A Novel On Magic And Mystery? Here Is All That You Need To Consider While Writing

Novels are hard to write. Even if you’re writing in an established genre like fantasy, making your book stand out from the crowd can be quite tricky.

To make writing your next fantasy novel easier, you should break down the process into different parts. These parts will eventually come together and become something better as a whole.

Fantasy is one of the most popular genres out there these days. Authors like Brandon Sanderson, Neil Gaiman, and NK Jemisin are continually pushing the envelope on what it means to write fantasy.

Here are five factors that you need to consider when writing a novel on mystery and magic.

World-building 

What sets fantasy novels apart from every other genre is the amount of effort you need to put into worldbuilding; a fantasy novel, by definition, is set in an alternate reality. It is on you to decide what that reality looks like and immerse your readers in a journey that takes them very far from home.

The worldbuilding aspect of a fantasy novel is crucial. You need to build a distinct world. Distinct from our reality as well as from all the other fantasy worlds out there.

At the same time, you need to ensure that the world has its internal logic.

Once you have established the rules of this world, you cannot break it for any reason. The cost of breaking your own rules can be relatively high in fantasy worldbuilding.

The best way to approach worldbuilding in your novel is to plan it out beforehand. Do not try to make up your world as you go long. This might lead to gaping plot holes and inconsistencies as you progress with your world.

Even if you can’t plan it out entirely initially, you should try to at least get most of it down before you put pen to paper. You can also use novel writing software to help you with your worldbuilding.

Some of the aspects of worldbuilding that you should consider beforehand are magic systems, magical creatures, environment, politics, religion, and so on.

Characters 

What will bring readers back to your story again and again are the characters? The characters breathe life into your story. Have you ever read a good story in which you didn’t like the main character and weren’t sympathetic to their mission?

You need to build life-like characters that your readers can relate to. They should be able to identify these characters as real people in their own lives.

To achieve this, you need to give your characters certain traits that they do not share with any other character in the book. If you can make these traits memorable for the reader, then that’s even better.

Instead of just concentrating on your main character, you should try to concentrate on every character in your book.

The best way to make characters is to borrow these traits from interesting people you know in real life. Give them your unique spin to make them even more compelling. To make your characters seem more believable, give them a backstory that informs their present. You can put down their backstory in the novel or just keep it for yourself as a reference.

Modern fantasy wants its characters to be complex and have their motivations and agendas. When there are lots of unpredictable moving pieces on the board, that’s when things get interesting.

Plot 

The plot of your fantasy novel is what will keep the pages turning. A fantasy novel can have a single plotline or multiple plotlines that converge in the end.

Most fantasy readers love a good plot. They want to read a story that will blow their mind. And making a compelling plot with a satisfying conclusion is your way to do that. Look at all the biggest fantasy series that has ever been written. They all have a fantastic plot at their core.

Writing a compelling plot is much more challenging than it sounds. The plot needs to be consistent with both the worldbuilding and your characters. This means that if you’ve made a world in which magic exists, you cannot have a plot in which magic does not play any role.

The best way to ensure that your novel has a good plot is to plan your plot ahead of time. You should know the exact plot developments that are going to occur from chapter to chapter in your novel before you put pen to paper.

You can use the best book writing app to help you plan your plot.

View Point

The point of view is the perspective from which you are going to tell your story. There are three main types of POV used in novels. These are the first-person, third person (multiple), and third person (omniscient).

The first-person perspective is the most commonly used in novels. However, they are less common in fantasy stories. This is because fantasy novels usually have more than one main character.

The third person (multiple) and third person (omniscient) are harder to choose between, and it can get quite challenging to tell the difference between them.

Essentially, when you’re telling a story from an omniscient POV, the narrator (you) is a God who knows everything about the story world.

Whereas, when you’re telling a story from a third person (multiple) POV, you tell the story from different character perspectives in your story.

Theme 

The theme of a novel is usually slightly overlooked but still an important aspect. The theme of your novel would be the larger issues or questions that your story deals with.

For example, revenge is a common theme in thrillers. In fantasy, themes like “good versus evil” are quite common.

The theme of your novel will help you set the tone and voice of your novel. The lasting impression that your novel will give the reader will depend on the theme.

A book dealing with a more serious theme will need to be written for adults, whereas children’s books generally deal with lighter themes.

Conclusion

These are the most elements of a novel. You should think about each of them before starting to write down the first chapter.

However, if you’re having trouble with any one or more of these aspects, do not worry. Most authors don’t have it all figured out until the final draft.