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So, You Want to Write Fantasy . . . I still don’t know about that title. Anyway, I’m slowly coming to the end of the planning stage, which is getting me thinking about how to write this book. To figure this out, I went looking at samples from other fantasy tip books again to make sure I wasn’t wrong the first time I checked them out. Like before, I saw that there was a lot of serious jargon and trade speak. There was always a sense that you were a student listening to a teacher, which created a very serious tone even when there was joking around. This isn’t bad, but it’s not me. So, what to do?
Well, I’ll stick to my original idea and make the entries similar to my blog posts. Only I’ll be editing them. This means I’ll write in a fairly simple and casual style with limited jargon to prevent newcomers to writing from getting confused. Maybe not so much confused, but to make sure my points can come across to anyone. This means the entries might not be more than 800-1,000 words each. It’s all opinion and experience-based with me using my own works as examples too. So, I can’t go chatting about LOTR, Star Wars, or MCU. Have to stay within Windemere even though I’m talking about a more generalized topic. All that makes this a bigger challenge than I expected, especially since I’m not always working with a high level of confidence. I mean, why take advice from an author who can’t sell a book?
Anyway, the big thing I’m struggle with is entry structure. I keep wondering if I should make it a combination of types or one kind of ‘post’. For example, I thought about doing all of the entries as my ‘7 Tip Lists’ and run the risk of leaving stuff out or getting repetitive. Maybe I can use this for topics where I don’t have more than 7 things to say or that are less serious such as the one on ‘eating scenes’. Another method would be just a regular essay that runs through the idea and/or those that have the subject split into a couple smaller sections. I guess what I’m wondering is what kind of entry structure is most conducive to my goals of getting readers and helping others. Also, why did my GRE vocabulary just kick in for a second?
Legends of Windemere 
I hope there will be a section on the so-called rules of the fantasy Genre. Like what needs to be included to be considered a fantasy. (maybe even things never to do in a fantasy if there is such a thing.)
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I don’t think I’m going to do a specific section on that. Every entry is going to be about fantasy ‘rules’ in some fashion, so I don’t really have to worry. I actually listed the topics back in January: https://legendsofwindemere.com/2020/01/05/fantasy-tip-book-list-of-topics/
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I think there is a need for something like this. I’ve enjoyed many of your posts on similar topics, so I think it’s going to be good.
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Thanks. Format and style will be the big question here. Delivery method of information can make or break the whole thing.
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You have a lot of insight on the genre so I’m glad you’re working on this. But why would you be prevented from talking about other works? Ursula LeGuin, in her book STEERING THE CRAFT, mentions works by Mark Twain and Virginia Woolf along with her own works.
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It’s copyright stuff. Since I’m doing fantasy, I need to stay in the genre. Outside of mythology, there’s nothing else I can use.
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I was responding to this remark: “So, I can’t go chatting about LOTR, Star Wars, or MCU.” That’s why I mentioned that in her craft book, Ursula LeGuin mentioned the work of other authors.
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Mark Twain is public domain. That’s why Tom Sawyer shows up in other works so often. I’d only be able to mention public domain fantasy and that’s very little.
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I know this isn’t very helpful, but use the style that works best for the point you want to make.
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Thanks. I’ll have to play around with things.
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