Writing Fantasy and Sci-fi
We recently got this question in our in box:
I am thirteen, and a young author in the making. I was wondering if you could give me any tips for making a good fiction/fantasy/sci-fi book.
The best advice I’ve heard for writing fantasy is to make your world true. This is actually good advice for any kind of writing: no matter what kind of world you are creating, it has to be believable in its own context. Like if chickens fly in your book you make it be something that is fully believable in that world. Another way to think about it is that any world has rules, even a sci-fi world you totally make up, and you need to make sure that those rules are followed at all times. If you have a talking dog who communicates using sign language, she can’t suddenly start using words in a pivotal scene: you have to make that scene work according to the rules you set up. The world needs to make sense within its own context.
The only other advice that spring to mind, that is also true of any writing, is to write your story. Don’t worry about making it Harry Potter-esque or the total opposite of Harry Potter. Forget Harry Potter and write your own story.
Since I am a fantasy novice, I’d like to throw this question out there those who know more than I do. Any and all fantasy/sci-fi tips appreciated!
#daphne
posted by daphne grab at 11:37 AM
4 Comments:
I always think that the key to making good fantasy/sci-fi is to make sure there is a part of your world that the reader will be able to recognise - be it something historical, such as the setting, or even a familiar situation.
It's about giving the reader something to latch onto, some sort of grounding, so that no matter how crazy your fantastical world gets, there's something real about it.
My only advice would be to not focus too much on "special effects" in your writing, at least not at the expense of strong plot and character development. I read a lot of fantasy/sci-fi stories that focus on the technology or the magic almost the whole story but there isn't really a very strong story and the characters are flat. Because there is some great magical spell or techno-marvel in every scene, the wow factor loses it punch.
Example: in the "Lord of the Rings" we rarely saw Gandalf actually DO magic, Tolkien used that sparingly. Yet he remains a strong character because of the excellent way Tolkien developed him through the novels. Because he used magic so rarely, when he did it was quite impressive. If he had been throwing the magic around every chapter the "awesome" factor would have got a bit thin. Good Luck and keep writing!
I agree with the advice given thus far. On the other hand, I think there are only two real rules to writing anything:
1. Every Writer Writes Differently. Each writer has a system that works just for that writer. This does mean you can look at how other writers work, to get ideas for your own personal system.
2. Writers Write. Keep at it, every day. Feel free to trash a story that isn't working. Evolve, and let the chips fall where they may.
READ, READ, READ. A lot. This is especially important with fantasy, because fantasy readers, much like mystery readers, come to the book with a certain mindset.
For example: most of the beginner fantasy writers I'm met, myself included, almost always start the book with some sort of prologue explaining the world and the characters and how the magic works, because they don't want to confuse people. But most long-time fantasy readers don't need that. As long as we know it's a fantasy, we're pretty happy to collect information gradually.
That sounds easy, but it's not. It's actually a very fine balance, and reading a lot of fantasy will give you an idea of where that balance is. I also recommend a book called "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card. It's a good book, because it focuses on the way that speculative fiction differs from other kinds of writing.
(For a good example of gradual reveal, read The Giver by Lois Lowry. It's amazing.)
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