Food & Fantasy

I love food. Cranberry scones, lemon sorbet, apple pie, Japanese hiyashi-chuka noodles, fresh-baked bread, thin crust pizza...food can be so delicious and amazing!

Then again, sometimes it's more weird than wonderful--bird's nests, shark fin soup, grubs, fried crickets, and more. As fantasy writers and readers, we can be alert to using all of the mighty powers of food for many different purposes.

That's what today's blog post is about: food and fantasy.

1. Everyday-subsistence food
Your story may be a fantasy, but your characters do need to eat. (Unless they are some sort of non-eating-elemental-beings, in which case they probably need energy like moonbeams rather than food.)

Think carefully about what the ordinary people in your story eat on a daily basis. Do they have wheat and corn and potatoes, as in our world? Is there a ready supply of meat? Or are they vegetarians (like me)? Are there any types of daily foods that are unique to your world--special fruits, for example, or maybe a type of vegetable that your main character hates?

If your characters travel over the course of your story, be sure to have them sample different cuisines along the way. There's no better way to add realism to your story than by describing the different sorts of foods your characters encounter along the way!

A few words of warning: while food is an interesting detail that adds texture to your story, don't let it be unnecessarily prominent. Don't just mention food for the sake of mentioning food. Whenever you mention food, make it part of the conflict: the main character doesn't want to offend her host, but she hates eating zinzer roots; some village children are falling sick because of malnutrition; your crew of hearty sailors have scurvy or are running short of food. You get the picture. Make food interesting, important, and maybe dangerous.

2. Special-occasion food
In our world, food is so often tied to celebrations. Think of Thanksgiving dinner. What would it be without turkey and cranberry sauce and stuffing? Then there's Easter, which is practically synonymous with eggs. Or what about Chinese New Year--you have your springrolls, your pineapple tarts, your lo hei/yusheng. Food is an inescapable part of celebrating.

So in your fantasy world, when you have celebrations of the new year or for a coronation or for the king's birthday or for the Harvest Festival, be sure to concoct some special and essential foods to celebrate.

3. Food with special properties
Think of all the examples: Snow White's poisoned apple. The elves' lembas bread from Lord of the Rings. The Weasley twins' nosebleed nougats and canary creams from Harry Potter. We're writing fantasy stories, so we really can let our imagination run wild with our foods. Make your foods poisonous, deceiving to the eye (maybe it looks like sugar and tastes like coal), bestow strength on the eater, make the eater turn into a canary, make the eater invisible...the possibilities are endless.

If you're really interested in the possibilities of magical food in fantasy, study J.K. Rowling's use of candies and foods in Harry Potter. Food is one of the many things that makes Rowling's stories come to life in readers' heads.


A note on presentation: in some cultures, like Japan, the arrangement of the food is crucial. The food is meant not just to be useful but to be beautiful. The colors are chosen to create harmony on the plate; the foods are arranged in special shapes and positions. In such cultures, food can be an art form in and of itself. You could write an entire book about a girl determined to succeed as a food artist but prevented by the traditional heirarchy of her fantasy world. My point here is, don't just think about food as a detail or sustenance for your character. Make the food and the presentation of the food woven seamlessly into the fabric of your fantasy culture.


All this talk about food is making me hungry! Good thing it's almost lunchtime. Let me know if you've made up any foods for your fantasy world, or if you have any cool examples to share of uses of food in the stories you've read.

Accessories in Fantasy

Recently, one of my readers read the Fashion in Fantasy series on the blog last year and commented that something seemed to be missing. After a bit of thought, it came to me: I'd barely begun to scratch the surface of one of the most essential elements in a fantasy story--the accessories.

Don't look so surprised. After all, what self-respecting fantasy story doesn't contain at least one necklace-with-amazing-powers or a turban filled with a dark presence or a scarlet cloak rippling in the chill winter breeze? Clearly, in the realm of Faerie, even ordinary objects and accessories have the potential to become extraordinary. We, as fantasy writers and readers, should exploit that potential.

So let's explore accessories in fantasy in more depth. First, let's take a quick look at all sorts of objects and accessories, and, second, how you can use them in your story.

