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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Jun 2008 : 22:05:40
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I have been wrighting fantasy novels for I while and I hope to get them published some day. My resent project is the Music of Darkness a three part serise and I just want to know if there are any fantasy storyline must haves that I could or should employ to make by books real page turners.
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Slorg
Moderator
Australia
996 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2008 : 22:25:44
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Just avoid princesses and "chosen ones" at all costs please.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2008 : 22:39:30
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| lol, dont worrie I dont have any. Well I do have a female character but she isnt a princess she's more like a govenors daughter. No chosen ones but I did create a new race of elf, the Shamera or Shadow elfs, at leat I think there new I havent heard of them in other books before. |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 01:36:31
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Just keep it personal. Don't do things because all the best fantasy stories have it. Like your shadow elves. Even if there are something similar in other fantasy stories, don't let it get you down--as long as you put your own twist on it, you should stand out.
Good dialogue is always a real pageturner, fantasy storyline or no. :)
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I'm not a snob. Just overeducated.
DLMS Forums: We whinge because we care.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2008 : 19:52:07
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thanks for the advice I was realy worried about being called a copy cat if they were in another story.
EDIT: By the way, what do you think of the title? |
Edited by - Slorg on 21 Jun 2008 22:47:47 |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 04:29:46
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It has a "Phantom of the Opera" ring to it, but I've enjoyed books with less interesting titles. Applied to a fantasy story, though, it has promise.
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I'm not a snob. Just overeducated.
DLMS Forums: We whinge because we care.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jun 2008 : 12:43:55
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Yay! I came up with a good title for once any other advice? Do you think there is such a thing as too much magic in a fantasy book? |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jun 2008 : 02:30:41
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It depends on what you mean by "too much magic."
If magic is a part of the world as a whole, and affects the lives of all the people in it, then there can never be too much. Read the comic Mystic, it has a planet made up of seven kingdoms that each correspond to a different kind of magic. Magic makes up the background of the entire story while at the same time helping to drive it.
"Too much magic" is, in my opinion, if a character keeps gaining special powers just in the nick of time in order to get out of a jam, or any other cases of deux ex machina where the phrase "It's magic!" could be used to describe every unexplained or fortunate event. You should definitely make a magic system, even if you don't explain it all outright in the story, so you're not just making up the rules as you go
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I'm not a snob. Just overeducated.
DLMS Forums: We whinge because we care.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jun 2008 : 20:39:46
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| Ok well I made sure to explain all the things in the story that are conected to magic so I guess I'm in the clear as far as that gose. What about villains what in your opinion makes a good villain, some one the reader will just love to hate. |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2008 : 02:22:59
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I don't know whether to be honored or scared that you're asking me all these questions XD I haven't written anything really.
Villains, eh? I'm a fan of sympathetic villains myself...I don't know how to make a character easy to hate.
However, whether they're tragic or despicable, they need a good motive. A really good motive. And it has to make complete sense from their perspective. He/She can't just be evil because the story says so. What's their reason?
Some possible motives:
-Revenge (Someone close to them was killed, they were enslaved, etc)
-Power (Raw ambition is common, but they have to have a well-crafted personality in order to carry this one motive far)
-Madness (Usually a copout, but again, personality and research can make this convincing. The Joker is a great example.)
-Stedfast belief (My personal favorite. This is when a character has such belief that what they do is right, that they don't care who gets hurt.)
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I'm not a snob. Just overeducated.
DLMS Forums: We whinge because we care.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 24 Jun 2008 : 19:36:09
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wether you've writen anything or not it dose not realy matter. I posted this to get ideas and oppinions from readers not authors and if you were an author I'd be asking you even more questions. But because your a reader I apresiate your answers even more because thats who your out to please when your writing not other authors, atleast I would hope not lol I think I was leaning more toword raw ambition with my character and maybe he is a litte mad and I will keep your other sujestions in mind. What about stariotypes? Any I should know about and avoid? |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2008 : 20:04:53
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Stereotypes that should be avoided unless you really have a good idea of what you are doing:
-High and haughty pale elves. Please. I don't even know how this stereotype quite came about. People attribute it to Tolkien but his elves were incredibly dynamic and some of them were severely messed up in the head. And for the love of God, don't have them leaving the continent for no reason.
-Entire roves of bad guys who are only evil because they came from the same country/are the same race. Yeesh, not only is that a fantasy stereotype, it's a racial stereotype as well. Chuck it. Or, make whatever's "evil" some sort of genetic trait that was bred through the species. Or have some bits from the bad soldier's point of view, how he was drafted into the service or something. Just don't slap an evil label on them and have done with it.
-Female characters who are supposedly tough (and usually sexy) yet always have to be rescued by the main guy. Grr. Either she's competent or she's not. Dragonlance is a good example on how to make good strong female characters.
-Making everyone fall in love with/respect/listen to the main character. See: Mary Sue/Gary Stu, Anita Blake, Eragon. Unless you can make it funny, or if the character has manipulative powers to make everyone like them (see Raistlin with Bupu).
-Slorg covered this one: no "chosen ones" please. You have to really know what you are doing if you're going to make this stereotype work.
Versions that worked: (spoilers)
Anakin from Star Wars. Everyone thought he would "restore the balance to the Force." And to everyone's dismay, he did--he brought back the Dark Side.
Paul Atreides from the Dune books. Sure, he fulfills a prophesy...but his role in the prophesy is to bring about ANOTHER person who fulfills a prophesy. In short, he's just another cog in the wheel of existence.
Orem from the book Hart's Hope by Orson Scott Card. His entire life has been plotted out with the intent of destroying evil, and it sucks royally.
These are just a few stereotypes that came to my mind (and I had to get off my chest XD)
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I'm not a snob. Just overeducated.
DLMS Forums: We whinge because we care.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2008 : 21:17:22
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| Ok, well my shadow elfs are pale, it comes from not living the in the sun ofcorse, but their not all high and mighty or anything. But as to your second one. I do have an entier city dedicated to shifty characters. Drundar city of Thieves which as its name intells is inhabited by and run by thieves of various levels. And considering this I wonder if it may stray a bit too much into your second stereotype? |
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MrStatesTheObvious
Senior Member
USA
1188 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2008 : 21:27:06
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Thieves can be of any class, race, or gender, so having a city of them isn't the "all ogres/goblins/dragons/dark elves/people from this country-are-evil" stereotype. I'm actually interested as to how a city composed completely of thieves would be run.
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I'm not a snob. Just overeducated.
DLMS Forums: We whinge because we care.
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jun 2008 : 22:48:39
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| Well thats a relife. I've allways wanted to do a city of theives just because its never been done befor and it would be interesting to develope. Drundar was founded not long after the end of the taratorial wars between the humans, elfs,dwarfs,and Minotaurs. After the wars theives began to just crawl out of the wood work feeding off the broken country. The king of Hain Oringard called a meeting to deside on how best to draw them out and despose of them. Basicly they layed a trap for the lot of them and managed to corner them. Their leader called a parlay saying that they now had enough money and tresure between them thet they could afford to stop pracsesing their trade. They erected a city in a vally of the Karzendarn mountains. The Kings agreed to alow them to live on one condition. No bounty hunters would ever be permited to enter on pain of death but if any one of their citezens was ever cought outside the city walls they would be free game and not entittled to any sort of pertection. I'm still working on the government system. |
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dark mage
Moderator
Canada
29908 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jul 2008 : 18:50:43
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| Well I am almost done book one but I'm stuck on the ending. What makes a good ending? |
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The Music of Darkness
