8 Tips For Writing A Fantasy Novel
By: Rachel Poli
Tags: Novel Writing, Books, Writing, Fantasy, Writing Tips

Photo by Tim Rebkavets on Unsplash

I’m no expert when it comes to writing in the fantasy genre. In fact, I write and read mostly in the mystery department. I do love a good fantasy now and then and have even written a few stories myself in the fantasy genre.

When I think of fantasy, a few things pop into my head.

The Lord of the Rings

Harry Potter

Marvel and DC comics

Dungeons & Dragons

These are vastly different from one another, don’t you think? Yet, they all have quite a few things in common. Magic, adventure, mythical creatures, superpowers, and more. Fantasy is a world we can only find in our wildest dreams.

Yet, we all want it to be real. Who doesn’t want superpowers? Who is still waiting for their Hogwarts letter to arrive? At this point, I’m waiting for Gandalf to knock on my door.

Everyone has a different definition of fantasy. If you can make it up and have the world and rules make some sort of sense to your readers, then congrats. You’re a fantasy writer.

Whether you’re writing superheroes or magical begins going on a quest, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Keep it “real”

Fiction is fake and fantasy is out of this world. There’s still a little bit of truth in everything we write. We base characters off of ourselves or someone else we know — even if only slightly. We take real-life places we know and love and put a spin on them making them fantastical.

Sometimes ideas come out of thin air, but most of the time you find inspiration in something or someone else. Take what you already know — a person, place, thing, or even another story — and add a twist to it.

It won’t be non-fiction and yet, there will be something familiar about it to your readers.

2. Mythical creatures

In addition to my first point, you can do a lot with real-life people, places, and creatures. Unicorns and dragons don’t exist, but they do in the fantasy world. Where did they come from? Unicorns are horses with a horn slapped on their forehead. Boom. Cool mythical creature.

You can take animals you know and love from the real world and turn them into your own. You can even take mythical creatures and turn them into your own as well. Look up the lore behind some creatures and do some research on real-life animals. Make your own lore behind the creatures in your story.

Did you know mermaids are not actually like Ariel in The Little Mermaid? They’re actually quite nasty. Your childhood may be shattered, but that’s some interesting information to use to your advantage.

3. Magic

Magic is everywhere. The spells in Harry Potter are derived from the Latin language. J.K. Rowling twisted a well-known language into something magical.

I’m not saying you need to create a magic system like Rowling did. You can name your spells and potions whatever you want. However, if there’s going to be magic in your story, keep a few things in mind.

It should have rules

It’s no fun when everyone can use magic for everything all the time. Magic should have some sort of boundaries. Can only certain people use magic? Does it need to be learned or are people born with the ability? Can spells be said in your head or do you need to speak it out loud? Can do you snap your fingers or do you need to use a wand?

If there are no rules to your magic, it’s not going to make sense to the readers. Fantasy is all about not making sense, but there a line needs to be drawn somewhere.

It should be easy to pronounce

Spells and types of magic are often weird words. At least, to us. They don’t need to be super long to make it seem fantastical. They also don’t need to have a jumble of letters to make it sound important. You can do whatever you want as long as readers can pronounce it. Or else, they’re not going to understand what it means.

4. Create character names that can be easily read and pronounced

How do you pronounce Flbergsted? What about Hyckls? Or Abcdef?

Yeah, I don’t know either. Like with the magic system, have your characters and places be easy to read and pronounce. No one wants to get stuck halfway down a page because they’re trying to pronounce the protagonist’s name.

There are plenty of fantasy name generators out there. My personal favorite? Fantasy Name Generators. That website has all the generators you could ask for.

Or, you can make something up yourself, but use your vowels wisely. Jumble letters around from already existing names. For example, my name is Rachel and I often use the fantasy name Lehcar because that’s my name backward. Some names won’t be easy to pronounce like mine, but you can move letters around. Work with what you have.

5. Know your world inside and out

If you’re creating a fantastical world, then you need to know it inside and out. You need to see it as though you’ve traveled there before. You need to know it like the back of your hand as though you’ve lived there your whole life.

Figure out the logistics of how the world works. Ask yourself a lot of questions you already know about the world we live in.

What language(s) do they speak? How do they communicate?

What sort of currency do they have?

What foods do they eat?

Are there different biomes? Do they have the four seasons?

There are a lot of other questions to be asked, but these are just a few. You may not need to know all the answers, but it’s helpful to figure out anyway. You need to know your world better than your readers.

6. Use a map

Piggybacking off the previous tip, use a map. Maps are important. Your novel may not need a map in the front of the book and your readers may not necessarily need to see it, but it’ll be helpful for you in any case.

You’ll be able to keep track of where your characters go, especially if they’re on an adventure and split up. Plus, it’s a handy list of all the place names in your world and which place is next to another.

7. Know your fantasy genre and subgenre

Fantasy is a vast genre and there are so many sub-genres to it. The Lord of the Rings and X-Men are totally different from one another. Are you writing superheroes saving the world or talking about a Hobbit going on an adventure?

Research different sub-genres of fantasy and know which one your story falls under. This will not only allow you to understand your novel better, but it’ll help you with your target audience as well.

8. Do your research

Research never hurts. There are a lot of fantasy writing craft books out there. The Internet is a vast place. No, unicorns are not real, but there is information about them in various places.

Read other fantasy books in your genre and sub-genre. What do those authors do? How do they handle their magic system or how do they portray unicorns?

Brush up on your fantasy knowledge. There’s no wrong way to write a book and, in the end, the story is yours. But it never hurts to be prepared.

Overall, writing a fantasy novel is a lot of fun. I’ve written Dungeons & Dragons-like stories and I’ve also written about a team of superheroes in Marvel fashion.

It’s fun to dabble in all these sub-genres, though writing fantasy is not a walk in the park. It’s a fun challenge and always a good idea to immerse yourself in a brand new world you created.

This article has been updated and was originally published on RachelPoli.com.