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/lit/ - Literature

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1048043 No.1048043 [Reply] [Original]

I want to write a fantasy novel. I have some ideas, but I'd like some tips so I don't make yet another shitty cliche fantasy story.

I'm also thinking of starting with short stories to work on my writing skills, since it's been years since I've written fiction, and that was for some high school English shit.

>> No.1048046

>Fantasy


sage

>> No.1048051

>>1048046
The reason you're saging is because the fantasy genre is filled with shitty cliche shit. I'm asking for advice on how NOT to write shitty cliche shit.

Please.

>> No.1048059

Make a list of all the cliches you can think of in the fantasy genre. (Medieval setting, elves, etc)

Work up a basic settling/plot that avoids everything you have put on your list. (Instead of a medieval setting, maybe you could have it set in prehistoric, victorian, or even modern times.)

>> No.1048064

>>1048051

be born with a mind capable of not doing that.

wooops u shit out luck ;_;

>> No.1048067

>>1048046

Fantasy= a genre of literature, Bad and good.

Anyways OP, I think nowadays author's find themselves so afraid of their fantasy stories being unoriginal that when they finally think they have a great and original plot, they lose site of the fact that their characters are unlikeable and unrelatable as all get up.

What I would suggest is: try to put an equal mix of comedy, horror and sadness into your stories. Make them accessible to a wide range of tastes.

DON'T try to micromanage details about "magic works differently in this world because etc. etc. etc. so it's unique". That always just comes off as a gimmick and makes the story more often than anything clunky and dull to read.

>> No.1048068

GRRMdark already beat you to the punch for writing the least cliche fantasy story out there.

>> No.1048080

>>1048051
>The reason you're saging

How fucking pretentious are you, to claim you know what I'm thinking about?

>> No.1048083

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasyCounterpartCulture

>> No.1048096

And believe it or not, don't be afraid of tropes.

Eleves in a fantasy setting are tropes, not cliches. If your elves have well written personalities, interesting backstories, a new approach to their fantasy architecture and just colorful imagery that immerses the reader then you aren't doing anything wrong.

Who gives a shit if you have elves if the elves are well written and aren't just reprinted versions of R. A. Salvatore nonsense?

Interview with a Vampire was considered well written by many. Twilght was not, though both were somehow popularized in their own time.

The point is, it's never what you write about that's important in fiction, it's how you write it and what themes or messages they can empathetically convey.

>> No.1048102

>>1048096
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TropesAreTools

>> No.1048110
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1048110

Post your story here when you're done with writing it!
I love fantasy!
pic related, it's me loving fantasy

>> No.1048123

>>1048102
Yep.

>> No.1048255

Just copy Tolkien's universe but change the names of the races and add in a vampire romance side storyline to make it interesting.

Bam, now you're a multi-millionaire.

>> No.1048272

It's impossible to make a 100% original story. Just figure out a story, and realize what tropes you're using... then try to make the best of them.

>> No.1048316

>>1048255
Sadly, this. This is how you get to be a famous authour nowadays. Or you rewrite Jane Austen novels. Or any other classic, and add in vampires, zombies, or make two characters into your OTP. Have you been into a bookstore lately and seen that type of thing? Fanfiction is getting published.

Seriously though? Go on TVtropes. Get inspired. Go into a bookstore and read other fantasy novels to know what not to do. Let your story be character driven, lots of fantasy stories are driven by some greater force in the world, or the world itself. It's much more interesting to let the interactions of the characters drive your story. Imagine the plot as a road and the story itself as a wagon that your characters are pushing.

I don't have a single "legitimate" fantasy novel in my bookshelf due to the fact that most fantasy reads the same. It's hard to differentiate. Try, but don't go over the top. Also, a good title counts for a lot. Not "[Thing/Person/People] of [Place/Object]" or some nonsensical word combination.

>> No.1048437

bump for advice

>> No.1048481

Just write something interesting, don't consciously try to avoid cliches, or it will end up just a bad. Like any story, you should come up with interesting characters first, everything else should be circumstantial.