Purposely using the minimal amount of fantasy elements vs all out fantasy

[Miskatonic]

The big element of fantasy I like to draw on is the different races/creatures that I can use. Because that way my stories do have that sense of the fantastical even if there's not a lot of actual "magic" at use. My current story world, for example, features no spellcasters of any kind (at least not at this point), but it does have dwarves and goblyns and lizardmen.

As far as stories I read goes, I'd much rather read something like Dragonlance than A Song of Ice and Fire, because it does have that stronger feel of being truly a fantasy world.

It makes you wonder why they introduced the concept of dragons in ASoIaF.

 

[SugoiMe]

I like both if they're done well. I'm not terribly keen on magic, mages and wizards as much as I used to be because I find the magic is in the nature around me. I absolutely love fantastical creatures. I like to draw on real-world snippets for the mundane people are familiar with and then throw in a strange creature to throw my characters off. Makes them realize that there's so much more out there in the world, outside of their regular lives. Also, throw in a bit of the supernatural, and I'll probably be hooked. Lost souls haunting a wood or castle or something are cool.

The point of fantasy, I find, is the reference to the fantastical. Otherwise, like someone else said, it's just another replica of earth. There's such wonder and discovery in the fantastical.

 

[ChasingSuns]

I definitely agree with both sides of this. The way that I see it, there's ways to do fantastical well and ways to really screw it up. The same can be said for any kind of story though. Personally, I really enjoy writing stories that have plenty of fantastical elements, but I also like to make the story grounded enough to not lose the readers in magical bells and whistles. That's for my current project for the most part though, I'm also working on a side-project that doesn't have much magic in it at all. To me, as when deciding if anything should go into a story, I just ask myself if the story will benefit from having it. If not, then I leave it out.

 

[X Equestris]

It makes you wonder why they introduced the concept of dragons in ASoIaF.

With each successive book, the magic elements have become more prominent. Likewise, there are the hints about magic and dragons being closely tied together.

As I mentioned earlier, I tend toward the lower end, though I would put myself in the middle of the scale. It's not absolutely everywhere, but it's not so rare people doubt its existence. Only something like .5% of people are born with the capability to use magic, and even after they're trained, most can only cast a handful of spells. There are plenty of magical creatures in the world, and they're part of local peoples' folklore, but most common folk know little about them. In fact, there are plenty of misconceptions that I intend to use in various stories.

 

[Miskatonic]

With each successive book, the magic elements have become more prominent. Likewise, there are the hints about magic and dragons being closely tied together.

As I mentioned earlier, I tend toward the lower end, though I would put myself in the middle of the scale. It's not absolutely everywhere, but it's not so rare people doubt its existence. Only something like .5% of people are born with the capability to use magic, and even after they're trained, most can only cast a handful of spells. There are plenty of magical creatures in the world, and they're part of local peoples' folklore, but most common folk know little about them. In fact, there are plenty of misconceptions that I intend to use in various stories.

I'm using the concept of people believing in the supernatural less and less so their presence becomes less noticeable. The gods also had a big role in removing the presence of many of the supernatural species. Not destroying them but removing their ability to interact with humanity due to conflicts in the past.

 

[valiant12]

I love both styles but at the moment I'm writing a book with a lot of fantastic elements- mainly magic , there are creatures too, but the humans are the stars of the story.