Tips to Improve Your Storytelling in Fantasy Writing

Fantasy writing is one of the most exciting genres because it allows us to invent entire worlds, characters, and histories! But the true challenge isn’t just in establishing dragons, castles, or ancient spells. It’s in telling a story that feels real and authentic despite its impossible elements. The best fantasy operates on two levels: the epic scale of the impossible and the intimate scale of the human.

Here are a few practical tips we compiled to help inspire your fantasy storytelling!

1. Build a World That Feels Lived-In: Micro-Details and Texture

A good fantasy world isn't just about maps and grand kingdoms; it’s about texture. It’s the small, mundane details that transform a setting into a "lived-in" reality, making it feel like a place where people truly exist.

• Everyday Life and Economy: What do people actually eat? How do they earn a living outside of the grand plot? If they live near a swamp, do they fish, or do they rely on magical swamp plants? Do the peasants use a currency based on gold, or do they rely on bartering salt for wool? Details about diet, commerce, and architecture are the anchors of authenticity.

• The Power of Small Traditions: Focus on cultural minutiae like a specific superstition, a unique celebration surrounding the harvest, or a prayer said only before a long journey. These details establish a distinct cultural identity for each region, preventing all your kingdoms from feeling interchangeable.

• Defining Social Contrasts: The world feels real when you understand the disparity between its inhabitants. What are the material differences between the lives of nomads, urban peasants, and the nobility? The clothing, the dialect, and the food consumed by a courtier should be vastly different from that of a village farmer. This contrast creates believable internal conflicts and adds socio-political depth.

2. Ground the Magic in Rules: The Internal Logic

Magic is exciting, but it works best when it adheres to a structured system with clear rules and limits. This system, often called the "internal logic," ensures that magic doesn't become a convenient plot device that solves all problems (often referred to as a "Deus Ex Machina").

• Establish the Cost: The most effective magic systems demand a price. Ask yourself: What does the magic cost the user? Is it physical exhaustion, a sacrifice of memory, a life-force debt, or a rare material component? A cost makes the decision to use magic a meaningful sacrifice.

• Define the Limitations: Who can use it (lineage, training, innate ability)? What are its limits (can it revive the dead, or only manipulate water)? Can it fail, and what happens when it does? When magic feels structured and finite, your story feels more believable and your conflicts, where magic can fail or run out, become far more intense.

• Hard vs. Soft Magic: Decide if your system is Hard or Soft (like The Lord of the Rings, where magic is mysterious and atmospheric). Even soft magic needs consistent rules about its effects and scarcity.

3. Give Your Characters Clear Motivations: The "Why" Over the "What"

The most memorable heroes and villains aren’t defined by their powers or their weapons, but by why they fight. Their motivations must be personal, relatable, and human, even if they operate on an epic scale.

• The Hero’s Personal Stakes: A hero isn’t compelling because they swing a magical sword; they are compelling because they fight to protect a loved one, reclaim a lost honour, or defeat a personal demon. The external goal (e.g., saving the kingdom) must be driven by an internal, personal need.

• The Villain’s Belief: A villain isn’t scary simply because they are "evil," but because they fundamentally believe their own twisted cause is just, logical, or necessary. A villain motivated by grief, revenge, or a genuine desire to create a "better" but brutal world is far more terrifying than a villain who wants power for its own sake.

Make motivation personal and believable to ensure your readers care deeply about the outcome of the struggle.

4. Create Names That Fit the World: Anchoring Identity

Names are a primary component of storytelling. They carry culture, history, and personality, immediately signalling a character’s role and origin within the fantasy world.

• Phonetic Signals: Use the sound of the name to signal alignment. Harsh, short names (e.g., Drok, Varg) work well for warriors or characters from rugged, mountainous regions. Elegant, flowing names (e.g., Elara, Seraphiel) suit magical, noble, or high-elven characters.

• Linguistic Consistency: Adopt a naming convention based on real-world historical languages (e.g., Norse, Gaelic, Latin). Historical-inspired names (e.g., Isolde, Godfrey) add depth to kingdoms or dynasties, making them feel rooted in time. A kingdom based on Latin roots should not have characters with Viking names.

• Theme and Archetype: Ensure the name's theme matches the character's purpose. A name found using filters like Mysticism, Darkness, or War will match your world’s tone far better than a name chosen at random.

5. Balance Epic with Personal: The Scale of Human Emotion

Big battles, ancient prophecies, and world-ending threats are staples of fantasy, but they only matter if the reader is invested in the people involved. Don’t forget the small, intimate, human moments.

• The Quiet Moments: Inject brief, authentic human moments into the narrative: a weary knight laughing around a campfire, a powerful mage struggling with homesickness or a mundane task, or a calculating thief who secretly sketches the stars.

• The Emotional Anchor: These moments function as emotional anchors, reminding the reader that the characters risking their lives are vulnerable, flawed individuals. This makes the epic stakes feel human and increases the emotional payoff when a major victory or defeat occurs. The fate of the world is abstract; the hope of returning home is real.

6. Use Conflict Beyond Combat: The Layers of Struggle

Conflict isn’t just fighting dragons or wielding swords. The deepest, most believable stories use multiple layers of conflict operating simultaneously.

• Man vs. Society/Man vs. Man: Use political intrigue between noble houses, complex clashes of belief between two allies, or moral disagreements between a general and a king. These conflicts, based on ideals, power, or loyalty, add complexity that combat cannot achieve alone.

• Man vs. Self: The most powerful conflict is often internal: a moral choice that costs your hero dearly, a struggle with self-doubt, or the difficulty of resisting temptation. Combining a large-scale external threat with a difficult internal choice makes for truly compelling drama.

Mixing different types of conflict, internal, interpersonal, and epic, makes your story richer and more sophisticated.

7. Keep Readers Curious: The Art of the Mystery Thread

The best fantasy stories are not just about what is revealed, but about what is held back. Curiosity is the engine that keeps pages turning.

• Planting Seeds: Plant mysteries early and reveal them gradually. Tease the reader with unanswered questions: What’s behind that sealed gate? Why does the Queen never leave her tower? What secret lies in the hero’s bloodline?

• The Iceberg Principle: Only show the reader the "tip of the iceberg." Keep 90% of your world-building and backstory in your notes. Only deploy the information when it is vital, ensuring that your world always feels like it has hidden depths yet to be explored.

Curiosity makes the reading experience interactive, forcing the reader to constantly hypothesize and invest in finding the answers.

Conclusion

Improving your fantasy storytelling is all about balance: a world that feels alive, characters with strong motivations, and names, conflicts, and mysteries that make everything unforgettable.

Start small, focus on details, and let your imagination expand one story at a time!