1. Be authentic

This might sound like a contradiction, but to make your readers believe in and appreciate all things fantastic, you need to first give them a grounding in reality. This could be familiar settings or mundane, recognisable actions such as going to school or struggling to make friends. Whatever it is, make sure your reader finds something to relate to in your novel and if it intertwines with the fantasy, that’s even better. For instance, Harry Potter goes to a magical school and Briar Moss* struggles to make friends when he encounters other mages for the first time.

2. Set your limits

There are limits to everything from the maximum age a human can live, to the number of flying saucers you can fit in your mouth. There needs to be a limit to magic as well and you need to show your reader what it is. Whether your mage passes out after five spells, or your shapeshifter can only change form after studying the animal they want to be, your magic should have a limitation to add realism and tension to your novel. In addition to this, your characters’ problems shouldn’t all be solved by magic.

3. Exotic names can be cool without being ridiculous

As tempting as it might be to call your character At’an’thalu’sac the second of his name, please don’t. You can maybe get away with this for one character in ten and it helps if you later shorten their name to ‘At’ and have other characters find the name difficult to pronounce, because your reader surely will. As a general rule though, your character’s names don’t need half a dozen apostrophes to sound magical. Most of the elves in The Lord of the Rings have Welsh names and George R.R. Martin has used a range of techniques from historic names to those with roots in Sanskrit or mythology.**

4. An Outsider is a useful tool

Having a character who doesn’t know about the magic world and who can ask questions helps the reader transition more easily into this new realm. However, this isn’t always possible, but a different outsider may serve the same purpose. A character who has lived an isolated life, or who is foolish, or who is simply of another race and ignorant of the other casts’ abilities could ask all the questions a reader wants to ask.

5. One man does not make a race

A lot of fantasy novels under-represent the races they have introduced, either by leaning too heavily on a cliche or only introducing one character of each race. Not all elves should be peaceful and fond of music and not all dragons should be tricksters, in the same way that not all people are happy and not all cats like going outside. Give a sense of variety in your novel and learn to distinguish the skills of a race (maximum speed, capacity for intelligence, eye colour) from the traits of each individual. Terry Pratchett is particularly good at this and often focuses on characters who are abnormal to their race, such as Cheery the (sort of) feminine dwarf  or Granny Weatherwax, the practical witch who believes in hard work over magic.

6. Wounds are really painful

Most characters don’t make it through a fantasy novel without getting hit by a fireball or knocked over the head with the hilt of a sword. When this happens, remember to have your character suffer pain and for that pain to last for a reasonable length of time. As much as you might want to have your character take hit after hit and still get up, it needs to be somewhere within the bounds of reality or explained through your character’s ability to heal faster than normal or their years of training on resisting pain.

7. It doesn’t have to be new

The obvious choices for creatures to re-use are vampires or elves, but fantasy actually has a much deeper reservoir for you to draw on. J.K.Rowling resurrected hippogriffs in her Harry Potter series and both Sidhe and the Fae make an appearance in the Dresden Files books. You can dig through old myths or build on legends like the Sandman. It’s also okay to borrow from history and refer to real events.

8. People are important

It’s easy to get carried away with the shiny new ideas of fantasy, whether you’re lost in the complexities of your magic system or desperate to explore the hundreds of places you can create. Don’t forget the people. Fantasy should be as much about characters and their struggles and apirations as any other genre is and no amount of flash can make up for a lack of character arcs and interactions.

9. Be weird but not too weird

There’s an expectation with fantasy that something different will happen and that there will be at least one cool thing which makes us wish we really could do that in real life. Or alternatively, something so horrifyingly destructive that we’re glad it doesn’t exist. It’s important to meet your reader’s expectations and to put something in your novel which has that wow factor but don’t overdo it. When you’re adding weird stuff to your novel just for the sake of it and it doesn’t advance the plot in any way then it’s probably time to pack it in.

10. Don’t explain everything 

There are some parts of a fantasy world which should remain undiscovered, an area where your reader’s imagination can expand to give a sense of new wonders waiting just around the corner. In the same way that characters’ lives continue to grow after the end of a novel, with readers often wondering what they might have got up to next, a world which hasn’t been over mapped will leave the reader with discussion points and some fun ‘what ifs’ to consider.

*Tamora Pierce; Sandry’s Book

**http://history-behind-game-of-thrones.com/characters/grrm-symbol-names

This week’s challenges are a little different.  I found myself thinking about how we get to know the characters we create.  Some people prefer exhaustive profiles, while others discover them as they write.  Sometimes, taking your character outside of the situation of your story can help you see them in a different light.  Taking a break from writing can also jump-start your creativity.

