Inviting Our Readers Into Our Enchanted Woods

“He does not despise real woods because he has read of enchanted woods; the reading 

makes all real woods a little enchanted.”

― C.S. Lewis, On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature

Imagine yourself as a builder. 

Where would you begin? An idea.

It is the same with writing fantasy and building the world where your characters live, evolve, and die. 

The Idea

A builder begins with the idea he has or the idea his client has for him. Writers of fantasy fiction can follow the same methodology. 

We begin with an idea and brainstorm what that world would look like. Ever imagine God doing the same thing before He created our universe? What was His main goal? To reveal more of Himself to creation because He knew that knowing Him is the greatest good that could ever happen for us.

As writers, it is the same idea with our writing: We reveal more about ourselves in our stories whether intentionally or not. These revelations of our attributes are what connects our readers to our stories. 

Enchanted Woods

Reality can be brutal. Our fantasy worlds can make reality enchanted, as C.S. Lewis suggested in his quote. So, like a builder, we must keep our clients (our readers) in mind when we are constructing our fantasy worlds. 

As with character development, world-building requires the writer to dig deeper by asking some questions the reader might ask:

Why is the story set where it is?

How does the setting connect to the character?

What are the politics of the world?

What is the religion, if any, and why?

What is the currency?

And how does all of the above connect to the reader?

The setting of our stories must mean something to the character and plot otherwise we risk leaving our readers disconnected. And when they are disconnected, they put down the book. 

In her Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling did a brilliant job of connecting with her readers by making Hogwarts like the most fascinating boarding school in history. We Americans couldn’t connect as well since boarding schools aren’t the fashionable status symbol in America anymore. But in England, readers could connect to that feeling of saying goodbye to mom and dad, boarding a train to school, and arriving at a mysterious location that will become “home” for several months. Brilliant idea to take a scary reality
and make it completely fascinating, enchanted, and desirable. Rowling made the real woods a little enchanted for her readers. 

In our fantasy world-building, we need to go deeper as well. It helps to imagine our readers asking why we started our story in a haunted forest, a massive castle, in outer space, or under the sea. If we cannot answer their questions satisfactorily, then we’ve lost our readers. 

 I once knew a writer who struggled with depression. He wrote a horror story when he was in his early twenties about a recently divorced man who moved from the city into the woods where he could decompress in a tiny cabin. His sole companion was his faithful dog. When his dog is tragically killed by a wild animal, the man’s goal is to hunt the animal and avenge his beloved dog. But the animal that killed the dog is a werewolf. 

Intrigued by the story, I asked the writer why he set the story in the woods. He couldn’t answer, so I pressed further. Finally, it dawned on him that the cabin in the secluded woods represented the way depression made him feel: All alone. He went on to detail how he sometimes preferred that seclusion. I then asked him if the contrast from the fast-paced city scape to the quiet woods connected to his character. He explained how the divorce had made his character feel attacked to the point where he wanted nothing to do with people. Only nature and his dog would suffice as companions. 

I asked him why a werewolf as the villain?

After thinking about it for a moment, he suggested that the werewolf represented depression and how it appears occasionally (on a full moon night) to attack and destroy what he loves most: Peace, quiet, and relationships. 

Amazing how this writer wrote his story and setting without knowing the connection to himself and his readers until he dug deeper. The enchanted woods do help us conquer what the real woods press upon us. 

Escaping the Real Woods

“…I never fully understood it till my friend Professor Tolkien asked me the very simple question, ‘What class of men would you expect to be most preoccupied with, and hostile to, the idea of escape?’ and gave the obvious answer: jailers.”
― C.S. Lewis, On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature

Escaping the real woods can be the main reason fantasy authors write their stories. Christian fantasy authors will be tempted by the “jailer” to omit biblical principles from their stories. Biblical principles are the only means of eternal escape from the pain and sorrow of the real woods.

But the temptation to omit biblical principles must be overcome. 

Christian writers of fantasy can still add the principles of Christianity into their fantasy world-building even if the story takes place in another universe. C.S. Lewis and Tolkien accomplished this by ensuring their worlds had absolute good defeating absolute evil. 

