{"id":324,"date":"2020-11-20T10:14:35","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T10:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?p=324"},"modified":"2023-04-21T12:29:23","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T11:29:23","slug":"how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author’s Top Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Writing fantasy<\/a> is not an easy option or a quick way to make money, but if you have the imagination to see wonders and the skill to describe them, if you have things to say that can only be said with dragons, then fantasy may be your genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best preparation for writing fantasy<\/a> is to read myths and legends from lots of different cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many fantasy classics are longer than the average novel, but you don\u2019t have to write a multi-volume epic to break into the fantasy market. Anything from 90,000 to 200,000 words is an acceptable length. Ideally, your novel should be satisfying as a standalone work, but perhaps have the potential to be the first of a series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Literary agents<\/a> see hundreds of manuscripts set in vaguely medieval worlds, in which magic works. There will need to be something distinctive and compelling about your manuscript to make it truly stand out. Don\u2019t base your book on a role-playing game. Don\u2019t feel that you must use the standard cast list of warriors, wizards, dragons, elves, etc. Only write about elves if you are passionately inspired by elves, if you have something new to say about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating new worlds<\/a> is one of the most enjoyable challenges in fiction. Readers (and that includes literary agents!) should feel that you know everything about your invented world and its history. Getting to that stage may take years of thought, planning and research. Then, be ruthlessly selective. Most of your beloved background material should stay in your notes. Genre novels are expected to be fast-moving, so don\u2019t start with pages of scene-setting and explanation. Plunge into the story as quickly as possible and only tell your readers what they need to know when they need to know it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your basic plot doesn\u2019t have to be completely original. You might choose to tell an old story with a new twist or from an unusual viewpoint. There will always be a market for classic quest stories and battles between good and evil, but if you don\u2019t genuinely care about how and why the \u2018good guys\u2019 win, neither will your readers. If you give your heroes unlimited magical powers, it will be hard to get enough tension and conflict into your plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Try to restrict the number of \u2018voices\u2019 you use to tell your story. If your main viewpoint character is an outsider of some kind, this will make it easier for your readers to identify with her or him. Your characters don\u2019t have to speak in pseudo-archaic language, but they shouldn\u2019t all sound like American teenagers, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, remember that what works in a fantasy film or comic won\u2019t necessarily work in a novel. Blow-by-blow accounts of sword fights can be boring to read and huge battle scenes just confusing. In a novel, action scenes need to be personalised. Show what an individual warrior<\/a> is thinking and feeling as he fights, and take your readers right inside the world of your imagination<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then get your manuscript to a literary agent\u2026 and best of luck!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing fantasy is not an easy option or a quick way to make money, but if you have the imagination to see wonders and the skill to describe them, if you have things to say that can only be said with dragons, then fantasy may be your genre. The best preparation for writing fantasy is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[27498],"class_list":["post-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-novel-writing","tag-idea-generator"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJericho Writers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This guide shares tips on how to write a fantasy novel with insights from published authors. Learn to write fantasy fiction from bestselling authors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author's Top Tips – Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This guide shares tips on how to write a fantasy novel with insights from published authors. Learn to write fantasy fiction from bestselling authors.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-20T10:14:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-21T11:29:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"913\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"685\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jericho Writers\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@JerichoWriters\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jericho Writers\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jericho Writers\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6baf4bec883183f72ea87d54e8e7b9b3\"},\"headline\":\"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author’s Top Tips\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-20T10:14:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-21T11:29:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\"},\"wordCount\":528,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Idea Generator\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Novel writing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\",\"name\":\"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author's Top Tips – Jericho Writers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-20T10:14:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-21T11:29:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"This guide shares tips on how to write a fantasy novel with insights from published authors. Learn to write fantasy fiction from bestselling authors.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg\",\"width\":913,\"height\":685,\"caption\":\"how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author’s Top Tips\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/\",\"name\":\"Jericho Writers\",\"description\":\"Getting you published\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Jericho Writers\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-footer-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-footer-logo.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Jericho Writers\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/JerichoWriters\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jerichowriters\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/jericho-writers\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcs1qhjwLR6bQYDR2x3PbOw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6baf4bec883183f72ea87d54e8e7b9b3\",\"name\":\"Jericho Writers\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/7517483dd9bf37ab1cc21ebc33157ef5.jpg?ver=1776274820\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/7517483dd9bf37ab1cc21ebc33157ef5.jpg?ver=1776274820\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/7517483dd9bf37ab1cc21ebc33157ef5.jpg?ver=1776274820\",\"caption\":\"Jericho Writers\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/author\/2\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Jericho Writers","description":"This guide shares tips on how to write a fantasy novel with insights from published authors. Learn to write fantasy fiction from bestselling authors.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author's Top Tips – Jericho Writers","og_description":"This guide shares tips on how to write a fantasy novel with insights from published authors. Learn to write fantasy fiction from bestselling authors.","og_url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/","og_site_name":"Jericho Writers","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters","article_published_time":"2020-11-20T10:14:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-21T11:29:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":913,"height":685,"url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jericho Writers","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@JerichoWriters","twitter_site":"@JerichoWriters","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jericho Writers","Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/"},"author":{"name":"Jericho Writers","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6baf4bec883183f72ea87d54e8e7b9b3"},"headline":"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author’s Top Tips","datePublished":"2020-11-20T10:14:35+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-21T11:29:23+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/"},"wordCount":528,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg","keywords":["Idea Generator"],"articleSection":["Novel writing"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/","name":"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author's Top Tips – Jericho Writers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-11-20T10:14:35+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-21T11:29:23+00:00","description":"This guide shares tips on how to write a fantasy novel with insights from published authors. Learn to write fantasy fiction from bestselling authors.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/How-to-write-a-fantasy-nove.jpeg","width":913,"height":685,"caption":"how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/how-to-write-a-fantasy-novel\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How To Write A Fantasy Novel: An Author’s Top Tips"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/","name":"Jericho Writers","description":"Getting you published","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#organization","name":"Jericho Writers","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-footer-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/cropped-footer-logo.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Jericho Writers"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jerichowriters","https:\/\/x.com\/JerichoWriters","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jerichowriters\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/jericho-writers\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcs1qhjwLR6bQYDR2x3PbOw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6baf4bec883183f72ea87d54e8e7b9b3","name":"Jericho Writers","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/7517483dd9bf37ab1cc21ebc33157ef5.jpg?ver=1776274820","url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/7517483dd9bf37ab1cc21ebc33157ef5.jpg?ver=1776274820","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/7517483dd9bf37ab1cc21ebc33157ef5.jpg?ver=1776274820","caption":"Jericho Writers"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/jerichowriters.com"],"url":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/author\/2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":577633,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324\/revisions\/577633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jerichowriters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}