Whether to escape the real world for a brief period of time or to boost creativity, millions of people all around the world head to bookstores and stare at fantasy books in awe. Of course, anyone can be spellbound when there are so many options to choose from.
The fantasy genre does not only help readers break free. Writers of this genre also know that there are no limits and want to make the best of this freedom.
If you are considering writing your first fantasy novel soon, here are some of the best tips to consider.
1. Read More
One crucial thing for any aspiring fantasy writer to grasp before embarking on their own masterpiece is that writing and reading are interconnected. You cannot consider becoming a brilliant fantasy writer if you do not read great fantasy work from other experts in the field.
From A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin to The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, aspiring fantasy authors have access to a world of inspiration. You can pick out a few and start reading.
Remember, you do not have to read just for the sake of reading. Instead, take it as an opportunity to learn lessons and incorporate them into your own work.
2. Know Your Audience
Reading works from different fantasy authors may already have given you a slight understanding of who your target audience is and what they seek from an ideal work of fiction. While this information is very helpful, do not rely on it alone. You must put some hard work into understanding your audience before you start writing.
Knowing your target audience nudges you and your idea in the right direction and ensures that you will write a fantasy novel that readers will love. You will not only create a storyline that immerses your readers but also use the right language, writing style, and plot twists to win over the hearts of your audience.
In addition to understanding what fantasy audiences want, do not forget to look for the specific needs of your audience in the subgenre. Narrowing down your research one step after the other will help you get closer to creating a masterpiece for the ideal audience.
3. Create an Outline
Once you have understood the needs of your target audience and have a brilliant idea for a fantasy book in your mind, the next important thing to do is to create an outline. It is one of the most important steps you can take as a novice fantasy author.
While writing fantasy fiction, imagination can run free. Before you know it, your work may head in a completely different direction than you might have imagined. You cannot let this happen because this way, you may be risking overlooking your original idea.
Instead of wandering off or getting side-tracked, you can always rely on your outline to act as a guide. Whenever you feel lost, you can refer to your outline to get back to your original idea.
4. Enhance Your World-Building Skills
You can only engage your reader with the specifics of your fantasy world if you know it inside out. You can never succeed in immersing your readers in your fantasy world if it has loopholes or is simply not believable for your audience.
In order to make your fantasy world believable, you must not only consider how it looks and what the characters feel. You must know about all the specifics that create a complete world.
One of the best tips you can use to make your fantasy world more believable is to try to make your reader not only read but see, hear, feel, taste, and smell your world. This will help you transcend the physical appearance of the world and delve into a more profound and meaningful description of it.
5. Avoid Over Describing
Everyone can agree that it can take readers some time to make sense of the fantasy world they are indulging in. They may need a few descriptions to be able to make sense of the settings, laws, and environment of this world.
While there is no problem with adding a few descriptions every now and then to keep your readers on track, try not to overshare. Too much description can be boring to some readers, and they may lose interest.
Instead of writing paragraphs or pages dedicated to descriptions, the best thing you can do is to provide subtle hints of your fantasy world. For the rest, you can give your audience some room to think and leave the rest up to their imagination.
6. Stick to the Rules
The rules of fantasy worlds can differ from the world we live in. Even the authors who establish these rules sometimes blur the distinctions between these two worlds and mix up the rules. The outcomes of such an honest mistake can be devastating for your fantasy masterpiece.
Since fantasy worlds are run by their own rules, you must always stick to them to make them believable. In order to reduce the chances of mistakes, the best thing you can do is to write down these rules and stick a printout where you can always see them.
This way, you can always look back at the rules whenever you feel lost and ensure that there are no careless mistakes made in your fictional world.
7. Add Real-World Elements
One of the biggest mistakes a novice writer makes while writing a fantasy novel is completely disassociating from the real world. Although their intentions may only be to create a unique experience for their readers, they may lose the believability of their fantasy world along the way.A rule of thumb that every fantasy writer must remember is that no fantasy world is 100% creative. There are always elements of realism or facts that people in the real world can relate to. If your fantasy book does not have these elements, it may not engage the readers effectively. You must always maintain a connection to reality to ensure believability.
