Let's talk about fantasy stories. First, a definition. Fantasy encompasses those stories that contain elements that simply cannot happen in the world we actually live in. If the fantasy is dark and scary enough, it becomes horror. If the elements could happen but just haven't yet, it's science fiction. And if you can get arguments from folks about whether the elements really do happen but not everyone believes in them, it's probably paranormal. But really, most of the time, if your story had things in it that cannot happen in the real world, it's fantasy.
Fantasy is still in something of a boom in book publishing - not just because of very traditional magic fantasy like Harry Potter, but because of many, many different kinds of fantastic journeys brought to us by many different kinds of writers from animal fantasy like Redwall to magical things that we just happen upon in our supposedly normal world like The Spiderwick Chronicles to games played with traditional fantastic beings like Twilight (vampires) and The Forest of Hands and Teeth (zombies). Fantasy really opens writing up to anything you can imagine and vast numbers of young readers love it.
Fantasy in magazines differs from fantasy in books in several important ways that we'll be looking at:
- It has distinct parameters according to the age of the reader.
- It's not as edgy or dark, most of the time
- It often depends heavily upon recognized fantastic tradition.
FANTASY AND READER AGE
Fantasy for the preschool crowd must tread carefully. Very young children are still working out what is real and what is not. To a three year old, it doesn't sound that far fetched for a magical spell to make teddy bears come to life. Also to a three year old, chatting with a talking bear sounds like a really good idea. So does jumping off tables to see if you can fly. Because very young children are still working out what is real and what is not, editors are very careful about the kinds of fantasy they will buy.
First, it's important to grasp one magazine reality. If your story encourages young children to do dangerous things because they think it might actually work - no editor is going to touch your story. An eight year old will know that you can't talk with wild animals; a three year old - not so much. And if you encourage dangerous behavior in the reader, parents will get angry. Angry parents cancel magazine subscriptions and in today's tight financial realities, no editor is going to risk cancelled subscriptions. This is one reason fantasy is far less edgy in magazines than in books.
In a picture book, you might see children and talking animals coexist. In magazine stories, you will not. Talking animals will talk to other animals. They may even wear clothes, bake bread, and take baths with rubber ducks - but they will not have human friends who come over and play. This is because it's easier for small children to tell a story is pretend if it's just animals talking to other animals. Plus, if you read a story where friendly bears come and take a bath will little Junie, small children are going to be less careful around bears - because you've shown they play nicely with people.
For preschoolers, magazine fantasy is pretty much limited to talking animal stories (where the animals talk only to other animals). Editors prefer not to see talking inanimate objects (this includes talking teddy bears, talking toasters or talking oak trees) - again, because small children are still learning the difference between what is alive and conscious and what is not. Magazine editors won't muddy the waters there. You also won't see much magic for the same reason - preschoolers simply aren't sophisticated enough to know magic isn't real.
Once your reader can read, fantasy has many more options. Children who are reading on their own can be assumed to have settled most of the basic questions of what is real and what is pretend, so fantasy has many more options. You tend to see fewer talking animal stories for older children (except for stories that grow out of folktale traditions) and the ones you do see have more complex plots. Usually, if you do have talking animals for older readers, they will fall in one of two types - realistic and fantastic.
Now, technically, talking animals are never terribly realistic, but in the "realistic talking animal" story, the animals will be living in the "real world." They won't wear clothes, they won't bake bread, and they won't take baths. They'll live in the wild and face the challenges of real animals. Often realistic animal stories highlight themes about nature rather than character or moral themes. There may be an educational component that helps us understand the animal and its habitat better. But even so, these stories will be expected to contain a full and working plot - the animal cannot simply be a vehicle to lecture readers on environmental issues.
In fantastic animal stories, writers often build complicated worlds for the talking animals. The animals will retain some of their "animal traits" - so mice may be timid and live in big families while foxes may be the "con men" of the animal world - but they'll also wear clothes, build unique contraptions, and deal with plots that explore ideas like courage, loyalty or friendship. You can even mix in some magic with the fantastic animal stories with bears who are wizards or similar concepts.
