How to Write a Fantasy Series That Teaches Life Lessons

By Jacklyn Walters

If you’re following along with me here on the Woodland Writers blog, you know my favorite part about a fantasy novel is the way it tears real life to shreds and makes you want to be a better person.

As a fellow writer, you probably also know that starting your own fantasy novel can feel just as impossible as the creatures who prowl within the pages (or who will, once you finally get to writing them).

When you’re struggling with how to start writing a fantasy novel, consider the lessons you want readers to learn along the way.

The best way to get started is to reflect on the fantasy lessons that hit home for you. You know the ones. The stories that find you right when you need them. The ones that call you out. The ones that help you put yourself back together.

These are mine.

For any time you are feeling stuck: please enjoy the top 9 lessons I’ve learned from fantasy novels. And how to incorporate them into your own story, of course.

1. Just because life is hard, doesn’t mean it isn’t happy.

If there’s one thing YA fantasy novels do especially well, it’s showing the happy moments along the treacherous road.

I grew up reading dystopian novels. You probably did too. They’re bleak, to say the least. But they’re somehow also shockingly hopeful? In order to save the world you need something worth fighting for. That means your MC needs something that brings joy to their life, no matter how small.

Make sure your characters have something to live for. Don’t make us suffer. Please, I hated A Little Life.

2. Miscommunication tropes aren’t worth it.

My lord is there anything more frustrating than watching characters spin around misunderstanding each other?

(The correct answer is no.)

But they’re everywhere! Miscommunication tropes are apparently every fantasy author’s favorite copout. It is a harsh opinion but it is mine and so I hold it near and dear to my heart.

My reading frustrations aside, these tropes always remind me to be clear, concise, and communicative. Don’t blow things out of proportion. Don’t ruminate. Speak your mind and speak it honestly. It’s easier to play your hand when all the cards are on the table.

If you’re planning on ruining my life with a miscommunication trope in your own novel, make sure your characters come back to each other. There’s nothing quite as satisfying as the moment our MCs get back on the same page.

3. Don’t wait until the end of the story to be who you are.

I am quickly approaching 30, and it’s true what everyone says. The older you get, the less you care what other people think. It is beautiful and it is liberating.

But we spend so many of our hottest years—read: years 20 through 80—pretending to be cool instead of unabashedly being ourselves. I no longer care if I look like Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine.” You’re gonna see me out in these streets, sweatband and all.

There are two ways to do this in your story. Make your character steadfast from the beginning and it pays off. Or, have them hold out and spend the story hiding behind a mask, and really drive it home with the relief that comes once they embrace themselves.

4. Find your girl gang.

You cadre. Your inner circle. Your found family.

Whatever your chosen label, life is better with people who get you.

The lesson for your own piece is simple: The best stories are the ones with the best companions. Frodo would have been nothing without Samwise.

5. Platonic love is not less important than romantic love.

Sorry for the double negative there. But I think it matters. “Platonic love is just as important as romantic love” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

This one is directly correlated with #4. A true love is romantic and all, but nothing beats a best friend. There’s no pretense, no need to look good. You can be your most real with them, and they’ll be real with you in return.

Make sure your MC doesn’t get everything from their love interest. They should still have time and connection and lessons learned from platonic relationships. Even YA romance fantasy novels throw a few besties in there.

6. Don’t put your idols on a pedestal.

Ironically, I learned this from JK Rowling.

It’s devastating to find out that the people you look up to are human. They’re flawed and problematic. The truth is, a person usually becomes a hero because of a troubled past.

It’s also unfair. One good deed does not a good man make. Nor does one bad action make someone a permanently bad guy. Shades of grey, and all that.

Make your heroes multidimensional. (But you should skip the part where you become a TERF.)

7. Some battles are worth the potential losses. Some are not.

I’m told war and chess are all about strategy. Strategic wins and strategic losses. The same is true in life.

Call it karmic balance or call it good old fashioned sacrifice, sometimes you’ve gotta give in order to get. And that means taking Ls. It also means knowing what you’re willing to risk, and what isn’t worth the risk.

Make your characters make sacrifices. Make them lose something too close. Make them learn the hard way. Make them decide what’s too good to lose.

8. Be kind. Your actions have a ripple effect.

The best part of the Throne of Glass series is when all of the small kindnesses come together to make something big. Literally just thinking about it gets me choked up.

Leverage your characters to demonstrate how one small metaphorical pebble dropped in a large metaphorical ocean can change things for even the creatures at the very depths of the sea.

9. Connecting with your body is critical. Connecting with your mind is essential.

You can’t do magic if you don’t listen to your body and brain. And apparently you can’t do it without a really awesome workout montage, either. And you definitely can’t do it without eating.

Illustrate the inner work that needs to happen for your characters to progress. Change is hard. Show that.

The thing about life is we never stop learning and growing. Some lessons are best learned in the safety of a good book. So take your big ideas for your story and run with them, and try to sprinkle in a couple life lessons along the way.