4 outside of the Box Tips for Writing a Fantasy Novel

If you are an avid reader of fantasy books it would be understandable that you would want to write a fantasy novel of your own. And why not? Fantasy novels are a blast to write. Through your fantasy novel, you can take your readers on incredible adventures and transport them to fantastical worlds of your own creation. 

But as great as this all sounds, writing a fantasy novel is not all fun and games. If you look around the literary landscape, there are a multitude of new fantasy books that come out of the woodwork on a daily basis. And if you want to make your fantasy novel stand out, you will need to write a novel that is truly unique and out of this world. 

So before you set out on your writing journey, you should have a plan. 

Here are 4 outside of the box tips for writing a fantasy novel:

  • Know your target market

Before you start writing your fantasy novel, you should really know your target market first. If there’s one thing you should know about the fantasy genre, it is that there are multiple types of fantasy. 

There’s High fantasy, Magical realism, Low Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tales etc. And if you want to make your writing as focused and effective as possible, you will need to know your target market. 

That way, once you do start the writing process you won’t have to ponder what demographic you should pattern your writing style for.

  • Write a unique set of characters

When it comes to writing a fantasy novel, your cast of characters are key. This is because your readers will see the story unfold through your character’s eyes. 

They may also see themselves in your set of characters. So make sure that your cast of characters are truly unique. 

Stay away from used up tropes and clichés. Take the time to come up with a truly great set of characters. 

Who knows? Maybe your characters could be the cornerstone of the next great fantasy series.

  • Base certain events in your book after real life historic events

It is always a good idea to base the events and concepts of book after historic events. For example, you are writing about a dynastic war within a crumbling civilization. 

Then you can base this entire scenario after the dynastic wars of ancient China. You could also base the crumbling civilization after the decline of ancient Rome. 

By giving your stories a historic aspect, you will be able to make your writing a lot more nuanced and layered.

  • Try your hand at world building

As it was stated earlier, one of the best things about writing fantasy is that you could create entire worlds by just using your imagination. But you should remember that most of your potential readers have read numerous fantasy novels before. 

And they would most likely have read about various fantasy worlds in their time. So they would know practically every kind of fantasy world out there. 

Post-apocalyptic world? Been there, done that. Underwater Kingdom? Seen it. Dwarf mountain kingdom? Very popular trope. 

Overall if you are going to create a world for your characters to inhabit, you should try to make it as unique and otherworldly as possible.


fantasy novel writing tips infographics

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