What makes your writing different than that of other fantasy authors? Is there something that sets you apart from the rest of the pack?
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What sets your writing apart?
- Thread starter Black Dragon
- Start date
Ravana
Istar
Understatement, sardonic humor, and lengthy, convoluted syntax. 
Ophiucha
Auror
I tend to focus on rather odd parts of the worldbuilding. I rarely focus on politics or religion - and if there are politics, they are something strange for the setting. My current will-be project is about coffee.
Lord Darkstorm
Sage
It isn't as good...yet, although Ravana says it much better.
TWErvin2
Auror
I've thought a bit about this question and, as an author, it's kind of hard to say. Readers might have a better handle on this. (Just as we perceive ourselves as one way, but the world perceives us another)
If I had to hazard a guess, I would say action and dialogue and sometimes the complexity of a storyline.
If I had to hazard a guess, I would say action and dialogue and sometimes the complexity of a storyline.
Ravana
Istar
It isn't as good...yet, although Ravana says it much better.
Thank you. (Though please, for the love of anything you consider holy, don't use me as a model for syntax!
)
Kaellpae
Inkling
I'm hoping the setting and story I want to write will set my writing apart. Otherwise, maybe creatures that populate the stories and hopefully the ability to give my characters a real feel.
Let the practice begin!
Let the practice begin!
sashamerideth
Maester
I am hoping that it will be my world and an unashamed exploration of humanity. It will probably be my lack of decent vocabulary and never using a thesaurus to sound clever.
Well I truly do not know because I haven't really been criticized!
My feelings are that when I write, I want the reader to feel connected with my world and characters. I want them to keep guessing about who they are and what they've been through. I love keeping mystery floating around in the midst of the conflict... although sometimes I think that may be my downfall. I don't know how I really feel about the way I write. I want the common man to be able to understand what I'm telling, even if a few words or situations are confusing at first, so I tell my stories from a middle-class, average person's tone.
I hate talking about myself. : )
My feelings are that when I write, I want the reader to feel connected with my world and characters. I want them to keep guessing about who they are and what they've been through. I love keeping mystery floating around in the midst of the conflict... although sometimes I think that may be my downfall. I don't know how I really feel about the way I write. I want the common man to be able to understand what I'm telling, even if a few words or situations are confusing at first, so I tell my stories from a middle-class, average person's tone.
I hate talking about myself. : )
Map the Dragon
Sage
Like Terry, I wanted to take some time before answering this question. Here are some of my ideas.
I know my talents, and I know that right now, I write much better in the realm of creative non-fiction than I do in the fantasy genre. Hopefully, my next peice (due for release in March) will prove me right here. Another thing that sets my writing apart from others is that I have been published. This might mean very little in terms of talent or ability, but it still is cool to me that I had a publisher pick up my novel, say they want it, and now I can hold it in my hands. I would like to think that I have a knack for great syntax. Fragment. I love my abilities with imagery and comfort with dialogue, but I need more time to develop the same expertise with plot structure. Outside of fantasy, my best writing skills exist in the realm of persuasion and purpose.
I know my talents, and I know that right now, I write much better in the realm of creative non-fiction than I do in the fantasy genre. Hopefully, my next peice (due for release in March) will prove me right here. Another thing that sets my writing apart from others is that I have been published. This might mean very little in terms of talent or ability, but it still is cool to me that I had a publisher pick up my novel, say they want it, and now I can hold it in my hands. I would like to think that I have a knack for great syntax. Fragment.
I love my abilities with imagery and comfort with dialogue, but I need more time to develop the same expertise with plot structure. Outside of fantasy, my best writing skills exist in the realm of persuasion and purpose.Creativity on a whole, i think, and pressing in large amounts of back-story throughout the entire story without it clunking any paragraphs. I've been told I'm pretty good at that, but then just genre-wise, I think my ability to combine different aspects of horror and fantasy to make something unique to my style.
I think perhaps I am following a rather traditional route: taking the familiar and making it new in some way. Or the classic Goethe quote about finding the universal in the ordinary. Right now I'm trying to revisit the trope of dragons as beasts, when current trend has them as geniuses just slightly more intelligent than men (thinking of Eragon, Naomi Novik, etc.). I think it would be fun and new to tinker with a cross-section of the ordinary and fantastic--what's family life and dynamic like when everyone is a wizard? What sorts of adventures would this family experience, and what new problems arise when everyone can use magic? In "ordinary" literature, we know of divorce, feuds, favoritism, and other family ills. How would this play out with wizards? I haven't really seen anything on the fantasy book shelf about this particular idea, so I'm hoping it's distinctive (but I'm definitely not ruling out that it's been done before).
Helbrecht
Minstrel
What sets my writing apart? At the moment, very little indeed. I'm basically crap, but I'm working on it.
I guess I like to use punchy, concise descriptions with a visceral focus on my viewpoint characters' senses, along with decidedly snarky and self-conscious (third-person limited) narration. I like the idea of giving my readers a clear image of what's going on with as few words as possible so I can pack in the humour, philosophical tangents, or whatever else.
In terms of the actual content of my stories, I shy away from your traditional High Medieval western European setting (for example - I'm currently writing something set in its own world's equivalent of late Antiquity, in a setting that is equal parts Persian and Roman empires in terms of influence). I also like hybridising elements from all across the genre scale (thanks, China!), complex rule-based magic systems (thanks, Brandon!) and a sort-of-emphasis on the political side of things (thanks, George!).
I guess I like to use punchy, concise descriptions with a visceral focus on my viewpoint characters' senses, along with decidedly snarky and self-conscious (third-person limited) narration. I like the idea of giving my readers a clear image of what's going on with as few words as possible so I can pack in the humour, philosophical tangents, or whatever else.
In terms of the actual content of my stories, I shy away from your traditional High Medieval western European setting (for example - I'm currently writing something set in its own world's equivalent of late Antiquity, in a setting that is equal parts Persian and Roman empires in terms of influence). I also like hybridising elements from all across the genre scale (thanks, China!), complex rule-based magic systems (thanks, Brandon!) and a sort-of-emphasis on the political side of things (thanks, George!).
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Digital_Fey
Troubadour
Generally speaking, very little except my dislike of predictable love stories and a tendency towards archaic sentence structure... but ultimately I hope that I'll be able to write stories which put the 'human' back in fantasy. I don't want to examine the trials of the newly born vampire or the girl who discovers she's the descendant of an angel, a devil and three werewolves p) - instead I hope to use fantasy/magical realism to create scenarios in which I can examine what it means to be human.
Which is probably why I haven't been able to finish even one story this year >.>
p) - instead I hope to use fantasy/magical realism to create scenarios in which I can examine what it means to be human.Which is probably why I haven't been able to finish even one story this year >.>
CicadaGrrl
Troubadour
Mine's fusion fantasy. An element of that, for instance, is that from my work in film, my work tends to rely heavily on dialogue.
Misusscarlet
Minstrel
My main character and her background is the only thing that came from me. Other things from other authors I thought were cool are Dragon Riders and Shapeshifters they're in my story. Basically my story gets to the end of the story with a bang, that leaves you coming back for more just because you purely enjoy reading it, regardless of syntax or structure. My story is going to go on forever since my main character can live forever, and my mind is so full of ideas that I can continue writing about her forever.
Sinitar
Minstrel
I'm really not sure. I am a fledgling writer, and while my inner author instinct tells me that every author is different and has something else to offer, I'll probably go with...I really don't know. I'm not a special snowflake, so to speak.
mythique890
Sage
I don't know what actually sets me apart, but I know what I'd like it to be: First, strong storytelling, where each character does things that make sense within their experience and the plot is good. Second, invisible prose, so that the reader feels like they're looking through a book-shaped window instead of reading words.
Right now I feel like my strength is characters, my weakness is plot, and my prose is somewhere in between.
Right now I feel like my strength is characters, my weakness is plot, and my prose is somewhere in between.
Bass_Thunder37
Scribe
Well, this is simple
Strengths: Dialogue, Overall plot, Humor
Weaknesses: Detail, Using a Thesaurus, I tend to have strange word choice at times
Distinction: My characters constantly poke fun at all of the fantasy tropes, make slight nods and parodies of classic fantasy, and one of them tries to find every character's DND alignment.(Doesn't actually mention DND)
(This is a highly shortened version of the scene. There would be much more description of Diamonvale. But I just wanna get the joke out.)
"Oh thank Gravton!" Victor dropped his bags and shouted! "We've finally made it to Diamonvale!" He ran his hand over the diamond walls of the city.
"Umm..." His face filled with curiosity. "Where is the gate? No doors, no windows... How the Hell are we supposed to get in?!" Ronin wagged his finger at Victor.
"Hmph. One does not simply walk into Diamonvale."
Strengths: Dialogue, Overall plot, Humor
Weaknesses: Detail, Using a Thesaurus, I tend to have strange word choice at times
Distinction: My characters constantly poke fun at all of the fantasy tropes, make slight nods and parodies of classic fantasy, and one of them tries to find every character's DND alignment.(Doesn't actually mention DND)
(This is a highly shortened version of the scene. There would be much more description of Diamonvale. But I just wanna get the joke out.)
"Oh thank Gravton!" Victor dropped his bags and shouted! "We've finally made it to Diamonvale!" He ran his hand over the diamond walls of the city.
"Umm..." His face filled with curiosity. "Where is the gate? No doors, no windows... How the Hell are we supposed to get in?!" Ronin wagged his finger at Victor.
"Hmph. One does not simply walk into Diamonvale."
Johnny Cosmo
Inkling
I'm neither confident nor experienced enough to really know my strengths, but I know what I'd like to say; setting the tone, achieving plot structure somewhere between familiar and unique, and believable characters. At the moment, I'd say my weaknesses are organisation, motivation, vocabulary (although it's nothing a dictionary and thesaurus can't fix), and unwillingness to make bold decisions (for example, scrapping sections of a story, completely re-writing, etc).
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