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How to Write Fantasy Fiction: Examples of Characters, Tropes, and Plots

February 28, 2022

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!

how to write fantasy fiction
One misconception about how to write fantasy fiction is that fantasy allows you to write pretty much anything you want. Technically true, practically false
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Worldbuilding in Fiction: a Guide

May 2, 2019

Today’s article is a result of a conversation I had with Francis Mont, author of House Arrest. We were talking about worldbuilding in fiction. Particularly, we were talking about the challenges involved in creating an imaginary setting for your science fiction novel.

And so, I decided to write this short guide to worldbuilding. If you’re a science-fiction, fantasy, and perhaps horror-fiction author, this post will interest you.

Interestingly enough, preparing this post required me to ponder on worldbuilding in fiction myself. As a literary-fiction author, I never really had to think about how to worldbuild. So, writing this post made for an interesting exercise.

worldbuilding in fiction
A guide on how to worldbuild your science fiction novel is not about architecture. It’s about culture and society.
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Defining the Gothic: from Tolkien to Todorovian Ambiguity

March 13, 2019

Quite often in this blog, I refer to ambiguity as a fundamental aspect of Gothic literature. Another thing I must’ve mentioned is that defining the Gothic is no easy task, and each scholar seems to have a unique idea on how to approach the matter.

Personally, I like to focus on the aspect of ambiguity and in-betweenness. In this, I draw from Tzvetan Todorov’s definition of the fantastic, as I will explain below.

Examining the differences between the ways Todorov and J.R.R. Tolkien define the fantastic is a fruitful task, as it allows us to pinpoint the ontology of the various expressions of the fantastic. Furthermore, it provides a great theoretical framework for researching more general aspects of otherness.

defining the gothic
Defining the Gothic is no easy task.
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