The Lore of Fantasy Writing

As I add to the lore of my book I have been thinking a lot on the intensity of writing fantasy. I have written non-fiction before; study books, which require A LOT of research, and self-help/memoir, which requires a lot of emotion and pouring your soul onto the page.

Fantasy, requires BOTH!

Someone said to me "I would love to live in your brain for a day...to create all you've created is truly amazing." And it really made me proud of myself.

I have loved blending my passion for sharing my story and my love of whimsy and magic, and I now have a greater appreciation for fiction writers and the work that has gone into my favorite novels. The ability to create entire worlds, characters, stories, and more, is truly an incredible art and something to admire. I love research, I would spend hours researching random topics that interest me because learning and knowledge are fascinating to me. And I think as a society we really underestimate how much leg work goes into writing fiction. We think it's so simple, and anyone can write a book, but it's just not true. It's not just about getting words on paper, it's learning everything about a topic you are writing, I could have a masters degree in fairies at this point!

Writing is an art, just like painting. Not everyone can paint a beautiful masterpiece.

I say all this for two reasons;

Writers; be proud of yourself! You are an artist creating intricate work and don't let anyone discount your efforts!

Readers; appreciate the art that goes into books. It truly is a masterpiece that takes time and skills!

Writers, these are my tips, if you have others you think would be helpful please add comments so we can all benefit from this wonderful community!

✨ MY TIPS ✨

1. Look into the topics you want to write about:

   I have been obsessed with vampires for YEARS!! I mean come on >>>

   And I have always loved fairies but after I came up with my idea I watched through Wix Saga on Netflix and OMG 10/10 would recommend. Looking further into the topics, even those you feel well versed in is really important! Knowing what is out there already is vital to getting your own story out there.

   
   

2. Layout what you can before you start writing:

   I spent about two weeks laying out some general ideas ideas, location, lore, different magics types etc. And I really feel like that base gave me a good start to my story. 10/10 would recommend Canva, I had so many documents and used clip art to help me layout different things and even added links to where I derived some ideas from in my folklore!

   
   

3. Give yourself time to add more to the lore during and after completing your first draft:

   The base was great, and as I was writing the ideas kept flowing so I had pages designated to add more to the lore of my world. But the real depth of my lore came after the first draft was finished! I went back and in the editing process added a lot of depth to scenes to further build the world. It was a super necessary step throughout editing because some things were introduced but never touched on again, other things needed my explanation, while others need more backstory! That I had to create!

   
   

4. Leave some mystery:

   Readers will fill in blanks with their own imagination and that's part of the fun. You don't have to spell everything out that takes place in your world, dropping random things in (like creatures, foods, etc) is part of the fun and building of the world. But you don't need to go into full detail, let your readers imagine.

   
   

5. Being productive isn't just about word count!

   Spending time thinking, dwelling on your creation is productive. Research is prouductive. Mapping out your world is VERY PRODUCTIVE! A word count isn't the only thing that matters in terms of being productive. I have spent HOURS on Superpower wiki, listening to folklore videos on Youtube, watching fairy and vampires shows/movies to compare and contrast!

   
   

6. Originality is key!

   Why is your vampire book different then the others? For example; vampire weakness vary between series, with sunlight mainly being across the board. In Buffy, holy water is a weakness, in TVD it's not, but they have vervain. In BTAM, we have a different weakness... I wanted to be a little different but still stinking to the basic most understood lore of vampires.

   
   

7. Make a list

   I have separate docs for different things, locations in my world, creatures, foods, jobs etc. Because if I mention something, I need to remember it is part of the world! I picture it like slowly building an encyclopedia of my world, I just add to it along the way! And I can look back on that and not mix up things as I continue writing!