FANTASY WRITING

Every tale starts with a spark. In this opening class, you’ll meet your instructor and fellow writers, uncover the influences that shaped your love for fantasy, and warm up your imagination with the stories and tropes that live closest to your heart. Together, we set the foundation for the world you’re about to create.

• Meet your instructor
• Syllabus breakdown
• Assignments overview
• Icebreaker exercise: Discussion of favorite tropes and novels/series 

Fantasy holds many worlds and one of them belongs to you. This session helps you explore major subgenres, identify where your voice feels most at home, and shape the early vision of the story you want to tell. You’ll learn to pitch your idea clearly and recognize the type of fantasy that fuels your creativity.

• Genres & subgenres
• Finding your niche and passion 
• Workshop: In pairs, discuss story ideas, explaining what subgenre it fits into and why. 

Behind every great fantasy lies a powerful premise. This lesson guides you through shaping that idea into a clear theme, compelling conflict, and stakes that truly matter. You’ll study how authors anchor extraordinary worlds in universal human questions — and build the foundation of your own tale.

• Central themes and messages
• Developing a strong, unique story premise
• Case Studies: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien & Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree 
• Workshop: In small groups, present your story premise. Ask clarifying questions and suggest ways to make the premise stronger, or more compelling. 

A fantasy world must feel alive… layered, vast, and shaped by forces older than your characters. In this lesson, you'll learn how to craft continents, histories, and cultures that feel lived-in. We’ll explore how maps guide narrative, how societies gain their depth, and how unique peoples and traditions turn a setting into a world readers long to return to.

• Unique lands, geographies, & cosmologies
• Maps and their role in storytelling
• Case Studies: The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
• Believable cultures, governments, & social structures
• Unique fantasy races and species

Assignment #1: Develop a one-page premise summary for your story. It should include your protagonist, their goal, the central conflict, and the stakes. This will be the foundation for your final outline.

Magic is the heartbeat of many fantasy stories — but it needs rules, purpose, and consequences. This session helps you build a magic system that enhances your world rather than overpowering it. You’ll look at hard and soft systems, explore limitations that create tension, and discover how magic shapes culture, power, and everyday life.

• Hard vs. soft magic systems
• Case Studies: Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, The Earthsea Cycle by Ursula K. Le Guin 
• Rules, limitations, & costs of magic
• Magic impact on the world and its people

Characters are the beating heart of any fantasy tale. Learn how to craft heroes, villains, and everyone in between — shaped by their pasts, driven by their flaws, and transformed by the trials ahead. Explore archetypes, motivations, and the delicate dance between what a character wants and what they truly need.

• Backstories, motivations, & character arcs
• Protagonist vs antagonist vs side characters
• Classic archetypes
• Flawed heroes & relatable villains 
• Case Studies: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang 
• Workshop: In groups, take turns being a character from your story. The rest of the group will act as journalists or fellow characters, interviewing you to uncover your backstory, motivations, and hidden flaws. 

Assignment #2: Create an in-depth character profile for your main protagonist. Include their backstory, core flaw, motivations, and a brief description of their character arc.

Dialogue reveals character, deepens tension, and quietly turns the gears of your plot. This session helps you craft conversations with distinct voices, layered meaning, and subtext that breathes beneath the surface.

• Writing natural, compelling dialogue.
• Using dialogue to reveal character and advance the plot

A great fantasy scene doesn’t just describe — it immerses. In this class, you’ll learn how to evoke mood and atmosphere through sensory detail, vivid imagery, and poetic restraint. Your worlds will gain color, texture, and emotion your readers can feel with every step.

• Sensory details
• Mood & tone
• Metaphors, similes & descriptions

Assignment #3: Create a list of sensory details (sights, sounds, smells, etc.) for three key locations in your story. 

Conflict drives the plot forward. This session teaches you to weave internal struggles with external threats, escalate tension with purpose, and keep your audience gripped as the world closes in.

• Internal vs. external conflict
• Case Studies: The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb 
• Raising the stakes to keep the reader engaged
• Workshop: In groups, take a simple, low-stakes conflict and, one by one, add an element that raises the stakes. 

The right narrator transforms a story. Explore the strengths of first, third, and omniscient perspectives, and discover how voice shapes tone, intimacy, and reader connection. You’ll learn to choose — and command — the narrative lens that best serves your tale.

• First person, third person, & omniscient points of view
• Case Studies: All Systems Red by Martha Wells, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Choosing the right narrator
• Workshop: Using an instructor-provided short paragraph, rewrite the paragraph in three different narrative voices.

Plot is the architecture of your tale — the structure that carries emotion, magic, and character transformation. This class guides you through shaping a three-act structure, pacing your revelations, and crafting an opening chapter that grips both readers and agents from the very first line.

• Plotting approaches
• Three-act structure & key plot points
• Controlling the speed and flow of your narrative
• Creating a compelling first chapter
• Building suspense & maintaining reader interest

Great world-building enriches a story without slowing it. This session teaches you how to reveal history, lore, and culture through character, atmosphere, and subtle detail — avoiding heavy exposition while deepening the sense of a world that existed long before chapter one.

• Weaving lore and history 
• Case Studies: Daughter of Redwinter by Ed McDonald, Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 
• Workshop: In groups, take a major historical event for a shared fantasy world and individually write short scenes that explore a different aspect of that event’s impact. 

Assignment #4: Write a full synopsis of your book's plot from beginning to end, including all the major plot points and the ending. This is a crucial component of your final project

Editing is where a good story becomes an unforgettable one. Learn revision techniques that refine voice, strengthen structure, and sharpen prose. You’ll discover how to evaluate feedback, trust your instincts, and polish your writing with clarity and intention.

• Editing & rewriting
• Self-editing techniques and checklists
• Working with editors 
• Workshop: Students bring a specific piece of their writing that needs revision. With a provided checklist, review each other’s work and provide specific, actionable feedback. 

Once your manuscript is ready, its next journey begins. This session introduces you to the worlds of traditional and self-publishing, guiding you through query letters, synopses, agents, and the editorial process. You'll learn how to present your story — and yourself — with confidence.

• Traditional vs. self-publishing
• Query letter & synopsis
• Finding an agent
• Covering letter
• The editorial process
• Workshop: Take 3 minutes to pitch your book to your group, who will act as a “panel of guests”. The panel will then provide quick, actionable feedback on the pitch. 

Final Assignment: Write a full synopsis of your book's plot from beginning to end, including all the major plot points and the ending. 

A writing career is shaped not only by craft, but by presence, community, and persistence. Learn how to develop your author identity, create samples, build a portfolio, and navigate the wider world of writing networks, events, and guilds.

• Developing a professional portfolio 
• Sample development
• Networking and community
• Attending events, panels and public speaking
• Unions and guilds 
• Workshop: Divide into groups and help each other brainstorm a personal author “brand” and develop ideas for a professional author bio, social media presence, and potential writing/blog topics.