fantasy writing – Mythic Scribes Test Site

Avoiding Fantasy Fatigue

If you’re reading this article you might be thinking two things:

1. Why would a fantasy website feature an article about being burned out with fantasy?

2. I’m burned out on fantasy, so I want to see what this guy rants about.

Well, to put this into perspective, I’m a life-long fan of fantasy, have written it for years, and consider it my bread and butter. However, I often hear the advice, “Read outside your genre.” The same can apply to writing. Embracing different styles and genres might just increase your love for your “main genre.”

Is it bad to abandon your main genre for a spell and try something else? Let’s explore this idea together, shall we?

Cover to Cover IV: Learning to Love Editing

by Philip Overby

This is the fourth entry in my Cover to Cover series which follows a story idea from inception until potential publication.

Several months back in my third entry, I talked about owning a first draft and how to get through it to the end. Well, in August of this year I finished my first draft. Allow me a moment to do a happy dance. I spent the next two months editing. I’ve made it publicly known to anyone that will listen how much I hate editing.

Something happened through the process though. I started to actually enjoy my editing sessions. “Love editing? I’d sooner feed myself to a chimera.” Maybe. But I’ll show you how I changed from an edit-hater to an edit-relisher.

Help! I Accidentally Wrote a Novel

by A. Howitt

Okay, so the story wasn’t an accident, but its length was.

I searched for any way to pass lonely Wisconsin winter hours while my coworkers paced an empty showroom floor, waiting for clients who needed a vehicle badly enough to brave low temperatures and icy streets.

I hated all of it. In fact, I never meant to sell cars, either. While in school for auto body repair, I turned in an application to the body shop and they sold me the job on the showroom floor!

During slow times, I wrote. I scribbled notes on the backs of financing forms, filled pages of lined paper with a story, and even based my character off my predicament purely for inspiration—not as some sort of immature way to deal with my frustrating job. So what if a few salesmen wizards had a few bad things happen to them?

Magical Creatures for Magical Worlds: The Minotaur

by Alice Leiper

Minotaur as depicted in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

If ever you are stuck for ideas, look to Greece.

In the ancient myths and legends of Greece, there are intriguing prophecies, clever generals, jealous deities, inventive punishments – and frightening beasties. Herodotus is a favourite of mine for such tales, but there’s plenty to draw from. The plays of Euripides and Sophocles, or for a more comedic bent, Aristophanes. The histories of Thucydides and Xenophon, the biographies of Plutarch.

But the best source for today’s topic is Apollodorus and his Library of Greek Mythology, in which is told the story of the Minotaur.

Writing What You Know When There’s No Way to “Know” It

by Featured Author

This article is by Selah Janel.

If there’s one piece of advice I’ve heard from the time I was in high school until now, it’s “write what you know.” This used to bug me as a teen because I felt that my life hadn’t even started yet, so how was I supposed to write anything interesting?

It also seems to directly contradict the entire reality of writing genre fiction. How can you write what you know if you can’t live in impossible worlds, use magic, or go up against fantastic creatures? There’s absolutely no way this advice can be applicable if you write fantasy or any fantasy subgenre, right?

You’d be surprised.

Is Single-Genre Fiction Outdated?

by Featured Author

This article is by Michael Cairns.

For decades, the publishing industry has worked to ensure that every book that they publish can be marketed within a single genre. This is, up to a point, understandable. Publishing is a business, and the clearer the genre of a book, the easier it is to find the target audience.

However, the rise of self-publishing has changed the way in which people not only sell books, but also write them. Indie’s don’t need to have a big ‘opening weekend’, so as to avoid high returns on print copies. Self-publishers can play the long game, relying on good stories and brave readers to build an audience. They can also take more chances and write outside the long-established boxes.

Using Role-Playing to Rein in Your WIP

by Codey Amprim

So, you’ve been busy writing, I see. That work in progress (WIP) is coming along pretty well. But you just don’t know how your audience will feel about it. Or perhaps you’re ready to throw a new element into your story, but you’re not certain that your world is ready for it. So, you pace to and fro, sipping on a cup of coffee while you think it over. Suddenly an idea pops into your head:

“Hey, maybe I can get someone to be a beta reader!”

Suddenly, a knock sounds at your front door. But isn’t it, like, midnight? You open it, startled, and a bit confused to see a group of people clad in mail crafted from pop-can tabs and dresses woven from bedsheets. And there’s a guy in the back wearing sweats. But it’s okay, he has Cheetos.

Focused Ambiguity: Using Metaphor in Fantasy Writing

by Featured Author

This article is by Walter Rhein.

There is an inherent paradox in the phrase “focused ambiguity”. Yet the disconnect achieved by putting those two words together approximates the mental state necessary for writing good fantasy.

One of the big mistakes a lot of new writers make in their world building is too much of a focus on practical construction. However, unless the overall theme of your fantasy book is economics, you really don’t need to explain how your “diamond city in the desert” gets enough drinking water to support its population.

An effective novel always has a strong connective thread, and, in fantasy, every character, setting, and action can be molded to function as an integral part of the extended metaphor that supports the novel’s overall theme.