Fantasy novelists, this one is for you!
If you need some help with your fantasy novel, take a read of the following 5 tips and see how you can apply them to your story.
1. Choose a subgenre.
Why it helps
Fantasy has grown beyond the classic sword-and-sorcery stories we associate with the genre. There are now multiple subgenres to fantasy—high fantasy, low fantasy, dark fantasy, historical fantasy, mythic fantasy, steampunk—all defined by their settings, level of magic use, and themes.
Readers of these subgenres are devoted to the genre’s specific elements, so understanding what those specific elements are will help your novel find its audience.
How to include it
When considering what subgenre you are most interested in writing, you need to look at three areas: Where is your story set? What kind of magic will you include? What is the overall tone of your novel?
Stories in settings reminiscent of ancient or pre-modern civilizations, where magic could be acknowledged openly without seeming strange, would be considered high, historical, or mythic fantasy, like Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire or Prime TV’s Outlander.
A dark fantasy is one with darker themes that verge on the horrific, regardless of the setting, such as Neil Gaiman’s American Gods or Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.
A low fantasy is one where magic is hidden from the public, such as the stories in the Harry Potter universe. These fantasy stories tend to take place in more modern times because they tap into the reader’s belief that magic still exists even though we can’t see it.
2. Spend time building the world.
Why it helps
Fantasy stories are known for their expansive world-building. Descriptions of the fantasy world’s landscape, climate, and geopolitical structure allow the reader to fully immerse themselves in the happenings of this world. The more immersive the world, the more likely the reader is to believe in the magic taking place in that world.
How to include it
When deciding where your story takes place, a good starting place is to go with what you know.
Lord of the Rings and Song of Ice and Fire based their settings on what their readers would already be familiar with: Middle Earth and Westeros are both based off Europe and the United Kingdom, respectively. American Gods takes place in the modern US, while the Dark Tower series takes place in a futuristic version of the Old West.
Start with places your reader would be familiar with then manipulate them enough to fit the needs of your plot.
3. Decide on your tropes.
Why it helps
All fantasy novels, regardless of subgenre, follow classic narrative tropes: there’s always a quest of some sort or a character deemed ‘the chosen one.’ There’s also often a ‘damsel in distress’ that the main character must save, or an evil that was prophesized that must be overcome or risk ending the world.
This doesn’t mean fantasy tropes aren’t often flipped on their head: Harry Potter is always assumed to be the chosen one, but it is often the actions of his friends rather than him alone who save the day.
How to include it
Once you’ve chosen a subgenre and designed the world, you need to research the most common tropes of that subgenre. High fantasy, historical fantasy, and sword-and-sorcery fantasy novels have the most recognizable tropes, usually following the classic hero’s journey. Dark fantasies tend to have an antihero who must overthrow a corrupt power while confronting issues of poverty, desolation, or personal loss.
Once you know the established tropes of the subgenre, decide how you can incorporate them into your own novel and make them fresh. Are you going to subvert one of the character archetypes like the Game of Thrones TV series did with Daenerys? Or are you going to change the whole subgenre by revealing it takes place in the modern world, like Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series?
4. Design complex characters.
Why it helps
Because a fantasy novel contains so many unrealistic elements, readers need to relate to something in order to immerse themselves in this fantastical world. While world-building goes a long way to creating that sense of immersion, what really makes readers engaged with a fantasy story are the characters themselves.
While the characters may fill necessary archetypes, they are often just as complex and unique as real-life people. This is vital so that readers become invested in their journey, despite the magical elements around them. The more complex the main characters, the more likely the reader is to become invested in their success or failure within the plot.
How to include it
Just like building the world, you must also build your characters in terms of their looks, their motivations, their hopes and dreams and relationships. But most importantly, identify how your character encounters the fantastical elements of your novel and build that into their history and motivations throughout the story. If they are novice at the start of your novel, show them building their skills as the story progresses. If they are meant to be a master magic-wielder or dragon rider, explain early on how they came to possess those skills.
Consider Harry Potter: he is described as a normal boy who lives with his extended family because he suffered a tragic loss as a baby. By explaining that his parents were born magical, the reader is better able to believe why he would be picked to attend a magic school.
5. Establish the rules for fantasy.
Why it helps
If magic and dragons and the like existed in our world, they would likely run amok. Good fantasy novels avoid that issue by having established rules in place, through a historical event or magical connection, for why these fantastical elements exist so seemingly naturally.
A Song of Ice and Fire, for example, explains dragons can only be ridden by a Targaryen because they are descended from the First Man who defeated the dragons at the start of civilization.
Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series explains there are no male magic users by describing how magic makes men go crazy (which also provides a backstory for why the supposedly nonmagical main character gets involved).
How to include it
When defining the history of your world, you also should consider where the fantastical elements fit in that history. Were they always there? How did the characters learn to harness them? What do they use them for? Can only certain people use these fantastical elements? If so, why and how?
Build those answers into your plot as your story progresses. They will help answer questions the reader will inevitably have as they get further into your plot and are introduced to more and more fantastic elements.
Your goal is for the reader to become less surprised by these fantastic elements whenever they are used in the story.