Hey my Elflings! Here is the promised super long post!
So I was having a discussion with a friend lately, and we were talking about our fantasy fiction WIPs. And I started thinking about how I can make my writing better. Nothing said about the friend's writing, because she wows me with her amazing ideas. :D
So I thought I would do a post about Dos, Don'ts, and Absolute No-Nos when it comes to writing fantasy fiction. I might do this with modern fiction, historical fiction, and the like in later posts.
So, let's get to our Don'ts.
1) Don't do the stupid thing I did and start writing a book without a plot.
This is a major one. MAKE SURE you know where you are going to take your story, because if you don't, you are going to end up with something that has no story, no point, and no appeal. Plotting also saves you a lot of trouble in the end, because if you write it all down in the beginning, you won't have to stop in the middle and go "Oh shoot, what happens next?" And even if you just have it in your head instead of writing it down, that's ok too! You will save yourself from a lot of hassle, and besides, if you can get it straight to yourself you won't have any problem.
2) Don't drag your plot.
Another major one here. I would say that this one most likely happens when you don't have a good plot (or you don't have one at all). Dragging the plot will lose your reader's interest and get you "meh" book reviews. No one likes reading a "slow" section of a book.
3) Don't have too many subplots.
Subplots are great. They give glimpses into the lives of secondary characters, supply information about the setting of your book, and allow readers to "see into the minds" of the super villain. But if you have to many of them you will most likely 1) lose track of how many you had in the first place, 2) neglect some and focus too much on others, and 3) feel like a juggler with too many balls in the air, and if you're like me, that would be a complete disaster from the very beginning, 'cause I can't juggle.
4) Don't forget the adventure.
If you have a WIP going at the moment and you reeeeally hate it, you probably don't have a problem. And that's a problem. I mean, come on! There are Rings needing to be taken to Mordor to save the world, and your characters are just visiting each other and gossiping in their happy little lives, PEOPLE!!! Get some DANGER going here! Seriously! A story without a problem is a
boring story. This leads to number five:
5) Don't forget the antagonist.
Q: How do you have a problem if there isn't someone causing a problem?
A: You sorta don't.
Antagonists are the backbone to adventure. The Fellowship has no need to take the Ring to Mordor if Sauron doesn't exist (because no Sauron = no Ring). Bilbo wouldn't have gone on a quest if there hadn't been a kingdom to reclaim and a dragon to vanquish (because no Smaug = no problem). Do you need more examples? Let me just say this. No antagonist = no problem = boring story. Real life, you guys. People don't like boring books. Fantasy fiction writers really score by catering to the reader's inner adventurer, their love for something unreal, and their love of a good story.
6)
Don't let your fantasy creatures get out of context.
This can be hard. I have very little experience in this area, but let me just give you what I have so far.
My amazing friend and I were discussing my two antagonists for my main WIP at the moment, called
The Sign Of Royalty. I still only have a vague idea of what they are going to turn out to be (and I have only myself to thank for not plotting). So I was telling her over chat that I had *finally* figured out what to do with the antagonists (because they have to die, there is no other option. Sorry, antagonists.). They were going to turn out to be giant snakes. Here is the conversation:
Me:
HAH
THEY ARE GOING TO BE GIANT SNAKES
............you probably want to know what I'm talking about
MY TRAITORESS AND HER SON
THEY ARE ACTUALLY GIANT SNAKES
THEY JUST LOOK LIKE ELVES
THIS IS AWESOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME
(...see what I mean? Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time xD)
Friend:
............................
Me:
lol, i saw that coming
you know how I said something along the lines of the two bad guys from The Sign Of Royalty were gonna eventually turn out to be not Elves? Well, they are going to be giant snakes, actually. I just have to figure out how they function like elves. :P #confusing
Friend:
um
ooookay.......tbh that sounds a liiiittle weird......
Me:
I can just hear you thinking "this person is insane"
*cough*
.......................
.......................
if I said "The Silver Chair" will that make it a little clearer?
