Albert Einstein

“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.”

-Albert Einstein

Jaime from Game of Thrones

Is black and white dead?

No, I’m not talking about film.

With the recent surge in popularity of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (a.k.a. Game of Thrones), fantasy as a genre has gained a new audience. Even those who have not ventured into fantasy before can easily find themselves engrossed in the world of Westeros.

Why is this so?

Typically, fantasy has been known for depicting the struggle between good and evil – a trope that, while tried and true, may be too conventional for today’s audiences. There, I said it.

One reason that Martin has enjoyed so much success is that by avoiding the simple ‘forces of good defeat the forces of evil’ cliché, he has crafted a more mysterious and unpredictable story. And with an invigorated interest in the possibilities and directions that the story may go, the genre can creep in and silently wrap itself around the audience.

The Allure of Grey Fantasy

One of the best aspects of Martin’s story is his cast of characters. They are compelling, in large part because their actions and motives seem real and feasible not only in Westeros, but in our world as well. Thankfully, though, we don’t have to worry about any dragons or hordes of undead.

Black and white characters, while unique and interesting in their own ways, tend to be far more predictable and trite. There’s something about the unpredictability of grey characters that clicks with contemporary audiences. Yes, there still are heroes in fantasy literature whom readers root for, but the explosiveness and wild nature of the grey character is something that keeps audiences on edge for every page and every frame.

Grey characters change the nature of fantasy. Instead of rooting for the forces of good, you’re rooting for a character (or group of characters) that you can connect with and understand. This really allows the audience to choose from the cast and find the strengths in the characters that they can get behind, and find others whom they despise.

It’s all about that soap opera charm.

The Pitfall of Grey Fantasy

The strength of grey fantasy can also be its major weakness.

With black and white fantasy, the struggle of good to overcome evil is an immediate – and easily identifiable – source of conflict.  It provides ready-made objectives and clear-cut goals. We know that the story must move forward, and that only one side will be triumphant.

Grey stories, on the other hand, are far more ambiguous.

These stories are typically driven by the plot-altering and complicating decisions of the characters.  For readers to stay engaged, the plot must decisively move forward. If characters keep skewing the plot over and over until the story becomes directionless, the audience will abandon it. Readers want some sort resolution after investing time in a story.

A plot that is too character driven may lack those key goals and objectives that act as milestones in a story. Without defined objectives, characters will just go about their own agendas and business forever, and that can result in an endless, repetitive soap opera.

The Future of Black and White Fantasy

So, does the future look bleak for black and white fantasy?

Not quite. Black and white fantasy will never completely die.

Look at the great fantasy stories that we’ve come to love, such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Conan the Barbarian.  The ongoing popularity of each of these works demonstrates that black and white fantasy has perennial resonance and archetypal power.  These are the stories that stay close to our hearts.

So, what do think the future holds in store for black and white fantasy?

Is grey, morally ambiguous fantasy the long-term future of the genre, or is it a passing fad?

See Also:

• The Real Power of Fantasy Writing
• Secrets of Fantasy Literature
• Moral Ambiguity vs. Moral Complexity

Inspiration can be fickle: it doesn’t always necessarily come when you want it. There are some tried and true methods for getting ideas and motivation to write. These have been discussed in multiple “killing writer’s block” and other such advice columns.

What I want to propose are ways to find inspiration for writing fantasy, some of which may be obvious and others not so much.

1. Look at animals

If you think about it, a lot of ideas and concepts of monsters may actually derive from animals. The mythical Kraken was for the longest time thought to be just that: mythical. Now we’ve seen evidence that giant squids do exist and may have been crushing ships and terrorizing sailors just as the Greek myths told. There are plenty of weird, mysterious animals just on Earth, so no telling what version you could come up with for a fantasy tale.

Some of the most intriguing creatures are combinations of various animals, such as the chimera (part goat, part dragon, and part lion) or the bunyip (a sort of horse/walrus hybrid that infests wetlands). A lot of inspiration for fantasy creatures can obviously be found by just studying various cultures. Find a culture you’re interested in and study just a little bit about it. I’m pretty sure you’ll find something to spark your interest.

2. Look at old photographs and study your family

Some of the most wonderful inspiration can come from looking at a simple photograph. I’m not talking about Instagram. Just look at old pictures of anything.

Find old pictures of your grandparents, parents, friends, or children. What was it like for them growing up? What about your great-great grandparents? I’ve found lots of inspiration just hearing about my family genealogy. This can open up a whole new world of not only what your ancestors were like, but what you may be like as a writer.

