I wanted to do something a little bit different for the second part of Signature Week. This month, the story picked for the Signature Background was "Into the Deep" by CassieQ. If you haven't already done so, you can download your background, with or without the calendar, here. I decided to ask Cassie if she would be willing to share her views on writing fantasy, she was more than willing to write up a little something for us. Hope you enjoy it!!



 

Tips for Writing Fantasy

by

CassieQ

So as part of Signature Week, I was asked to write a little bit about how to write fantasy, since Into the Deep is a fantasy story. I think a lot of tips of writing fantasy apply to writing in general, but I will do the best I can to mention some things that I consider to be very specific to fantasy. (Kudos to my beta reader, Nathaniel, for adding some good ideas to the mix).

• Read and research. This is critical. If you are wanting to write fantasy, one of the first things to do is figure out what kind of fantasy you like. To do so you have to read fantasy. Lots of it. This gives you a good idea of what you like and don't like. For example, I don't like reading "high fantasy" type novels, therefore it is highly unlikely that I would ever write something that contained elves, fairies, dwarves, dragons, and the like. (Except maybe dragons. Dragons are cool). But I do like mythology, especially Greek mythology and for Into the Deep, I wanted to work with some of the things I read about in Greek mythology, especially the Sirens.
  
  This leads to research. Unless you are an expert in the type of fantasy you are going to write about, you will probably need to do at least some research. It is far easier to do research on something you find fun and interesting than in something you don't. Researching merpeople, Sirens and the such was fun. If I had to research dwarves, I would probably cry.


• Whose world are you using? Decide whether to create your own world or take on an existing world. Into the Deep belonged to ancient Greek, mythological hijinks included.
  
  There are also alternate realities, or completely different worlds, or worlds hidden within our world (Harry Potter, for example). If you decide to create your own world, decided what you are doing to involve; time/decade, technology level, political system, religion, whether magic exists or not, etc. The level of detail depends on how much immersion you create for your reader.
  
  Some writers create crazily detailed and vivid worlds for their characters. I tend more towards alternative realities that are very similar to our world. It's up to the writer. However, if you don't want to create a world with a whole lot of detail, make it at least believable and coherent enough that the reader won't stumble about inconsistencies.


• Bend the rules but don't break them. One of my favorite things about writing fantasy is the flexibility that it offers.
  
  For example, consider a mermaid. Could they exist on land? That was up to me. In some stories, merpeople are confined solely to the water. In the fable of the Little Mermaid, the mermaid was confined to the sea until a sea witch gave her legs to walk on land. In the movie Splash, the mermaid could exist on land, but would turn back into a mermaid if she came in contact with the water. So there are options.
  
  However, just because a story is a fantasy doesn't mean there aren't rules. Vampires can't walk in sunlight, werewolves can't keep from transforming, and regular men can't breathe underwater. If you break one of these rules, then you need to explain why this particular vampire can walk in the sun, why these werewolves can keep from transforming on the full moon and why a human being can fall in love with a merman.
  
  The better the reason, the more interesting the story.

So those are my opinions on writing fantasy. Please feel free to share your own ideas, I know there are plenty of fantasy writers out there!