I love fantasy.   I grew up reading books by Mercedes Lackey, Robert Jordan, Tokien, Neil Gaiman, Tamora Pierce, and the list keeps going on.   I watched every movie or television show that came on that had a fantasy setting, and stayed glued to it if the storytelling lived up to my hopes.  Whether it’s sword and sorcery or romance or urban fantasy, I’ll try it.  That’s probably the reason that it’s my favorite genre to write in.  Sure, I love to get into mystery or science fiction as well, but fantasy will always be my first love.

So, when Chuck Wendig posted on his blog, Terrible Minds, about 25 Things You Should Know About Writing Fantasy, I had to take a look to see what made the list.  It’s a rather thorough list from someone who claims not to write fantasy.  If you are a hardcore fantasy fan like me, or an aspiring fantasy writer, then you should definitely hop over and read the full list.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Okay, now that you’ve read the list (or not, I won’t judge), I want to touch on one of the points that I think is the most important:

4. BREAK REALITY WITH YOUR MAGIC HAMMER, REARRANGE THE RESULTANT SHARDS

Reality also offers up awesomeness in the form of data. You may think, “Well, I can’t research a fantasy world because it doesn’t exist, dummy” but again — root fantasy in the real. Look to actual events. Look to history. Look to culture and religion. Mine truth for fiction. Some cultures (Asian in particular) have a practice where friends and family and villagers help pay for each other’s funerals. Right there, you can take that, tweak it, use it. Drama lives there. What if the village won’t pay for someone’s funeral? Why? What’s the stigma? Why the exile? Adherence to dark magic? Broken oath? Cranky centaur bastard child?

YES! In college and graduate school I loved studying other languages and cultures.  No, this wasn’t just because I’m a geek.  It was because it gave me ideas.  Ideas that had the potential to become stories.  Anthropology is great for aspiring writers because it not only exposes you to other cultures, but it explains the hows and whys of human behavior.  Why did the Aztec and the Mayans build their cities the way they did?  What were their temples like?  What kind of adventures could a young warrior have?

As Wendig points out, a large body of fantasy literature is based on the society of Medieval Europe.  The social hierarchies, mundane troubles, and land disputes that are classic points in fantasy are borrowed straight from reality, and not just in historical fiction novels.  But, that doesn’t mean that your story has to be based in Europe.  What about borrowing a culture from Asia or South America?  What about going further back in time to the Greeks and Romans or setting your story in a tribal society?  What about blending two or more of these cultures or using both?  What happens when the two come into conflict?

I love to write about cultural contact.  It provides great opportunities for character interaction, comedy, drama and, of course, conflict.  I’m not alone in this either.  If you’re familiar with the Wheel of Time series by the late Robert Jordan, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.  (And he also provides a great example of borrowing from other cultures with the Seanchan and the Aiel.)  Epic fantasy is full of wars and battles between two opposing countries and their cultures.

So, the next time you sit down to read a fantasy book, take a moment to think about where the author may have gotten inspiration for the culture, and where you can get the same inspiration for your writing.