres are able to blend with your world and your story.
The exercise of writing a fantasy book takes you to new dimensions, enticing plots, and vivid characters that the readers can relate to. When applied properly, these steps will put you on the right track to writing a fantasy novel that is appealing to the audience.
