M. Lori Motley

Fantasy fiction is one of the most popular speculative genres available. Store bookshelves, movie marquees and Internet fiction sites are full of tales of magic and surrealism. When learning how to write fantasy fiction many people start with the old standbys of Tolkien-esque and Dungeons & Dragons lore. If you find yourself reaching for the monster manual in order to come up with characters for your fantasy fiction, it is time to pour some figurative gasoline on your brain and set it alight.

I’ve come across multiple sites on the Internet to tell you what the worst clichés of fantasy fiction are. If you were wondering what are some fantasy characters you should never write about, you might like to start with one of these lists. However, once reading a few of these lists you come to realize that they contradict each other and, in fact, it would be nearly impossible to write any fantasy fiction without using some of the supposedly chaise listed within. For example, one list mentions you should never use elves, dwarves or wizards. Another list states you should avoid writing about humans. Read the rest of this entry »