The types of accessories are virtually endless, but let me list some here to get you thinking. There is jewelry, from a necklace to a single gemstone or a golden ring. There is headwear, like crowns, tiaras, turbans, fedoras, and all sorts of hats. There are handbags (what self-respecting girl, after all, even in a fantasy world, wants to be without her trusty purse?). And, too, there are all sorts of shoes--glass slippers, seven-league boots, the latest chic Jimmy Choo heels.... It could be a rusty old key or broken eyeglasses or a small handmirror. There are lots more ideas--more may come to your mind as we continue. Above all, make sure that the accessories you choose are uniquely suited to the world of your story.

Next, let's think about the uses for these objects.

• Flair: Some objects may not have any fantastic powers but may simply add to their personality or their signature "flair." Examples: Little Red Riding Hood's red riding hood; Sherlock Holmes in his tweed suit with a magnifying glass
• Love: As a symbol of love and trust, accessories can be unparalleled. Even in the "real world" we use rings and jewels to convey how precious our loved ones are. Example: Aragorn and Arwen's jeweled necklace from Lord of the Rings
• Family Heirlooms: Again, as in the real world, the objects that have the most meaning to us are often the ones passed down from generation to generation. (Of course, such objects may very well have powers beyond simply surface value.) Using such objects would give a bit of the backstory behind your characters and what they value in their lives. Example: Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, inherited from his father
• Historical Item: This type of object can be used to expand your storyworld and give insights into the background of your tale. History is important because it affects the present. (This type of item can, of course, be combined with some sort of power as well.) Example: Aragorn's crown of Gondor from Lord of the Rings
• Contains a Secret Message: Such uses for accessories abound in many of the best stories. After all, who would think to look for a message in the engraving of great-grandaddy's spectacles or in Aunt Marge's scarf? Examples: Madame Defarge in Dickens' Tale of Two Cities was most adept at hiding information in her knitting; the broken eyeglasses in the first Transformers movie contained coordinates to a hidden object
• Contains Magical Powers: This, of course, is the quintessential use of an accessory in fantasy. Whether it confers invisibility, superspeed, control over the elements, or more, an object in a fantasy novel can be a great repository of magical power. Examples: seven-league boots; magic mirror
• Contains Evil or a Curse: This, too, is a common (but important) use of artifacts in fantasy. A curse can lie unsuspected in a normal-looking object, posing a threat to all who draw near. Or, worse, an object may contain an evil being that the hero must conquer. Examples: JK Rowling in the Harry Potter series has done an excellent job in hiding evil in the most unexpected places--under a turban, in the first book, and inside a cursed necklace in the sixth; Also, Frodo's ring contains a definite evil, I'd say.

As you can see, the use of accessories in fantasy is a crucial art to master, and one that gives fantasy writers many possible tools to help or hinder the heroes along their quests. Comment below and let me know if you remember any particular accessories from fantasy stories you've read, or if you have special accessories in your story that are meaningful in any way.

Why are Fantasy "Boarding School" Books So Popular?

Harry Potter. Vampire Academy. Princess Academy. So many modern fantasy novels are set within the walls of a school—preferably a boarding school. But why? What is the attraction of school setting? That is what I will explore in today’s blog post.

First, school settings are familiar. As readers, it’s quite simple to wrap our minds around the idea of a school, simply because we’ve all been in school before. We know what to expect—homework, exams, classes, nice teachers and nasty ones. Even if we haven’t gone to boarding school (or homeschooled), it takes only a sight stretch of the imagination to picture the setting of a school.

Second, though, what makes these books interesting is that it’s school—with a twist. The school settings of fantasy books are intriguing not because they’re familiar but because they’ve got something different to them. Hogwarts in Harry Potter is interesting because it teaches magic. Princess Academy is exciting because it’s preparing uneducated mountain girls to act like princesses. Vampire Academy is intriguing because…well…let’s not go there. The point is, all of these schools sound much less boring than our schools were (although this may be an issue of “the grass is greener,” since learning takes work wherever we may go to school!). The “school with a twist” concept is interesting because of the way it combines the familiar with the exciting.

What’s more, these school stories are places we’d like to attend. Of course, we might not want to have to fend for our lives against dark wizards (Harry Potter) or prepare to marry a prince we’ve never met (Princess Academy), but in general, the school is engaging enough that we’d want to trade our own “boring” school experiences for these more exciting fictional schools.

