  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: Colin Back on the Ghost Roads  
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This newsletter is for everyone who enjoys the magic and mystery of a good Fantasy, be it Tolkien, Jordan, Rowling, or a host of others. I will also be attempting to give some time to other types of fantasy, as written by the likes of Asimov, Wilson, Clarke and a galaxy of talent.
I hope to present some information that will be useful to other fantasy authors on site, and entertaining to all our subscribers.
So, let the wonder and glory of all that is fantasy engulf you.
The Fantasy Editors:
Colin Back on the Ghost Roads
billwilcox
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Low Magic, or, Not All Wizards Can Destroy an Army With a Wave of Their Hands
Most Fantasy stories have magic of one sort or another. In fact, magic is essentially the defining factor of a fantasy story. We have archetypes such as Gandalf from the "Lord of the Rings", Terry Brooks' Allanon and the Knight of the Word, Jordan's Eyes Sedai and even Shmendrick the Magnificent from "The Last Unicorn".
These wizards all have one thing in common. Their magic has the power to reshape the world. They are major movers and shakers in the magical world. Even Schmendrick, who has a very limited control over the forces he toys with, is a major force in the story he appears in. Most fantasy novels and even many fantasy short stories have wizards like that. But is that the limit to magic? In some fantasy worlds, yes it is. Wizards must work long and hard to earn their powers and so they are all mighty folk with the power to alter destiny. But in many fantasy worlds, magic is more common than that. While they still have movers and shakers, some magicians are not capable of bending reality to their wills to shatter nations and destroy armies. It is these sorts of wizards and the uses they may be put to that I intend to discuss today.
The village wise woman, the mad hedge wizard, the recluse hermit who has learned a bit of the old ways, the shaman who can read fortunes and heal simple injuries and many others all have places in fantasy stories. However, they must be set up in a different manner than the great wizards who can alter the flow of the world. They are not the ones who go in guns blazing to save the world. They must be more subtle to be effective. They also must work under slightly different rules and means to survive. So, how can an author make sensible use of such mystical weaklings without breaking the believability of the story?
Well, first off, magicians must have limits. In Lord of the Rings, when Gandalf was captured, he could not escape using his vast powers. For those of you who haven't read the books, just skip down to the next paragraph, since this deals with something that happened in the books and not the movies. When Gandalf is trapped in Saruman's tower, he must rely on the help of Rhadaghast the Brown. Rhadaghast seems to be a much weaker wizard than Gandalf, but he does have the power to commune with the natural world, something Gandaf does not demonstrate, so only he can send the aid that Gandalf needs to escape. This is a perfect setup for making good use of a lower wizard. If the big guns lack a certain skill, maybe one of the little guns will have it, since it is useful in the work they do that the big guns don't.
One particularly handy skill is divination. Since it doesn't allow you to blow up legions of beasts from the nether worlds, Mighty wizards often don't specialize in it. Oracles and diviners, while not as impressive or potent in the field as fireball hurling wizards can play a major role in a story when it's time to gather information. Though they won't be of use in the actual battle to save the world or whatever, they can be of enormous use in finding out how to win said battle.
Another way to use low magic is to start out your story with the assumption that said magic is all there is. Stories where wizards don't have the ability to crush all before them can be among the most entertaining. Even if big guns live in the fantasy world, there is no particular need for the characters to ever come across one. If magic in the story is limited from the start there is no need to place artificial limits on it later when you want to explain why the wizard of the story couldn't do something.
A third means of using weaker magicians is making the chief villain's plan disruptable only by use of some esoteric magic that only a weaker magician knows. In a fantasy world, sometimes knowledge is power in a very literal sense. If only the Hermit Wizard of The Mountain of Sharlok has learned the spell that can undo the powers of the Amulet of Zhadoon worn by the evil Necormancer, and thus annihilate his undead armies, then the heroes are just going to have to find this hermit, and protect him until he can break the amulet's powers. This is similar to the first method, but puts the lesser wizard more in harm's way, which is always entertaining.
One final, and extremely useful, way to integrate lesser wizards into your story is as window dressing. Village wise women who can cure the mildly sick, hedge wizards who can cast basic spells, good witches who can brew potions for a variety of every day uses can all add flavor to a fantasy world.
So there you have it. It's not necessary for every wizard to decimate continents just to appear in a fantasy story. So go forth and use wizards of lesser power my minions, then my plans will...um I mean add some lesser wizards into your stories and they will be more interesting. Yeah, that's it. |
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From: jessdavin
There are tons of fantasies that are able to use familiar flora and fauna because they take place in the "real" world, just a more fanciful version. I prefer these to the fantasies that invent a new world. Don't get me wrong, sometimes these are well done and successfully transport me to another place, but most of them make me feel like I'm studying for a geography test. I don't need to know every detail about the strange blue grass that only grows on the inverted mountains of Wisabrok. Just get back to the story, y'know?