The following activities make you think about your characters outside of a standard profile.

1. Make a playlist of 10-12 songs based on one of your characters.
2. Find or create a recipe for your character’s signature drink (does not have to be alcoholic). Bonus points if you actually make it!
3. What is your character’s favorite food? Find a recipe that they would love and make it if you can.
4. Draw a character or setting from your story. Bonus points if you suck at drawing (like me) and do it anyway.
5. Go to Amazon and create a “wish list” for your character. What would they want if they had Internet access and unlimited funds?  Alternatively, you could browse a physical store.

1. Find the balance between writing what you love and what will sell.

Sometimes you have to face the reality that the kind of writing you love doing may not be the kind of reading people are looking for. If you want to write a Western with a time travelling pig as the main character, it won’t sell. You also don’t want to spend your time writing a book about sexy vampires because you think people will buy it. Maybe they will and maybe you’ll become a best seller but it’s hard to shake a wrong image and don’t think that publishers will take any book from you just because you made it big. They’ll take any vampire book you want to write but if that’s not what you want to write then don’t do it.

Find the balance so that you’re writing something which is marketable but which you’re happy to put your name to and make a career from.

2. Learn to deal with rejection

Writers don’t make it to full time author status without first going through the nasty mangle of rejection. You are going to be told that your novel is too dramatic or that you have too many characters or it just plain sucks. You need to be able to deal with this. You need to listen to the criticism and decide whether it’s justified and whether there’s something you can do to improve. Having a thick skin isn’t enough in this industry, you need a skin that can absorb the criticism and turn it into something positive.

3. You’re going to spend a lot of time alone

Writers need isolation time to work on their projects and sometimes this gets lonely so you need to be prepared to spend a lot of time working solo. You can, however, work solo while surrounded by people in a coffee shop or a library environment – it’s all about working out what will allow you to get the work done without driving you insane.

4. Build relationships and network

Working solo is the first half but then you need to market your book and to get it in front of people who know what they’re talking about. Going to book signings and writing conventions will put you on the inside track for the industry and if you start talking to the right person at the right time, that person might become your editor or even your publisher.

5. You may need a second job

The Authors’ Licensing & Collection Society said the average annual income for a professional author in 2013 was £11,000 and only 11.5% of authors earned their income solely from writing. Being able to live off of royalty checks and book advances doesn’t happen overnight and for most it doesn’t happen at all.

6. The book you sell will not be the book you wrote

Even when you’ve signed the contract with the publisher and they’ve told you that the book is great, there will still be changes to be made. The contract is an agreement to create the book which will be sold. Think of your version as the vision and the foundation, but don’t expect it to be the final copy. As a career writer, you need to be prepared to work with your editor and publisher to make the book sell better. You won’t always agree with the changes they want but they know the market and they know what readers will buy.

7. You are not just a writer

After writing your book and making all the changes that need to be done and finally handing it over to the marketing folks, your job as a writer is done. However, your job as a marketer/ promoter has only just started. If you want to be successful and to get your name out there, you’ll need to do book signings, interviews, appear on panels and that’s just the exciting stuff and comes after you’ve done the work to book those gigs. You’ll also need to go out there and to tell people about your book, whether through social media or in person. You are the number one promoter of your writing.

8. You still need to find time to read

An author who doesn’t read is like a cook who doesn’t taste their own food – how else are you going to know how good it tastes? Reading is the best way for an author to stay on top of the market and to move with the times.

9. You should act like you’re already published

People always say things like ‘When I’m published, I will…

start a blog

write letters to other authors

tell my favourite writer what their book meant to me

These aren’t things you have to wait until you’re published to do and in fact, doing them now might make the transition come sooner. Writing a blog about your novels and experience of writing them could help build an audience and writing to established authors might pave the way for opportunities to meet editors or publishers. You shouldn’t put off doing things until you’re published – start living that life now.

10. If you still want to write as a career, don’t let anybody stop you

If none of this puts you off and even if some of it does make you hesitant, if writing is what you love and what you want to do then do it. Maybe look for that second job first and get yourself some security, but the only thing you need to pursue a career in writing is your own dedication.

1. Write a story where the number 7 proves to be very unlucky.
2. Write a story or poem based on lines from Christmas carols…that has nothing to do with Christmas.
3. Write a story or poem that goes backwards in time.
4. Write a humorous story about death.
5. “That was excellent. I’d give it a C-.” Include this statement somewhere in your story.

This is a simple game where every other week, I’ll post a photo which has something to do with reading/ writing/ words and your job is to guess the caption of the image above. See below for the answer to last week’s caption:

Writers are like plants – they can be found anywhere (and certainly in coffee shops).

Nearly everyone realised the leaf was important so good job! The closest guess would probably be Maddiemouse013:

Dear Green Thumb,
Work in my garden, not my coffee.
Sincerely, me

I’m going to send an e-mail to the account you’ve signed up to WordPress with, but if that one’s not valid, Go to www.youngwriterssociety.com and PM a different e-mail address to Rydia and I’ll send you a £5 Amazon e-voucher. If at least five people post again this time, I’ll do the same for my favourite guess.

*All images are taken from the internet and are marked as free for reuse and modification. They are not owned by Rydia or Writing Gooder.

South Korean science fiction film. Probably not a common export from the small country living in somewhat fear from their communist other half, but yet here it is.

Don’t let its origin scare you though, because although it is technically a foreign language film, roughly 80% of the dialogue is English, while the remainder is cleverly placed language barriers.

Staying clear of spoilers, Snowpiercer is essentially a post-apocalyptic story set in the future where a failed experiment to stop global warming has resulted in an ice age which nearly eradicates all life on the planet.

Our story centers on the last remnants of humanity, currently existing only within a train, which happens to be the namesake of the film. This train is fitted with a perpetual motion engine and has been running for seventeen years.

If this is new to you, it’s pretty self-explanatory, but it’s quite interesting and you can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual-motion

(And if you’re Simpsons fans you may already be familiar with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwXuVvqUz4g)

Now, this plot itself is already crazy interesting, however, what makes it such a fantastic watch is how the last of mankind developed this really dystopian living within this train. Several castes has sprung up, where the elites live at the front of the train, while the quality of living goes further and further down all the way to the tail of the train.

And our protagonists happen to be living at the back of this train, that is, until a revolt. A revolt where they fight their suppressors and make their way to the front of the train. As they have never left the tail of the train, watching them make their way through each section is almost like going through several Terry Gilliam movies. It’s really cool and bizarre to watch.

It features an excellent ensemble cast of very different actors, all bringing their A game. Chris Evans (Sunshine, Captain America) plays the lead and gives what is without a doubt his best performance. He is joined by Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot, Tintin), Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk about Kevin, Narnia), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting) as well as the amazing Ed Harris (The Truman Show, The Abyss) and John Hurt (The Elephant Man, 1984) who has been proclaimed, and rightly so, as one of the best actors of all time.

As I said, the film also features Korean dialogue, which comes in the form of another two actors who round out the cast. In fact, I realized after watching this that I had seen them both before, in the only previous film I had seen of the director. That was the 2006 monster movie The Host which became a big hit.

Within the train, tensions are through the roof, and outside the icy landscape create a beautiful image of wonderful desolation. While the climax is perhaps a bit lackluster, the ending can be conceived as quite brilliant as we realize that the human race might not be at the center of things.

Originally released in South Korea in late 2013, Snowpiercer was released in the US in summer 2014 to critical acclaim. If this sounds interesting at all, then it’s definitely worth checking out. It’s out on Blu-Ray and DVD, and will apparently be arriving on Netflix this November.

Keep in mind, Snowpiercer is rated R.

C+

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” ― W.B. Yeats

“It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done.” ― Terry Pratchett

Ah, magic!  Many of us have been enthralled by the stories of those who can wield wands and control the world in ways we can only dream of.   Maybe you’ve even wished that you had your favorite book character’s superpowers.  I know I wish I could use the Accio spell from Harry Potter to retrieve all the things I lose :P.  Of course, it’s worth remembering that these magical worlds also have a dark side, with deadly curses and villains like Voldemort.

This week’s prompts are all about magical powers and spells!  They could be used for good OR evil…it’s up to you!

1. Jamie can teleport, but only within a 100 yard radius. Her friend is looking for a family heirloom.
2. A fairy can grant people any wish, but it only lasts for 24 hours.
3. A spell gone awry makes the world literally black and white.
4. Robert can move through time, but only backwards.
5. A healing spell and a death curse are mixed up and applied to people other than their intended targets.

If everything can be believed about the way Sir Terry lived his life (and I think most of it can be) then it was equally as spectacular as the world which he created, from hunting down an old orangutan friend in the jungles of Borneo to forging a sword in his own back garden. RIP Terry.

“It is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you’re attempting can’t be done.” ~TP

 1. Even though he is gone, his spirit lives on. Tech savvy fans of Terry Pratchett invented a code based off his own creation “the clacks” from his Discworld series. The tribute “GNU Terry Pratchett” can now be set as part of any website’s header. See here for more details or here.

