Conventions of the Fantasy Genre
No dragons, no elves; does that mean I’m ignoring the conventions of the fantasy genre?
Not necessarily. The fantasy genre is an increasingly broad ‘church.’
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Genre
Avoiding Prologues and Exposition
Can you write certain genres while avoiding prologues and exposition?
So many prologues, so little time… to get the reader to turn the page. For many, ‘prologue’ equals ‘put down.’
The Role of Speculative Fiction
With wide appeal and a long history, just what is the role of speculative fiction?
To use a definition from Masterclass:
Speculative fiction is a literary ‘super genre,’ …with speculative elements that are based on conjecture and do not exist in the real world.
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History, Historical Fiction and Fantasy: What Gives?
If history is stuff that happened, and fantasy is stuff somebody made up, then what’s historical fiction? History, historical fiction and fantasy: what gives?
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History, Historical Fiction and Fantasy: What Gives?Read More »
The Legacy of the Rings
What I call Tolkein’s Legacy of the Rings doesn’t kick-start the fantasy genre. It originates in the roots of story telling. …
Fantasy Genre Tropes We Love and Hate
I’ve been challenged to write an epic fantasy genre story, so I’m reading a lot of current fantasy fiction. It varies from ‘meh’ to ‘aarrrgghh!’ not only for the quality of the writing, but the vast number of fantasy genre tropes we love and hate.
A trope is any type of figure of speech, theme, image, character, or plot element that is used many times. All genres have them, but the fantasy genre is piled higher than Khazad Dum (too geeky already?).
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Five publishing design clichés
BBC Arts’ Tom Churchill mocked up five publishing design clichés that pervade the book stands. From the airport blockbuster thriller, to the fantasy epic, to the literary prize-winner, he pulls out laughably bad real examples that have sold by the truck load. …