Questions tagged [fantasy]
Is the literary genre that deals with magic, magic creatures and imaginary worlds. This tag should be used for any questions relating to fantasy, including formatting, techniques and publishing.
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How do you prevent yourself from neglecting scientific accuracy in a sci-fi-fantasy story without telling?
In a sci-fi setting, I was told it was important to follow scientific principles to some extent. Neglecting these principles can create confusion and disbelief among readers or viewers.
For example, ...
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How to write character names in mystery novel where they are supposed to have their mind erased?
I'm writing a story about 5 characters without any recollection of their past and their journey to get their memories back.
I want to reveal their identity at the end of the story and I am struggling ...
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Making the story's change in tone feel natural
I am writing an epic fantasy story for a videogame I will make in the future. In the first half, it has a lot of edgy and dark humor, but the tone feels arcadey when it comes to killing random npcs.
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Having Real-World Gods in a High Fantasy Setting
In my fantasy world, there are various religions and beliefs. To not get too obsessed with the worldbuilding (it is already pretty thick and heavy,) I was thinking of, in terms of their religions, ...
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How can I describe an old cloak used to cover identity?
I’m currently composing a descriptive writing – It’s about a girl spy, infiltrating an empire. She’s wearing a cloak but I have no idea how to describe the item – It’s supposed to almost look archaic ...
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Can I make an irredeemable character likeable?
In my fantasy epic, the protagonist is a destined chosen one who will defeat the dark lord (at least that is what the sorcerer propaganda says.) About 3/4 into the story, he eventually meets the ...
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How do I balance a strong narrative and the option of multiple choices?
I am currently writing a story for an RPG I will make. For this RPG, it is supposed to be a sandbox and open-world game. It also gives the player multiple choices and pathways as they play, giving it ...
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How should I write a nonlinear book where chapters are dedicated to characters as they are introduced to the main character?
I'm writing a book called People are Strange, and the new direction I've taken with it is non-linear. I'm going to focus on a character (Sonya) who comes to a town in the middle of a string of ...
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How can I further develop this warrior fantasy story of mine?
My fantasy story is about an 18-year old knight who was trained from 5-years old to 18-years old as a knight. He is an expert when it comes to using a two-handed double-edged longsword as a weapon. He ...
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What if I have a story with some characters from another story by a different author and don't want to be copyrighted?
I am writing a story with some of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson characters in it like, Percy, Annabeth, Grover,Leo, Hazel, Piper, Jason, and much more other characters in his story. I wanted to make a &...
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Use of racial slurs in a fantasy setting
I was thinking of making the characters use racial slurs, because there's no way that in a fantasy setting people are progressive and respect people of every group, but I wasn't sure what would be ...
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I need more obstacles for my characters to reach the goal. Any ideas? [closed]
I have a group of characters hunting for a precious item.
I want my characters to have problems reaching the item, problems that come in the way before they can get to it. I can give an example. ...
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Writing a short-term love interest
In the epic I am writing, the protagonist and deuteragonist are sent on a mission by a king to save his daughter kidnapped by mercenaries of the evil empire. They save her, but the deuteragonist ...
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Using Labels on Character Sexuality (to add subtle worldbuilding)
For my fantasy story, I was thinking of having the characters say their sexuality, but in a different way. In most stories that do representation right, they show it, but do not directly say it. For ...
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Limitations of a Clairvoyant Ability
I've heard that in fictional magic systems, what's most important is not a character's power(s), but its limitations. That's an issue I'm running into with one of my novel's main characters, who has ...
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How late can a deuteragonist be added into the story?
In the fantasy epic I am writing, there is a deuteragonist that eventually becomes best friends with the protagonist. Unfortunately, due to the length of the epic as a whole, she is introduced way ...
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Making an antagonist both scary and funny
In the story for a game I am making, there is a sideplot involving a messed up cult as a minor antagonist. Originally, the cult was supposed to be a comedic villain, mainly as a parody of religion in ...
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Need help with proper terms for a fantasy character's clothing/armor
Can someone please tell me what the white garment underneath his armor would be called in this picture? I'm trying to refer to a piece like it in my story, but I don't know the proper term for it. I'm ...
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Handling language barriers
I am trying to write the story for an RPG I will make in the future. The world itself is huge with multiple continents and landmasses, but the current story takes place on the main four continents. ...
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Making a character not too hateable
In my story, the protagonist is made as a destined chosen one to defeat the dark lord. He is not this "good" angel, but rather a murderous anti-hero. While he undergoes character development ...
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Handling extremely long narratives
For a video game I will make in the future, I am for now trying to write out the entire story for it. However, it ended up being an extremely long fantasy epic. For all the events, story arcs, and ...
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What are some modern (2000 and beyond) books where the protagonist is not the POV character?
I did find some lists by means of Google, but most titles I found were somewhat dated and I was wondering if more recent authors have a take on this technique.
Also, bonus points if it is in the ...
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How to trick the reader of a character's sexuality
For my story, I am trying to write a mystery on the protagonist's sexuality. Throughout the story, there are subtle hints that he is either bisexual or gay, whether either past relationships or ...
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How to make sure a character is not too similar to an existing character
In my story, I am writing a side character for my fantasy epic. Originally, she was going to play a very minor role, but now she has more character and interaction. Unfortunately, I fear she may be ...
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Is it okay to use mythology names of creatures in a fantasy world?
In creating my world, I am trying to write down and create mythical wildlife and monsters. I had been thinking of using sirens as one of them. Not a creature based off of them, but the actual Greek ...
