 Fantasy: April 19, 2006 Issue [#982] |
  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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The vapor formed itself into a small blue-black winged creature, with long, slender horns and wide red eyes. A grin of wicked glee cracked its face almost in two. In an instant, the thing was on her, with light glinting on its sharp horns and its serrated mouth gaping wide. The wings beat in her face, small-callused hands clawed at her eyes. She felt its foul breath on her skin; its keening cry deafened her. She beat at it madly with her fists, shouting, and then screaming…
-“The Golem’s Eye” by Jonathan Stroud
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How do you write a fantasy story?
Well, like all stories you gotta have a good idea, right? And good ideas are hard to come by, because when I say good, I mean something brand new, fresh and original.
An old friend of mine once said, “Try looking at the idea in reverse—backwards.” I admit, that at first the concept escaped me; but as I began to write more and more I realized that if I didn’t want my stories to sound like a re-hash of something already written, then I had to look at it from a different angle. Soon, it became apparent that I was looking at the idea in reverse—from an altered point of view.
For example, lately I’ve started writing a book of sorts about a mighty sorcerer, who has knowledge of an incredible secret that everybody wants and is willing to kill him to get. So, I wrote and wrote, and yeah, the character was cool and everything, but it just wasn’t enough! Having my Wizard run from one problem to another and barely escaping with his life just wasn’t enough to keep the story alive.
So, I tried to look at it in reverse. What if, I start the story with the death of the sorcerer? What if, his body is hacked into pieces by the King and the head is given to a brave young herald, fresh to the job, to carry to the farthest corner of the world? Well, for one, my cool wizard, that was to be the hero, will have a very short stint in the story and now I have no story. But what if, after surviving a perilous journey through snow-covered mountains, half dead and weak from hunger, the young herald begins to hear the wizard talk to him. A talking head! What could be better? Now, I have my character back, full of magical mischief and foreboding secrets that he shares with the boy.
Now the story has a new hero: young, adventurous, with room to grow and change as the story unfolds.
And my clever wizard?
Well, he takes on the job of side-kick, providing comic-relief, and secret knowledge. Actually, he knows where to obtain the incredible secret that Kings would kill to discover. In fact, there is only one known map to where this treasure lies and it’s tattooed on the wizard’s skull. The wizard needs the boy—the boy needs the wizard; together, they sacrifice all to reach the prize and to become all-powerful.
So, basically, I turned my idea inside-out—reversed it—and came up with a much stronger point of view. I dramatically had the hero’s head chopped off, but allowed him to continue throughout the story, plus, now the story is told from another’s eyes…and, it’s fresher.
Anyway, I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Breathe new life into your ideas by looking at them in reverse. You just never know what you’ll come up with…
Until next time,
billwilcox
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And here's a contest you can try that mixes genres around to come up with something new and exciting.
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Fantasic Feedback From Fans of Fantasy
Erik Stark 
Submitted Comment:
Very good thoughts. I too find many of the 'vehicles' used to transport the characters from this world to another are the hardest parts of the stories to believe. In the Amber series, I agree; the car moving through changing scenery was a bit corny. However, I thought the novel idea of traveling through 'The Trumps' to be genius in relation to the story. It fit very nicely regardless of how possible it may be to travel through a card to somewhere else. I'm a newbie at writing fantasy, but the last thing I wrote "Josh's Wind”, I used an EMP pulse combined with a computer invention to transport an entire garage to another time in our world. I didn't have to explain much, it just happened. The characters didn't know how either. Maybe I'm just lazy. Great newsletter!
Erik
A very cool idea, Erik. You’ll find your story featured above.
allright
Submitted Comment:
I, too, will keep these things your newsletter has brought up, in my mind! It was very informative, and helpful to any writer!Thanks!
Thank YOU for reading and commenting.
River Song
Submitted Comment:
Thank you for including my contest in your newsletter! I love judging it and would love to be able to give out prizes for this round, however I am low on funds. I wonder if you could let your readers know that I would really appreciate any donations for the contest. Thanks!
River
You’re welcome. It was a pleasure.
yampuff
Submitted Comment:
So true! There are a lot of lame transportations going about. But not all are lame; you should mention good transportation methods, creative ones. That way we can have some inspiration instead of a cold feeling of despair...:)
You’re right! I think some really good ideas are…a near death experience, a coma perhaps, or a character that is mentally ill.
Miranda Foix
Submitted Comment:
As far as transporting to another world, I would suggest reading Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry. It's a trilogy, and there's a bit of world jumping in there, but I think he does it beautifully. They have one person with them who is like a seer and she reaches out to everyone and can pull them through. It's pretty intense, actually. And in general, that's the best trilogy that I've ever read! ^_^
I’ve got that book! At least the first of the trilogy, but have never read it. I will remedy that, thank you.
bazilbob
Submitted Comment:
Great point and well made! Thnx.
Thank you...
Shadow Panther
Submitted Comment:
Hello Bill,
My response to your newsletter is longer than a 1,000 characters.
In the Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker, his character simply dreams and finds himself in an alternate or parallel world. At the beginning of the trilogy, Thomas Hunter is killed and is transported into a parallel world. After that, he travels thru certain dreams and ends up in a parallel world.
Ted Dekker is a Christian Suspense/Thriller writer. He can be scary at times. Check him out you might enjoy his writing.
Have a great week.
NightWolf
I have not had the pleasure to read any of his work, but will put him on my list, thank you.
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