Super Fantasy
Sage
What kind of fantasy quests can I write about?
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How to write about quests?
- Thread starter Super Fantasy
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Super Fantasy
Sage
I was thinking a quest to find a royal sword or something like that.
Perhaps a quest to recover a kidnapped person.
Or a quest to regain items stolen by thieves.
Perhaps a quest to recover a kidnapped person.
Or a quest to regain items stolen by thieves.
Honestly? You begin at the beginning, continue until you reach the end, and then stop (unless you're me and have to have five epilogues). You can literally write about anything you want. If the sword idea calls you, do eet. But (in my opinion) what's more important than "what" is "who." Conflict = Story, and inanimate objects don't have many wants in life (unless they do, this is Fantasy). Think over the stories you love. Why do you love them? How do they speak to you? Do you have something you want to say, too? What is it? This is how it begins.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
I dont know...my cat is pretty inanimate, but it still wants things...
Yeah, I am not sure how to answer that. This is a little backwards it think, the story in my head kinds of tells me if its a quest, or not. If you need story prompts, I saw some talking about creating a thread for those just today. But...i dont approach things as, I think I will write a quest, more so, I get an idea and it just screams out that it is a quest, or a mystery, or a romance and I go.
Stories are conflict. But even before that, I think I have to feel there is something I want to say, and dont want it to go unsaid. And it just lives in me till I do it. All the rest kind of takes care of itself.
Anyway...writing a quest is nothing more than 'this has to be done' and 'we are going to do it'. Usually they have to do it far away.
Yeah, I am not sure how to answer that. This is a little backwards it think, the story in my head kinds of tells me if its a quest, or not. If you need story prompts, I saw some talking about creating a thread for those just today. But...i dont approach things as, I think I will write a quest, more so, I get an idea and it just screams out that it is a quest, or a mystery, or a romance and I go.
Stories are conflict. But even before that, I think I have to feel there is something I want to say, and dont want it to go unsaid. And it just lives in me till I do it. All the rest kind of takes care of itself.
Anyway...writing a quest is nothing more than 'this has to be done' and 'we are going to do it'. Usually they have to do it far away.
Ozonequeen
Scribe
When you close your eyes, what quest do you see? Can you see many people or just one going on the quest? What is their setting? For me, stories come in images in my mind:, then whoever or whatever exists begins to act. I can't speak for everyone but maybe just write what comes to you when you attempt to imagine this quest. It would be cool to hear a story from the perspective of a sword that everyone kept questing for and they keep getting close but then something stops them. Like, oh man, finally I'm going to get out of this stone, that warrior he has the skill right there, I can see it. Wait a minute watch out for the draughr (sp?)... Said hero gets a knife in his back... aw man, now I'm stuck waiting here again... sigh... I shall wistfully dream of the days when the heroes of legend wielded me. LOL
Here's something that may help you along in figuring out what you want to do. In one of my favourite writing books, Save the Cat, they label the quest story as a Golden Fleece story.
According to that book, the 3 rudimentary elements of a GOLDEN FLEECE story are:
1) A road spanning oceans, time—or across the street—so long as it demarcates growth. It often includes a “Road Apple” that stops the trip cold.
2) A team or a buddy the hero needs to be guided along the way. Usually, it’s those who represent the things the hero doesn’t have: skill, experience, or attitude.
3) A prize that’s sought and is something primal: going home, securing a treasure, or re-gaining a birthright.
Here's a link to their website. It gives a ton of movie examples of this type of story, and breaks each of those movies down into their key beats.
savethecat.com
Lots of stuff to steal... errr.. I mean inspire you. ;P
According to that book, the 3 rudimentary elements of a GOLDEN FLEECE story are:
1) A road spanning oceans, time—or across the street—so long as it demarcates growth. It often includes a “Road Apple” that stops the trip cold.
2) A team or a buddy the hero needs to be guided along the way. Usually, it’s those who represent the things the hero doesn’t have: skill, experience, or attitude.
3) A prize that’s sought and is something primal: going home, securing a treasure, or re-gaining a birthright.
Here's a link to their website. It gives a ton of movie examples of this type of story, and breaks each of those movies down into their key beats.
Golden Fleece
Read the Save the Cat! story beats in the Blake Snyder beat sheets for popular films and novels in the Blake Snyder story genre of Golden Fleece.
savethecat.com
Lots of stuff to steal... errr.. I mean inspire you. ;P
Prince of Spires
Auror
The quest itself is actually irrelevant, funnily enough. It's all about what the quest means to the characters and the conflict they meet along the way.
Think about it. Probably the most famous quest in modern fantasy is the quest where a guy has to chuck a piece of jewlery into a volcano. Summed up like that, it sounds like a worse idea than retrieving magical artifacts, rescuing people or any other idea you come up with. However, it works beautifully. Why? Because the consequences of failure are obvious to the reader. There are real stakes to the protagonist. And there is a lot of conflict along the way.
So pick a quest idea you like, and investigte those questions. What happens if the quest fails? Why are people going on the quest? And why are these people going on a quest? And what conflicts do they run into along the way (as in, who opposes them)?
A quest for a magical sword for instance is fairly standard. Can't go wrong with that. But why is the protagonist the one to go on this quest? Quests are long and arduous. You'll likely die on the way. "To save the world" is perhaps not the best reason. Fame and fortune are good and all, but they're also likely to make you quit if you have to chose between the almost certain death of going on and backing out.
Think about it. Probably the most famous quest in modern fantasy is the quest where a guy has to chuck a piece of jewlery into a volcano. Summed up like that, it sounds like a worse idea than retrieving magical artifacts, rescuing people or any other idea you come up with. However, it works beautifully. Why? Because the consequences of failure are obvious to the reader. There are real stakes to the protagonist. And there is a lot of conflict along the way.
So pick a quest idea you like, and investigte those questions. What happens if the quest fails? Why are people going on the quest? And why are these people going on a quest? And what conflicts do they run into along the way (as in, who opposes them)?
A quest for a magical sword for instance is fairly standard. Can't go wrong with that. But why is the protagonist the one to go on this quest? Quests are long and arduous. You'll likely die on the way. "To save the world" is perhaps not the best reason. Fame and fortune are good and all, but they're also likely to make you quit if you have to chose between the almost certain death of going on and backing out.
- Thread starter
- #9
Super Fantasy
Sage
How about a quest deep into the forest to explore a abandoned castle and find loot?
pmmg
Myth Weaver
You know...I like to be helpful, and not let questions go unanswered, even if my answer are bad.
But...I am not sure how to answer this. A quest to explore an abandoned castle and find loot, is fine for story material, so what do you need about it?
I would suggest you take that as a writing prompt, and see what you can come up with. Maybe go for a short story and see where it goes. I think you need to write stuff that is in you waiting to come up, not stuff just because others said okay. That would feel more like a chore to me.
Maybe you are not asking the question right?
But...I am not sure how to answer this. A quest to explore an abandoned castle and find loot, is fine for story material, so what do you need about it?
I would suggest you take that as a writing prompt, and see what you can come up with. Maybe go for a short story and see where it goes. I think you need to write stuff that is in you waiting to come up, not stuff just because others said okay. That would feel more like a chore to me.
Maybe you are not asking the question right?
Finchbearer
Istar
The idea of a quest in itself it’s fairly meaningless. You could have a knight on a quest to slay a dragon but…
You get the idea? You need to have an overall overarching idea for a good story to drive the purpose for any type of exciting quest. Tolkien for example would not have started out with the idea of the quest to destroy the ring, he started with literally everything else.
You get the idea? You need to have an overall overarching idea for a good story to drive the purpose for any type of exciting quest. Tolkien for example would not have started out with the idea of the quest to destroy the ring, he started with literally everything else.
Ozonequeen
Scribe
My thoughts
Okay, so set the scene. Pick a moment, whether it be the forest, the abandoned castle or when they find the quested loot. Who is there? Why are they there? Loot is too simple an answer, right? Because greed drives people but usually something like questing for loot takes real effort. Do your characters have villainous tendencies? Betrayal? I usually will see a scene when prompted. I let the scene play out to see where it's going. Like if this were a prompt I would say: Three figures drift soundlessly through the mist laden wood. The darkness creeping into their flesh, chilling them. One stumbles crying out, disturbing the quiet. Everyone pauses, drawing careful breaths, watching warily.
Ozonequeen
Scribe
I heard Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings because he wanted a story to match the language he created...The idea of a quest in itself it’s fairly meaningless. You could have a knight on a quest to slay a dragon but…
You get the idea? You need to have an overall overarching idea for a good story to drive the purpose for any type of exciting quest. Tolkien for example would not have started out with the idea of the quest to destroy the ring, he started with literally everything else.
Actually, in grad school I was working in the same research area he did, and the story is even better than that. Tolkien wasn't just out to create a language (or five), he was out to create an entire mythos for England, because they didn't really have one that wasn't either borrowed or ripped off by the Normans (basically French). And he was a notorious procrastinator who couldn't stop fiddling around with his projects. So, being an accomplished linguist and scholar, he started with stories and added and added and added to them until we have the body of work we have today.I heard Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings because he wanted a story to match the language he created...
Gurkhal
Auror
I heard Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings because he wanted a story to match the language he created...
I heard something somewhat different. That Tolkien wrote the stories that together formed the Silmarilion and the Books of Lost Tales because he wanted to create a world for his languages.
The Lord of the Rings was to my knowledge more of a extension of the success of the Hobbit and then tying the Hobbit together with the world of the stories of the Silmarilion and then leading it into the Lord of the Rings created the Second and Third Age material.
But it should be noted that I am far, far from a scholar or expert on Tolkien.
Miles Lacey
Archmage
Why not have a thief who steals a sacred or royal object only to discover they may have set in motion certain events which could make life very uncomfortable for the thief? All the thief has to do is get the damn thing back to its owner and those events won't come to pass. Only problem is that the owner has been exiled to a place that's damn near impossible to get to (such as an island or castle) and there's a few people driven by either unsavory or misguided motives who also want the object.
Where to begin?
It could start with writing about the moment the thief learns just what events he may have set in motion when he stole the sacred or royal object. Perhaps begin with the stealing of the object but tell it from an unusual viewpoint, such as that of a minor character or one of the bad people.
The options are endless.
.
Where to begin?
It could start with writing about the moment the thief learns just what events he may have set in motion when he stole the sacred or royal object. Perhaps begin with the stealing of the object but tell it from an unusual viewpoint, such as that of a minor character or one of the bad people.
The options are endless.
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I let a story idea play out in my head like a movie, then it's easier to figure out what yo do and do like, what scenes to shift around and change, etc. I agree that it's not about the journey, but the characters and the motivations for why they are going on said quest. I really don't care about the end result o a quest, if the journey along the way changed our characters in some way, and was an interesting ride. All in all, just play around with different ideas until you find one that resonates with you, then start your story. That's how I stumbled across mine, and I've gotten tons of ideas after the fact.
Ozonequeen
Scribe
Came across this article today about how locations in Middle Earth might match times in human history Middle Earth Tolkien history
Prince of Spires
Auror
They're actually both true.
Tolkien has said that he wanted to create a mythology for England.
And you can also see in several of his earlier stories that he often started with bits of language and then found a story where they fit. The downfal of Numenor for instance started as such.