No photographs of some of your family members? Just imagine what they were like. How would they function in a world of acid-spitting dragons, elves, and water spirits?

3. Watch movie trailers

Yes, you can watch movies to find inspiration, but what about movie trailers?

Sometimes just a clip can get me thinking about stories. It may be the way a character looks at another or the color of someone’s coat. It doesn’t necessarily mean I’m thinking “Oh, this character is wearing a blue coat so I want my character to wear a blue coat.” It may be something like, “That blue is quite striking. What if the whole world was blue like that?” or “What if time moved in what we perceive as slow-motion?”

4. Listen to music you hate

Anyone can find inspiration in music they love. Like a lot of writers, I listen to music as I write; it gives me a soundtrack to my writing. But when I’m not writing? Sometimes I just like to listen to songs I would never have any interest in hearing. Why? Because it gives some new perspective, something I’m missing.

Next time you’re stuck for an idea, just listen to some music you hate. Maybe it will invoke a feeling in you that you haven’t felt in some time.

5. Sit in an empty room with no computer or paper

Just sit somewhere and think. Preferably a room with no decorations. Just white or beige. Bland.

Make yourself a prisoner of the room. If it locks from the outside, have someone lock you in there. How would you get out? How would you decorate that room? What kind of creatures might live behind the walls?

Just let your mind race. After about 10-15 minutes, run out of the room and scribble down anything you thought about while in there. You might just have come up with some interesting ideas.

6. Transform your surroundings

On a bus? Find someone. What would they look like in wizard robes or with long, pointy fangs? What if the bus was actually a massive beast of burden that carries dozens of people across the ashes of a fallen civilization, the screams of those left behind echoing in your ears?

Make the mundane moments of your life interesting by doing a little day-dreaming. Find weird stuff and people. Mold them into something new. You don’t have to always go on a sunny walk in the park to find inspiration.

7. Shake up your schedule

If your routine is to go to work, come home, talk to your family, eat dinner, and start writing, maybe you need to change it up a bit.

Wake up super early, like 3 am and just start thinking about your story. Look for strange holes in the wall that you may not have noticed before or go in your attic and just stare into the darkness.  Do you see ghosts? Does the pitch black awaken something inside you? Does your perception change?

Sometimes the best ideas may come in the middle of the night. Sure, your family may think you’re creepy or something’s wrong with you, but just reassure them and say, “I’m working on a story.” Make yourself available at different times of the day. Disrupt things a little bit. You may notice if the rhythm of your life is a little off, new ideas may come swarming in.

8. Go to places outside your comfort zone

Hate dance clubs? Go to one. Avoid shopping malls? Go browse a bit.

With the increasing reliance on the internet for research and ideas, good ole’ fashioned “people watching” has gone the way of the dodo. Similar to my “look around the bus” situation, putting yourself in places that may not be entirely comfortable for you may get you thinking about story ideas.

If your story is about an elf that feels isolated amongst humans, what better inspiration than finding places where you feel isolated and go there. It’s best not to go anywhere that pushes your limits too far. Just trying new social situations may help spark some ideas.

One of the most awkward situations I was ever in was at a vampire party. I was totally out of my element, but observing the way they acted was quite fascinating.

9. Over-saturation of news

Read, watch, and consume news until you feel sick. Try different mediums and points of view. Just watching different pundits talk about a myriad of topics can give you perspective into your fantasy world.

Do people think the same way? Are there broad divisions in philosophy? Are some points of view so extreme that there’s no possible way you could ever understand them? Then you may be getting quite a bit of inspiration.

What if you have an army of goblins marching towards the southern capital and no amount of negotiation can make them turn back? What are they fueled by?

You can find a lot of inspiration just in consuming as much news as you can. Just be careful not to get too depressed. Too much news can do that.

10. Read fantasy books

I left the most painfully obvious for last. If you’re a fantasy writer, read fantasy books. Read old ones, new ones, ones that you’ve resisted. Don’t box yourself in to only reading one sub-genre or certain kinds of writers. Find authors you’ve heard good and bad stuff about and try them out.

Most fantasy writers would say they got their first inspiration from reading. So that should still be any writers go-to point. Try to please your inner hipster though. Find obscure books no one has heard of or ones that nobody likes. You learn as much about yourself as a writer from what you like as from what you don’t like.

So there are my obvious and slightly less obvious tips for finding inspiration for your writing. Some writers are “waiters” (those who wait for inspiration) and some are “seekers” (those who seek it out). What camp do you fall into?

When seeking inspiration, what is the least conventional tactic that you’ve tried? How did it work for you? Please share your thoughts below.

