Fantasy Writing - Blog Posts
Writeblr Introduction
Dotted in secret stars and whispered moons lies The Warden O' Wyrd; too bright smiles and sharp eyes linger on her skin, miasma orbiting their visage. When dusk's hands sweep fluttering eyes closed her shackles, in turn, loosen.
Greetings and welcome all, I am Wardenwyrd - connoisseur of messy queers, the freaky & occult, and all things speculative fiction! I am freshly new to Writeblr and am keen to dig my claws so fellow denizens of Writeblr interact if you enjoy my vibes < 3
Open to ask and tag games !
◈What I write ◈
Anything and absolutely everything speculative, weird horror, all shapes and forms of queerness, and a metric ton of worldbuilding.
Genres: Fantasy (Low, high, dark, fairy tale-esque, etc), Sci-Fi, Paranormal, Romance, Horror, Mystery
Fantastical, often ethereal and treacherous worlds flavoured with flowery prose
Queer, neurodivergent, and disabled characters and themes. All kinds of diversity really. Always looking to broaden and grow my noggin' with wisdom
Gender queer characters. An UNBELIEVABLE amount of dyed hair and pronounces.
Body horror: elegant body horror; gross, grimy body horror; wonderfully queer body horror 'til I burst at the seams; all sorts. Twisting of the body into something other than human as a form of beauty my beloved < 3 < 3
Characters who desperately need therapy (That would be my fault)
Rich settings and worlds. Give me intricate magic systems !!! give me ecology that could be shown in a nature documentary !!!
🌔About Me 🌒
Goblin in my (late) teens. I've been writing for a whiiiile but started really getting into it about half a decade ago. I will ravenously consume all forms of creative media.
⭐Likes ⭐
Favourite colour: Purple my beloved Favourite band: Mili (I'm so normal about them) Favourite genre/s: Gothic lit, Fantasy, Horror romance, whimsical fairies Fav insect: Moths/Butterflies
Stats:
Creative writing college student
Panromantic Ace | Queering my gender to the max
English (Regrettably)
Autism kreachure
Revolving door of hyperfixations on science-y stuff
Purple hair (Not beating the stereotype allegations)
WIPs
[Note: I am very bad at deciding on WIP names]
Prisma
My surreal fantasy WIP comprised of a collection of different stories linked by a unifying setting.
Colour-Coded to the max. Each central story focuses on a character assigned a colour, differing in tone, POV, and focus. Main three are purple, blue, and red.
Literal becomes figurative, and figurative literal
Charms and incantations of old swirl in from afar, weaving our hands together with something much deeper than flesh – a curious sentiment oozing from the recesses of Damsel’s cloak as the feeling of moss and stone wove through my veins; cold and refreshing.
◉
‘What absurdity’, The Arbiter would think to himself. After all, those carmine red eyes of his delve into the primaeval madness: in their muddy depths lies the shivering madness - Fear. From fear is the knowledge wrenched from uncertainty and bloodshot eyes. Dread is the light; tugging on world-weary watchers.
Sort of portal fantasy, sort of not. The stories in this WIP span across many eras and places, yet often find themselves connecting and mingling. Incredibly queer.
Main characters:
MC of Red, Jack Pronouns: He/Him Bnuuy ass trans Victorian boy. Pasty and WILL combust in the sun. Autism creature. He gets a himbo bf and sick asf t-surgery scars as a treat < 3 Character Playlist
MC of Blue, Hel Pronouns: Any/All seemingly innocent girl but remove the innocent and girl part. Kind of an eldritch horror after a character arc but like, that's the good ending. So old surnames weren't a thing in the era they're from. Character Playlist
MC of Purple, Dorothea Pronouns: She/They Gatekeep, Gaslight, Girlboss. Autistic adhd precocious mess who WILL make it your problem. Genuinely manipulative but has great hair so it's fine. Character Playlist
Other notable mentions
[Note: I will elaborate on all of these later]
Witch WIP
My beloved blorbos < 3 Once I figure out how to frame and present it in a more refined way I like I shall be posting about this.
Personal & Cultural struggle within a fantasy context | Disability & Identity as a main theme | Aroace protagonist and Queerplatonic relationship | Magic inspired by folklore and myth | Found family
Low Fantasy setting in a somewhat alternate earth
Sprawling magic system
Conventional fantasy groups but with a spin: revamping those vibes
Witches aren't just funny flying women but genuinely inhuman creatures with spicy shit going on
Demons and angels but: demon is the colloquial term for a class of magical beasts characterised by dense essence, not like hell demons. Angels are living algorithms born from patterns and don't have an actual association to any gods.
MC Playlists:
Branwen | Ingram
Five Steps From Hell
Biblically Accurate Angelic-Flavoured paranormal apocalypse
Autistic MC
More horror oriented than action
Lots of vibes.
MC becoming something not very human, but they're more worried that they aren't worried too much about it
I've got some dastardly plans for this one. Vibes and atmosphere whilst the world falls apart and neurodivergence is a great combo.
✂️Snippet #1
This is an unedited old draft for chapter one I had, but I’m not using it anymore so I might as well post it here :)
Magnus drew the string back, arrow pointed at the back of the beast’s neck. It lurked around, scanning the forest for any sign of life. It didn’t look up though, where Magnus was perched in the branches, waiting for the right moment to strike. It has to be a killing shot, the lessons of his grandmother rushed back. Many late evenings spent training in the yard behind their house, drilling lesson after lesson into him. It was lucky for him that she was so strict.
He released the arrow, the silver tip glinting in the sunlight through the leaves. It pierced the monster’s flesh, lodging itself deep enough in its neck to hit a pressure point. There was no scream or howl from the thing, only the whistle as the arrow whizzed toward its prey, and a low whine as the beast realized it was going to die.
Magnus jumped down from the tree. The killing always happened so fast, one slash of a sword or the whir of an arrow racing through the air. He watched as his prey flopped over, the grass underneath it wilting and turning a dull brown color. It was as if the life was sucked out of the earth where the monster stood.
“Be lucky you can’t be used for food.” He muttered. It made a low growl, like a threat, but the sound was more pathetic than threatening. He gripped the arrow, ripping it from the beast’s neck. Unlike an animal, the monster died fast, its body crumbling to ash.
Magnus quickly bent down, gathering a pinch of the ash before the wind blew it away. He put it into a small vile and stored it away in his pocket before leaving
THEPROCRASTINATINGNOVEL -- A Writerblr intro
This blog used to be something else, but I recently deleted everything and turned it into my writerblr! So, yayyy!
« About Me »
Howdy! I'm Alex, I am 18 years old, and I've been writing since I was 10. I started this Writerblr to track my progress to hopefully motivate myself to actually finish one of my many, many wips.
I mostly write fantasy, but I'd like to try writing a wide range of genres. I used to read a LOT. I still read, but I'm getting myself back into the habit of reading more.
Bi, She/They. I’m a Leo and INTP. Im a very shut in person and don’t get the chance to leave my house very often.
Interests;
🌵 Anime & Manga
🌵 Video games
🌵 Reading & Writing ofc
🌵 Pedro Pascal ♡
« Writerblr Stuff »
I have a bad habit of spending hours daydreaming about my wips and obsessing over details and planning, and by the time I have the motivation to write, no words come to mind. It is very frustrating, but I can sometimes combat this by switching from typing to writing on paper to force the words out.
♡*ﾟMy current wip is an unnamed novel series that I have been planning for a year and a half. The first draft is being written right now, so a lot is still up in the air. So far, it's a collection of snippets over various docs, notion pages, and journals that I'm wrangling into a book. It has magic, gods, and a super hot witch-warrior who goes by Percival. Also my son, Alden. We love Alden.
I plan to post weekly writing updates, showcasing progress or where I'm currently at. These updates should come every Saturday at the end of each week, if you wish to follow my journey :)
✩ POV: 3rd person Omniscient is my usual writing style for any wip
« Goals »
➸ To have the first draft of my wip completed by the end of the year. If not, I wish to at least have a good chunk of it done. Hopefully life doesn't get in the way too much
➸ To meet and make friends with other writerblr's. Don't be afraid to come talk to me!!
── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.───
ʚ Message me or go to my inbox to be friends or just to talk to me :D ɞ
This is all really useful
How to Kick Ass at Worldbuilding
Worldbuilding. You either love it and spend all your time dreaming up rules rather than writing, or you hate it and try your best to avoid it despite writing fantasy or scifi.
Or you are in the middle, which is where you should be. You have a healthy appreciation for what makes worldbuilding so special, but you also don't obsess over it.
Worldbuilding does not need to be complicated to be effective, as I've harped on a few different times now. So how do you strike the right balance? Let's take a look.
As always, this is just my opinion based on my own efforts creating The Eirenic Verses. You can disagree and that is fine. However, I hope you'll consider thinking about what I offer here as you craft your own world.
A lot of what people focus on when worldbuilding is not what the audience cares about.
Very few people like to read a book littered with random terms they have to keep track of. We want to build a unique world, but we also don't want to throw such an extreme amount of lore at our readers that they tune out.
When worldbuilding, we want to consider the cognitive load on our audience. This is how much information the reader needs to remember throughout your story so that they can follow along.
Cognitive load includes things like:
Character names and appearances
Relationships between characters
Place names, such as cities and countries
Unique mythological creature or fauna
Backstory, including mythology and folklore
Language names
The general plot (who is the protag, who is the enemy, etc)
Magic usage (who has the power, how they acquire it, any conditions it comes with, etc)
Power dynamics between characters, countries, and so on
Political systems, if included
Even in the most barebones fantasy story, this is a lot to remember. As such, we need to consider what is most important for our readers to generally understand the plot and emphasize this, letting the rest serve as background information that is not quite as essential. The more emphasis we put on something, the more we direct a reader's attention.
At the same time, we want to create a world that feels lived-in and interesting so that readers want to know more. How do we do this?
Consider what you think about foreign countries in our world.
Most of us will have a general concept of a country but only will think about the specifics if it is currently relevant.
Let's take Japan for an example. (I'm a bit of a weeabo, okay?) Here is what I personally think about when I imagine Japan, in order of what I consider important.
Japanese cuisine (sushi, ramen, ochazuke, sake, lots of rice dishes, seafood)
What the people are like according to my own stereotypes/cultural perceptions (polite, quiet, respectful, hardworking, punctual)
Climate and geography (temperate, island country, volcanos, mountains, beaches)
Unique flora and fauna (cherry blossoms, flowers, Nara deer, giant salamanders, pretty birds)
General landmarks, but not necessarily specifics (castles, temples, busy cities, red bridges, torii gates)
Clothing styles (kimonos, school uniforms, business suits, kawaii fashion)
Cultural icons (samurai swords, samurai armor, Shinto shrines)
General overview of the history (samurai, daimyo, feudal system, bushido, Meiji restoration)
Language, but not necessarily specifics of the language (Japanese, kanji, hiragana)
Religion (Buddhism and Shintoism)
Folklore (ghosts, kami, tsukumogami, evil spirits)
Any festivals I might know of (cherry blossom festivals, moon viewings, Obon)
Your own list may have these in a slightly different order, but it's probably what you most think about.
Notice that you will likely not think about these things:
Political system
Specifics of the language
Interpersonal hierarchies
International relations
Specific landmarks
Specific historical events
Famous figures
So why do we think like this? Because in real life, we also have a cognitive load that we must balance with things that are more relevant to our everyday lives.
If I tried to memorize specific details of every country in the world, I would go insane. I have better things to do, so I create a general image of a country based on pictures I've seen, people I've met, food I've eaten, and so on. You do the same thing.
To be realistic, you do not need to be specific. You need to approach worldbuilding the same way people generate their world knowledge: basic concepts and visual imagery.
What to emphasize in worldbuilding
So let's break this down on what you want to think about when creating a world.
Food is one of the most accessible elements of a culture.
Food is how many people learn about different cultures for a simple reason: if you have the ingredients, you can cook food from anywhere. You don't need to be introduced to it by a native of that culture.
Plus, humans tend to like food. We kind of need it to exist.
Think about these things when considering national cuisines and eating habits of your fantasy world:
Do they have spicy food? Bland food? Heavy hearty dishes?
Is most food served hot or cold?
What kind of spices and vegetables do they use? Root vegetables, beans, cinnamon? Salt?
What type of meat do people eat (if any)? Seafood, poultry, beef, pork?
How is bread prepared? What is it made of? (Look, nearly every culture has some sort of bread, we love carbs)
What about pasta? Does that exist here?
Are desserts important? What are they made of?
What kinds of drinks do they have? Coffee, tea, milk, lemon water?
Is alcohol a thing? What kind of alcohol? How often do people drink? Are there bars?
How often do people eat, and when? Do they have the typical three square meals, or do people eat kinda whenever they feel like it?
Do people prepare food at home or are there restaurants?
Are communal dinners common?
Cultural stereotypes provide tension and can help craft your characters.
Are people in your culture known for their boldness? Their cunning? Their resilience? Their standoffishness? Their fiery tongues, or their passive-aggressive jabs?
You can play with a lot of this, either confirming or denying the assumptions through your characters.
Landscape gives us an idea of where we are and what to expect.
Landscapes are some of my favorite aspects of worldbuilding rather than intricate magic systems and political concepts. Readers get a good sense of environment when you focus in on landscape and how it impacts the characters. You can also build a culture off your landscape, such as how certain geographic features may influence peoples' attitudes and lifestyles.
For example, a coastal landscape will have beautiful views of the ocean, sparkling beaches, and maybe tall cliffs. Being a fisherman may be seen as an honorable but dangerous profession. People might cliff dive for fun.
Mountainous areas may produce cultural enclaves, especially in a fantasy setting where everyone is more isolated. One mountain town may have a completely different vibe than the town over.
Flat, wide-open plains mean people can spread out, but since moving from one place to another is easier, there may be a more cohesive culture.
An area with caves will have a sense of mystery and fear; there may be a lot of superstitions about the caves.
A swampy area can also be very mysterious as there are so many places to hide out and a lot of dangerous animals.
Climate influences how people behave.
Hot climates make people need to conserve energy, so they may take afternoon naps in the worst of the heat. They might value relaxation and calm over industry and productivity because bro, have you ever tried to even walk outside in the Florida heat? Shut up and get me air conditioning.
Cold climates make people need to stay active to stay warm, but they can also produce a sense of isolation. Think about how outdoorsy the Finnish are but how they looove their personal space.
Temperate climates are probably a bit more even-tempered, but as weather changes get more extreme, people will vary their behaviors based on the seasons: spending more time outdoors during summer but holing up during winter. The culture may emphasize hospitality because people need to rely on one another to survive, and they have time to meet their neighbors during the summer.
I am very partial to temperate climates, being from the American Midwest. We're known for being nice and hardy people. You should come visit.
Flora and fauna help the world feel real.
When I worldbuild, I often base my cultures on a real place and what kinds of animals or plants are there. For example, Breme is based on Mongolia so I have herbivores, big raptors, and a lot of grasses.
A warm climate will have lots of reptiles. Sea life will be important in a coastal area. Swamps might have big predators. Mountains will have hardy creatures that can climb. A savannah area will have huge herbivores and fast, hungry predators.
General cityscapes or villages are great for providing a sense of place.
Do people build low spread-out cities or tall rickety homes? What kinds of building materials do they use? Are there lots of markets, bars, apocetharies, temples or churches? What do homes look like here? What are any unique architectural features?
This gives a sense that we are in a different but specific world that has a rich culture.
Clothing tells us what people prioritize.
Cold places will have lots of layers. Hot places will have soft draping outfits or very skimpy outfits. Natural materials that are easily available will make up the majority of the clothing in a fantasy setting. You wouldn't have people wearing cotton in a place that doesn't grow cotton. If there are lots of sheep, people will wear wool. If there's lots of cattle, people will wear leather.
You can also think about adornment. Is jewelry common? What type? Why is it important? Is it a status symbol, a way to keep wealth, or perhaps ways to honor ancestors?
Cultural icons demonstrate what the society values.
A warlike culture will prioritize weaponry. A pacifist culture will think about art and music. A nomadic culture may have a rich oral tradition. An agrarian society will emphasize farming rituals.
Think of a few things that symbolize your society, whether that's musical instruments, weaponry, textiles, statues, or jewelry. Consider how those traditions could have come about and why.
Folklore and mythology offer an offbeat but important sense of history.
Folklore is often tied up with many other factors of a society, such as their religion, landscape, history, and overall values.
For example, the Japanese believe items survive for over a century gain a kami, or spiritual essence. This shows that the Japanese cherish their long history and their material culture, and it also infuses their Shinto belief into folklore.
You can also think about cryptids or ghost stories. Isolated and difficult terrain often makes people think of monsters lurking in the woods. Areas with lots of caves will have myths about what is down there. Coastal areas develop myths about ghost ships.
Idioms, turns of phrase, and gestural quirks tell us more about the culture without overwhelming readers.
This one can be more challenging (I haven't done much with it) but if you can manage it, you'll have a very rewarding story.
I'm not talking about making a whole new language here, but rather about idioms and turns of phrase. Think about all the fun idioms that English has, like "beating around the bush" or "break a leg." Without cultural context, you can't understand them, so you'll have to incorporate an explanation without actually stating it.
For example, you can have a character say "the horses are running fast" as they look out the window to see a sheet of rain. We can guess from this that the idiom is rain = horses, so lots of rain = fast horses. We'll understand from this that this culture probably loves horses; maybe they're a formerly nomadic race.
Gestures, like whether people give thumbs-up, point with their index, or bow with their hands to their chest all give us a feeling of the culture without being overwhelming.
What not to emphasize
Now that we've gone through some things to focus on, let's talk about what you don't need to make up for your world.
A whole-cloth language
Please, you don't need to create brand new words for things that exist in our world. You can reference a language, but do not make people memorize nouns they don't need.
Don't even make up the language at all. Say there's a language and then write the rest of it in English.
Made-up languages are irritating for readers because they want to focus on the characters and plot, not mysterious words they need to translate.
It's possible to make languages interesting without going into specifics. For example, the Bas-Lag trilogy by China Mieville has a species that communicates in clicks but the species can also learn human languages if necessary. There's a language called Salt that's basically the common tongue blended from everything else.
Do we need to know how Salt works? No. Doesn't matter. We're told someone is talking in Salt, or they're learning it, or they switch to it when meeting someone from a different culture. That's plenty.
Specifics of a magic system
You're not going to instantly summon up all the rules of magical realms when you visit a new country; you might not even know them. And your readers won't be too interested in them either.
For example, in The Eirenic Verses, I have High Poetry. Readers will come to know that this was a magical system where certain people given the power can recite a poem and whatever they speak comes true. Every poem can only be used once.
It was given by the goddess Poesy to a specific woman, Saint Luridalr. It was so successful that the goddess started giving it to more women and a whole religious system arose.
I don't need to explain exactly how it works because no one cares. Someone makes things happen by coming up with a poem: that's about it. We don't need to question whether certain rhyme schemes or meter or punctuation impacts anything. That's too technical.
If you've got pages and pages of notes on all the intricacies of the magical system, you have too much. Pare it down.
Political systems
Unless you're writing a fantasy where politics are absolutely critical to the plot, you can just reference the political system in passing and maybe elucidate a few key elements, like who the leader is, how power is transferred, etc. You don't need to go into all the specifics because most people are not going to care.
Hierarchies
Please don't lay out the entirety of an army's ranking system or how someone is promoted. Make up something consistent and stick with it, but don't go into exhaustive detail. People aren't going to sit and question whether a captain is above a lieutenant or how long it takes to become a general.
We'll know that a general is a big deal if the characters make it a big deal. We'll know who the head of the army is but we don't need to know how they got to that position.
Exact city layouts
You do not need to tell us where everything is in relation to one another. Tell us characters are moving from one landmark to another. You could say "this is across a bridge, this is up in the mountains, these buildings are right next to one another, these two buildings are in opposite ends of the city." That's plenty.
If somewhere is very far away, just show them travelling there and how long it takes. You don't need to measure it in miles or leagues or whatever. We will guess that if it takes them a week to walk there, it's pretty distant.
Economic systems
We just need the basics here: mercantile, capitalist, bartering, etc. We don't need to know if the coinage is pegged to a certain precious metal or if people invest their money or how people are paid. That's boring.
In my world, I have two currencies: quillim for Breme and barnals for Sina. What's the exchange rate? I don't know and don't care. How much is one quillim worth? One quillim is not a lot but 2,500 quillim is. How much is the average person paid? Doesn't matter. Do people keep lots of coins on them? No one is asking that. It's not important.
Transit systems
Tells us if the roads are cramped, spread out, nonexistent, poorly maintained. Tell us if there are road blocks or toll booths. Tell us if there are roving bandits. The more physical and sensory you can get, the more real it feels.
Few people care about the specifics of even their own transportation system. I know highways are fast, I know tollroads are expensive, I know parkways are pretty, I know some cities have weird turnabouts and dead ends. That's exactly what I need and what I care about.
That's what I've got for you today. If you liked this, maybe you'll consider checking out The Eirenic Verses series, which follows most of these principles.
I've been told that my fantasy writing is very approachable, even for those who don't usually like fantasy, specifically because I don't get too insane with my worldbuilding. So maybe you'll enjoy it too!
Practice
Currently writing a short story based off of a random generated prompt. I figured, I'm not creative enough, and I certainly don't write enough to feel confidant in posting the things I have written. I've recently felt the sudden urge to want to be good at it, though.
Should I post it once I'm done ?