Themes of good overcoming evil, putting others above oneself, and remaining true to an oath are apparent in my Dragon Forest and Elves of Vulgaard books. I ensured that readers could see how the world in which the story takes place has the biblical principles of:

• 
  Self-sacrifice

• Covenant oath

• Deliverance

• Salvation

• Redemption
  

• Truth

• Absolute good

• Absolute evil

Because magic is used in my books, readers will see the limitations of magic and its economy. There are risks in using wizardry and spells to change reality. Readers will notice how the characters must deal with these risks and how the consequences do not simply affect themselves, but others as well. 

Why do this in a fantasy series? Because readers need to know that God doesn’t work through magic, but through His inherent power and goodness. Christian fantasy authors can reveal God’s attributes this way even if He is not part of that fantasy world.  The real woods can be frightening. Christian fantasy authors can provide escape for the reader by adding fairies flittering about the woods, jovial gnomes guarding buried treasure, or ethereal elves protecting their realm.

The Hope

Lewis and Tolkien took the brutal reality of war between good and evil and made it enchanted in their own way because they both knew the horrors war. They understood the need for hope. 

Fantasy authors would be wise to do the same when building their fantasy worlds: Keeping the need for escaping reality in mind as well as the need for biblical principles that lead to the eternal hope all readers are searching for.

In doing so, readers will no longer despise the real woods because they’ve been inside our enchanted woods. 

_______________________________________

Former writing teacher, R. A. Douthitt is an award-winning author of many books for middle grade readers and adults in fiction.  She is the winner of the 2017 Moonbeam Children’s Books Award-Bronze Medal for Best Book Series and the 2022 Christian Indie Award-First Place in YA. Book three in her Elves of Vulgaard series, "Dragon Riders," releases October 25th.  She currently works for Grand Canyon University and lives in Phoenix with her husband Scott and their little dog. When she isn't writing, Ruth loves to run, draw, paint, and garden.

Follow her at her Website and on Facebook

What’s It Take To Get It Right? by Dawn Ford

 By Dawn Ford

 Twelve years ago I sat down at my computer with one picture in my mind (insert twinkling music for a flashback here):

Tambrynn, a young servant girl, was sobbing in a carriage. Her telekinetic ability skewed out of control when threatened by an angry cook. Knives went flying. Moles were lost. Tambrynn was instantly dismissed. She carried her only belongings with her, packed in a cracked leather case, along with a ring that was to be her inheritance—a key to a kingdom she knew nothing about. And her world was about to turn completely upside down.  

The picture in my mind was so clear that three chapters were written before I knew it. And so started my journey into bringing The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes to fruition. But it didn’t happen right away. The year I started writing it I suffered three terrible events. Emotionally I was bereft. I couldn’t write. It took me over half of a year to start again where I ended: right smack in the middle.

I wrote that last half as I came out of my grief-laced haze. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good. I moved on to write other things. A few years later I would go back and try again, knowing that I had lost my way. I tried again. It took me awhile to revise it while writing other books.

Friends told me to drop it, it was a lost cause. I couldn’t. I’d felt called that first day when that image came to me. It was as if God was placing this story in my lap and He wanted me to write it. How do you turn your back on that? If he started a good work in me, I knew he would fulfill it (Phil 1:6). I knew I had to keep trying. So, I worked on it. I had it edited so it could be sent into contests. And I kept writing other things.

But I kept coming back to it. In 2016 I sent it into the ACFW’s Genesis contest. I’d sent it in several times before and nothing ever came of it. So, I wasn’t overly concerned. Until that first call saying I was a finalist. That was a nice surprise. Second round. Again, thinking nothing of it, the caller said I’d become a round two finalist. What? Winners would be announced at that year’s conference. I hadn’t even planned on going to that year.

I’m glad I did. I won the Genesis contest which rekindled my hope in Tambrynn’s story. However, in the back of my mind I knew that though the first half was compelling, the last half still wasn’t right. So, I contacted an editor friend. She’d helped me with some small projects and we worked well together. I got things when she explained them. She was encouraging without sugar-coating. I trusted her. I sent her this manuscript for a content edit. Hopeful. Prayerful.