An often-overlooked and very subtle benefit of school settings, though, is the innate structure of a school story. The school year has a very definite beginning and end, along with breaks for Christmas and the like, which forces authors to condense the story into one-year units. While such imposed structure may not work for every story, it does wonders to the outline of the story when there are definite deadlines by which x actions must take place.

A complement to the structure of school stories is the automatic multilayered plot. Obviously, on the surface level, there is conflict arising from teachers and homework and exams. However, there are also opportunities for conflicts among classmates. Then, too, in fantasy stories, there’s usually some darker villain looming in the shadows who must be conquered by the end of the school year. So many layers of conflict embedded in the story make it much more lifelike and interesting.

So there you have it: top reasons why school stories are so popular. They’re familiar, they have a twist that keeps them from boredom, they’re places we’d like to attend, the stories have structure, and they have an automatic multilayered plot.

Comment below and let me know your favorite school story, or tell us if you’ve been writing a school story yourself!

Colors in Fantasy, Part 2: Opposites

In last week's post, I discussed the surprising lessons on writing that I've learned from Photoshop. I went into detail on Photoshop's tools of hue, value, and saturation, and shared their applications to fantasy. This week, I'd like to look at another facet of colors and writing: color opposites.

First up is warm versus cool. Warm colors are basically colors that make you feel warm: yellows and reds and oranges. Cool colors, then, are colors that feel cold: blues and greens and purples. The contrast between warm and cool can be used in your writing, not just in colors.

A lot of stories will assign the "bad guys" to either warm or cool colors, and then make the "good guys" have an opposite color scheme. For example, the White Witch's castle in Narnia was made of ice, which has cool blue tones. In contrast, Aslan's camp featured bright reds and oranges, and Aslan himself was a tawny gold. Writers often use the opposite pattern, too, and give the villains red colors (like in Star Wars, the Sith have red lightsabers) and give the good guys cold colors (again in Star Wars, the Jedi have blue and green and purple lightsabers). Experiment with the contrasts that work best in your story, and remember to have the color scheme flow from your characters. The White Witch's personality was icy and so her color scheme was cool; Aslan's character was roaring like a fire and so his color scheme was warm.

Next, we have the contrast between light and dark. We've discussed it a bit in last week's section on "value," but let me add a couple more thoughts here. The obvious way for writers to use light and darkness is to add mystery and danger to the setting. Dark scenes seem more evil or more ominous.

However, that's not how it has to be! What if you led your character down a brightly-lit white corridor rather than a dark, spooky one? You'd need to be more subtle about the sense of approaching danger, but it's quite possible to have a sense of looming evil in light just as much as darkness. One such setting I remember from a childhood classic was in Charlie and the Chocolate factory, when Charlie entered the pure-white Television Chocolate Room. While it didn't feel evil by any means, there were hints of "darkness" and danger even in the spotless room. So play with your use of light and darkness, and, as I said last week, never fear to invert.

The last area of contrast we'll look at today is analogous, complementary, and tertiary colors. For all of you who have never taken an art class, let me explain those daunting terms. Look at the circle of color (also called "color wheel") on the right. The colors right next to each other--orange and yellow, for example--are analogous. The colors directly opposite each other--red and green or purple and yellow--are complementary. Tertiary colors are the colors that intersect at each third of the wheel--so we have red, blue, and yellow on the one hand or purple, orange, and green on the other. (Do note that Photoshop uses a somewhat different color wheel that I thought would be a bit too confusing to explain here. If you're interested, here's a link to a great explanation.)

Surprisingly, these color divisions can be quite helpful in crafting your story. As with the other contrasting areas, a major way to use these colors is to show the difference between your good and evil characters. Many writers use complementary (directly opposite) colors to differentiate good and evil. For example, in the movie versions of Harry Potter, the villain's magic was green and the hero's was red (red and green are complementary/opposites). You'll notice that these colors also contrast by being warm and cold. The other color divisions are mostly helpful when you're short on ideas of details you can use to make your characters memorable. Instead of saying X character wore a purple sweater, say she wore a lavender one (analogous colors). These colors are also good to explore what colors work well in overall scenery (say, in the king's court): you can have his standard composed of blue and red elements on a background of green (tertiary colors).

