Writing a Fantasy Novel

Video Transcript

"Alright folks, in this clip I'm going to give you some tips on how to write your very own fantasy story. Fantasy is one of the most fun genres to work in for any writer. Why? Cause you really get to sink your teeth into your story and create something completely brand new. Some of the best stories, most well-received stories in, like, literature, in the movie world, they've all been stories that took place maybe in a world completely outside of our own. That is exciting for a writer, cause it gives you a chance to, basically, build an entire universe from scratch, if you are up to it. The best place to start? I would start with the setting. Where does your story take place? In what time, in what place, in what world does the story take place? And really establish the world that these characters are going to move through, and that means more than just the landscape. That means creating a set of rules for the world, in terms of geography. Like, what does the landscape look like? What are the cultural differences between the people in the story? Like, what are the traditions, what are the practices, what are the rules, the physical rules? Like, do people, can they defy gravity in this world? Are they, do they kind of live, you know, underwater? Is there such a thing as water, like, these are questions you need to ask yourself. What setting is the story going to take place. That is the first thing you want to do. Really establish the world, and really get in there and create the nuances too. I mean, this is material that might not even make its way, prominently, into your story, but it'll help lay the groundwork for you and help you get your head in the right place. Which is, by far, the most important thing when you're writing a fantasy story. Establish the world it takes place in. Second, build your cast of characters, and allow yourself to get really creative on this one. These are people that, you know, they might not even, you know, be able to physically exist in the world that we occupy. That's the brilliance of creating a fantasy story; these are characters that you can literally make up from scratch. Physically, personality wise, they are yours; the palette is, the canvas is blank. You can do whatever you want to at this point. So really allow your mind to go to some place creative. But, at the same time, here's the kicker, it has to makes sense within the story, within the world that you've created. Which is why all these kind of puzzle pieces go together. Establish the world, establish the setting, and establish the characters, while unique and definitely not something we see in regular life, fit and make sense within the world that you've created. They all, the two have to marry each other perfectly. Otherwise you start to lose your audience and it just doesn't make sense. The best fantasy stories are the ones that take people out of the world they currently live in and transport them to a whole different place. That is incredibly important."