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@eden-anderson

So sorry this took me so long to come up with–finals do not like me. XD But here are some websites that have some amazing tips I found the most helpful in my fantasy writing.

Fantasy book writing: 7 tips for captivating high fantasy

How to write fantasy series: Do’s and Don’ts

^^Really, anything from nownovel.com is good. XD

The Secrets of Story Structure (Complete Series)

^^I absolutely, 100% recommend this series of articles to anyone, despite they aren’t specifically for, fantasy, so take a look at them and I guarantee that there will be something helpful in there. This entire site is amazing, actually. XD

https://www.aresearchguide.com/write-a-fantasy-novel.html

^^This article was very helpful and interesting to me, and I haven’t explored the site much more other than this one article, but it looks like there are quite a few more good fantasy resources on here.

I hope these help you out some! They helped me out a ton when I was first starting to write fantasy. I’m glad you asked. I’d hate for you to get discouraged and stop writing fantasy if you love it just because you’re a new writer to the genre and there seems to be so much to live up to. (*cough* You should have seen my first story… *embarrassed blush* It was pretty much Lotr with a gem instead of a ring and dragons as 50% of the cast. ….. Yeah. I was obsessed with Lotr and the Wingfire Chronicles as a kid.)

But anyhow. On to my tips for writing fantasy:

• Start with what you want. I’ve made the mistake many times of trying to write like Dianne Wynne Jones or Tolkien or C. S. Lewis, and that never got me anywhere but frustrated, bored, and even resentful of my story. So don’t try to write like the greats–write like yourself. Write what you love. What makes a good book isn’t what genre is it, what style of writing, what tone–but how much heart the author puts into it. If you don’t write what you love, you won’t enjoy writing nor will your writing turn out as good as it would be if you enjoyed what you were writing about.
• Ask for help. Look. We all know brainstorming is hard–I won’t hesitate to admit it–it’s taken me three years to get to the point I am today with my novel. Three long years of brainstorming alone with only me, myself, and I. But I’ve progressed so much faster after I found sites like this one. There were suddenly people like me who loved writing and knew the struggles of writing fantasy, and who could help me work out the parts I was having trouble with. Many people say writing is a solo profession, but I personally think it’s almost more a community profession than anything, especially in places like SE. Everyone’s here to support you and help you think through problems that maybe you just need a new perspective on. A second opinion or fresh perspective can work wonders on your novel. So don’t shy away from asking for help–it helps so much. (Pun intended lol)
• Write what you need to read. If you like Medieval fantasy, then write that. I’ve read some amazing medieval fantasy novels, even though my favorite genre is high fantasy, I still love medieval fantasy. It’s one of my favorite sub-genres ever. So don’t change your writing just because there’s more audience towards high fantasy. Write what you love.
• Do your research. If you are going to write fantasy, there’s still a certain amount of research that needs to be done even if it doesn’t have a set world like Hi-Fi or Contemporary. If you’re going to have a monarchy as government, do some research into that. If you’re going to have a character get stabbed, do the research on that. If you’re going to have floating sky islands, study some weather patterns and how large, slowly moving or stationary shadows would affect the crops/land below them. Research what living at high altitude is like. If you’re going to have swords and armor and battles, research what weapons people used in medieval times, and how armor works, how armies are divided, and some basic battle strategies. I know it sounds like a lot, but it’ll pay off.
• Learn and grow from tropes. Personally, I love twisting tropes, turning them on their heads, or followling them but making them good in my writing. Tropes are fun. There’s always that one that we hate and that one that we love. So learn from tropes. Take the “Chosen One” trope, for instance. The chosen one is usually chosen by a prophecy, and therefore since the prophecy says so, is destined to defeat the big bad guy. But–what if you switched that around? What if the villain is the one with the prophesy, and he’s destined to defeat the hero? How would the story play out if the villain is supposedly already destined to defeat the hero, no matter how hard he tries? Or what if the hero is someone who isn’t the chosen one, but takes over the chosen one’s position? Learn from tropes, by learning how to make an often cheesy and poorly written trope like the “chosen one” trope into a good, compelling, well written trope.

And, that is all I have to say for now. If you have any more questions, please ask! Again, I’m sorry I took so long to answer you, but this week has been a bit chaotic. XD Also, if you’re looking for amazing talks about tropes and how they work/how to break them, check out Overly Sarcastic Productions on Youtube and look at their playlist called “Trope Talks.” I highly recommend them, as they take great care in breaking down tropes like “the chosen one” and “mary sues” and even things like magic in fantasy.