The Pirate’s Guide to Writing Fantasy

Remember the scene in Pirates of the Caribbean when Captain Barbossa explains the pirate’s code? “The code is more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.” Writing fantasy is a bit like the pirate’s code. There aren’t any rules, exactly, which is what makes it so fun to write. You can allow your imagination free rein.

But there is one “must have”: strong world-building. And world-building is one of those things that can easily get out of hand.

Guidelines For Avoiding Mayhem

Mayhem may include confusion, infodumping, logic issues, and cliches—all of which impact reader immersion. Here are some ways to keep your fantasy world under control:

Know your world, but don’t overshare: Fantasy writers spend a lot of time on world-building details to make their setting feel authentic. But then they often feel compelled to work all those details into the story, which can lead to info-dumping. Make peace with this truth: you will do more research and world-building than you can realistically fit into your novel. But rest assured, your hard work will pay off: more of it will seep into the setting than you realize. On a similar note…

Keep your readers on a need-to-know basis: Don’t overwhelm us with information. If we don’t need to know something at that moment (or ever), set it aside.

Think carefully before you include a prologue: Prologues are often comprised of a scene relating to the middle of the book that lacks any context. While you might intend yours as an amuse bouche to intrigue us, that lack of context will likely create confusion. But don’t err on the side of info-dumping by including all the things you think we need to know before we can start reading. In fact, we don’t need to know much. Instead…

Throw us into the world but use landmarks so that we’re not lost: Ease us in by including a few familiar things: a horse in the pasture, some daisies in a vase—something we know how to visualize. How you decide to name things becomes a big factor in this process. So…

Name things in such a way that we don’t need a glossary to understand them: If you look at the opening of A Game of Thrones, you’ll notice George R. R. Martin throws us into the story without any preamble, but he calls things by names that have clear meanings: the Wall, the Night’s Watch, the wilding raiders. We don’t need any explanation. We get it.

Too much terminology gets confusing: This includes long words that are capitalized for no reason and have apostrophes in the middle, and unnecessarily weird creatures with unnecessarily weird names. If it has four legs and a tail and it barks, call it a dog.

Play by the rules you’ve made: You can’t suddenly change them just because you’ve put your protagonist in a tight spot.

Remember, there is a world AND there is a story: The world should not be the story. No matter how cool it might be, your world is still just a backdrop for the main event: the characters, what they want, and what’s at stake if they don’t get it.

Honor the rules of logic and cohesion: Again, A Game of Thrones is instructive here. Every region in Martin’s vast world has its own customs and beliefs, its own clothing and food and weaponry. Each choice makes sense according to the climate and geography. Your little microcosm doesn’t have to be based on a real place, but it does have to feel authentic—which means it must make sense.

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Keep your magic rules simple: If we need a flow chart to follow it, you’ll lose us. But also remember, magic must come with a cost. If there are no limits, the stakes will be too low, because anyone with magical skill will be able to spell themselves out of a tight spot.

Remember your protagonist’s internal conflict: It’s easy for externals to take over when writing fantasy, but we won’t care about what’s happening or where it’s happening, if we don’t care about who it’s happening to. Our connection as readers is to the protagonist. If you want us to follow them on their quest to achieve a narrative goal, the stakes should be personal. Give us a flawed protagonist who must transform themselves internally in order to succeed.

And speaking of conflict, embrace the grey areas in life: People aren’t generally evil for the sake of being evil, nor do they seek to rule the world just so they can ruin it. On the other hand, no one is one hundred percent good. Nuance is key. Oversimplification of people and situations creates stereotypes and predictable plot turns.

Oh, those tropes: While fantasy readers are looking for an ordinary and unlikely protagonist to rise to the position of hero/heroine, there are lots of ways to make this happen without them having to be orphans or chosen ones or discovering a prophecy that involves them. That’s not to say these things can’t work. They can—but try to make your story unique.

Oh, those characters that sound like someone from Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings: The wise mentor who sound like Gandalf or Dumbledore, the dark lord who resemble Sauron or Voldemort, the dwarves with long beards. Etc. While some of these characters are archetypical, you’ll want to avoid anything that feels derivative.

If you’re aiming to publish traditionally, make sure your first book can stand alone: The market is tough these days and multi-book deals for first-time authors are rare.

In conclusion

Writing fantasy gives you an opportunity to do something completely new and different. Is this a tall order? Yes. But that’s what makes it so fun. Even better if you can create a world that tells us something important about ourselves (like Lord of the Rings did with the corrupting nature of power, the strength of fellowship, and the surprising influence of ordinary individuals to make a difference).

That’s the true power of fantasy. By providing readers with an alternate world, you help us see our own with new eyes. And by adhering to the pirate’s code, you can do so without falling prey to the pitfalls that abound in this genre.

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