Writing Fiction *IN* a Fantasy World.

Salafan

Hello all! Got a bit of a question for you, something I've always wondered about, and given how my character is progressing, I figured I'd seek some opinions. 

What do fiction authors who live in fantasy universes... write about? Their world is already so fantastical, how do they make it more fantastic? 

Thoughts?

Jurixe

It's perhaps worth going to the Bardic section on the site - on mobile so a bit difficult to link for me at the moment, sorry - to see how other authors do it. Otherwise, just as you can create fiction in real life, you can do so in  a fantasy setting if you have the imagination. I'm not sure if you're talking about general fiction or fantasy fiction - the latter may require a more in depth understanding of the Achaean world so that you know what exists, what doesn't, what already works and what might be cool if done some other way. 

I tend to find it easiest, for me, to write about events that have happened to my character as well as to build off already existing descriptions and put my own twist on them. For instance, if you send a letter in Mhaldor, you only get a two-line thing which says the succubus behind the desk throws the letter at a gremlin, which disappears in a puff of smoke. I built off that and the described chaos of the surroundings to write a paragraph or three where the gremlins tried to rebel and the succubus unleashed her power to get them back in line. A lot of the foundation is already present, leaving you free to craft your stories without having to build the lore and setting for it, which majorly appeals to me.

Not sure if this is what you wanted to know but hope it helps - always willing to answer questions in PMs otherwise.

Trevize

Unknown planes.

Undiscovered continents.

Imagine the past or future.

Alternate timelines.

Shirszae

Much like Jurixe, I enjoy expanding on what is already present.  There's a lot of stuff you could make your own, so to speak. The workings of abilities, places, classes, even cities, both those run by players as well as those run by denizens.  Things that are only ever hinted at in the game itself, but that can be incredibly rewarding to expand, and quite enjoyable to read about.

Tael

I think it's relatively infrequent for people to write in-fiction fiction because in-fiction "nonfiction" is still basically fiction.

To the extent that things are fictionalised, think more Shakespeare's historical plays and less Lord of the Rings. Not a nonfiction account of history, but something more like a larger-than-life, not-quite-accurate story or play with, say, Otha as the main character - so there's a connection to a character, and you'll have to do a tiny bit of research, but it's still mostly "fiction".

Basically, the sort of thing that comes with a "Based on real events." disclaimer, with the same level of accuracy that implies in real life.

The other sources of in-fiction fiction tend to be parables - short stories intended to illustrate some moral or precept, usually presented as an explicitly didactic text. I know Mhaldor has quite a few of these floating around, the Chaos faction at least used to, and I remember at least a few from Shallam - not sure whether it remains a popular form outside of Mhaldor anymore though.

Anedhel

A lot of the fiction Anedhel's written is hitorical, or semi-historical; myth and allegory seem to be a good way to explore a fantasy world from an IC-perspective.

Similarly, a good hero-and-villain story never goes amiss, even in a high-fantasy world: stories of derring-do, specially in a knight-and-maiden format, seem to fit in pretty well.

Aspirations and sensibilities seem to endure, even when and where people are very different, and you can find common ground in the literature of all the Cities/Orders (I can't speak too well for some of them, but I -suspect-, even in their unique way, there's at least one great hero among every order) that reflects the tastes people have for the romantic genre IRL.

Aerek

Fiction, when not for purposes of allegory or commentary,  is what people write to escape the realities of life. As such, Achaean fiction would probably go something like "Dave woke up and went to the fields, and worked the fields all day. No monsters came to eat him. No adventurers stabbed him to take his lunch money. At sunset, he went back to his wife and children who were also not slain for questionable reasons, and looked forward to the next day."

There's some Achaean fiction for you.

Trey

Take a note from the Elder Scrolls series and adapt this to write the Lusty Xorani Maid.

Bluef

Erotic Achaean literature is the prevalent form of fiction in our fantasy realm! I'm joking a bit, but really... Yeah. I also once wrote a collection of erotic stories about Caer Witrin's residents to get out of an enemying to the village. It was one of the more entertaining things I've written in/for/about Achaea!

A lot of the lore surrounding housing servants of the various organization I'm a part of would probably qualify for fiction in a fantasy realm as well (no, it's not erotic). The Daughters of Sacrifice all draft tribal histories as well, which are supposedly historic but are definitely an exercise in creative writing. The Dreams shared by many of the Order of Valnurana might be considered fiction too if we're using the definition that fiction is something people use to escape reality. 

Just a few examples I thought of off the top of my head....

Arahaelon

Sci-fi

Sarapis

Arahaelon said:

Sci-fi

Shhh. The first rule of having insider knowledge is not to spread it around. People shouldn't know about the upcoming introduction of space chariots and laser swords until we're ready to announce them.