She dug out the guts and gave me some hard truths about what I needed to do to get it right. She told me to, “Think outside the box! Go beyond!” And so, I did. I reworked it and threw away the mold. It was hard. I wasn’t following the norm. I went where I’d never gone before. More fantasy. Some cool creatures. And magic.

It was last year when I finished that last revision. I love it now. It felt right. So, when I saw a request by a publisher I knew and trusted who was seeking fantasy novels to publish, I thought, why not? On a whim I sent it in, thinking maybe I’d get some advice about it—see if I was on the right track. The next day they contacted me back. The publisher loved it. She said she couldn’t stop reading it. Within the next couple of days, I’d been offered a three-book contract for this book and two more, making it a series.

What exactly did it take to get it right? All of it. Revising stinks. Waiting for something to happen is maddening. The doubt in between it all can be fatal if you allow it to root in. But I kept my eye on one truth, God would complete that good work He gave me. I just had to trust the process.

The Girl With Stars In Her Eyes is now up for pre-order and on April 12, it comes out for the world to read. I’m so glad I didn’t give up.

Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a free ebook copy of The Girls with Stars in Her Eyes.

Here’s the back cover copy:

Eighteen-year-old servant girl Tambrynn is haunted by more than her unusual silver hair and the star-shaped pupils in her eyes. Her uncontrollable ability to call objects leads the wolves who savagely murdered her mother right to her door.

When she’s fired and outcast during a snowstorm, her carriage wrecks and she’s forced to find refuge in an abandoned cottage. There, her life is upended when the magpie who’s stalked her for ten years transforms into a man, Lucas. He’s her Watcher and they’re from a different kingdom. His job is to keep her safe from her father, an evil mage, who wants to steal her abilities, turn her into one of his undead beasts, and become immortal himself.

Can they make it to the magical passageway and get to their home kingdom in time for Tambrynn to thwart her father’s malicious plans? Or will Tambrynn’s unique magic doom them all?

Dawn Ford lives in a small town nestled among the Loess Hills in Western Iowa with her husband and Snickers, the Wonder Beagle. Dawn’s love for stories came naturally to her as a child who was lucky enough to be able to explore the Iowa pastures and countryside in search of adventure.

Dawn adores anything steampunk, is mesmerized by shiny, pretty things, purses, shoes, and needs at least one good, strong cup of coffee to wake up in the morning.

 

Follow Dawn on her website: https://dawnfordauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnFordAuthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dawn_ford_author/

Preorder Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TY713B2 

When the Stew Badgers the Cook, It's Time to Write

Welcome debut author, Roulf Burrell!

Audra here. Fantasy books wear many hats. Rabbit holes leading to wonderland; Yellow brick roads; Board games sucking players into the  other dimensions. Endless plots filled with fantastic possibilities - Roulf Burrell offers it all by the bucketfuls. Enjoy the adventures of an array of unforgettable characters and share the experience with your friends. 

How you write a fantasy novel is a bit like how you cook up your favorite stew. You prepare and add all your best ingredients. You get out the beans, your favorite meats, and stir it up properly. With fantasy, you set up a world, add mythical characters, splash in some magic and mix it into a respectable three act structure. After it simmers under the heat of tension, you get a delightful word-meal that tantalizes the imagination. The rewarding end to a good recipe.

But why do you write a fantasy? That is quite a different question entirely. Imagine you open the cupboard and a bag of beans steps forward, hops down onto the counter and insists you prepare a pan of water so they can relax in the pool and begin to soften. You open the icebox door and find the leftover ham, still clinging to the bone, arguing with the hamburger as to who makes better stew. They both turned to you, insist you include them, exclude the other meat, and put the light out. The salt is claiming to be de-iodized kosher and refusing to mix if the ham is allowed. The bay leaf, who is running from the Food and Drug Administration, will only stay if the meal is Keto compliant. And the canned tomatoes are indeed stewed, ala the Smirnoff bottle on the shelf next to them. You collect the whole complaining lot, deciding for your own sanity you'll turn them all into stew–and quickly fire up the pot.

