How to Create your own Fantasy

Literature

What is Fantasy?

In the context of literature Fantasy is a genre of

writing that includes realities or events that are
centered on magical, mythical, or supernatural
elements. Fantasy creates worlds with concepts, laws,
and challenges that exist outside of our own reality.
Magical creatures, characters, and settings are
common in this genre of writing.
Fantasy is basically the means to create an
imaginative escape from the world we live in. Or, it
can be used as a metaphor to look at different
aspects of our reality in a unique perspective.
Basically, fantasys main purpose is to create worlds
and experiences that get us to think outside of the
confines of our own reality.

Where did Fantasy start?

There is no clear answer to this as the oral telling of

fantasied
stories has existed amongst mankind
longer than it has been written down. Most fantasy
stems from stories and ideas told from religious,
cultural, or historical sources. Mankind has a
tendency to create fantastic stories from aspects of
reality that we could not understand. For example,
the Greeks created their gods and their infinite
powers as a way to explain how the earth came to be
and why reality and mankind exists as they do. This
concept be seen with every culture in the world.
In medieval Europe many cultures began creating
stories about fairy creatures or supernatural entities
to explain why mysterious things happen amongst
their people. Fairy tales are stories created to teach
children moral standards, sometimes in a freighting
way, and to entertain them. The Brothers Grimm
researched many of these fantisiful stories and
created a book full of the classic fairytales many of us
have grown up with: Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella,
Little Red Riding Hood, and so on. This is where most
of our modern fantasy stems from.

How Can I Create My Own Fantasy

created must have physical laws that anchor the

story and makes it believable; in other words

suspension of disbelief J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The

Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, was able to make
his world, Middle Earth, so vivid and life like due to
the fact that he based it mostly on our world. His
fantasized world had all of the laws of nature and
physics that we have, yet he added his own spin to
his worlds reality that made it unique and
otherworldly. By giving a fantasy story a base in
reality it makes it more believable, then by adding
magical, mythical, or supernatural elements it
shapes into a whole new world.
- Strong Characters
To make a good fantasy story strong, engaging
characters are needed. Every story always has its
protagonist, its main character, and its antagonist,
the villain or force that throws the main character
into action, and the different variety of characters
these two types interact with. Yet, its important not
to be too clique when creating these characters. A
knight in shining armor riding off to battle a fire
breathing dragon to save a princess is an example
of a fantasy clique; these characters that are too
over used and well known. One can use that plot as
a basis for their story, but they really should try
adding unique spins to their characters that change
the plot. Try the knight is really a queen in disguise
trying to get back her daughter, or the dragon is
really the one in jeopardy and the princess is the
villain trying to lure the knight in. Creating
characters with their own weaknesses, strengths,
and ways to interact with the world is essential to
making a great story. The main characters of a story
should always have their own unique personalities,
which should not be too clique, and they can be
relatable in some way. Thats why its always a good
idea to base characters on people that you are
familiar with and use their personalities as
inspiration.
-Use Your Own Imagination

Literature?

Creating fantasy can be both easy and hard. Fantasy

has a lot more to it than just throwing knights and
dragons into a rainbow fairy land; fantasy requires
you to be willing to expand your mind and resources.
Aside from good grammar and writing skills fantasy
stories require three major things: a real world basis,
strong characters, and your own imagination.

-Real World Basis

As stated before, all fantasy is derived from real

world ideas and stories. What makes a good fantasy
strong and believable is the fact that there are facts.
In other words, every fantasy world

make sure you get the proper permission to use that

story. For many creating an original story is very
difficult, originality is definably hard to come by these
days, yet its not impossible. To create a fantasy
world you need to create it as you see it, take the real
world and change it into something new. This is what
leads one to be a great fantasy writer, creating a
world they have experienced in their minds and
sharing it with the world in an enticing fashion.

