# new ideas for a fantasy novel?



## ionacraig (Oct 21, 2012)

im really inspired to write a fantasy novel from books such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter but whenever i get a good idea and get into working on expanding it, i never seem to like the idea enough to carry on with the book. i reallyneed a gripping idea or even just a small spark of inspriation to keep me interested for the duration of writing 

thanks in advance


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## Cran (Oct 21, 2012)

Let me see if I have this straight - you like the idea of writing a fantasy novel because you like fantasy stories like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. You get good ideas, but you don't like them after you've worked on them for a while. So, you want other people to supply you with ideas to inspire you in the same way that reading LOTR and HP inspired you in the first place. 

OK. Go to your nearest library and select some fantasy stories. Read until you feel inspired, then write. Rinse and repeat until you have a completed story.


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## Jon M (Oct 21, 2012)

You don't need a super fantastic extraordinary idea that will carry you through the book. You need to learn how to make every mundane idea and every boring moment cool and awesome and poetic. 

Because that's what good writers do.


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## Grape Juice Vampire (Oct 21, 2012)

^ This. And, one of the most prominent pitfalls of writing is that it won't always be fun to write, and learning how to accept that you will not constantly be inspired or excited is the hardest thing. The best thing to do, is to keep plugging along with what you have written already. Take a break if you have to, but keep trying.


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## Nickleby (Oct 22, 2012)

ionacraig said:


> im really inspired to write a fantasy novel from books such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter but whenever i get a good idea and get into working on expanding it, i never seem to like the idea enough to carry on with the book. i reallyneed a gripping idea or even just a small spark of inspriation to keep me interested for the duration of writing



Sorry, but writing involves some boring stuff. There are only so many ways to say that a character crossed the room, but you have to say it sometimes to avoid confusing the reader. You can't have a character on one side of the room and then start carrying on as if he's on the other side. Editing and rewriting are pretty boring too, but you have to do those things.

Either you accept that you won't have divine inspiration for every moment of your work, or you find something else to do. You have to learn to maintain the initial excitement that your ideas give you.

It takes work to turn an idea into a story. Find a way to enjoy the work, or it will turn into drudgery.


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## Morkonan (Oct 22, 2012)

ionacraig said:


> im really inspired to write a fantasy novel from books such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter but whenever i get a good idea and get into working on expanding it, i never seem to like the idea enough to carry on with the book. i reallyneed a gripping idea or even just a small spark of inspriation to keep me interested for the duration of writing
> 
> thanks in advance



First off, stop doing that... Stop looking at Fantasy to somehow inspire you to write fantasy. Fantasy is about the fantastic, not about itself.

You want inspiration? 

OK, here's how to get some (This is what "writing" is all about.)

What's the most interesting situation or story you can think of? Really, put some oomph into answering this question. What drives you to be interested in a story? What matters to you? What do you read or watch on television or go to the movies to see that forces you to come away and say to yourself "Damn, that was good?" Answer that, but think hard before you do. Then, write that, but write it in a fantasy setting.

"The Godfather" is heralded as one of the greatest motion pictures ever made. It's wonderful and the book is good, too. Imagine a story that involves the audience so much that they look to a crime family, who murders people and does all sorts of reprehensible things, as "heroes." One might as well write a story about Judas and cast him in the light of a hero. (I think it has been done already...)

Now, let's say you liked "The Godfather." Let's say you really liked several of the characters and the general theme. So, you obviously see the value in the story and the mechanisms that were used to hook the audience, right? So, write that. But, write it in a fantasy setting and add some "fantastical" explanations for a few things. Maybe the Corleones are a group of wizards? Maybe they're running the local Thieve's Guild and are battling another fantasy element, like some disreputable dwarfs, for control of the city's underworld? Maybe they're actually on the side of good and they're fighting a stalemated war against evil.. with dragons.. and magic.. and tiny fairy drug dealers.

Too rich for your blood?

OK, it's "Little House on the Prairie." time (Wilder's "Little House" books.) However, instead of on some gently rolling hills in the American West, it's in the middle of a war-torn fantasy world. Little Laura is growing up with orcs pounding on the door, magicians who are usually too drunk to cast a spell straight and a loving family that does its very best to provide a stable home, despite the turmoil and challenges to their survival.

See how that works?

If you want inspiration, turn to those places that inspire you and then adapt them to your setting.

Last note : Lord of the Rings is a "travelogue." It's about a classic Heroic Journey, but takes place in a wonderfully detailed world that Tolkien is determined you experience to its fullest. Harry Potter is a traditional "Coming of Age" tale (With little or no deviation from that genre.) that takes place in a more-or-less modern world where there is a hidden reality that includes magic. These are *not* innovative or unique stories. One was done extremely well and became a hallmark travelogue-world-building-heroic-journey piece. The other is an example of the fickleness of today's modern audience...


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## dolphinlee (Oct 23, 2012)

Below are some authors and their degrees.

All of them have talked about the amount of research that went into the background for their books. 

Anne McCaffrey gained a degree in Slavonic Languages and Literature from Radcliffe College Her studies included cartography, celtic folklore, Chines philosophers,  US foreign policy.

J R R Tolkien was a major scholar of the English language, specialising in Old and Middle English. Twice Professor of Anglo-Saxon (Old English) at the University of Oxford.

J K Rowling gained a degree in French and Classics from Exeter University.

David Eddings gained a degree in English from Reed College and a Masters in Middle English from the University of Washington

Whilst many authors do not have degrees they are usually successful when they write about what they know.  

Morkonan has provided some really good advice. 

How about just writing and seeing what happens.


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## Staff Deployment (Oct 23, 2012)

Morkonan said:


> First off, stop doing that... Stop looking at Fantasy to somehow inspire you to write fantasy. Fantasy is about the fantastic, not about itself.
> 
> You want inspiration?
> 
> ...



More concisely, fantasy is not a genre that should be defined by itself. Fantasy is the imagining of ideas or situations that are impossible or improbable. By definition, there are no limitations.

But people need limitations.

If you give me a blank canvas I'll draw you a dragon, but if you give me five or six non-descript black lines, I'll use them to invent a creature that nobody has ever seen before (I've actually got a couple hundred of these, wanna see? no? oh well). The issue is a lot more complicated than it appears. You'll have to skirt the line between familiarity and individuality, comfort and innovation.

Unless you're trying to sell your book. In which case just copy Harry Potter. Boom, million copies _you're rolling in the dough oh my god tears of joy now you get your own mansion_


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## Spock (Oct 23, 2012)

Wow, what a fantastic thread this is.  I don't normally read every post as everyone usually says what the last guy said, but that was just excellent!

On behalf of 'Ionacraig', thank you all for the posts and advice!

A suggestion to Ionacraig, I love stories with a massive twist, something that really smacks you several times in the face when it's revealed.  A twist keeps me thinking about a story for years, most recently, the TV series The Walking Dead; being such a huge fan of the comics, it's a massive kick to the teeth to see the changes they've made to the TV show, such as Dale's death or Hershel's leg.  It may or may not work with fantasy, that's something you would have to toy with.  Perhaps a medieval world setting, that ultimately turned out to be set in the future, not the past.  The world could be the bi-product of nuclear annihilation of the planet and the ages start afresh.  I don't know, it's 6.a.m, the baby had his immunity injections yesterday so I've not slept since I've been up with him and I'm probably not making sense!

Keep us posted on how you're getting on though!!


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