HAPPY NEW YEAR MA LEETLE ELFLINGS + Writing Fantasy Fiction: Dos, Dont's, and Absolute No-Nos (Part Two, the Dos)

Hey Elflings! 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!! (a month late, sorry, eh heh...)
And to prove it's going to be a great year, I have a PRESENT for y'all!


Are you ready for it?




Part Two of Writing Fantasy Fiction: Dos, Don'ts, and Absolute No-nos--the Dos!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Readers: It's about time, Lacy...)


Aren't you EXCITED?!?!?! Of course you are! Let's get started!

BTW, sorry this took so long. Life, you know. :D


One and two go together somewhat:

1) Give your characters personalities.

2) Flesh them out nicely.

Have you ever read a book and felt that the character was, in some way, unfinished? The author probably didn't give enough thought to making the character's personality. So make sure you know how your person acts :D Give them quirks, feelings, looks, likes/dislikes, and all the things that make them "real"! 


3) Find yourself a person who will give you their honest opinion of your WIP if you ask for it. 
This is very important, bold, underlined, highlighted, italicized, twenty-eight-point Times New Roman. If you have someone who is reading your book as you write it, you want them to be honest with you when they give you their thoughts on it. 

What if you have a minor plot hole (and of course the audience starts screaming that plot holes are NEVER minor)? What if you don't notice it? That does happen, you know. If you have a beta reader who notices the plot hole, but doesn't tell you about it, you can have (and will most likely have) MAJOR complications later on. 

Another example: let's say you created *character*, who you think is great, but to others is like, um, borrrrr-ing. If your beta reader doesn't give you an honest opinion about *character*, your later readers will probably only read your book when there's nothing else in the house to read for whatever reason. OR, to throw in a worst-case scenario, your book won't even make it past the PUBLISHERS! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!  
And why? Because your beta reader didn't happen to tell you that *character* could use some work.
So find yourself a beta reader who can help you to see and change the things that need to be seen and changed. Unless, of course, you're trying to write a boring book. :P

4) PLOT DAT BOOK.
Refer to Part One, number one, for the reasons why this is important. :D


5) Have an element of fantasy.
Ok, so it is sorta obvious, but when you're writing a fantasy novel you need an element of fantasy. Otherwise it won't be fantasy. :P If you have a world where the unicorns talk and there are blue-skinned woodsmen, then don't leave out the talking unicorns and the blue-skinned woodsmen.

6) Have something that your readers can relate to.
I read a book recently. It wasn't really a fantasy book, in fact I think it was dystopian. But I didn't really relate to anything in it, probably because it was all about boys, and I am not a boy. xD By the way, the book was Lord of the Flies, if you wanna check it out and have nightmares. Anyway, whether it's a feeling, or experience, or whatever, you want something in your book that will make readers say, "Yeah, I know what THAT feels like!" or "Oh, I remember doing something like that!"

7) World-build.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have never world-built before. But a friend of mine has, and she told me that world-building can help you keep track of your story's geography. And world-building isn't just sticking mountains and lakes all over your imaginary world. It's also shaping the customs and traditions of your people. For example, there are questions as to how they greet each other. Here are some examples from this website:

When meeting someone, how are they greeted — wave, handshake, bow, some other gesture? How did the greeting gesture originate (example: shaking hands to prove one’s weapon hand was empty)? Is there a special I-am-not-armed gesture for wizards?

Is there a difference between the greeting offered to an equal and that offered to a superior or inferior? Is there a difference between the greeting offered a man or a woman? Human/non-human?

Is there a way of changing a greeting gesture to make it insulting?

How are two people who have never met normally introduced to each other? What is the order of precedence when there are several people of differing sex or social status present, all of whom need to be introduced to each other?

Are there classes of people/beings who are never introduced to other classes of people/beings? Are “true names” significant, and if so, under what circumstances would someone be given another person/being’s true name?

Are there customs involving the way in which someone is named when being introduced (for example: giving all of a person’s names and titles at the first meeting, but never repeating them afterward, so that he’s always referred to as “George” even though he’s introduced as the Duke George Edward Canterbury Gorden de la Suis-Foule, Marquis of Horsham, Whitewater and Framingham, Earl of St. Peter’s Close, and Vicount of Abernathy)?

(^^ I almost died xD)

Is there any difference in the way you greet someone you already know, compared to greeting a stranger (or does everybody just always hug or shake hands or whatever)? How does someone acknowledge seeing an acquaintance at a distance (passing on the other side of the street) — by a nod, tipping the hat, wave, smile, or not at all?

So you see, world-building can be complicated, but OHMIGOSH DOESN'T IT LOOK FUN?!?!?!? I wanna do this now! And ohmigosh, I can just imagine having a completed "Guide to *insert name of country in which book is set*" to read. That would be so cool! You could "visit" the world just by opening it!!!!

I am definitely going to do this!!

8) Give a hint as to how the cliffhanger is resolved.

If your book ends on a cliffhanger, the last thing you want to happen to your readers is this:

Am I right or am I right? Give them something to hold them over until the sequel. ;-)

9) Write an epilogue.

If your book does not end on a cliffhanger and is a standalone book, give some after-party in an epilogue. In the book Wait For Me, Watch For Me, Eula Bee, which is a great book, a lot of stuff happens and only at the VERY END does the girl remember her brother. LITERALLY. THE LAST SENTENCE. Here it is:

"Then he felt a touch at his side and a cool, small hand slip gently into his.

"'Lewtie?' came the one soft word."

AND THAT'S THE END!!! AND THERE'S NO EPILOGUE!!!!!!!!! AND AS FAR AS I KNOW IT'S A STANDALONE BOOK!!!!!!!!!! WHAT. NO. That drives me crazy!!!!!!! I wanna know what happened after that!!!

10) And finally, have fun.
Have fun writing your novel! Don't let it be something that gives you the same feeling as schoolwork you've gotten behind on. Oh, and catch up on the schoolwork. ;-)

Well! I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and once again, I am sooo sorry that this took so long! I accidentally took a hiatus in January, but I hope to be more consistent from here on out. :D

What do you think about Part Two? Do you agree/disagree with anything I've said here? Did I leave anything out? Tell me what your opinion is! I love hearing whatever my readers have to say. :D