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As you might know, I don’t write genre fiction; I write literary fiction. My books – as you can see on the relevant page of the main site – are about “ordinary” people in “ordinary” circumstances (I let you interpret the quotation marks the way you want). However, my academic expertise is on nonrealist fictions: Gothic/horror, science fiction, fantasy. So let’s put this expertise to good use (it doesn’t seem to have its own space in the academic world) and see how to write fantasy fiction, with examples on characters, tropes and plots.

I’ll try to make this post as detailed and useful, but at the same time as accessible as possible. Personally, I’m a great fan of simplicity. I believe that if you can’t explain a concept – no matter how complex – in a way a 10-year-old could understand it, it means you haven’t fully understood it yourself.

With this in mind, here’s a quick outline of what I’ll show you in this post:

• How to write fantasy fiction characters. In particular, what is the role of characters in fantasy fiction
• Examples of tropes. That’s a somewhat fancy way of saying how to write fantasy fiction in a way your intended audience can relate to it. In a sense, it’s a marketing consideration, but also with artistic dimensions.
• What kind of fantasy fiction plots are worth pursuing and what are best left alone. And why.

I don’t have all the answers. Heck, I don’t even have all the questions. But whatever I know and share with you, I genuinely hope it can help you!

A Few Words on Fantasy Fiction Ontology

“Ontology” is a fancy word that basically means “what it is”. It refers to the inherent nature of something. So, by fantasy fiction ontology, we refer to what fantasy fiction is.

In particular, in order to properly understand what fantasy fiction characters, tropes, and plots involve, we must first understand what is and isn’t fantasy fiction.

For more information – and for more complex information! – feel free to take a look at my post on the differences between Gothic, science fiction, and fantasy, as well as those on ambiguity and “true stories”. I’ll offer you the short version here.

In a nutshell, fantasy fiction differentiates itself by the way it treats the supernatural. In fantasy fiction there are supernatural elements (magic, wizards, werewolves, and whatnot) but they appear supernatural only from our real-world perspective.

That is to say, in fantasy fiction there is magic, but it’s no big deal. It’s considered a normal – indeed, a natural! – part of the world in question. There are werewolves or witches, yes, but they are seen about the same way we would see, for instance, lions or mafia henchmen.

With this in mind, let’s see how to write fantasy fiction in a way that respects both the author and the audience.

How to Write Fantasy Fiction Characters

As a genre, fantasy fiction can include a large variety of characters: humans, mages, witches, werewolves, you name it. The specifics will depend on your given narrative, but one thing to keep in mind – the key element that should inform your decision-making throughout – is this:

Fantasy fiction characters need to have precisely defined natures.

This is both tricky and important, so let’s unpack it. By “precisely defined natures”, we certainly don’t mean that characters can only be good or evil, smart or dumb, serious or comic. On the contrary, though a certain degree of predictability is required in fantasy fiction (see my posts on realistic characters and character roles), it’s absolutely fine for a black mage to have doubts, for a werewolf to go against his tribe, for a human to fall in love with a goblin, and all that.

Moreover, keep in mind that the way you introduce your characters can also signal genre.

A Matter of Abilities and Functions

Rather, a precisely defined nature of a fantasy fiction character refers to offering the reader clear, non-confusing information regarding a character’s inherent abilities and functions.

A wizard can affect other people by reading their minds, but you really “can’t” (more of that in the concluding section) have a wizard infiltrate a data center to hack the server using a terminal, thus to obtain information on someone. This is a real example, by the way, which I read recently.

Even if the narrative is set in the present day, even if there is a mix of technology and magic (again, more of that in a moment), when you write fantasy fiction and you include wizards, barbarians, witches, and vampires, you do that for a reason relevant to functions and roles. To forgo these functions means to unnecessarily confuse your audience.

How to Write Fantasy Fiction Tropes

As I said in the introduction, a trope is essentially a generic marker; a signal relevant to the genre in question. They are somewhat stereotyped elements that exist in many, if not most, of the narratives in a given genre. For example, think of the corrupt cop in crime fiction, or the arrogant male love interest in romance fiction. There are such elements in fantasy fiction, too. And fantasy fiction tropes should serve the following functions:

• throughout the narrative they keep the reader engaged by “reminding” them of the genre they’re reading. This might sound silly, but keep in mind readers need a degree of predictability: They need to be able to predict (even post-facto, if that makes sense; “I knew it!”) how a narrative will progress.
• fantasy tropes help the reader orientate in the world of the story. Recognizing an element (because you’ve read about it in another book) helps you understand what’s going on in this one. Parenthetically, that’s another reason why characters need precisely defined natures, as we saw above.
• generally, fantasy fiction tropes assist in anticipating the narrative journey. To learn how to write fantasy fiction, you need to learn how to guide the reader. Arguably this is necessary in all fiction, but this is especially the case in a genre with many characters, sometimes complex plots (more of this below), and nonrealist storylines.

