Writing Tips: Part 1: Section C

Writing Tips
Part one: Genres
Section C: Fantasy
Fantasy is my second favorite genre, and one I read, watch, and write.
Fantasy, typically, is filled with magic, the supernatural, and unscientific things that really couldn't happen.
Fantasy, like Science Fiction, can be split up into many sub-genres, such as- Dark Fantasy, Epic/High Fantasy, Low Fantasy, Mythic, and Sword and Sorcery.
Dark Fantasy is a sub-genre of Fantasy that has elements of horror in it.
Dark Fantasy stories tend to have darker, grittier, themes and will sometimes include monsters like vampires, werewolves, or mummies. Dark Fantasy authors include- Neil Gaiman, Charles L. Grant, Gertrude Barrows Bennett, H.P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt
Epic or High Fantasy is one of the more popular sub-genres of Fantasy and contains a lot of the most famous fantasy works. Epic of High Fantasy is a story that takes place in a separate or different world, whether its entirely separate, someone goes through a portal to get to it, or its within our world. The stories told are often serious and deal with an epic struggle between the forces of good and evil and revolves around one hero who must save the world. The characters in these stories are typically reluctant to do their duty but do it because they feel they must.
Many famous stories in these genre include - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter series, The Chronicles of Narnia, His Dark Materials trilogy, Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and Alice in Wonderland.
Low Fantasy, is when the story takes place predominately in our world where impossible things happen instead of a secondary world that doesn't exist.
Some Low Fantasy stories consist of - The Dark is Rising, The Borrowers, Pippi Longstocking, The Snow Spider, The Indian in the Cupboard, and Tuck Everlasting.
Mythic is actually another word for mythology, which is a story created by different cultures all over the world, such as Greek and Egyptian Mythology. In recent times there have been books published that tie into mythology such as the Percy Jackson series, The Red Pyramid, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, and The Lost Olympian.
Sword and Sorcery Fantasy is a genre, which typically is about an adventure seeking hero who engages in dangerous and exciting conflicts. Unlike High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery Fantasy focuses more on personal matters than worldly conflicts.
Writers of this genre are - Clark Ashton Smith, C.L. Moore, Fritz Leiber, and Charles Saunders.
Fantasy is definitely a favorite genre of mine and I hope that this short introduction to Fantasy helps you if this is a genre you wish to pursue.
Until next time!
:)