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Four Things Every Fantasy Writer Should Know
First: At a glance, the reader sees fantasy as merely sparkles, bubbles, scales, swords, and magical mayhem. It tickles the imagination, and people like this. Yet despite (and because of) this attraction, the fantasy, more than any genre, easily drifts into the absurd and frivolous. In the ladder of esteemed literature, fantasy is on a low rung. It is among the most difficult to get right. To avoid getting it wrong, allow me to expose two dangers:
Don't write fantasy...
1. ...because it's fun.
Granted, fantasy is fun, and unlike sci-fi, it is aesthetically pleasing (rather than a steel slab entryway that no one needs to touch because it opens when you advance, you get a hand-crafted mahogany door with a cool, smooth, brass handle -- aesthetic). It's a world chop full of romance, risk, and other stuff that ends up being very expensive to replicate in film. However, doing it because it's fun and it being fun are two different things. Make sure your goal is not to entertain. That is never, ever, ever, ever the goal. You can ask yourself, "My story is not thrilling enough! Not sad enough! Not emotional enough!" If this is your problem, its not. The problem is deeper. We'll get back to this later.
2. ...because it's popular.
If you intend to make a living off of your writing, that's your business. But be warned you will be pressured to produce less-than-what-it-could-be work. I'm not saying you should be a starving artist. What I am saying is that you should write because you have something to say, not because you have to say something.
Second: fantasy as a story-form is incredibly powerful. Often without being consciously aware, the reader is being influenced by underlying ideals and worldviews that the author, also perhaps unconsciously (but only when the writing is mediocre), ingrained into his world. This is all a story is: what better or more effective way to showcase a worldview than to model a world after it?
It is the job of academic works and textbooks to confront beliefs. They compartmentalize them, engage them in inquiry, debate, and, if nothing else, openness (just get the idea taught!). However, the story only suggests and implies ideas. It shows how they work.
Let me illustrate. If ideas were cars, textbooks put them in a room to be studied, taken apart, put back together, compared with other cars, and so on. A story actually puts them on the road and watches them speed away, crash, burn, take shortcuts, lose tires, refuel, get pulled over, and so on. A story is essentially a reflection of life itself. It's more than nuts and bolts. It's the energy and motion of it.
Third: what is a story? If you were to ask the typical literature professor, they would proceed to give a long list of required elements: theme, plot, characters, and so on. Put them together, and voila, a tale! But a book has no recipe. Though studying literature is helpful - and learning about theme, plot, and characters is all good and well - it is only good when the story is already in place. You can't depend on them to make the story, because they won't. So what is a story?
This is important. We must understand that storytelling is actually a field of study. It's a science; an art; an occupation; a realm of inquiry, as much as any other job. Any specialist of a field will take the subject of his occupation and will examine it on all angles, he will write about it, teach about it, immerse himself in the topic, and learn all he can. Ask a biologist what he studies. The answer is organic life. Ask an astronomer what he studies. It is the stars. Ask a theologian what he studies. It is the scriptures.
What does the storyteller study?
Life!
Which part of life?
When you come down to the bottom line of the bottom line from where a tale springs, a story is simply the narration following the relationship between good and evil.
That's it. A story is nothing else. Think about it. Every story has a villain and a hero, and the story itself is merely a narrative on how they interact. This is seen in every genre. Look at romance, for instance. Let's pick Pride and Prejudice (yes, I've read it! And every guy reading this should go pick it up right now and read it too!). The hero is clearly Elizabeth, and the villain is the scandalous Mr. Darcy.
Their interactions start out pretty sour, but eventually he charms her over and the story ends. Yawn. But you see? Even the romance features a conflict, and conflict only emerges between the right and wrong.
There are four types of foes the hero can encounter. All of these are fairly straightforward.
1. Hero vs. Society
Most often, the society is portrayed as a certain race, creed, nationality, family, or mob out to get the hero (examples: The Lord of the Rings).
2. Hero vs. Environment
Whether storms or strange new lands, the environment is a great charm for survival tales and odysseys (example: Phantastes).
3. Hero vs. Self
This could be the hero struggling with past, present, or future decisions or experiences. Or it could be his struggle to overcome personal shortcomings (example: name it).
4. Hero vs. Idea
This is a very strong form of storytelling, and is in nearly every good story ever told. The idea is usually manifested in a single individual: like a Sauron, Joker, or Sith Lord. This chap is the epitome of evil. The idea is a single foe whom the hero can directly engage with. This kind of foe usually isn't the one the hero meets along the road of life - often it's a personal acquaintance gone horribly wrong (at least, the best are).
