The Plan for the Marcuria Series (Part 1 of 3)

A couple of weeks ago, I started writing this blog post about the future of the Marcuria series, and it got away from me a little bit because there is so much about this series that I wanted to communicate to you guys. I am very excited about its potential, so it’s been hard to bottle that up into a handful of sentences. Hence, what I’m going to do is I’m going to slow down and take it step by step. Today I will try to briefly discuss some of my likes and dislikes about the fantasy genre—so you know where I’m coming from and so you know what to expect from the series as a whole.

Aside from books written by a select handful of fantasy authors, who do the genre justice and whom I trust, I just can’t read novels found within this generic classification. I am quite disgusted by fantasy books, close to outright despising them because. . .because the genre attracts too many amateurs who don’t know how to write and who are stuck in the 1970’s mindset of what fantasy is. There. I said it. When done right, a good tale set within imaginative settings can strike so many chords within a person; it can be an experience of tremendous beauty and enlightenment. When done poorly, there is nothing worse to read on the planet Earth. At that point, I’d rather slog through a literary novel. Yep. That’s how bad it can get.

Because a fantasy story requires so many moving parts—both visible and behind-the-scenes—and because it requires multiple characters with varied points of view, it is a difficult genre to get right and do properly, especially for a new writer. (I didn’t realize this when I began, diving right in to the deep-end of the pool, which in hindsight was a mistake; doing that can quickly destroy your confidence as you flounder at first in trying to master so many varying elements that authors of other genres just don’t have to bother with.) When fantasy is not done with precision and masterful craftsmanship, the story’s weaknesses become glaring faults that can cause the believability and cohesion of your story to crumble in the eyes of many readers.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, allow me to quickly go through some (just some) of the specific elements I like and dislike about the genre. Since I don’t want to appear negative, I’ll start with what I like.

Some likes:

Pure escapism. These novels allow me to escape to a place bearing no resemblance (on the surface at least) to the world in which I live and to the life I experience. I often need to disappear out of my life for a while each day in order to help me regroup and to help me recover some measure of sanity.

Staggering displays of sheer creativity. Intricacies: plot threads and other details that weave in and out of various storylines; complex and detailed histories. I enjoy descriptions of exotic locations; I love reading about original creatures and races (not fantasy cliches) that feel like an organic part of the world and land, like they actually belong there and aren’t out of place. In Tad Williams’ Shadowmarch series, there is a race living on and around the city’s lagoon whose features are human but also fishlike. Not once did it occur to me that that was unusual or ill-fitting. It made perfect sense that they would look like that and they should live there, in an environment in which they could thrive.

Down and out characters: people who are on the outskirts or lower rungs of society (thieves, assassins, beggars, whores, the mentally disturbed, urchins, the poor). These are the most interesting characters to write / read about. These are segments of a society where a tremendous amount of mystery and secretiveness can be found. This is an area that is gold for uncovering dramatic tension in your stories.

Prevailing sense of mystery and secrecy. Nothing piques my interest more than an adventure where there’s a chance of uncovering the unknown or the chance to reveal long forgotten secrets in worlds where there are those who feel that all the knowledge that can be learned, has been learned. How cool is it when a character has to travel through an old, forgotten tomb or when ancient ruins are discovered and searched and explored, revealing dark secrets or an artifact lost to history. A couple of additional elements that excite me: adventures into dark caves; walks down hoary, overgrown paths in the oldest sections of unmapped forests where anything the imagination dreams up can be discovered.

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Now, here we get to the part that’s going to get me in the most trouble with fantasy authors who desperately want to hold onto the old, stereotypical ways of looking at this genre. Well, without further ado, let’s get to the “boom,” shall we?

Some dislikes / gripes:

Dragons. Do I really need to explain myself here? People: stop with the dragons, already! We’ve had enough! Do something new! Dragons have been written about for nearly a hundred years! There are thousands upon thousands of novels written about these beasts; what makes you think that your latest novel featuring a dragon is anything exciting, anything intriguing or different, or that it’s going to be something people even want to read? It’s hard enough to make it in this business. You’re better off crafting cohesive originality.

Dipping into the Tolkien well for ideas. What I hate about fantasy, why I sometimes hate reading it is that authors too often dip into the “Tolkien well” for inspiration. The dude has been dead forever; the stuff he has created is tired and boring at this point. Writing about traditional fantasy races (elves, dwarves, fairies) = total grossville. These crutches are used way too often by inexperienced writers or just plain lazy writers who think that the inclusion of these beings will earn them an audience and that it will translate into a quick buck. At this point, these stereotypical creatures are tedious garbage. Leave them out. Start fresh and you’ll be surprised at what you’ll be able to create. You’ll feel much better about yourself as you do honest work that doesn’t rely on the writings of long-dead novelists.

Long, drawn out war scenes. These must be for people who love war. I don’t. These scenes are tedious and hard to follow; I often don’t care enough about what’s going on, so I quickly lose interest. Seems like there’s a war scene in every fantasy novel. Is it required? Is it on some checklist I don’t know about? Let’s do something new, shall we. Please.

The use of kings and queens or princes and princesses as main characters. Total grossville! Nothing is more played out than that. If I read just one more novel about a prince or princess, a king or queen, or worst of all, an elf princess, I’m going to have an electronic book burning. Novelers: these characters usually aren’t around the action. The action’s happening down in the cities, down in the slums. Write about the denizens residing there and your novels will be ten times more exciting and fleshed-out. You’ll be writing like ol’ Charlie Dickens in no time.

Damsels in distress. People still write about these sexist abominations that need to be put out of their misery. (Uh. . . No, I didn’t just say what you think I said.)

Stories of good forces vs evil forces. Is anybody entirely good or entirely evil? Why separate them into clustered groups of “good guys” and “bad guys”? You’re sure to have a mix of light and dark in every group. . . . Just sayin’. If you want cut-and-dried characters, clearly on one side or the other, then read a YA novel and don’t read mine. Apparent distinctions of “bad” or “good” make for an uninspired and uninteresting story. The most fascinating books are more complex than this and explore the issue with subtlety and grace. I’m not saying that the theme of good vs evil should be abolished, since each of us are involved in the “invisible war” and can relate: the theme should be buried underneath layers so it’s not blatantly obvious. Give the “bad guy” some white and make him a little gray. Take the hero and give him some dark to balance things out. These touches will make your characters more relatable, thereby strongly connecting readers to your work. Your art will become memorable.

Shallow characters and stories that hold no weight. There’s no excuse for this if you write in this genre. Anything you want to include in your world you can include. No excuse not to develop your world and those who populate your stories so that they breathe. No excuse not to have plenty of tension and drama in your stories.

Epic series that go for ten volumes or longer. These put me into a deep sleep as the tension gradually oozes out of the series. Seems like the trend is that the middle of the series will wander for a few books before picking back up at the very end for the grand finale. A cash grab. That’s what it is. And I’m not sure that it’s the author herself necessarily making the decision to do this. If novelists insist on writing a prolonged series, they should separate the books into separate “mini-series’” within the overall series so at least a part of the story can be resolved before I jump off the wagon. Or, so I can jump back on whenever I want instead of being stuck having to slog through each novel in order to attain resolution.

Thousand-page novels. (See above: similar complaint here). Halfway through, these books often meander and become boring before picking up again. In my old age of thirty-five and with my tired brain, I have a tough time getting through any book, so I really can’t stomach another one of these lengthy beasts. The temptation for writers is to include everything—every scrap of detail, every scene. Please don’t. The delete key on your keyboard has a purpose. Please use it and save us all the tedium of plodding through these piles of word monstrosities.

Fantasy cliches on book covers. No offense to indie authors, but if I see another one of your covers featuring a dragon, an elf, a fairy, a princess, a fairy elf princess, a big sword, a little sword, a medium sword, a big fat little medium sword, or a freakin’ castle, I’m going to scream your friggin’ head off. We’re trying to do 2014 fantasy here, not the 1970’s psychedelic version of merry fairies dancing in brightly lit forests with floppy-hat wearing gnomes.

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What are your fantasy likes or dislikes? Do you agree with me or disagree? Feel free to add your comments below.

Stay tuned for part 2 where I will discuss my plans for the Marcuria series.