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Posts tagged ‘fantasy’

Feb 1

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How to write the dreaded synopsis

Writing a one-page synopsis for my fantasy novel has been more challenging than writing the synopsis for my memoir. Some of the questions I’ve had include how much of my fantasy world do I describe? How much of the plot should I cover? Should I include any of my protagonist’s subplots?

Maybe you’re facing this challenge too. I found helpful posts from other fantasy authors to share:

How to Write a Fantasy Trilogy Synopsis by Glenda Larke helped me realize that my fantastical bits weren’t going to make much sense in a quick summary, so I decided to focus more on characters and less on world-building. Read more

Nov 23

Author Salman Rushdie tells how to create realistic fantasy

Salman Rushdie said he always wanted to write a book with a flying carpet in it, and he finally did. He says the way to make a fantastical idea seem real and believable is to ask questions about the nature of the idea and relay the truth of it to your reader.

The 3-minute video below shows the process he goes through to make any idea believable:

Sep 27

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Publishing opportunity for science fiction and fantasy (and you don’t have to have an agent)

If you’ve finished a fantasy or science fiction novel but don’t have an agent, you’re in luck.

Harper Voyager, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, is accepting unsolicited submissions to find new authors with fresh voices, strong storytelling abilities, original ideas, and compelling storylines.

Harper Voyager is accepting manuscripts for a two week period: Oct. 1 – 14, 2012.

Harper Voyager is looking for full-length manuscripts only. A full-length manuscript should be more than 70,000 words, and ideally 80,000–120,000 words. Read more

Jun 7

In memory: Tips for writers from Ray Bradbury

Today, we honor the memory of Ray Bradbury, famed writer of science fiction, fantasy, and mystery stories and novels, who made such a difference as a writer and a person. He died June 5 at age 91.

While Bradbury was generally labeled a science fiction writer, he resisted it saying:

“First of all, I don’t write science fiction. I’ve only done one science fiction book and that’s Fahrenheit 451: A Novel, based on reality. It was named so to represent the temperature at which paper ignites. Science fiction is a depiction of the real. Fantasy is a depiction of the unreal. So The Martian Chronicles is not science fiction, it’s fantasy. It couldn’t happen, you see? That’s the reason it’s going to be around a long time — because it’s a Greek myth, and myths have staying power.” Read more