This absurd illustration strikes close to the mark as to why I wrote my fantasy, Riddley Bundleforth and the Banshee Bell. Some of these pesky mythological creatures whipped up in my mind wouldn't leave me alone. They demanded a story.

The female banshees kept arguing with each other. I assumed male banshees existed, but the females definitely screamed about that. I am the author, so I insisted one male must hang around to continue the species. The females, or 'shees as I call them, quickly made his life as harsh and nasty as their faces. By the way, they informed me they take great satisfaction in their gruesome visage.

It turns out this lone, unlucky male carries with him the entire potential from the other males. This allowed those males to flee life with the female ‘shees, which they were zealous to do. So the ‘shees take out their frustrations on him and accidently crack the castle bell.

The castle blacksmith should've been quite happy at her forge; a bell to fix. Being half ogre, she has tremendous strength, a natural bent towards working with metal, and thicker skin that is troubled less by hot sparks and flame. So imagine my irritation when she began to complain to me that she wanted a suitable husband. I saw she had too much ogre to suit most men, but not enough ogre to survive an encounter with males of that nasty species. I wanted to be an author. Now I'm a matchmaker for every discontented, half-monster, iron monger waving a hammer?

My vain little Fairy Queen took it as an insult if "the wrong sort of creature" copied her gown,
or crown, or anything else about her. Of course, some evil gremlins found this out and did exactly that. Being both a royal queen and a gentle fairy, she promptly declared war.

Then my leprechaun started whining because his pot at the end of the rainbow didn't have any gold in it. And this is my fault, how? Because I put him in this castle teaching and making magical candles. He was supposed to be filching dwarven coins and taunting dragons for their jewels. Well, pardon me, Mr. Lucky Charms.

The headmaster interrupts to tell me that the frost giants who cool the palace are feuding with the fire sprites who heat it. They all want more gold, but nobody at my castle has any. Who ever heard of the air conditioning system not getting along with the furnace? Does your washer and dryer fight over whether they get paid or when they are serviced? Of course not. Even as I shoo the headmaster away, a tiny four-legged step stool kept running back and forth, insisting on retaining the services of a carpenter.

Only one solution—throw them all out of my head and onto some paper. I could create a proper world to live in, which might allow me more serious writings, like Gone with the Killed Mockingbird or Gatsby's Great Expectations. A book befitting an author of my abilities.

But something stopped me. My conscience. It didn't seem fair to leave all of them there struggling with their issues when, with a few taps on my keyboard, I could provide some badly needed resolutions. If I took care and skill, I might produce an entertaining story for the folks in my life. For you see, I also imagined these mythical types could help each other! That’s a lesson which my own world needs!

So it's with a small amount of pride, but a tremendous amount of mental relief, that I offer up my maiden effort in the fantasy genre. It's a genteel fantasy, full of curiosities, belief, and light. Reminiscent of the Chronicles of Narnia in its tone, and Diana Wynne Jones in its style. I hope you’ll give it a read—though I am not responsible if the characters start pestering you as you nod off at nights.

Roulf Burrell
Escape the Mundane. Explore the Magical.

Hey Everyone! Audra here again. To celebrate his debut book, Roulf is offering an ebook of Riddley Bundleforth & The Banshee Bell. Leave a comment and you'll be included in the drawing. Check the Weekend Edition on Saturday!

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Roulf Burrell was an information manager for a quasi-municipal, raw water acquisition and transfer agency (read faceless government bureaucrat) for 25 years before early retirement. Having quit the government, he dropped the “bureaucrat” and rented a face (the picture is the best one he could afford.) Determined to write the kinds of books that had offered him a respite during his troubled teenage years (a time that lasted until he was 50,) Roulf started Riddley Bundleforth & The Banshee Bell.  He is now working on the sequel, Riddley Bundleforth & The Hag Rider.

Website:  https://www.RoulfBurrell.com

Amazon Author's page: Roulf Burrell