The Author as Translator
A revelation about my fantasy series: I’m the author as translator. Put another way, my characters don’t speak English… …
A revelation about my fantasy series: I’m the author as translator. Put another way, my characters don’t speak English… …
Magic defines the fantasy genre, but I have no fewer than nine problems with magic. Sure, you can have fantasy without magic, but some readers will feel cheated. How does magic affect the story? When does it add wonder and when is it simply plot armour?
…
Inspired by Sanderson’s World Building class, we bring you writing Setting as Character. There are certain books where the setting is so key to the story, so rich and well defined, it becomes a character in itself.
…
A common piece of writing advice is ‘write what you know.’ But what I know, I don’t want to write about. Much better to make it up.
…
One important question when writing fantasy: how big a world do you need? Cast around for writing advice in the fantasy genre and you’re told of all the ‘essentials:’
…
Because we all need more joy and more comic novels in the worlds, herewith, the conventions of the comedy genre in fiction. A funny thing happened on the way to the keyboard…
…
For all the world-building and lore, I realise Fantasy is no different from any other story structure. All genres contain world-building and lore. Except in other genres we call it setting and history. All stories have it, even contemporary ‘real-world’ stories. Because they’re not real. ‘Real worlds’ in stories are edited and highlighted fictional versions. The author decides what to include and what to leave out. …
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.’
…
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.’
…
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.
…