Category Archives: urban fantasy
In what Point of View do you write?
When writing a novel there’s a universal question that most writers grapple with – how do you choose which Point of View to use? Point of view is the way the author allows you to “see” and “hear” what’s going on. There are several different points of view available to you and each one has several pros and cons. You must consider how the point of view you choose will impact the story you are trying to tell.
FIRST PERSON POV: When you tell a story through a viewpoint character using I or we. First person POV refers to the I, we, me, my, mine, us narrator, and is often the voice of the heroic character or a constant companion of the heroic character. Every detail of your story must be filtered through the storyteller. It is usually your main character. If your main character cannot see, hear, touch, smell, taste, think, know or feel it, you can’t include it. So, if you want to introduce something outside the range of your main character, you must use the words or observed actions of some other character who is in a position to see or know the events in order to convey the information you want the reader to have. Remember that the POV character cannot know the thoughts or unspoken feelings of another character.
Advantages –
- It’s Easier to feel empathy for the character since you are spending so much time in their brain
- It can give logic and motivations to characters that would seem otherwise evil, immoral, or otherwise not relatable.
- It more easily fleshes a character on the page by allowing the audience to listen to their voice for long periods of time.
Disadvantages –
- You are limited to writing about what the narrator can see or sense.
- The narrator must constantly be on stage or observing the stage.
- You can’t go into the minds of other characters.
SECOND PERSON POV: Where the author uses you and your – it is rare. Authors seldom speak directly to the reader. When you encounter this point of view you should pay attention. The author has made a daring choice, probably with a specific purpose in mind. Most times, second person point of view draws the reader into the story, almost making the reader a participant in the action.
Advantages –
- The reader can feel more intimately connected and involved with the story.
- It gives you the power to be different, even eccentric in the way you can speak to the reader so directly.
- It gives life to the characters in a way that other viewpoints don’t.
Disadvantages –
- It begins to feel quirky, whether you’re reading it or writing it.
- Novels solely written in second person make it more of a possibility that the reader may feel disconnected from the story.
THIRD PERSON POV: The he, she, it, they, them narrator, third person is the most common POV in fiction. It offers a variety of possibilities for limiting omniscience: information that the narrator and reader are privy to in the telling of the story.
Advantages –
- In omniscient mode, the narrator is all knowing and can move to anywhere in the story world.
- The narrator can also tell the reader things the main character doesn’t know, creating dramatic irony.
- Provides a broad perspective on the story, which is useful for epics involving many plotlines.
Disadvantages –
- Far less intimacy between reader and main character. The reader feels as though he is looking at characters rather than being a character.
- Narrator is reliable (this could also be seen as a pro).
- You can confuse yourself and the reader unless every voice is distinctive.
My urban fantasy books from The Dragomeir Series were written in first person. They are all from the main character Tanis’s point of view. Not knowing any more than Tanis did from moment to moment was used as a means by which to increase the potential bond between him and the reader. The reader goes where Tanis goes, sees what he sees, and has to catch up on events when he returns to a person or place. I wanted the reader to use Tanis’s ability to understand people and to figure out friend or foe, good and bad, but to ultimately do it together. I felt the books needed to be a more personal, casual account of what was happening to have a better shot at complete immersion with the story as it unfolds. I hope you enjoy reading the Dragomeir Series as much as I did writing it.
THE DRAGOMEIR SERIES –
- “The Emerald Dragon”
- “Flight of the Aguiva”
- And coming soon – “Egg of the Amphitere”
Solitaire . . .
What Point of View do you use and why?
Urban Fantasy? – Part Two: 28 TV Shows & Movies
Urban fantasy is not just a literary genre; it is also a Television and Movie genre, even if it isn’t necessarily referred to as such by many people in TV Land or Hollywood. Urban fantasy shows have been around for quite a while, starting with the likes of the Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, both of which were more sci-fi than anything else but still had some urban fantasy elements to them. The urban fantasy genre didn’t really take off though until about ten years ago, when a slew of new shows came along that featured supernatural characters and goings on in a largely urban setting. There’s a good chance you’ve seen some of them.
Television –
- Once Upon a Time – A woman with a troubled past is drawn to a town in Maine where fairy tales are to be believed.
- Gargoyles – A clan of heroic night creatures pledge to protect modern New York City as they did in Scotland long ago.
- Grimm – A homicide detective discovers he is a descendant of hunters who fight supernatural forces.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer – A young girl, destined to slay vampires, demons and other infernal creatures, deals with her life fighting evil, with the help of her friends.
- The Vampire Diaries – A teenage girl is torn between two vampire brothers.
- Sleepy Hollow – Ichabod Crane is resurrected and pulled two and a half centuries through time to unravel a mystery that dates all the way back to the founding fathers.
