Fantasy stories can be pretty hard to master so we’ve been talking and we asked:
- Of the stories that you’ve read, how heavy is the worldbuilding from a scale of 1-5? Additionally, how do you personally define “heavy worldbuilding”?
- What are your general expectations of a fantasy story?
- What are some things that the fantasy genre is notorious for? (Objective)
- Conversely, what are some things that you don’t like about the fantasy genre/fantasy writers? (Subjective)
- Have you read eastern fantasy? If not, please move directly to 5b. Otherwise, please talk about your experiences in delving into that subgenre and how you fell in/fell out of love with it. 5b. When reading stories with a total culture change/totally distorted perspective, what immerses you the most? What alienates you the most?
- What are your thoughts on using ethnic lore/culture as inspiration for fantasy stories? For example, Polynesian mythology/witchdoctor-ing or Irish folklore.
- Right now, in this moment, what do you feel like reading? Light fantasy? Snarky tweets? Your own unfinished story, perhaps? (I do want a genuine answer, but you could also just shamelessly promote your work if you wish lol)
Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Thoughts by the writer ‘Neptune’. Be sure to follow them on their social and hear more of their creative writing tips and tricks or thoughts.
1) I’d say the stories I’ve read are a bit lighter on the world building, they’re about a 3.5-4. And for me, heavy world building means having an established society, functioning facets and a well fleshed out world.
2) My general expectations are for things to make sense. Like there’s this story I’ve read on Wattpad, I’ll plug in the name if I can find it, that used real world science to explain how certain magic worked. For example, heat transfer? Thermodynamics. Flight? Newtonian Physics. And whatever couldn’t be explained was written up to runic abilities which I thought was cool!
3) Honestly, having overpowered characters with little explanation. Not that I’m complaining though lol, just some growth in their stories would be nice.
4) Sometimes the magic systems or world doesn’t really make much sense. And certain things aren’t clear.
5) What immerses me is a characters ability to explain or act on their cultural perspective. It’s an explanation of the culture and the ability to stick to its foundational principles. And it’s the opposite that alienates me. When something is said to be like A, but then when it happens it’s B instead if that makes sense?
6) I personally like reading stories with ethnic lore. It exposes me to things that I wouldn’t have known or heard of, and when done right, can actually lead to a fantastic story!
7) Honestly right now I like reading my friends story blurbs or writing prompts found on reddit. Also, re-reading an old story I wrote.