One Hundred Fantasy Clichés That Really Need To Rest In Peace

#37: Too Much Information Too Fast

As said before in the opening of this editorial, fantasy is the flawed yet very flexible genre of books. A lot of people tend to not take too much risk when writing a fantasy novel and will resort most of the time to just another supernatural themed romance. There are the few though that take the risks related to the genre and run free with their imagination. These few are the ones with more recognition and better critical reviews. Why read the Twilight-inspired book Beautiful Creatures when there is the imagination fueled book Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban on the opposite shelf?  Imagination is a beautiful element of the fantasy genre.  It gives new writers like me plenty of space to express themselves freely.

  But with that imagination can sometimes come a challenge.  For many novels, just getting past the first twenty pages is difficult.  Fantasy has this issue of over-saturating the reader with too much complexity too soon into the novel.  At page five, you are basically expected to take a test you have not even studied for.  Many writers expect you to know the material they have created in the story to be understandable right away.  That does not work though when the reader has no previous knowledge of what a Jackalope is or how the Minotaur's Labyrinth is structured.  Detail is great but not in too huge amounts.  It is best to introduce concepts to the reader slowly so eventually previously foreign subjects to them are just as understandable to them.

  The two series that best express the idea of introducing imaginative material at a smooth pace are in my head Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  Very imaginative stories on their own, they introduce the subjects of wizardry and Ancient Greece to the audience in a casual manner.  The Harry Potter series does this by hinting and then showing the wild magic the readers are going to be introduced to each book.  Percy Jackson and the Olympians decides to make us have as little knowledge as the titular character on Ancient Greece in the beginning of the book but have both parties slowly gain the information through the plot.  Both techniques work very effectively to enthrall audiences to the beautiful fantasy settings each series creates.

  To be successful, see every single story you may want to write as a metaphorical business presentation.  Organize the details so anyone can get whatever subject matter you may mention inside of your story.  They should finish each chapter feeling satisfied and free of confusion.  If they react this way, your imaginative novel is on the right track.  After all, the audience is the one who has to be convinced that your foreign concept manner is worth reading.  Their say is what will keep your story truly afloat in the oceans of books around them.