Dip your toe into the water through short stories, instead. So if you can’t churn out the full-blown novel inside of you just yet, don’t sweat it. There's a lot to consider, from geography, to ecology, to economy - and that's before you get into any magic systems or fantastical elements! Luckily, we've built a worldbuilding roadmap to help navigate this all: our ultimate worldbuilding template. This is exactly the way you should show your world.” Young observes: “Instead, cinematographers carefully plan each shot to give you a view of where the actors are. “Give them scenery when it relates to the story by getting your characters to interact with their surroundings.” Art by Jack Baker.ĭid we ever get an ultra-wide shot showing the whole of Middle Earth in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy? Absolutely not! That would be boring to the viewers, not to mention meaningless. “Don't tell your reader what your world appears to be,” says Young. Sometimes writers get so caught up in their world that they write block paragraph after block paragraph (after block paragraph) of description. Then, it's just a matter of re-reading them and noting strengths in their plot, dialogue, characters, and scene structure. Learn from the best - and then go forth and tilt the arena again yourself. To take specific action, Nieveen suggests picking the 10 books that you most admire. Read and read and read, and you'll start to see your own writing improve.” Read the books that are classics-they are classics for a reason-and read the books that are bestsellers and read the books that are award winners. “Read books with description or dialogue you admire. You're absorbing sentence structure and rhythm and prose,” she says. Your writing’s only going to be as great as what you’re feeding it. You should read good books, says Chersti Nieveen, a proofreader of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, with an emphasis on good. To get a better picture of the various subgenres within fantasy, check out this guide as well as this post on the evolution of fantasy since the 1900s. As Young says: “If your characters are younger, you should be writing YA or MG, not adult.” Indeed, “fantasy” is such a broad genre that you’ll need to dig deeper to find your niche - but it’s important as your subgenre not only informs your characters and setting, it also allows you to identify your competition and audience. Norrell, for instance, doesn’t target Discworld’s readers, and no-one would instinctively group Harry Potter and Stephen King's The Dark Tower in the same category. But is your story steampunk, urban, or grimdark fantasy? Is it for children or young adults? Are there elves or tech? Is it set in the modern world, or is it a re-imagining of an alternate past? Jonathan Strange and Mr. “Oh, my market is fantasy,” you might say, waving your monthly subscription of Imagination And Me. If you don’t know your market, you’ve already made a mistake, says Erin Young, an agent for Dystel Goderich & Bourret, which represents authors such as James Dashner of Maze Runner fame. Start by researching the fantasy fiction market
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