 Fantasy: May 17, 2006 Issue [#1046] |
  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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I read somewhere once that the beginning of a story is the writer’s first chance to make a good impression, and the ending is the writer’s last chance to make a lasting impression.
-billwilcox |
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Writing the Scene
The setting of a fantasy story is like the eerie music in a suspense movie: it signals that something important is about to happen. When writing fantasy, be sure to first introduce all the settings in which the really BIG scenes will later occur. And remember that the setting is an important supporting character—interacting with other characters to advance your storyline. Paint your settings with broad strokes and then add detail from time to time. With every scene you write, you must first ask yourself, “What’s at stake?” Think of your writing as a series of double doors opening inward, drawing the reader ever deeper into the story.
Most of today’s readers demand immediate gratification. The writer must pose and resolve one conflict after another en route to resolving the main story problem. Provide enough detail to stimulate the reader’s imagination, and then get out of the way. Think of your story as if each scene were to be animated, for that is exactly what the reader does.
Read a scene in any story. Visualize it. Now read the passage again. Note all the details left out by the writer—but supplied by your imagination.
Readers hold each scene in suspended animation, reshaping the scene as details are revealed. Scenes engage the reader by providing immediacy; and the narration varies the rhythm, allowing the reader to breathe between scenes.
If you get everything else wrong, but move the reader with your emotion, you have succeeded; because conflicts among choices of the mind may intrigue the reader; but conflicts among choices of the heart will always involve them.
Until next time,
billwilcox
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Feedback From Fans Of Fantasy
T.L. 
Submitted Comment:
Hi,
Just wanted to say that your old friends advice of turning ideas backwards is a really good help. It's worked wonders for me. In my story I've tried to turn fate on it's head by giving every character a destiny, except the main one. This has quite a surprising effect on the story, and I reckon it's made the story more interesting and less predictable than it would have been had the main character been given a destiny to fulfill. That's just an example of me using the same technique. My story isn't going too well at the moment, so these newsletters are a great help.
Thank you!
T.L.
scribbler
Submitted Comment:
I am so going to try that!
nebroc
Submitted Comment:
One of my favorit things to do when I have some paper and a pen is to start drawing, and one of the many things that I like to draw is some race that I have invented for a story of mine or a game or just for fun!
Since I have done this sort of thing a lot I began to run out of ideas, so I made up a list of a whole lot of different abilitys and disabilitys that you see in most Fantasy or sci-fi storys and shows...these are just some of the things that I came up with in my list:
One with nature, Tribal tongue, Web weavers, Ambidextrous, Telekinetic, Telepathic, Animal kinship, Elementalists, Nomadic, Superstitious, Seafaring, Savage race.
I also have simpler things that a lot of Myths and Aliens have, like:
Pointy ears, Long necks, Many legs and Gills.
It's a good idea if you want to make inventing a race a lot easier, because all you have to do if your stuck with ideas is scroll down your list and pick out the things that you want your race to have.
Sparrowhawk
Submitted Comment:
Hey, first time replier! Go me!
Anyway. You've got a good point about fresh views on old stories. In my current object of creativity (lol), my character is going to become Queen :D - old, right? Yeah, but after that, she'll be deposed and have to find a way to get BACK as Queen :D, even though she didn't want to be Queen in the first place. Whoa...! LOL.
Looking forward to the next newsletter.
xx Kenzie.
nomlet 
Submitted Comment:
I'm worried that your first thought when a story goes bad is to chop off someone's head. Very worried.
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