Because all magazine fiction has such tight word counts, stories for intermediates (readers who read) often rely on certain preset reader expectations. A sea adventure may have a sea monster. A castle may be besieged by a dragon. You can play with existing forms such as creating an athletic princess or a bookish knight, but you won't usually see the introduction of totally new creatures or complex societies that need lots of explanation for the reader to understand. Keep in mind that exposition slows the plot and dulls the story, so it's difficult to create totally new fantasy elements that intermediate readers can grasp without stopping the story to explain these things - thus much intermediate fantasy depends on using things the reader will recognize. You can twist the things a bit to make them more interesting and surprising - but even that works best when the reader is familiar with the original tradition.
This is why you see so much castle-medieval-fantasy in intermediate short stories, the conventions are part of the culture so we don't need a lot of explanation to grasp the story. This is also why some folktales don't work well - even though they're interesting and have fantastic elements - sometimes the original culture uses such unusual creatures or cultural ideas that young readers simply cannot 'get' the story without a lot of explanation. And again, explanation is evil. If you have to halt the plot to explain the story elements, you're going to lose the sale for that story.
One thing to keep in mind for any fantasy story is that the story itself must have a solid plot. You cannot simply count on magical fun things happening in succession to take the place of having a plot. At its core, a fantasy story is just like any other story - it's a tale of struggle against the pressures you build into the story. Your eccentric fantasy wizard may be struggling to fit in with the older and more conventional wizards. Your daring princess may be struggling to save her parents from a marauding dragon. Your bookish knight may be struggling to show there is value in training the mind as well as the body. Whatever the plot, be sure you do have one! Throwing lots of magical stuff into 1000 words is not enough. If you want to make the sale, you must have the plot goods to back up the magic.
Young adult fantasy doesn't have to be quite so neat. Because teens can grasp a story without necessarily understanding every element of the society, you can be a bit more inventive with teen fantasy for magazines. However, teens are no more patient with exposition, so be certain you don't halt the plot to explain the magic and the society in which the characters live. If you cannot unfold what the reader needs within the plot action, then the story simply will not work.
Young adult fantasy fiction usually sells to markets that take material for teens through adults, so you're often looking at much longer word counts and much darker plot options. Fantasy for young adults doesn't always have happy endings or even cleanly wrapped up story lines. Sometimes a story is simply revealing of something important. But because you'll often be competing with some of the best fantasy writers in the business, it pays to read a lot of YA fantasy in magazines before you jump into your own.
Although teen fantasy does include "high fantasy" (the traditional magical worlds with elves, wizards, and using at least one sword fight), today there are many popular fantasy forms for teens. One of the biggest is "urban fantasy" where magic intrudes on the everyday world - often in cities where unusual events are a bit less noticed by the crowded populace. This style of fantasy is often very dark - fairies are rarely sweet and fluttery and much more likely to be deadly than dusty - and the story often involves a "normal" teen stumbling into secret knowledge of this fantastic world existing side-by-side with the world we know.
Another hot fantasy area is paranormal fantasy where a teen discovers otherworldly (but usually not magical) creatures or abilities. You'll see vampires, werewolves, zombies and other "classic" monsters - but usually in a new or unexpected light. You'll also see psychic abilities in place of magical powers. Though frequently edgy or dark, these stories are usually more complex than the traditional "horror" story and often examine questions about being the outsider, being the minority, discrimination, and hatred for those not like ourselves.
Whatever area of fantasy that interest you, choosing to write a fantasy story means entering into a genre that has many eager fans. Kids love magic. They love the empowering aspect of fantasy. When you mix magic into a story, even the smallest character can become mighty. Much successful fantasy has a strong wish-fulfillment element (Twilight being a great example) but they're also usually about something more. The fantasy elements can't make the world too easy - so at its core, a fantasy story shows that even powers don't take away the challenges of getting through life. A princess who can slay a dragon might be totally at a loss when asked to host a ball. A wizard who can defeat armies of giants might panic when faced with babysitting a toddler. So no matter how much magic you bring to a tale, at its core, they're still about meeting challenges - just like life!