Agreed. Only provide information that is actually useful. "Batman Begins" handled that wonderfully. "There is a blue flower that only grows on this mountain. Find one and bring it to me." There was no need to go into to more detail than this.
Frankly, there is generally little need to create an entirely new ecosystem for a fantasy world. Fantasy stories have had wolves and bears for a long time, and can handle having them for a lot longer. If you are going to present a new species of plant or animal only give as much description as is necessary to the story.
From: Louve
Great article on settings, and very pratical - not only for fantasy genre. It is easy to get lost in your inner world and spend hours describing the cute rodent-dragon your fae just met, when it doesn't advance things. The rule of three seems a nice way not to be too dry, but not to lose oneself either. Keep up the good advices.
Again, that is probably the best advice about descriptions, keep it to what is important to the story. Not sure why it takes me several paragraphs to say that, but there it is. Glad you like it, and I will always try to keep good advice and content coming.
From: scribbler
*sigh* everytime a newsletter adresses description I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I love description possibly more than the average writer but I also feel everyone should include it especially in fantasy because it helps distance your world from our own. This makes taking the trip into a fastasy novel that much more wonderful and adventurous. I agree that you must not go overboard though, I have read stories where whole pages were dedicated to describing a creature, though facinatimg, that was not inportant and never again made an apperance in the storie. Thanks again.
In some fantasy stories it is important to create strange creatures not of this world. However, if you don't want your book approaching the 1000 page mark, it's generally best to limit them somehow. Again, keep it to what is important to the story is good advice. (I'm starting to sense a trend here.)
From: dusktildawn
Another very informative Newsletter, Colin. As fantasy is my preferred writing genre, I eagerly look forward to each and every one. This was a great help. Describing scenery can be difficult - you have to give just enough information to make it real, but leave enough to the reader's imagination as well. Thank you much!
That's the key idea behind the Rule of Three. Three sensory impressions are usually enough information for all readers to fill in the blanks. They may not all fill them in the same way, but they will fill them in well enough to get a clear picture so they can understand the setting, which is the important thing. Glad you're finding the newsletters useful.
From: FantasyTeen
Thanks for the ideas about scenery. I have such trouble sometimes describing mine, probably because I don't want to just say. this is a forest, this is a desert, maybe I just need to stop staring at the computer and get out in nature more........
It is true that writing what you know is a good idea. Of course you don't have to go to the Everglades to find out what a forest is, or climb McKinley to find out what a mountain is like. It can often be helpful when writing about an unfamiliar terrain type to read travel books about similar places, and to talk to people who have been to similar places.
From: Maimai J Saves for Upgrade
Thanks for the tips in scenery description. I'm just starting to write in the fantasy genre so this would realy help me
Glad to help and always glad to have another author wanting to try out the genre.
From: Rolph Darren
This is a great newsletter, and the first I have read. Wish I had read it sooner hehe. I found your scenery description article very helpful, in fact I have just started to use the "tri factor" technique in scenery description for my current 'novel in progress' hehe. I have also started to go back through past chapters and implement it there also. Once again thanks and look forward to the next newsletter.
The Rule of Three applies to just about all areas of description, but places most of all. Glad you're finding it useful.
From: Masterful Chubbs
Dear writer,
I have read your "Letter from the Editor" part. I clearly understand your 2 "schools of thought".
I am having a hard time with, not only the description of new places, animals and flowers, but the names of these as well. I hope you could give me some tips or pointers.
Hope to hear from you. Nice News Letter. Bye!
C-zar
Names can be tough. One way to handle them is figure out what sort of culture the place you are finding names for is, and then look up some authentic names from that region of the real world. Replace a few letters here and there, and you've got a set of names that sound like the are from the same language. (Pet peeve of mine.) You can also do some net searching and find some decent translation programs to find names from other languages for the stuff you are naming. Hope those two are of use to you.
(BTW, there is no need to hope to hear back from me. I'm compulsive that way, I always try to answer all the letters I get from readers.)
From: Shaara 
I loved the rule of three. I wrote that down, and it's now hanging on my desk cabinet -- at eye level. By the time the sticky wears off, it should have become part of me. (If not, I'll write it again!) Anyway, thanks for that neat aide.
My pleasure. It's something that came out of a correspondence writing class I took. I like to share advice that has helped me.
Well, that about wraps things up for this month. See you all again real soon. |
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Fantasy: February 01, 2006 Issue [#855]
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