Ned Stark

For my “writer self,” cracking (or clicking) open a new fantasy novel is one of the most exciting ways to spend my free time.

It’s also one of the most terrifying.

After all, I don’t really know what I’ll find inside, and encountering a badly-crafted story is more than disappointing. It’s downright painful.

I’m sure you could name many issues that hamper your literary enjoyment, but for me, one the biggest is subpar dialogue. I encounter it in books both traditionally and self-published. The story concept may unique, and the plot clever. The prose may even be compelling, well-paced, and active. Overall I’m intrigued…

Until the characters open their mouths.

Nothing makes me shut a book faster than stilted, on-the-nose dialogue from characters who all sound alike. I write my fair share, of course, and read plenty more as a consultant and editor. From both sides of the page, I know how tough it can be to get dialogue right.

And of course, it’s rare to fulfill your own craftsmanship expectations in early drafts. But sometimes, even in later drafts, we writers barely revise dialogue. Or worse, we revise only until it serves basic plot movement and some character development. Then we call it a day.

Why call it a day at serviceable, when great dialogue can be so memorable?

Recently I asked myself this question. For me, the answer was returning to some favorite fantasy novels to unpack why the dialogue was so compelling. So far my study has uncovered five principles I’ll be using in future revisions of my work:

1. Memorable dialogue is about more than plot and character.

In fact, it is rarely about them at all. It’s about theme. Readers love it when characters pause to reflect on humanity, the universe, or some big idea about life. This is the province of theme—which means determining your story’s theme early in the revision process makes dialogue rewrites much easier.

I call these thematic bits of dialogue “nuggets.” Though the world of the story may be vastly different than our own, nuggets provide an immediate bridge. Often, they are the primary place where characters reach out of their worlds to touch the readers’. Sprinkled carefully throughout the book, nuggets add depth and richness to the story.

This does not mean, however, that our characters just sit on their porches musing about life, or monologue in back alleys. It means that here and there, in unexpected moments, your characters share an observation on the larger issues of justice, courage, faith, power, or whatever thematic idea drives your story.

The best nuggets, I’ve noticed, are beguilingly off-handed.

2. Memorable dialogue serves the action rather than driving it.

Overall, rich and expansive dialogue is the province of novels. But visual storytelling—most often discussed in filmmaking circles—is still (arguably) the most powerful method for telling tales.

By visual storytelling, in this case, I don’t mean illustrations or a graphic novel. I mean prose that is vivid, telling the story through image and action rather than relying on talk to carry the plot.

Our words are only as powerful as our actions. This is as true in life as in fiction. What readers see in their minds’ eye, through described body language, physical action, or environmental detail, often creates more emotional impact than the words that characters speak.

For example, is a character furious at a friend’s betrayal? Let her clench her sword, white-knuckled, and dig her heels into parched soil as she poises for battle . . . rather than giving the “I’m angry! Let’s fight!” speech.

Let your characters’ talk enhance and deepen action, rather than driving it; otherwise, you’ll ending up with a “talking heads” novel. (Which sometimes work, but they’re terribly tricky!)

3. Memorable dialogue is rooted in strong characterization.

“Hold it,” you say. “Doesn’t dialogue aid my characterization?” For the reader, absolutely. But for the writer, dialogue is aided by strongly-drawn, three-dimensional characters.

When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature. If a writer can make people live there may be no great characters in his book, but it is possible that his book will remain as a whole; as an entity; as a novel. If the people the writer is making talk of old masters; of music; of modern painting; of letters; or of science then they should talk of those subjects in the novel.

In an attempt to turn editing into a more manageable process, I have combined two of my favorite hobbies into one theory, which I call “Target Editing.”

I compare editing to archery.

Archery is a wonderful sport. It takes very little skill to get mediocre at it, and your output is directly influenced by the amount of practice you put in.  Sound familiar?

1. White Ring

Anyone can finish a first-draft manuscript. I consider that goal the first ring on the target, the white one, worth one point.

As soon as I have my manuscript finished, I’m on the target. That’s already halfway to the goal, isn’t it?

2. Black Ring

The black ring is next.  It’s not a bad goal, but a little harder to hit.

This is the stage where you give your WHOLE manuscript a read and take notes on plot consistency, character consistency, and overall flow. We want to make sure all the elements are there, consistent, and make sense.

Something doesn’t make sense? Make a note and go back to the outline to either cut it or change it, making certain everything lines up, all loose ends are tied up, and the story itself is solid.

Notice how I haven’t mentioned spelling or grammar?

I think people waste time tightening up dialogue or fixing grammar, tense, or POV slips, when they should be looking past those for now because we’re only in the black ring.