I'll now venture into the most controversial area of color in fantasy: racial diversity. The color of each character's skin in a fantasy story is more important--and more overlooked--than one might think. For example, did you realize that all characters in Tolkien's Middle Earth are white (aside from orcs, who may or may not be underneath all that grime)? In Christopher Paolini's Eragon, only a few characters were black and none had features that I recognized as Asian/otherwise-non-white. I'd like to appeal to all aspiring fantasy writers, then, to add a bit more diversity to your tales. Skin tones are areas where we as fantasy writers have such incredible room for imagination. Don't feel confined to white characters simply because you've never read of blue-skinned elves! Use the color of your character's skin as another medium to communicate the deep themes of your story or the imagination of your world.

Overall, using opposite color elements (whether in warm v. cool, light v. dark, or complementary/analogous/tertiary) is a great way to add contrast to your writing. And, too, adding details of color makes the story more memorable to your readers. Use color as an opportunity to explore and expand your fantasy world!

All the best in your writing this week!

A Few of My Favorite Books

Today I'd like to try something a little different. I won't be posting elegant synopses of writing techniques guaranteed to spark your creativity (not that I ever did that!), and I won't be writing about the specifics of a fantasy world--the people, the places, the colors, the things.

Instead, I'd like to hear from you. Remember how, in my last post, I talked about reading books in your target genre? Well, today I'd like to explore the genre of fantasy. What are some of your favorite fantasy books? Just a simple list or a few titles will do. Tell me your favorites, please!

And here's my own list, for good measure. If you haven't read these books yet, I definitely recommend you try!

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (a must for every fantasy writer)

The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling (Even though many people find problems with the magic, this series is one of the most popular young adult series of our time. It's important as writers to know what our audience loves to read.)

Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke (The sequels weren't quite so good, but Ms. Funke certainly has a gorgeous way of spinning words, and the story here is fabulous. Worth a read. Also, Funke's story Dragon Rider is a heartwarming and humorous tale. Definitely read it.)

Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine (Hilarious twist on a classic fairytale)

Princess Academy, by Shannon Hale (A compelling world with vivid characters, and thankfully free of objectionable material. If you're female, I'd definitely suggest reading it.)

The Little White Horse, by Elizabeth Goudge (An older story, true, with all the delicate beauty of the 18th century. However, in terms of Christ-honoring fantasy that's well-written, this book is one of the best that I've found.)

The Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor (An unexpected gem. One of the absolute best modern fantasies I've read, and again, nicely free from objectionable stuff. An awesome villain and an excellently crafted world, complete with a hilarious heroine named Magpie.)

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Cooper (A story that feels older than it is, with lots of Celtic and Welsh legends interweaving throughout. Somewhat mystical and packed with symbolism. Cooper's unique voice definitely makes it worth a read.)

The Complete Fairytales, by George MacDonald (These were inspirations for both CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and they're absolutely lovely stories. They felt like they'd leaped straight out of the brothers Grimm. Also, MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin is lovely too.)

Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede (A laugh-out-loud twist on every cliche known to man. Read it as a family! The sequels are good as well.)

The Percy Jackson series, by Rick Riordan (I don't know how you feel about ancient Greek gods, but despite the strange premise of the story, I love Riordan's sometimes sarcastic and always funny voice. It's good to learn how to write for a modern audience. Also, the series also scores points for teaching ancient Greek mythology.)

Something by Robin McKinley (I especially enjoyed The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown. Also quite worthwhile are her two Beauty and the Beast retellings, Rose Daughter and Beauty. Probably most appropriate for 13 and above.)

The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster (I guarantee that this book will make you look at the world in a whole new way. A boy takes a journey through a land where words grow on trees, sounds take shape, and Rhyme and Reason are the damsels-in-distress. Awesome read for the family.)

The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis (If you haven't read these yet, there must be something gravely wrong with you. At any rate, I envy you, because reading these treasures for the first time is a pleasure that few other books can bestow. Plus, the spiritual undercurrents in Narnia are excellent to observe and imitate as Christian writers.)

I suppose that sums up my list, at least for now (I may add to it later as more titles come to mind). At any rate, I believe the books listed above represent a wide range of fantasy, both new and old, tried and true, Christian and non-Christian, popular and unknown. Each of these books is certainly worth your time.

Now, come, tell me your favorites!

Magic: 5 Questions to Ask & Answer

First, what is magic? Merriam-Webster defines magic as, "the use of means (e.g. charms or spells) believed to have supernatural power over natural forces." In other words, magic is something that can't be explained through modern-day earth's science. Magic is the impossible.

