At Life the Universe and Everything symposium, there was a panel on how to write fantasy that is non-Token derivatives. It had some good suggestions. Any misinformation is the fault of the note taker.
- You need to do something new or do a twist on the old. An example of this is where JK Rawlings Happy Potter where she created house elves, or the comic series elf quest and their depiction of elves. Some other examples are Ursula Le Guinn’s Earth sea trilogy; another is name of the wind The kuishind trilogy as well as the dark Crystal and Amber the ashes.
- Each author has personal experiences that will insert their unique slants in their fiction.
- A lot of new work is coming from other cultures that are non-European such as Angel Fall, Prince of thorns; dream Walker, wizard of the pigeon.
- Read other genres that can inspire you for new material
- Give your wizards a weakness. Magic must have a cost. That’s part of the book is when magic is a problem not the solution. Magic should be part of the world show it has limitations. One example is the book L stone that has magical cost.
- Be careful of the stagnant character. The character needs to cost to be changing and evolving.
- Your characters need to be constant.
Do you have something to add? Please do so in the comment section of this blog.