In addition to this, there are four ways which the hero can engage with the enemy.
1. Toleration
This is when the hero simply puts up with the bad-guy. You think "Wait, where's the conflict?" Well, the truth is this form of engagement is only temporary, and if it continues it means the bad-guy won. In stories as in real life, peace is won through victory, not compromise.
2. Separation
This is when the hero either removes himself from the enemies reach or vice versa. Either way, a wall of separation is built. This is "The world ain't big 'nuff fer the both of us" sort of ideology. Either the hero leaves or the villain does.
3. Reformation
This is when the hero turns the bad-guy into a good-guy. This is what romances do.
4. Termination
Ah, my favorite! And many peoples', apparently, because it is the most common. One of the perks of fantasy is the ease with which we can distinguish the villains from the heroes. People like this. We like sharp lines and clear distinctions (nasty orcs vs. fair elves). Good versus evil is laudably obvious in fantasy. This makes your job both easy and challenging, because all the stories usually end the same way: the foe(s) gets vanquished (because it's not like orcs can be turned into elves, and if you can't reform 'em, kill 'em or get rid of 'em). But even these limitations are aesthetically pleasing to the morally conscious soul.
Fourth: during this time I've mentioned how easily a fantasy can slip into the realm of the ridiculous; a nasty place to be, doubtless aggravating for the writer and boring to the reader once he's had enough of it. There is only one sure way to avoid this, and I think this is the heartbeat of our vocation as fantasy writers.
But first, backstory!
I don't cry. Ever. Especially for movies. Unless we're singing the third verse of "It Is Well With My Soul" in church, or I'm reading the final chapter of Job, or I'm watching that scene from the movie "To End All Wars" where Dusty dies, I don't usually cry. Even in these cases, my eyes moisten a bit. I seldom shed a tear, and I certainly don't bawl. If you were paying attention, you'd notice all of the things that make me cry are based on real stories (the history behind the writing of "It Is Well With My Soul" is what really breaks my heart, not the song itself; the final chapter of Job is a happy ending to perhaps the greatest tragedy in history, second only to Christ's death; and the movie "To End All Wars" is, of course, a true story based on a book written by a WWII POW). That's because the true story has inherent superiority over the fictional story. It naturally makes a bigger impact, propelling themes farther. It naturally has more gravity.
Only one fictional story ever made me cry: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle. But I was ten years old. Give me a break.
But that all changed recently while I was watching a fictional television show. The story included magical/supernatural elements. It was about a man losing his wife in childbirth. The story tore me apart. I found myself weeping (being a guy, this takes some guts to admit). Finally I stepped back and asked myself "What is wrong with you? You're actually caring for made-up characters?"
That's when it hit me. Now comes the long-anticipated phrase: the heartbeat of our vocation as fantasy writers is that ...there is no such thing as a made-up story!
Every character, his every struggle, his every contact, everything he does and doesn't do is a direct reflection of real life. Someone once said every story is about it's author. This is true. The dragons you write about are just manifestations of the "dragons" you fight every day. I discovered I was so broken up about this fictional story and its characters because it played with a reality that I greatly valued. It played so close to my true fears and hopes (golly, that sounds corny). Now for some applications.
1. If your story starts to reel into the absurd and impractical, draw back to this key phrase. If you are out merely for the fun or popularity of it, then you risk losing your audience. You could write about such phenomenal scenarios that the reader thinks, "Golly, that's awfully spectacular. But this has nothing to do with me."
2. It's true that every story is about its author. But by the same token, every story is about its reader too. The war between good and evil is universal to all humanity.
3. Remember that your story has a way of presenting your worldview in a pragmatic and implied sense. What you write has extraordinary persuasive power. If executed rightly, the reader, though he could be an atheist, will unconsciously start to think and view the world like a Christian just by reading about your "made up" one. This is a heavy responsibility. You will be held accountable. Dare you risk write untruths?
4. There is no such thing as a made-up story. Everything you write is drawn from reality. Miscommunicate, and you risk scewing the readers view of the real world, leading to escapism and delusion. A bad story is a crime, plain and simple.
5. This also helps you learn what you value. When reading a book or watching a movie, the parts that evoke the strongest emotional reactions are typically those that present themes you value most; that event that "meets you where you are"; that hits directly with your beliefs. What can we learn from this? Well, address in your story those things which people value. My generation values sex and freedom. So my story is designed to confront those two "virtues" and give them their proper lighting from biblical flames. This will hopefully strike chords with my reader. The story will be about him. And that makes the story real.
Deo Volente,
Pavalini
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He is worthy of all praise, and my praise is unworthy.
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