Want to write some fantasy, but the idea spring has dried up...

[RationalGoblin]

So I want to write some fantasy, and I know I want to write something to do with fantasy, but I'm at a loss for ideas to start with, or even the genre of fantasy I want to write about.

I'm leaning towards epic fantasy, but I haven't decided yet. I'm also leaning towards a mixture of various real-life mythologies and folk tales, ramped up to eleven.

So does anyone have tips about writing fantasy, or even some inspiration?

Oh yeah, and I don't want to write about the typical "yaaaaay Western Europe"-style sort of story. You know, the sort that is utterly generic, with Counts and Dukes and magical swords with an unknown destiny and so forth.

I still am thinking of writing Epic fantasy, just not generic epic fantasy.

[Icewalker]

Pick a culture which isn't as often investigated. Spend a couple days doing lots of research on their folklore and culture. You may well find some inspiration. If it doesn't work out, try again with a new culture.

Alternatively, if you don't want a culture/folklore based setting and want to make an original world/magic setting, pick a very common variety of magical setting or magical system (for example, elemental magic) and then twist it into a strange new shape (for example, changing the elements into totally nonstandard things).

[Maxios]

Take a normal cliche of the genre, and mix with it. That's what I do in my Comedic Fantasy Novel thread :smallcool:

[Comet]

Pick a culture which isn't as often investigated. Spend a couple days doing lots of research on their folklore and culture. You may well find some inspiration. If it doesn't work out, try again with a new culture.


I'm a huge fan of this method. Just dive into a mythos that seems interesting on the surface, dig around and come back to the shore with whatever beasts, heroes and mystical destinies you can find. Then take that fantasy, think about what kinds of characters you can insert in there and how they can grow in such a weird environment.

If you can't come up with anything that works, shelve those ideas and start researching a new culture. Afterwards you should have two sets of worlds to play around with, maybe even more. If you can't think of a combination of those elements that can serve a meaningful character arc, just keep on collecting more elements until you can.

And yeah, I personally like to think that all stories should be about a character arc, where a certain person or persons grow or interact in ways that are engaging to follow and offer some small insight into how we, real humans, work. The fantasy would be mainly there to drive these personalities into the extreme, to dig out aspects of humanity that simply won't emerge in our world. The story about a bloke saving a girl from a group of thugs on the streets of New York and then taking her to a coffee shop to make her feel safe is, basically, the excact same story as that of a knight who saves a princess from a demon and marries her with grand ceremonies. It's all about real personalities, but fantasy lets you put those personalities into unreal situations, which can be useful in highlighting some aspects of our human mind that rarely come up in everyday life.

[Icewalker]

Yes, definitely. The story of the characters and their changes is largely the most important. Makes short story writing interesting. Mine tend to turn out very dark, because death can certainly qualify as change, especially if you put it in the right places. Or realization of approaching death. Good catalyst.

Anyway, you could look into the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Don't read them in full though. That will take you a couple years of heavy reading. :smallbiggrin: I suggest watching Sita Sings the Blues (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34), for a nice plot summary of the Ramayana. Set to nice music.

[cho_j]

And yeah, I personally like to think that all stories should be about a character arc, where a certain person or persons grow or interact in ways that are engaging to follow and offer some small insight into how we, real humans, work. The fantasy would be mainly there to drive these personalities into the extreme, to dig out aspects of humanity that simply won't emerge in our world. The story about a bloke saving a girl from a group of thugs on the streets of New York and then taking her to a coffee shop to make her feel safe is, basically, the excact same story as that of a knight who saves a princess from a demon and marries her with grand ceremonies. It's all about real personalities, but fantasy lets you put those personalities into unreal situations, which can be useful in highlighting some aspects of our human mind that rarely come up in everyday life.

Comet, that is beautifully written and perfectly fits my own views on story telling. At the moment, I am working on many different fantasies, from a world where they barely bother with science because there is so much magic around, to one where there is absolutely no magic, only a different geography and history than Earth. Both of those and everything in between are about people being people. Obviously, something happens to those people, so they're not just getting coffee but flew to the café on a dragon, but in the end the driving force of any truly good fantasy isn't the world: it's the way the characters fit into the world.

So, my advice to you, RationalGoblin, is to start thinking about PEOPLE. Don't just look to another culture for its cool mythology; look for a historical figure or event you find interesting. Personally, I am very into treaties and diplomacy. So I might read up on relations between the French and the Native Americans in the old Louisiana Territory, then start thinking about how things would be different if everyone at the trading post could shoot fire or something like that...

Here's hoping you get enough suggestions that one actually lines up with how you write!

[Icewalker]

Thing is, while looking at people and cultural interaction is also fantastic, and gets more directly to the root of the issue of centering a story on characters, I think inspiration actually comes down more to style.

I know that my stories almost always start with a setting, not the people. Then from there I find cultures, then from there I find people. The story is still centered around the characters and the change, but I work from the outside in. It's just a matter of preference, seems to me.

Which reminds me I ought to go and finish that short story sometime... :smallsigh:

[leakingpen]

all these are great ideas. Also, look for river of the dancing gods, by jack chalker. Epic fantasy, and not what you expect. Brilliantly done, might give you some ground to start with plot wise.

[RationalGoblin]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I've got a few tentative ideas down for various stories, from all your suggestions (mainly the culture ones, but the other ideas are good too).

You guys articulated what I've been doing already, but just couldn't put into words (and thus be able to track what I'm doing).

Thanks again. :smallsmile:

[Milo v3]

If you want a truly orginal fantasy world. Make sure thier are no elves, dwaves, gnomes, orcs, or Hobbits (I mean Kender.... I mean Halflings).
Make up your own.