A major rule in making your own fantasy story is

DONT PLAGURIZE. Dont use another persons
ideas, stories, or characters to make your own, not
only is it bad writing but its cause for legal
complications as well. Thats why its very important
that you use your own imagination when you create
your fantasy world. Your characters, your setting,
and your storyline should all be coming from within
your own mind. Thats not to say you cant get
inspiration from things youve seen or heard from
others, you just need to make sure youre not
ripping off another persons work. If youre making a
spoof or a parody to someones story and they have
a copy right,
Id heard that word used all my life- inside the
walls of my stake center, in family home evening,
and in morning readings, sitting sleepy-eyed in my
living room- Mom reciting the Book of Mormon
chapter after chapter. It was a ritual that lasted
almost two years, until Mom got sick, and the habit
never reestablished. (Tennis Shoes among the
Nephites, Heimerdinger, Chris; pg.55 par 4-5)

Mythical Fantasy

Full fantasy is creating a fantasy story based entirely

in a magical world, commonly a medieval type world
but it can be other types. This style can be quite
challenging, as you need a great deal of detail to
make your fantasy story and world become
believable. Its always best to do a lot of research
when trying to create a fantasy story like this. J.R.R.
Tolkien did an exceptional job at this style of fantasy
writing, his work is in fact is what has influenced most
of modern fantasy today.

This style involves the use of mythical elements

based on Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Viking, Native
American, and other cultural mythologies. The time
and setting of this style can be either ancient or
modern, you choose. The main characters in these
stories tend to have mythical powers or tools, or
they interact with mythical beings. Here research is
needed, but its always a good idea not to base your
story too heavily on mythical details youve studied
from others. Add your own spins on different
mythological aspects to make the story more
unique and original. Rick Riordan created his Percy
Jackson and the Olympians series based entirely on
Greek Mythology but added modern day spins to it.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a

nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms
and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole

Grover ran for the Camaro- but he wasnt running

exactly. He was trotting, shaking his shaggy
hindquarters, and suddenly his story about a

Styles of Fantasy Work

Full Fantasy

with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a

hobbit hole, and that means comfort.(The Hobbit,
Tolkien, J.R.R.; pg.1, par 1)

Historic Fantasy

This style of writing involves creating a fantasy story

that is based on real life historic events. This story
can involve magical time traveling, fantasy events
playing out during a historic event, or even a historic
event being rewritten due to a fantasy cause. In this
style of writing research and imagination are key to
creating a good story. Make sure you get all of your
facts straight before attempting this style. A good
example would be Chris Heimerdingers Tennis Shoes
among the Nephites series. His books are based on
historic details found throughout Christian religion,
particularly from LDS sources. Though a lot of fantasy
and speculation were involved in these books, a great
deal of real research went into these books as well.
This series can also be interpreted as Religious
Fantasy.

Had he known why our tongues were tied, hed have

been the quiet one. My body became an icicle when
he used the word Nephite. The old man was
sincerely convinced he was one, and proud of it.

Of course there are, Jace informed her. Although

you mostly find zombies father south, where the
voudun priests are.
What about mummies? Do they only hang around
Egypt?
Dont be ridiculous. No one believes in mummies.
(City of Bones, Clare, Cassandra; pg.44 par 1-6)

There are also many, many other types of fantasy

styles you can try: Romance Fantasy: ex. The Twilight
Saga, Sci-fi Fantasy; ex. Timeline, Animal Fantasy: ex.
Redwall, Childrens Fantasy: ex. Dr. Sues books, and
so on. There are even styles that have yet to be
made, theyre just waiting for you to create them.
Remember all you need is base in reality, strong

muscular disorder in his legs made sense to me. I

understood how he could run so fast and still limp
when he walked.
Because where his feet should be, there were no
feet. There were cloven hooves. (The Lighting Thief,
Riordan, Rick; pg.43 par 4-5)

Modern Fantasy
With modern fantasy this style of writing can be
really fun, melding fantasy elements into your
modern day life. Be creative in how you combine
these two aspects; you can make the world
completely unware that magic exists in our modern
world, or the world knows of it and lives alongside
with it, or even mix of the two. Use experiences and
sights you deal with daily and add a fantasy flare to
it, make the world take a double look at the world
around them. Cassandra Clare presents this style in
her books The Mortal Instruments, which reveals
how close to magic our modern world is.
Downworlders?
The Night Children. Warlocks. The fey. The
magical folk of this dimension.
Clare shook her head. Dont stop there. I suppose
there are also, what, vampires and werewolves and
zombies?

characters, and, most importantly, your imagination.

Go on and try your hand at writing fantasy. A good

way to start is to brain storm some ideas, find the
fantasy style, plot, characters, and events you want
to use. Write out the sequences of events and goals
for your story, fill in the details as you go. Before you
know it you have a great fantasy story to share with
the world! So get imagining! Good Luck!