If you take time to fix nit-picky things here, you’ll never get to the bullseye. Trust me, I did it for two years!

3. Blue Ring

Oh blue ring, you’re so close to the red, but only worth three points. Don’t let your aim be lucky, go for consistency and make your time count!

The next step is taking notes on scenes. Not chapters, but scenes.

A scene where one character gets caught in a lie, a character is wounded and almost dies, a board meeting or war council, heck, even a conversation over breakfast.

Each scene in the novel must do one of three things: It must move the plot forward, it must help the reader get to know the character in a meaningful way, or it must pull the reader further into the world or story. I’m terribly guilty of keeping scenes because they amuse me (much to the frustration of my crit partners).

In the blue ring, I detail which scenes are strong (pulling the reader in, getting to know the characters AND furthering the plot) and which scenes are weak (hitting one or none of the goals). Once I have my list of weak scenes and strong scenes, I can look carefully at the best ones and emulate the reasoning behind why they were strong. That helps me determine what to apply to the weaker scenes, and which weaker scenes should be cut from the story.

4. Red Ring

The red ring is four points, and is closing in on the bullseye. The red ring is a hard one, directly proportionate to how much harder it is to get through the red ring on the target and into the yellow.

In editing, this is the stage where you go from beginning to end (after all those individual scenes have been strengthened) and give it a good once-over. I mean, the works. Grammar issues, misspellings, wordiness, flat descriptions, erroneous or inconsistent thoughts, feelings, actions or dialogue. Also, this is the point where I really look at chapter breaks, chapter lengths, tone consistencies, tense boo-boos, and POV balance/ consistency.

It’s really important to plan for this step and do it quickly (not sloppily, but within a few weeks so you don’t forget things). It’s at this point that you should ask other people to read the manuscript and offer advice. You’re making the final edits. A scene that might have been strong before can be fussed with to become stronger. Every description should be analyzed for impact and clarity, etc.

5. Yellow Ring – The Bullseye

The yellow ring is worth five points. It’s like hitting five of the white with one arrow.  This ring is the big boy ring, no playing around.

For my archer friends who have to score a 120 just to increase their ranking, this is their only goal.  As a writer hoping to submit my work, it has to be mine, too.

The yellow ring is the final pass. It’s catching every typo, every superfluous comma, and every little naggy thing such as, “I don’t like the word spirit, maybe you could change it to ghost.”

Before entering the yellow ring, the manuscript needs to be 90-95% of where you want it to be. It needs to already be tight, moving, interesting, and engaging. Do not enter the bullseye before you’re honestly ready, or you will only be discouraged and disappointed when it gets shot down time and again with every partial request. Yeah, I know this from personal experience too. Once you’ve done this last sweep, you can feel fully proud of your second-draft manuscript.

Hurry on then, write your query letter and send it out. What are you waiting for? It’s not going to get any better with more tampering. If you had reservations, you shouldn’t have left the red ring!

Making Progress, One Step at a Time

I’m not saying this process will work for everyone, but for me, it’s the absolute best way for me to work on editing my own manuscripts.

I spent two years treading water before I learned how to swim… scratch that, let’s draw a parallel with archery.

Hmm… I spent two years adjusting my stance, holding my arrows differently, and joking with the guys on the line rather than paying close attention to my aim. Yeah, that one is harder to understand than the swimming reference unless you’re an archer. You get the point.

You have to do this as a process. If you start making adjustments to everything all at once, you never hone in on that bullseye. You just spend a lot of time frustrated.

It finally sunk in for me, after two years of shooting archery, that formations are more important than hitting the bullseye. I was in shock to learn that my friend aims BELOW the target to hit the bullseye. I couldn’t believe it. So, I started doing a consistent stance, draw length and nocking technique, and low and behold… I got my first few-inch formation… in the hay bale. But it was a start. Once you can get a six-arrow formation spanning a few inches, you’re on your way to being able to move that formation and placing it anywhere on the target you want to.

Editing is the same way. Once you can train your mind to do each step efficiently, consistently, and thoroughly, you can suddenly edit whole manuscripts in a few months rather than years. It becomes less a dismal, dreaded chore and more an acknowledged, accepted part of the writing process. Best wishes!

Your Editing Process

Do you have a process for editing that works for you?

How long did it take to edit your first novel, and how much time do you spend now?

As well as writing, A. Howitt enjoys making period clothing and accessories.  To see her latest creations, visit Caged Maiden Specialty Clothing and Costumes.

See Also:

• Writing Without Pants – Does Outlining Kill Creativity?
• Writing a Book – The 5 Step Method
• Plot First?