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On Writing Fantasy Fiction

January 18, 2009 by GayPatriotWest

I have all these ideas related to the transition that I’d like to write about before the inauguration, thoughts on the outgoing president and his successor, yet my mind constantly wanders to other topics, my interests in world history, my love for the theater and cinema and my own proposed fantasy epic.

I’ve recently begun a pretty good fantasy novel, Terry Goodkind’s Wizard’s First Rule, the first book of his Sword of Truth series, which I’ve been trying to read while doing cardio. Though a good read, it has some of the flaws I find in much contemporary fantasy fiction.

He seems to be better than most as it appears (and note I say appears as I’ve only just begun it) he has an idea where he’s going with this story, having set up the main conflict which will define his “epic.”  All too many authors seems to just start writing, with the conflict emerging well into the story, thus compromising narrative flow*.

To be sure, when reading Tolkien’s The Return of the Shadow: The History of The Lord of the Rings, Part One, I realized he didn’t have much idea where he was going when he first sat down to write a sequel to The Hobbit.  However, once he figured out where the story was headed, he totally revised the chapters penned before he had defined (given Tolkien’s ideas of creation, “discovered” might be a better word here) the quest and the conflict.

Would it that other fantasy fiction writers followed his lead. But, perhaps, the nature of the publishing business today makes that task difficult. Many writers seem to publish volumes in a particular series before completing the epic.

That may well be one reason I’m waiting to start writing mine (time constraints being another problem). I want to know how it ends before I start writing in earnest. I read somewhere that shortly after beginning writing the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling wrote out the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, what would become the last book in the series. That’s one reason, I believe, the story resonated so well with readers.

She told that story so well that it helped me overcome one objection I had early on to the books: too much magic. It seems that all too many fantasy books have way too much magic. But, what worked well for Rowling seems to make other series seem contrived and corny.

Where they have too much magic, they have too little history. They only have a sketchy outline of what took place before their adventure started. (By contrast, Tolkien had whole appendices dedicated to his realm as well as numerous accounts which were published posthumously.)

And then there’s the problem of names, invented words which sound flat and bland. Tolkien used his rich knowledge of language to create believable names. I’ve been trying to address the problem for my books by referring to my Irish-English Dictionary for some and consulting my Anglo-Saxon dictionary for others.

So to sum up, my big problems with most fantasy fiction (even in books which I enjoy)

  1. Narrative flow lacking because author didn’t know where he was going when he started writing, wasn’t clear what the quest would be and what conflicts would arise.
  2. Too much magic
  3. Too little history
  4. Lame names.

*Not entirely sure, “narrative flow” is what I mean. In the interest of posting the piece, I’ll let it stand, but may revise it, should an expression which better describes what I mean emerge.

Filed Under: Blogging, Literature & Ideas, Mythology and the real world, Random Thoughts

Comments

  1. Chris in Illinois says

    January 18, 2009 at 8:46 pm - January 18, 2009

    The Sword of Truth Series is one of the best that I have ever read. Every single book is worth the read. I’m a total fanboy.

  2. B.T.Carolus says

    January 18, 2009 at 10:36 pm - January 18, 2009

    You’re missing a part of Tolkien’s ability to craft his history. Namely, the fact that he was a Medievalist (one of the best who’s ever lived). A huge part of his and Lewis’s fiction was born out of their deep, lifelong study of the literature, language and history of the Middle Ages. Trying to recreate Tolkien without that isn’t really possible. Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon lyric poems would probably be useful resources.

    Combining Celtic and Germanic societies into one world might be very interesting and somewhat new. I’ve been reading through Robin Chapman Stacey’s “Dark Speech” and thinking that the Irish law system might lend to an interesting fantasy world. You might find the Germanic Lexicon Project very useful, as far as dictionaries go.

    I’d suggest also reading some Diana Wynne Jones (“The Tough Guide to Fantasyland” and “Dark Lord of Derkholm especially”), as well as Farah Mendlesohn’s “Diana Wynne Jones: Children’s Literature and the Fantastic Tradition.” For a very well thought out exploration of the quest fantasy (among other things) based on the work of one of the greatest living (and least well-known) fantasists.

  3. American Elephant says

    January 19, 2009 at 4:17 am - January 19, 2009

    YES! The lame names are my biggest pet peeve with fantasy novels. Nothing rips a reader from the page more quickly than a word that sounds made up.

    Show me a successful fantasy novel and I will show you a book wherein the invented names and words not only sound individually believable and organic, but all sound as if they work together to form a real language. Tolkien as a scholar of linguistics was a master at this. He invented real languages. Elven, orcish, hobbit, dwarvish. Each language has its own distinguishable sounds and characteristics and it made his worlds work. Rowling was also particularly good due to her strong background in mythology and her love of names.

    I’m not a cunning linguist (ba domp bomp), so I couldn’t possibly tell anyone how to make an invented language sound right, but as a reader I sure as hell know when one doesn’t.

    Language is the foundation of any society, real or imagined, so its essential for a believable story to have one that sounds organic. And not doing that well has ruined many stories that otherwise might have been very good.

  4. Amin-Warfare says

    January 19, 2009 at 1:06 pm - January 19, 2009

    George R. R. Martin has remedied all four of the issues addressed in this post. Read the “Song of Ice and Fire” Series,” beginnig with the book called “A Game of Thrones.” This series is incredible. One snag. Make that two. The Author is a hardcore lefty, and makes no bones about it on his blog. Two: This was originally intended as six-book series. The author now states it will be seven, and we have been eagerly awaiting the fifth book for years. In all, however, reading what is published will not disappoint.

  5. c.cross says

    September 30, 2009 at 10:50 am - September 30, 2009

    Why don’t you try a real master like Robert e.howard,he
    is one of the best writers of fantasy. Don’t judge conan
    by the movie,Howard was very poetic. just give him a try
    before you start writing.

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