2. Pratchett was a trustee of the Orangutan Foundation. This should come as no surprise to readers of his books, which featured an orangutan librarian. He encountered them in the jungles of Borneo and spoke out about their plight in Facing Extinction when he went in search of his orange haired friend Kusasi.

3. Sir Terry had a sword forged when he was knighted. He didn’t go to a specialist blacksmiths or even a local one, but instead forged it in the fields behind his house from some iron which he dug up with the help of his friends.

“Give a man a fire and he’s warm for the day. But set fire to him and he’s warm for the rest of his life.” ~TP

4. Terry’s books always carried his wisdom and his characters taught us to look more closely at the world. “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” A Hat Full of Sky.

5. Terry Pratchett was often seen wearing his iconic hat. Usually a fedora and usually black, there’s something about Terry’s hat which grabs you. It wasn’t the hat which defined the author though, it was the author who defined the hat and I don’t see one now without thinking it looks out of place without a white beard and prominent spectacles.

“I didn’t go to university. Didn’t even finish A-levels. But I have sympathy for those who did.” ~TP

6. Sir Terry spoke out about Alzheimer’s disease. He called it an ’embuggerance’ but he didn’t hide from it or hide it from us. Terry raised awareness about the disease and helped many other sufferers and their families.

“It occurred to me that at one point it was like I had two diseases – one was Alzheimer’s, and the other was knowing I had Alzheimer’s.” ~TP

7. Terry Pratchett was a keen astronomer. He even had an observatory in his garden; maybe he hoped to one day see the Discworld through his telescope.

8.  Pratchett was awarded the OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for “services to literature.” Terry has said he never set out to write literature and sometimes denied that was what he did. Perhaps he preferred to think of himself as someone who wrote about life as it is – Terry proved that the line between fiction and fact is a thin one.

“The only superstition I have is that I must start a new book on the same day that I finish the last one, even if it’s just a few notes in a file. I dread not having work in progress.”

9. Terry Pratchett challenged attitudes to euthanasia. He supported people’s right to die with dignity and to choose when they were ready to go and spoke out against society’s intolerance toward it. Terry Pratchett made people re-think their answers to hard questions and was passionate about free thinking and free will.

10. He was always thinking of his fans and friends and there was often little distinction between them. Terry Pratchett was a true gentleman and he took the time to respond to fans, building up a large community both online and everywhere he walked the Earth. His final moments were tweeted by his assistant Rob Wilkins shortly after his death and were in true Discworld style.

“He didn’t do much harm”

Terry Pratchett’s epitaph by Terry Pratchett for Terry Pratchett.

I start drawing, and eventually the characters involve themselves in a situation. Then in the end, I go back and try to cut out most of the preachments.—Dr. Seuss

Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it’s far removed from your situation. This is what I try to tell my students: this is one great thing that literature can do – it can make us identify with situations and people far away.—Chinua Achebe

Fiction gives us an opportunity to explore scenarios we don’t see in real life.  We can read mysteries and solve murders without putting ourselves in danger, explore the consequences of magical powers in fantasy, or delve into the past in historical fiction.  In writing, we carve out situations for our characters to navigate.  A mundane decision could turn out to be life-changing, or a powerful character could buckle under pressure.

This week, I’ve given you some opening scenarios.  Each should be interesting enough to inspire, yet open-ended enough that you can put your own spin on it.  Try out as many as you like, and please comment so I can read your submissions!

1. Jack Miller and Rebecca Dawson are sitting next to each other on a plane. They know each other in some capacity but haven’t seen each other in at least a year.
2. It’s New Year’s Eve, 2999. Unlike Y2K, Y3K is a serious threat.  What is it, and what happens when the clock strikes midnight?
3. A famous country singer is dead and his actress girlfriend is the prime suspect. What happens when they arrest her?
4. Two people with the same first and last name, but little else in common, are mixed up.
5. Two longtime enemies are sharing a cup of tea.

This is a simple game where every other week, I’ll post a photo which has something to do with reading/ writing/ words and your job is to guess the caption of the image above. See below for the answer to last week’s caption:

Blunt words generally have a sharp edge.

Nobody guessed it but points to Fort for being amusing:

“Tiny Tim looked friendly enough, but wrote scathing reviews.”

Go to www.youngwriterssociety.com and PM your e-mail address to Rydia and I’ll send you a £5 Amazon e-voucher. If at least five people post again this week, I’ll do the same for my favourite guess.

*All images are taken from the internet and are marked as free for reuse and modification. They are not owned by Rydia or Writing Gooder.