Good Fantasy Books: Setting the Scene
Last week, I talked about the basic concepts I use to create detailed characters. Making well-rounded and believable characters is the number one part of writing good fantasy books. After setting up the main characters, the next step is to make sure that the setting is believable. Keeping that in mind, this week let’s look at what it takes to really set the scene.
Start With What You Know
On a micro level, the first place to start with scenery is with what you already know. Though I am a big fan of reading, there is a difference between reading about a destination and actually going there. In fact, I’d say there is a big difference between seeing pictures or video of a location and actually going there.
For me, this makes it very easy to write about life in the forest. I have spent a considerable amount of time hiking and primitive camping. I have seen some beautiful forests, trudged through some not-so-pleasant swamps, and hiked through some hills in the mountains. All of them help to form the foundation of Erathal forest in my books.
Where Experience Ends, Creativity Begins
Of course, writing fantasy requires something more than you can find in the real world. After all, magic simply does not exist in real life and developing cities and villages takes some amount of creativity. This is when you start drawing from other settings to help complete the scene and to mix it up. For example, creating the kingdom of Erathal drew upon not only my outdoors experience but also my historical interest. This meant pulling in aspects of homes and forts built centuries ago. From there, I used my creativity to meld these homes into a forest setting and give them a bit of a creative twist.
Finally, remember to mind the details. Everything you write about is taken in some sense from your own experience so don’t let your creativity make your places unbelievable. The worst thing you can do when describing a home or landscape is to mix up details and potentially alienate readers. Though you don’t necessarily need the level of detail I put into my scenes, measurements are one way this really comes out. Whenever I describe how large some land feature or building is, I always check the dimensions and do my research.
One of the definite features that separates good fantasy books from great fantasy books is the setting. Make sure yours is believable, and don’t be afraid of your own creativity.
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Hailed as the J.R.R. Tolkien of the 21st century, Joseph Macolino is the author of the Evorath series, providing good fantasy books to those looking for heart-pounding action in a magical world.
