Fantasy

Most of the other genres already have one, so we should have one too!

Have your characters go on a huge quest for a magical object
BP the quest is a sub plot, not the main plot
TBP if the object turns out to be useless because all it does is make cheese
QBP it it is actually useful because it makes cheese
Cookies if the object really helps save the day by making cheese

So that we don't clutter up the forum with dozens of writing buddy requests, here's a single, consolidated thread to post your requests!

Fantasy is such a far-reaching label that it simply can't cover all the possibilities. Here you'll find a comprehensive listing of those who aren't writing just fantasy!

NOUN: A subcategory within a particular genre: The academic mystery is a subgenre of the mystery novel.

To have your subgenre thread added to this list, please send me an email with a LINK to the thread, and which main genre it is for (there is more than one thread like this.). Requests that do not include a link will not be added.

• Arthurian Fantasy
• Contemporary Fantasy
• Fantasy Mystery/Thriller/Spy-fi
• Historical Fantasy
• Urban Fantasy
• Steampunk
• Sword and Planet
• Sword and Sorcery
• Young Adult Fantasy
• The New Weird

So, you're writing along, making good progress and then a new character enters a scene. He goes to introduce himself and you write "The stranger said, 'My name is..'." THUD! Brick Wall!

Then you waste 20 minutes trying to come up with a name, and finally just pick one and go on. Then the next scene another new person enters and THUD! Gotta come up with another name...

I have a fairly complete outline, and my main characters all have names, but I'm up to chapter 3 and have hit this problem a few times with minor characters already, so I started trying something different. Now, when someone enters the bar and introduces himself to the main character, he says "My name is EVILBEARDGUY" because he looks kind of evil, and has a beard :)

Then later during editing, words all in caps stand out and I can come up with a proper name then. Anyone else have a trick for overcoming this problem?

Hi everyone!

Ok, this is my first year trying Nanowrimo, and my first day too (mainly because I discovered it a few hours ago). Hope i'll get it done, wish me luck!

Anyway, this was my question. I've had a story (nearly fantasy, but not quite) playing in my head for months now, and i'm willing to gie it a shot. Thing is, my protagonist (well, the main one anyway) is neither good nor evil. He discovered the art of forging metal weapons in a civilisation of roughly stone age tech, and although he is going to have a very important part to play in the world because of it, he doesn't really has an ideal to fight for. He'll use what he knows to become chief amongst his tribe, mainly for revenge, but he is truly caring for most of the persons surrounding him. He has no idea of good or evil beside the need for survival, and most of the opponents he will have to face are the same way.

I wanted to know if anyone else has ever tried a fantasy without good or evil character? How does it work out? Isn't it hard to get immersed in the story of someone who never even really thinks about these distinctions?

For now, I'm calling my book a fantasy genre book. It's set on this planet, Earth, in Lexington, MA...but it's about vampires. Not Twilight vampires, though. Vampires like the ones you might learn about on places like www.drinkdeeplyanddream.com and www.sanguinarius.org

It was originally going to be geared to a YA audience, but it's now too mature for that. So, fantasy genre? Or just mainstream fiction?

okay--
basic premise-- there's a council of 9 different goddesses who basically keep time moving and the human world spinning. goddesses are formerly human, nominated, pass an initiation process, choose their archetype (the goddess they want to be for all of eternity) and join the council. they serve as long as they want to, but can retire if they decide they don't want to do the work or be immortal anymore. the council has a problem now-- one goddess has officially submitted her retirement (can't be revoked) but another one has run off w/o submitting her retirement, just dissappeared (haven't decided if there's going to be foul play involved or if she's just having a temper tamtrum yet)

HOWEVER-
the rules of the council state that:
-at no time may there be any more than one vacant seat on the council
-any retiring goddess must be replaced within no more than 2 full moon council sessions from when she steps down
so by the next full moon council, they either have to have found the missing goddess or replaced the retired goddess (at a minimum)

SO... here's where I need help. if they don't do one of those two things, what terrible consequence will occur? the end of the world just sounds lame, so i need either a different way to phrase that or a better consequence. thoughts? random suggestions?

Okay, so.

In writting this story, I'm only gradually revealing what is occuring. From the beggining of chapter one, its been obvious that the main protagonists are all part of some group fighting against something or someone -now, towards the end of chapter two, I've just revealed a lot more about that something and someone and just who this group is. Thing is, Icannot for the life of me think of a name for this resistance group.

So is anyone willing to toss a few ideas at me?

So my story is in large part meant to be an "epic quest" of a girl crossing a desert planet, looking for her mother. I am making good progress towards the end of the second chapter, where my character will have exhausted all her options for finding her mother in her home city. I have an outline, and that's where it stops!

The problem is, while I've given her a lot of clues to where she should go (including a lot of synchronicity about the name of the place where she should go, which is on the other side of the desert), I can't figure out why she shouldn't just stay around in the place she's familiar with and hope the constables can find her mother - especially since crossing the desert is such a dangerous proposition.

I feel like there should be some sort of catalyzing event which makes her really *need* to leave - a disaster, an accident, something. Problem is, I have no idea what that could be. I toyed with the idea of her house burning down, but she lives in a concrete apartment complex :( (Not a lot of burnable wood on a desert planet).

Any ideas for dramatic events that would push my MC to action?

I'm sort of writing a parody of the typical "prophesied chosen one joins the rebels and overthrows the evil empire and lives happily ever after" fantasy. The plan is to split the novel into three books, with each part having a descriptive sub-title that reads more like a short generic synopsis. Unfortunately, I've not read sufficient amounts of bad deriviative fantasy to be able to come up with them.

I'm toying with book one being titled "The Heroine's Horrible Relatives/Adoptive Parents and How she Proves she Really is Really, Really Special".

Book three's potential title is "The Heroine Murders the Lawful Ruler and is Given her Just Reward" or possibly "The Heroine gets Crowned, gets the Girl, and Lives Happily Ever After".

I've no idea how to condense the stereotypical book two of a fantasy trilogy. I'm toying with "The Heroine Discovers her Secretly Still Alive Mother", but I'm not sure whether the discovering unknown family is a bad fantasy sub-plot, or in Star Wars and therefore in Eragon, and therefore a sub-plot in a bad fantasy.

As I'm (again, sort of) taking a wrecking ball to the entire three book stereotypical fantasy plot, the titles don't need to bear any relevance to the story (the potential title to book two, if it survives, will be appearing crossed out).

So... anyone got some better potential titles, especially for book two?