SIMON SAYS – The Fantasy Realm
August 19, 2009 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says
Magical realms have had a place in folklore and legends in cultures around the globe for thousands of years and play a major role in fantasy literature. Sometimes, these are the author’s own wonderfully detailed imagined worlds, complete with a form of government, architecture, currency, natural features, history, myths and legends, flora, fauna and traditions.
Middle Earth and Narnia are two of the best known examples, but there are countless others. And even within these enchanted realms there are other special places, too – areas where magical forces or auras are strongest or where special rituals have to be performed for spells or curses to work properly. Parts of the kingdom where only fairies can go, rivers only certain people can cross, the lake where Arthur first receives Excalibur, enchanted woods, mystical mountains, forbidden forests, caves where monsters or demons dwell and so many more. These fantastic universes are nothing like the real world in which we live, yet still have to be realistic.
An author’s own invented fantasy universe in which magic is commonplace can be inspired by non-fictional beliefs and deeply rooted in the history of mankind’s many cultures. However, even if based on real practices, the effect, strength and rules of the magic are usually what the writer requires for the plot of his or her story. And yet, magic should never be used when it is merely convenient for the writer, to simply solve a tricky problem in the plot or to save the hero’s life. Otherwise, the use of it will lose all credibility.
SIMON SAYS – This Week’s Tip for Children’s Writers!
March 11, 2009 by Writing for Children
Filed under Simon Says
I have featured time travel in three of my books to date, and I have the children encountering considerable obstacles once they are seemingly trapped in the past. A lot of time travel stories for middle grade readers don’t do this. At the beginning, the character may find an old locket or another piece of jewelry, for example, open it and go back to the past. While there, they perhaps meet one of their heroes from history, act in a play by Shakespeare, witness an event like the signing of the Declaration of Independence, watch a major battle, observe da Vinci paint the Mona Lisa or view a royal coronation, but they are never in jeopardy and come home in time for dinner, miraculously without their parents realizing they have been missing.
I always like to think of time travel tales as where, by accident, someone is sent into the past, where the device or machine is broken, runs out of power or is stolen by the villains, leaving the reader in suspense, wondering if the heroes will get home safely.
Although the reader may believe its likely the heroes will escape, the implication that they may have to stay in the past, or even be seriously hurt, has to be there. The kids also have to solve the problem, as I mentioned last week. If an adult is with them, you have a person who has more knowledge, can drive a car, have access to money and so on, so they could easily take care of everything. If parents have to be involved at all in the adventure, they should be removed early on, so that the children have to find a solution to the obstacles they face very much on their own.