- True Blood – This show features every Urban Fantasy trope you can think of, from vampires to werewolves to fairies and everything in between.
- Supernatural – Two brothers follow their father’s footsteps as “hunters” fighting evil supernatural beings of many kinds, including monsters, demons, and gods that roam the earth.
- Hemlock Grove – A teenage girl is brutally murdered, sparking a hunt for her killer. But in a town where everyone hides a secret, will they find the monster among them?
- Penny Dreadful – Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.
- Angel – The vampire, Angel, cursed with a soul, moves to Los Angeles and aids people with supernatural-related problems while questing for his own redemption.
- Lost Girl – Lost Girl focuses on the gorgeous and charismatic Bo, a supernatural being called a succubus who feeds on the energy of humans, sometimes with fatal results. Refusing to embrace her supernatural clan system and its rigid hierarchy, Bo is a renegade who takes up the fight for the underdog while searching for the truth about her own mysterious origins.
- Dead Like Me – A college dropout, Georgia “George” Lass is killed by a toilet seat that falls from the MIR space station on her first day at a temp agency. Upon death, she is recruited for a team of grim reapers – undead who mix among the living and take people’s souls just before they die. Along with fellow team members Mason, Roxy, Betty, and leader Rube, George discovers life after life.
- Being Human – A werewolf, a vampire, and a ghost try to live together and get along.
Movies –
- The Harry Potter Movies – Rescued from the outrageous neglect of his aunt and uncle, a young boy with a great destiny proves his worth while attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Ghostbusters – Three unemployed parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
- Hellboy – A demon, raised from infancy after being conjured by and rescued from the Nazis, grows up to become a defender against the forces of darkness.
- Hellboy II – The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so Hellboy and his team must save the world from the rebellious creatures.
- Big Trouble in Little China – An All-American trucker gets dragged into a centuries-old mystical battle in Chinatown.
- Underworld – Selene is a beautiful vampire warrior entrenched in a war between the vampire and werewolf races. Although she is aligned with the vampires, she falls in love with Michael, a human who is sought by werewolves for unknown reasons.
- Underworld Evolution – Picking up directly from the previous film, vampire warrior Selene and the half werewolf Michael, hunt for clues to reveal the history of their races and the war between them.
- The Covenant – Four young men who belong to a supernatural legacy are forced to battle a fifth power long thought to have died out. Another great force they must contend with is the jealousy and suspicion that threatens to tear them apart.
- Groundhog Day – A weatherman finds himself living the same day over and over again.
- Blood & Chocolate – A young teenage werewolf is torn between honoring her family’s secret and her love for a man.
- Blade – A half-vampire, half-mortal man becomes a protector of the mortal race, while slaying evil vampires.
- Interview with the Vampire – A vampire tells his epic life story: love, betrayal, loneliness, and hunger.
- Highlander – An immortal Scottish swordsman must confront the last of his immortal opponent, a murderously brutal barbarian who lusts for the fabled “Prize”.
- Constantine – A man struggling with his faith is haunted by the sins of his past, but is suddenly thrust into the role of defending humanity from the gathering forces of darkness.
What are some of your favorites?
I’m in the process of writing my third urban fantasy book, called “Egg of the Amphitere.” It’s from my Dragomeir Series which includes “The Emerald Dragon” and “Flight of the Aguiva.” If you like dragon books, or creatures like vampires, hellhounds and sabers, come check them out at my website
Solitaire
What is Urban Fantasy? – Part 1
Urban fantasy describes a work that is set primarily in the real world and contains aspects of fantasy. These matters may involve the arrivals of alien races, the discovery of earthbound mythological creatures, coexistence between humans and paranormal beings, conflicts between humans and malicious paranormals, and subsequent changes to city management. Many urban fantasy novels geared toward adults are told via a first-person narrative, and often feature mythological beings.
The term “urban fantasy” has been in use in print from as far back as the early 20th century. However, when used then, the term described a characteristic of some object or place. It was not until the 1980s that the term began to describe a style of fiction, written, performed in theatre, or filmed for Hollywood and television. The following sites each have a description of Urban Fantasy –
- http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/04/03/urban-fantasy/
- http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UrbanFantasy
- http://tracycooperposey.com/articles/articles-for-readers/what-is-urban-fantasy-anyway-urban-fantasy-in-the-romance-field-defined/
- http://bestfantasybooks.com/urban-fantasy.html
- http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/06/26/genre-guide-urban-fanstasy-for-teens/
- http://book-genres.com/urban-fantasy-definition/
Know of some other interesting sites? Please Share!
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Solitaire Parke - Sci-Fi/Fantasy Books 