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How to properly make a character hateable?
My story is an epic fantasy that, while it satires and mocks tropes, also still has consistent characters and worldbuilding. In the story, there is a group of minor-antagonists who compete with the ...
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How to write unique arcs for the same character over a series?
I apologize that this question is inherently vague; I am still in the very early stages of planning a series and don't have many details to offer as of yet.
One of the things that irks me most about ...
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Any tips on writing scenes between characters where there is no action?
I mostly write fantasy, and I need to improve writing scenes between characters that are not action. For example, a scene where two characters are eating breakfast and talking about training later ...
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How long would it take for someone to move on?
In my epic fantasy, the secondary protagonist goes through tragedy. Near the middle, the group is captured by the enemy, and she is forced to watch her girlfriend get slowly executed in an extremely ...
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How to find the right starting point for your story?
I have my story plotted out, but as I’ve been writing, I’ve realized that my main character’s backstory is swimming with potential. I’ve been weaving it in, slowly revealing details and flashbacks ...
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Is it ok to explain magic in a very abstract way in a fantasy setting?
I bound the spell to a different domain of existence, which allowed me
to change the secondary effect of gravity well, which make me immune
to any gravitational effect created by the spell.
This ...
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Is there a method to determining how many books long your series needs to be?
I set out to write a trilogy, and feel my characters, world, and story are complex enough to warrant it. However, the more I dig into it, I’m sensing three books isn’t enough. But it will be a huge ...
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How "resolved" do things need to be at the end of the first book of a trilogy?
Without going into detail... I'm trying to decide when to end the first book of my trilogy. There are two options that seem natural to me, but one feels more exciting and allows me to drag the tension ...
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Using English idioms in a particular fantasy setting?
Using idioms such as "the pot calling the kettle black" in fantasy novels considered to be something that breaks immersion? In a fantasy setting, you wouldn't expect that particular ...
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When is it too late to introduce major characters?
Would you consider it too late to introduce major characters at the midpoint of book 1 in a trilogy?
By major characters I mean characters that aren’t the protagonist, don’t have POV chapters (my book ...
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How do you make superhuman strength "make sense" in a fantasy setting?
I want to preface this by saying that I'm aware of how contradictory it sounds to apply real-world logic onto something that is inherently supernatural in a supernatural setting. Saying that, I like ...
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What are ways that a character can acquire psychic powers?
I've been trying to get back at writing stuff again and I'm currently, not-per-se stuck, but more so curious if people care to enlighten me on ways a character can acquire psychic powers.
At the time ...
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Why would a character's parents allow them to go on a lethal quest?
In my fantasy epic, the protagonist meets a young, female thief who eventually become his partner in crime. She is part of a family business that involves theft, and she wants to go to give her family ...
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How to describe a werewolf attack?
In my book, the werewolves don't shape shift into humans, they're werewolves all the time. There are some werewolves that don't attack humans, but the majority does - those packs that don't live ...
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Tips on how to describe my character using his power
My secondary main character has the power ashes to ashes where he can make his enemy basically start to turn to ash and fade away (think Sandman when he fades away)
I write in 3rd person
Every ...
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I want to name a fantasy species something, but it's the name of a similar species in WoW. Is that okay?
I came up with a name for a species in my fantasy world, and looked it up to see if it had been used already. Turns out it's the name of a species in WoW. They are both big cats. Am I infringing on ...
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170k debut fantasy story. Is it possible?
This has been a very contradictory topic for me. I've been told that publishers expect fantasy books to be that long but others would tell me that 170k is too long. So far I've been cutting things ...
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How seriously can the wild wild west nature of pro wrestling be taken in a story or fictional world that takes place in a modern setting?
I wanted to take a realistic approach to pro wrestling when it came to world-building. If you are not a fan of pro wrestling, I would tell you that pro wrestling is an insane concept when taken ...
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In a story where magic exists, does magic leave a lot of room for hope and spiritual beliefs?
I'm kind of asking two questions here. One question is about hope and the other is about spiritual beliefs.
I like to keep my world grounded in reality. For some reason, I feel like this is super easy ...
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Does transhumanism overlap with traditional superpowers when both share the same settings?
I always thought the superpowers/superhero genre and the supertechnolgy/futuristic genre were two different genres, but I notice that people still considered superpowers to be a part of the whole ...
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When it comes to superhero stories, does the law of cool play a role in hitmen, assassins, and serial killer characters usually not having powers?
In a lot of superhero stories, characters that usually have killer-based gimmicks, the assassin/hitmen or serial killer type of characters, are often portrayed as not having superpowers.
The majority ...
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In a superhuman society, would certain threats be underestimated by society?
Batman has an extremely dangerous supervillain gallery. One of those dangerous villains is Victor Zsasz. He is a very dangerous serial killer. Put him in the real world, and Victor Zsasz would be the ...
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Is it an odd concept for a superhero with superhuman powers to use technology/gadgets and also rely on tech?
In fiction, it's usually human superheroes without powers like Batman or Green Arrow, that use tech or depend on tech to make up for their lack of superpowers.
Not all metahumans are bulletproof, but ...
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What to expect from the editing process
So I finished my very first novel and decided that I want to get an editor for the manuscript. I found someone offering their services online through a trusted platform and contacted them but now I'm ...
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What are some things to consider when it comes to superpowers and criminal organizations coexisting in the same superhero world?
Fictional works about criminal organizations, like Scarface, God Father, and Sons of Anarchy are where I get my notes from. I would like to see how superpowers would look in the criminal underworld. I ...
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