27
votes
Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy
I would like to offer a frame challenge: you're asking "will X make my story not fit the 'dark fantasy' sub-sub-genre". I say, write your story, make it a good one, then think what genre or sub-genre ...
12
votes
How should you use sexually deviant monsters in fantasy?
Like all things in writing you write for an audience. There is no direct answer because each audience will have different tastes. If you're trying to scare your audience there are lots of ways to do ...
- 7,600
11
votes
Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy
I think it is a mistake to write half a book as a grim fantasy, then have a twist that undoes that. To me, I am disappointed if the author builds up a dire scenario that suddenly fizzles out, the hero ...
- 100k
10
votes
Can I use pre-existing mythological characters in a story that isn't about any mythology?
There are existing book and TV series which do this. The issue is that generally a divine being makes sense within its Pantheon — in the Hercules TV show Aphrodite is Hercules's 1/2-sister (and acts ...
- 755
7
votes
How can I make my story's worldbuilding magical but not too far from realistic?
I think the key to realistic world-building is having coherent details that impact the character's every day life.
Pretend your world is 'The Flintstone's' for the sake of argument: literal stone age ...
- 11.1k
7
votes
Accepted
What are most common tropes of a paranormal book and dark fantasy book?
First of all, defining a work into a genre is tricky. Most books belong to most than one genre, others don't belong to any and end up "inventing" a whole new genre.
I personally have a small grudge ...
- 1,181
6
votes
How should you use sexually deviant monsters in fantasy?
Deviant in reproduction
One of the better uses of a deviant monster is in Alien. A male crew member is "impregnated" orally. The resulting baby is described as something that "shouldn't exist", grows ...
- 27.1k
6
votes
How should you use sexually deviant monsters in fantasy?
So much of this depends on your ability as a writer. In the hands of one author, a monster like this could enhance the story, with a different author, it could cause people to throw the book across ...
- 32.4k
5
votes
Accepted
Portraying the Brutality of War
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 ...
- 9,154
4
votes
Can you write a story without a protagonist?
A matter of Definitions:
You get into a murky realm when you start saying "protagonist" and counter that to "villain." I read a book series called The Messiah Stone, in which the ...
- 13.6k
4
votes
Portraying the Brutality of War
Should I touch on the aftermath of the battle, and the mass murder, rape, and enslavement of the army's 12,000 camp followers?
Yes, you should. If this is something that happened in your world, you ...
4
votes
Accepted
How can I make my story's worldbuilding magical but not too far from realistic?
Realism has nothing to do with magic. You can write unrealistic police-procedurals, or unrealistic kitchen-sink dramas, or unrealistic hard-sci-fi. What makes something realistic is much simpler than ...
- 2,294
4
votes
Making a character not too hateable
Here are some simple tricks to approach this problem. Use one of them or mix them up.
Make the world more brutal
Nobody is going to take the side of a teacher in a social democracy who randomly starts ...
- 1,216
3
votes
How can I make my story's worldbuilding magical but not too far from realistic?
The trick is to only change one thing. The rest of the world, from the places to the characters, is either real or based directly off reality. Simply put, "Write What You Know."
Of course, ...
- 737
3
votes
Can I use pre-existing mythological characters in a story that isn't about any mythology?
Of Course!
I've done it myself, and it's a great way to integrate lots of different elements into a story. You can draw on and allude to many mythologies, lending depth and character that would take ...
- 13.6k
3
votes
What are most common tropes of a paranormal book and dark fantasy book?
Genre is largely a marketing consideration, and should typically be considered after writing, not before --if you're consciously seeking out common tropes to imitate, you're likely to produce ...
- 56.5k
3
votes
What are most common tropes of a paranormal book and dark fantasy book?
Dark fantasy and Paranormal fiction genres overlap considerably. This overlap area actually lies in Urban fantasy genre.
So, if we put aside all
dark fantasy stories that happen in a fantasy world
...
- 6,123
3
votes
Accepted
How to effectively narrate losing an arm by 3 arrows?
Here are some options for how to structure this and for where to put the focus:
Chronological Narrate the process as it happens. The important thing to remember is that while the loss of the arm is a ...
- 1,216
3
votes
Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy
The risk that you run here is that, in making the antagonist's goal trivial, you also trivialise the heroes' quest. 300 pages of blood, sweat, tears, agonizing combat, and heart-wrenching deaths ...
- 2,136
3
votes
How can I make my story's worldbuilding magical but not too far from realistic?
Hack your World
Look at your magic / sci-fi-magic like a hacker. "How can I exploit this?"
Then, dig into that idea. How does someone defend against your hack? Why did different groups adopt ...
- 1,792
2
votes
Trivial non-dark twist in dark fantasy
There certainly are precedents.
A well-known (in Russia) sci-fi novel has a twist ending where it turns out that an ostensibly evil opponent was actually a high-placed agent in the enemy ranks, his ...
- 129
2
votes
How would one on into detail about fighting with a wolf?
What are you, the author, trying to convey in this scene?
Why is this scene important to your story? A good scene typically serves multiple purposes for the author
Common reasons for including a ...
- 11.2k
2
votes
Is fear of the unknown exploitable via extreme ambiguity?
Trust your Beta Readers:
Without knowing HOW exactly you're doing it, I can't give you a solid opinion. If I were you, I'd rely on my beta readers, who apparently don't think it works. No amount of &...
- 13.6k
2
votes
Can I use pre-existing mythological characters in a story that isn't about any mythology?
Depends.
If you want them to be instantly recognizable, remember that many people know nothing of mythology, and mythology itself is inconsistency. If you put in the effort to make them clear to ...
- 8,762
2
votes
Can I use pre-existing mythological characters in a story that isn't about any mythology?
If I consider your question as is, I have my own: how can you have mythological characters in a story that isn't about mythology?
However, if your question is about mixing up mythological beings from ...
- 7,876
1
vote
What are ways to develop a leadership character arc or a character becoming an unexpected leader?
A Few Thoughts on story arc:
I have a few ideas, mostly things I've seen from more stories than I can reasonably reference.
Create opportunities for unexpected and decisive leadership: Perhaps your ...
- 13.6k
1
vote
Can you write a story without a protagonist?
It is possible, but be careful
Basically,
"Can you tell a story without a protagonist" is not the same thing as "Should you write a story without a protagonist"
Meaning:
Is it ...
- 1,759
1
vote
Accepted
Can you write a story without a protagonist?
The protagonist is the entity that the story happens to and then later the entity that takes control of the story (for good or evil). They may be a more or less good guy or a rat bastard. But they are ...
- 5,247
1
vote
Accepted
Is this character too cliche?
Your character sounds a little like Randall Flagg from The Stand: Flagg makes Las Vegas his headquarters, and a plague is present. From the information given, I would imagine you have read the Stand.
...
- 953
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible