The Fantasy Novelist's Exam

[khaosworks]

"Ever since J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis created the worlds of Middle Earth and Narnia, it seems like every windbag off the street thinks he can write great, original fantasy, too. The problem is that most of this "great, original fantasy" is actually poor, derivative fantasy. Frankly, we're sick of it, so we've compiled a list of rip-off tip-offs in the form of an exam. We think anybody considering writing a fantasy novel should be required to take this exam first. Answering "yes" to any one question results in failure and means that the prospective novel should be abandoned at once."

Don't necessarily agree with all of its no-nos, but amusing nonetheless.

Comments

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Mm. I don't think I'll click through. Anything whose stated purpose is to block someone's creativity, however poor that creativity may appear to be in someone else's eyes, kind of turns me off.

[khaosworks.livejournal.com]

I think it's less of "blocking" than a tongue-in-cheek way of pointing out the cliches inherent in much of fantasy writing.

[zanda-myrande.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I have a sense of humour failure in this area. I shouldn't have commented. Please ignore me.

[aunty_marion]

I think I'm with smallship1 on this, actually. OK to point out cliches, but not to present it as a firm rule. ALL fantasy writing is derivative when you check far enough, even Tolkien. And for me, that's part of the fun of it.

[pbristow.livejournal.com]

If they replaced the word "abandoned" in the final line of that intro with "re-worked", it might go over better. As a check-list of traps to avoid falling into, it's not bad. (I found the linked info on swords quite enlightening.) It could save a lot of people the embarrassment and heartbreak of having an editor tell them these things *after* they've put a lot of work into a doomed novel.