Friend:
I know but it isn't weird in a like cool way just weird. just saying that it would sooort weird me out if they were giant snakes xD
Of course, I at once saw her point, thought about it, and went, "yeah, no, that's kinda weird.
Moral of the story, don't get too out of context with them fantasy creatures. :D
...I can just imagine her reading the first message and being like
...yeah xD
7)
Don't get too detailed.
This is important. It's the sign of a good writer to be descriptive, but if you use too many adjectives in one place, your readers will start looking sideways. Consider.
This is good:
The pretty girls tripped happily down the sun-lit lane, chattering eagerly of the upcoming party.
This...is not:
The jauntily outfitted, happy-go-lucky, rambunctious females tripped ecstatically, wildly, and buoyantly down the sunny, bright, cheery lane, gabbling excitedly about the party that was to be held soon.
Did you feel a big, goofy grin coming over your face as you read the second example? That's the point, and that's exactly what we writers want to avoid.
8)
Don't make your story too dark.
Have you ever gotten a headache from reading a dark book? Have you ever been scared by a book--and not just an adrenaline rush, but actually
scared? Ten to one, the book that you read was really dark. Don't write something that will make moms cover their children's eyes as they pass it on the shelf. You want people to like your book, don't you? Don't write one that will only be read by the wackos with black lipstick, blue hair, and dog collars.
(no offense to anyone who has blue hair.)
9)
Don't get too detailed about spells, if you have any.
Ok, ok, so it's fantasy. There is a 90% chance of
some character having magical properties, and that's ok. Just be careful not to start writing spells, because, before you know it, you could accidentally get yourself involved in something not ok. The enemy slips in wherever he can.
10)
Don't not have fun!
...basically, have fun! Who wants to write something that tortures their mind? Be honest. Even though your WIP might be frustrating at times, there are also those other times where ideas are gushing out of your
ears, you found a bunch of Pinterest pictures that look
just like the MC, and your Spotify playlist is doing a great job of setting the mood for the scene you're working on!!! Don't you just love that?
11)
Don't give up.
Whatever you do, never ever give up. If your WIP is getting nowhere, don't throw it away. What looks pathetic to you could turn out to be a best-seller someday. If you have writer's block, put it down for a while and work on something else, or look for pictures, make an aesthetic, whatever! When you are ready to give it another shot, go back over your outline, see what you might want to change. This is a life lesson I learned from drawing. I would draw a picture, and when I was finally happy with it, I would put it down, walk away from it, and come back hours later. And when I came back, I could see what I needed to change. This can also be helpful with writing. Step back for a bit. See the big picture.
Let me tell you a story. A few months ago, a friend of mine told me that she was giving up on a story she was writing. Needless to say, I was devastated. I had read this story, and I loved it so much. Plus I was writing the companion story. I tried everything to get her not to destroy it (because I think that was her original plan). Finally she said that she was not going to destroy it. I re-JOICED! She then added that she was going to throw it into the lowest dungeon below the Mongrels' mountain...and I quickly stopped laughing. I was a little disappointed, but I was glad that she wasn't going to snuff it out forever. Fast forward a bit, and she totally surprised me with the news that she had re-written the plot, tweaked some of the characters, and was going to rewrite the book! You can imagine my ecstatic reaction! I mean, we had been co-writing these two cute little books since we were like, what, eleven? Yeah! So I was really glad for her. AND SHE ASKED ME FOR A NAME SUGGESTION WHICH WAS JUST COOL. Moral of the story, do whatever it takes to fix your WIP if you don't like it. Writers are, most of the time, the harshest critics of their own work, and sometimes they can't see the potential in their stories. Don't give up!
I hope you enjoyed this post about the Don'ts of writing fantasy fiction! I know that I probably missed something when I wrote it, but hey, if you know what it is, put it in the comments. :D
Did you find anything useful in this post? Do you plan to try any of my suggestions? Do you disagree with anything I wrote? If you do, I want to hear your opinion! After all, that's what the comments are for ;) Be watching for part two, the Dos!
