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With a fantasy novel in particular, a major component is worldbuilding. … There's so much more to writing a fantasy, but these are the first questions I'd ask. …

Well, remember, many totalitarian regimes are in fact woefully inefficient. Largely because the emperor/fuhrer/first citizen needs to make sure the people beneath him are either not ambitious enough o …

I've actually written a fair few autistic characters in fantasy, and naturally, yes, there's no word for 'autism', or any kind of formal diagnosis (psychologists tend to be a rarity in fantasy 'verses) …

Well, I'd say that if the character is human, saving humanity is kind of in their best interests. It's not a motivation that's unique to him as a character, but it's certainly believable. If the vill …

Life and death is actually a pretty low-stakes conflict in my opinion. Yes, of course, it's the ultimate thing we all want to avoid, but when it comes down to it, how many of us have experienced being …

The book Un Lun Dun is an exploration of this concept; the Chosen One said to save Unlondon basically never lives up to the pressure of being the chosen one and ends up being out of commission by the …

If it's what you're going for thematically, that their duality leads to mutual destruction, then by all means do it. As long as the story builds to that, there's no reason not to do it. If you're jus …

My point is, if you're going to write a world with a fantasy with more realistic dragons, it may hurt marketability for those who just want cool, purely escapist creatures, but I, and many like me, find …

I like to be semi-subversive in that most characters have non-meaningful names for the plot and anything out-of-universe, but they should mean something in-universe. Namely, they should fit the cultur …

When it comes to using fictional terminology for concepts with real-life equivalents, the best usage is for flavour; to establish what kind of culture the setting is. A good way to do it is to make yo …

However, some phrases lose their etymology if placed in a fantasy world. For example, while sandwiches as a food exist in the world I'm writing, I cannot call them sandwiches. Why? … Needless to say, there's no Earl of Sandwich in a fantasy world. So essentially, if you're going to use modern phrasing, make sure that there's a reason for the wording to exist. …

I'll answer this last question: 'What writing techniques can I use to make this kind effect? how can I keep the reader interested when MC is MIA for a long time (both in universe and in # of pages).' …

Portray what needs to be portrayed. What people take issue with is using rape gratuitously; if there's no purpose, why drop such a heavy subject on the reader? Instead, if you use such a subject for a …

Basically, you need to analyse the tone of your fantasy 'verse, and make the wands fit accordingly, fear of Harry Potter be damned. …

I would say play up the vulnerability of the protag, perhaps describe the scene from an almost-predatory perspective. Make it clear that by all accounts, she is monster meat... and then bam, with the …