So, How Should You Use Fantasy Tropes?

The advice I offered above, on characters, should inform your decision on how to write fantasy tropes. In a nutshell, you should offer your readers tropes that help them construct the inherent nature of the story. What this means, in practical terms: Being original and experimental with tropes defeats the very purpose of tropes.

Take a look at the list above. Tropes in fantasy fiction (as elsewhere) introduce a penalty of predictability that the author accepts for the benefit of helping reader immersion and relatability. In simple words: Writing a somewhat stereotyped character, describing settings in a way relying on emulation, or offering a predictable plot element (more of that below), though in theory a bad thing, in genre fiction is actually a plus.

Bottom line, use fantasy tropes as they are intended: Stick to the confines of their nature. If you write a classic, RPG-style fantasy novel with fearless warriors, devious wizards, and dependable elves, having a “fearless warrior” who’s actually emotional might sound like something original and worth exploring (and might be interesting; see the concluding section), but it will almost certainly confuse your audience.

How to Write Fantasy Fiction Plots

You can probably guess what I’m about to say, so let’s cut to the chase. Write fantasy plots that are consistent with the inherent nature of fantasy.

Remember that plots don’t matter. There’s nothing new under the sun. Everything has already been written about. So, since you’re writing genre fiction, your goal is to improve reader relatability. That is, the purpose is to create an immersive reading experience the reader can relate to.

A convoluted, overly complex plot that veers too much from generic conventions doesn’t help with that.

The way there are characters and tropes that are recognizable by the intended audience, there are also plot journeys – checkpoints, in a way – that you can take advantage of.

Needless Originality vs Valuable Originality

There’s a reason stories where a group seeks an enchanted object are so popular in fantasy fiction. Audiences can easily grasp the narrative dynamics. Once again, you sacrifice some useless originality for reader immersion. Useless originality means to be original where you shouldn’t – remember the wizard hacking the data center I mentioned earlier.

You can be original in matters that don’t distract the audience from the established norms and patterns – not to be confused with literary patterns! Here are some examples, off the top of my head:

• Introduce characters with new roles/functions while still keeping the established ones. A wizard should be a wizard, a warrior a warrior, but adding a mysterious, ambiguous character in their midst can shuffle the deck.
• Experiment with trope aesthetics. Just because a trope should serve a certain function and be readily understandable and relatable, that doesn’t mean it should be always offered in a specific, stock kind of way. If you need an enchanted object to drive the plot, your characters and audience don’t need to know exactly what it is. Don’t call it a “ring”, a “staff”, or a “crown”. Call it “The Unnamed”, “The Thing”, “The Object”. That is especially true if you’re dealing with a MacGuffin.
• Again, while keeping established functions, experiment with identity determinants. In traditional fantasy, wizards are white, old, with long white hair. Well, why should they? Why can’t a wizard be young and black? Why can’t the warrior be both fearless and gay? Such elements don’t matter in terms of roles/functions (and therefore don’t confuse your readers), yet add intriguing interpretative possibilities.

A Crucial Thing to Keep in Mind

All the above can help you write a fantasy fiction story being true to your artistic vision as well as your audience. To write genre fiction is a balancing act, trying to keep two things equally satisfied: being a writer and being an artist. It’s basically impossible, but we can idealistically hope to achieve that balance.

There is, however, one crucial thing to keep in mind, that can invalidate the entirety of what you’ve read so far. To put it simply, there is one condition that allows you to break all the “rules” I mentioned above with impunity:

When you don’t care about your audience.

When you don’t write in order to sell books, when the primary aim is the art and not the marketing, then your intended audience is you alone. This means, your wizard can fly on spaceships while listening to metal music, and your fearless warrior can every now and then cry because she’s afraid of spiders.

There are no rules in art, but there are “rules” when you’re targeting a specific audience. Depending on your priorities, you can either ignore or at least downplay everything you’ve read here. Alternatively, learn how to place your readers in a system, Donald Duck style!

Note: If you’re looking for inspiration on creating characters – in fantasy fiction or not – also take a look at Character Concept Picker, an open-source program I’ve made. And if you’d like to create an entire fantasy language in a matter of seconds, see my Fantasy Language Generator.