In two previous articles, I’ve talked about ways to help authors better understand their characters, as well as techniques for using fantasy to enhance the stories those characters are a part of.
With this article, I’m going to take a departure from the style and nature of those posts to try and put my words into context. I want to talk a little about how I’ve used this advice in one of my own fantasy projects as a Case Study to help other authors consider their own work.
Today I’m going to tell you about the story of a character named Breldin and the thought process I used to create a town called Trindall Grove.
Even when the characters’ adventures are fantastic, a good story should have an emotional core which is personal, drawing from common human experience to help readers connect with our characters. A story written in this way needs little imagination to prop it up. Which is why, in my efforts to write fantasy, I’ve been asked:
When sitting down to plan a story, I focus my attention on developing memorable heroes and horrendous villains, constructing epic settings filled with ancient magic, and crafting plots with satisfying endings. But what’s lacking is anything connected to the piece of advice that I’ve heard repeatedly: