Conda V. Douglas
A guest post by Conda V. Douglas
Fantasies are great fun to write. Fantasies are a terrible headache to write. Both these experiences occur at the same time. Because the writer gets to and has to create a world with magic! But the magic must be reasonable and logical—which is what magic isn’t, by its very nature.
With the first in my ‘tween fantasy series, The Mall Fairies: Exile, I had some great help.
My critique partner, Kathy McIntosh, http://www.kathymcintosh.com/, is very logical (and hasn’t written fantasy, but rather hilarious crime novels). She often points out my logical flaws in my world. Which is sometimes helpful, sometimes not. My fairies are around five to six inches fully grown, but as Kathy points out, their wingspan (to fly with a human body) would need to be huge. Magic is the answer. But she also pointed out that my character One Wing can’t fly up to the attic where the fairies live—because he only has one wing. Magic is not the answer here. It would be a cheat to the reader.My solution to this problem? I keep the fairies as “rooted in reality” as possible. This adds to their difficulties. They can’t “magic up” food and shelter—that’s why they are living in the attic of a shopping mall.
Mall Fairies Exile by Conda V. Douglas
But they can’t let humans see them either (and why they think no human will never spot them in a shopping mall… well, they are hiding in a disused and abandoned attic … part of the time), they can’t “magic themselves invisible.” The poor fairies don’t even have wings until they drink a magic potion (that also gives them the ability to fly without huge wings). And they’ve run out of the potion!
Yes, it’s a tricky balancing act, even with wings, to create and maintain a fantasy world. But when my fairies take off and do what I never expected them to do it’s well worth the headache!
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Thanks Charlotte, I learned a lot about writing the next in my series by writing this post!
Aren’t critique partners wonderful, Conda? I’d be lost without mine. As for your fairies, gotta love it when the characters take over the story. Keep those wings fluttering!
Pat, I wouldn’t have sold and published my novels without my critique partner’s help! And yeah, I do love it when the fairies flutter off on their own–except that means rewriting! Thanks!