A fantasy novel is a fiction category that includes things that are considered impossible. This can include the use of magic and creatures that are magical, for instance, dragons, elves, and unicorns. Fantasy novels are based on folklore, myths, and legends and mostly describing elements of the Middle Ages. In these stories, there is always a conflict between evil and good.
If you want to create an interesting fantasy story, the first step is having a great story opener to capture an agent’s or editor’s attention. To do so, you need to learn how to avoid some of the common critical mistakes. One of the most common is providing a backstory. Instead, choose to start with a great beginning.
What not to include in your fantasy story ideas;
- Beginning with a dream: Starting your narrative with action and later reveal the characters is the wrong approach. Such a mistake will lead to rejection even before the editor reads the rest of the story. You should also never reveal at the end of the tale that all that you have written was just a dream.
- Opening with a buzz from an alarm clock: Never begin a fantasy story with your characters waking up to an alarm clock ring, or someone being woken awake, the blazing sunshine outside, or a bird chirping outside the window. This causes an agent to groan after reading the opener of your story. The first impression to the editor is that you want to take the editor through a tedious and dull journey which is also boring. Such an introduction means that you will have to describe how you woke up and what you did after.
- Little or no dialogue: One of the basic red flags to agents is the deficiency of dialogue on the introduction of your manuscript. This is not only in fantasy novels but also screenplays, novels, and short stories. Some editors will go ahead to rifle through the pages to check on how dense the prose is. A story without a dialogue signals the editor that he or she will encounter a narrative and more narrative which can be boring.
- Beginning with dialogue: This was the trend a few years ago, but it has become musty over time. The con of using dialogue to open your story is that the reader will not know anything about the first character. The editor will not know who the speaker is. The editor has to read further to know who the speaker is and to make sense of the dialogue. Then he or she will be forced to backtrack to remember who did and said what. This can cause a complete stall and confusion.
How to write a fantasy novel and sell it
- Begin by reading a lot of fiction stories: This will help you to learn about the traditions and rules of the fantasy genre.
- Ensure you use legends and myths as a basis of your fantasy: You should first think how your fantasy world looks like and plot. For example, you can base your fantasy world as Celtic, Medieval, Roman or in any other form and after you have chosen your theme, read about the legends and myths that are related to it.
- Learn more about your imaginary world: You should be in a position to describe your fantasy world in detail and convince your readers about the duration when your fantasy world existed. To begin with, think about the;
- Physical features: These include the color of the sky, the planets, plants, creatures, and landscape.
- Residents: These are the people living in your fantasy world. Take your time and imagine how they look and what they eat. Locomotion is also necessary; you can describe how they sleep or whether they need sleep. Also, describe their method of communication.
- Society: Describe the kind of society in your fantasy world, do they use money? Do they have a political system and what is their religion?
- Magic and other special powers: Do the people have special powers? How do they use them? Does everybody have them and how do they use them?
- Ensure you make your characters believable: This is compulsory if you want your story to sell and also engage your readers. One way to achieve this goal is by applying logic to each and every character in your story. This means that you will create rules in your fantasy world that will apply to both the world and the character. You can choose to create rules that are based on real-life or invent yours.
How can you make your characters believable to your readers?
- Their operations should be secret, or they will face punishment.
- They should have the ability to communicate in different locations and times.
- They should also have a limit to their capacities and roles. This means that they also have some weaknesses.
- There should be valid reasons for some actions against elders.
- Keep the details you invent about your fantasy world: These details will help you to plot and continue the rest of your novel. There are different ways of doing this. You can write the details on a set of cards or use a spreadsheet.
If you follow the fantasy story ideas, you will be able to come up with an interesting fantasy story that will sell quickly.