On the surface, it may seem as though magic is a power that contradicts God's supremacy over all the forces of the universe. But is magic truly evil or contradictory to the Bible? Can we fantasy writers actually include magic in their stories? What follows is five of the most important questions for you to consider and answer when it comes to writing magic.

1. What is the source of Magic?

Let's consider each situation separately. First, what if magic was created by God, and thus "good"? Well, there are theological implications and complications to consider in this instance (we'll get to those later), but on the surface level, I don't see a problem with magic stemming from God.

Next is magic from nature--either through genetics (which would stem back to God's creation, clearly), or through scientific laws rather like the force of gravity (in which case, it also goes back to God's original creation as including the possibility for magic). As long as the proper glory for this "natural phenomenon" is given to God, again, there's no inherent problem with this form of magic.

Now we get trickier. What if magic was created by men or came through advanced technology? This portrayal of magic, if executed with care, could provide an excellent foundation for exploring questions of man's power versus God's power. Or, on the flip side, we can reason that since God created man with the capacity to "create" magic, then God ultimately created magic.

Last but not least, magic can be caused by Satan and/or the forces of evil. Modern-day Wiccans and other people serving Satanic powers clearly illustrate this point. Evil powers are out there, and they have the power to harm. This is a clearly Biblical principle, and could be used Biblically in a story.

2. Is magic moral, immoral, or amoral?

Let's consider the first possibility: magic could be completely good, only able to be used for good by good people. It would be almost akin to the gifts and insight of the Holy Spirit, which are for Christians alone and can never be evil. However, this approach might not work very well in a story, since every story needs conflict, and conflict is often a result of the hero's powerlessness. A "righteous magic" might thus give too much power to the hero.

What if magic was immoral? What if magic was all bad, and could only be used for evil by evil people?  In this case, the magic would be a result of evil forces, or perhaps a good force twisted in the Fall. This possibility could work quite nicely in giving the villain powers above the hero. However, it must be used carefully so as not to imply that evil has all the power and good can do nothing.

The last case--magic as amoral--is the most common among fantasy authors, for good reason. In this last case, magic acts like a force of nature, used by good people and bad people for good or evil purposes. If magic is amoral, it levels the playing ground, allowing heroes and villains to fight it out not based on an imbalance of power but through strength, intelligence, character, and other means of struggle.


3. What are the limitations on magic?

All magic needs limits. It's just like the real world--some things are just plain impossible. If anyone can do anything with magic, the world is not believable. After all, all forces in nature are governed by scientific laws. Magic should be too.

Here are a few examples to get you thinking: in the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini, magic drains a person's strength. The more difficult the magic, the more strength it drains. Thus, in Paolini's world, certain acts--for example, raising the dead--are beyond the strength of magicians.

In Harry Potter, magicians study and memorize spells and movements, practicing them carefully over their 7-year-long education at Hogwarts. Also, certain spells require rare or illegal ingredients, which makes them hard or impossible to execute (consider, for example, Voldemort's horcruxes, which require murder to create and yet deliver him with a form of "eternal life").

4. Does magic provide salvation?

This question may sound obvious, but, believe me, it's not. We must recognize and clarify that, however powerful the magic may be, no magic can be used in place of Christ's saving power. Forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God, and eternal life (however you sculpt these in your work) can be attained only through the perfect sacrifice of God's Son.

However, you could use this concept to explore the effects of relying on magic as a crutch and form of salvation rather than relying on God's power.


5. Final Word: What does the Bible say about magic?

Note that all cultures who had so-called "magicians" (Egyptians, Babylonians, etc.) are condemned in the Bible. They profess to have power from idols, which as we know are truly powerless. Let's not take these powerless pagan magicians as our role models!

Acts 19:19 also warns against magic, saying that after conversion, "A number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all." This is clearly a strong warning against hastily or thoughtlessly including unbiblical magic in any written work.


And, as a final note, let's remember that God's power always trumps all other powers, magical or otherwise. As Daniel 1:20 tells us, speaking of Daniel and his companions who served the Lord, "And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom."


This is clearly an issue that needs a lot of prayer, so pray hard and think deeply. God bless as you embark on the journey of writing magic in fantasy!