Fantasy is often attributed to the world of ancient tribes and medieval kingdoms where we have knights and dragons and wizards. Overall, fantasy has long held a very Medieval European sort of aesthetic to it, and that aesthetic has remained steadfast to this very day. However, fantasy doesn’t need to necessarily be based in a time of swords and shields–rather, there is an entire subgenre of fantasy where it coincides with our modern, real-world. Contemporary fantasy is basically a fantasy story that is based in a modern setting, and today, I’ll be showing you all how you can write the perfect contemporary fantasy story or book!
WHAT IS CONTEMPORARY FANTASY EXACTLY?
As I said in the beginning, contemporary fantasy is basically a story that is set in the modern/real world but has fantasy elements to it. This basically takes the idea of the supernatural and fantastical like magic and fantasy creatures and such ideas, but it weaves it instead into the fabric of a modern world.
There are plenty of great contemporary fantasy stories out there like The Cruel Prince, which takes place in the modern time in a world of fae that exists alongside the real world. There’s magic and fantasy elements in the trilogy while still maintaining a modern setting in the backdrop, with mentions of stores like Target or foods and clothes that we’d easily recognize.
There are obviously plenty of other contemporary fantasy stories, but for the most part, imagine what you’d write in a normal fantasy story and sort of apply it to your modern settings.
HOW TO WRITE CONTEMPORARY FANTASY?
There are quite a few things that we need to consider when it comes to writing contemporary fantasy, because while some things may work really well in medieval fantasy or dark fantasy stories, some things do not work really well in contemporary fantasy stories.
STEP 1: PICK YOUR LOCATION
I usually don’t write contemporary fantasy because it’s hard to use real-world locations that you may know and apply magic and fantasy to it, but that’s really the best method to use when it comes to contemporary fantasy.
When you go to world build your story, pick a setting that makes sense to you. It doesn’t need to be a real place that exists in real time on Earth (i.e., Chicago or New York City), but it needs to be believable enough that a person could believe that your location genuinely exists.
I know this isn’t fantasy, but take the Scream franchise of movies for example. These movies take place in a fictitious city but it seems like it could be really any city in any state in the United States. Basically, make your setting as realistic and believable as possible for your chosen country.
By the way, you can also come up with a fake country on Earth too. A good example of this is the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019), which came up with a country called Urzikstan that was a sort of hybrid between Afghanistan and Syria. You can totally do this too, and I suppose it gives you a bit more wiggle room to come up with your own cultures as well.
STEP 2: DESIGN THE FANTASY ELEMENTS
I would say start with the characters, but I think it’s important to actually understand how the fantasy will weave into your real-world setting. That’s why you should work on designing your magic system.
When it comes to magic systems, you can go as in-depth as you want with this. I have written a guide before on creating high fantasy magic systems, but to be fair, that guide really applies to any magic system you want to make. The idea is that with contemporary fantasy, you need to think about how the magic system will actually affect the real world around the characters.
Some stories make it so that magic is an acceptable part of society, some make it so that magic is outlawed (basically, people are aware of its existence but it’s not OK), some stories make it so that nobody is aware and suddenly an ancient magic as arisen, etc… Whatever idea you decide to use really structures itself around your plot, but you can design the magic system regardless of this.
Honestly, when it comes to magic systems, my biggest piece of advice is to make it whatever you want it to be. You have total control over this. There are no limitations on the magic ideas you can come up with, but for more details on creating a magic system, like I said earlier, you can check out my other guide where I talk about this in-depth.
STEP 3: DESIGN YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS
The most important element of any story is obviously the main character(s). Think about who the protagonist and antagonist will be for this part. You can have more than one main character, you can make the main character/protagonist the villain, you can really do whatever you want here.
When you design your character, think about what that character’s main source of conflict will be. How will that character change over time. These things are important because you want to ensure that you are writing a very dynamic and unique character that does not feel flat, shallow, or boring. There’s nothing worse in a story than having a bad main character that nobody likes because then the story itself is tainted by the star of the show!
I have a guide on creating awesome characters, which you can read right here. You basically want to think about the name, the origin of the character, their backstory, their motivations, their relationships, how they interact with the world around them, etc… this way, you’ll actually get a clear picture of your plot even before you start planning the plot.
STEP 4: SPEAKING OF PLOT…
So, you’ve gotten all the big elements done. Now, it’s time to think about the overall skeleton of your story, or the plot. You may have learned this in school, but a plot consists of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. Well, this is a pretty good way of looking at it in a broad brushstroke sense of the way, but it’s a bit more in-depth than that.
You have to think about firstly what the major conflict of the story will be. So, in a different way, what is the protagonist going to deal with and what is the main conflict? Is the conflict a person or a thing or something more than that? How will this conflict be introduced and how will the main character first interact with said conflict? How will this conflict become worse and then subsequently how will it be resolved (if it gets resolved…)?
Next, you need to think about the climax, which I would say is a very important element of the story too and is the part where–as Americans say–shit hits the fan. What is the turning point for the story that will segway into the end? Will it be a major battle? Will it be the death of a character? What will this major story-point be and how will it impact everything else?
Do keep in mind that your initial plan is subject to dramatic changes as you’re writing. I mean, I’ve come up with dozens of plot points for a single story before and I end up changing maybe 80-90% of what I had initially planned in the first place. I’m not kidding, don’t worry if your plan changes. Just still think about how the changes you’re implementing will impact your overall story.
STEP 5: CONSIDER THE MODERN WORLD!
Alright, one big mistake I see some stories set in contemporary worlds do is the idea of using stuff we see in normal medieval fantasy and then applying it to the contemporary world. One of those is the age-old “touch her and die” romance trope. This might work if you’re dealing with… I dunno… two knights or something, but when it comes to the real world, I’m pretty sure most people would be like “uh, no.”
That’s my point. Think about your day-to-day life and what you do in your world. Would any of what you’re writing make sense in your world? Or would it be a tad weird? I mean, this is contemporary fantasy, so the contemporary still exists in the story. The characters will be aware of the trends, technology, foods, places, celebrities, music, shows, etc… of the time you’re choosing to write in so don’t forget these things.
For instance, the Percy Jackson series does a fantastic job of intertwining the real and the fantasy. While you have main characters who are the children of gods basically, they’re still going to Las Vegas and speak in the realistic slang of their time and so on and so forth. That’s my point. Just consider your setting and don’t let it go into the background because it still matters. Chances are, if an evil ancient wizard from the underworld started destroying a town in the middle of Missouri, people would notice, y’know?
One last note, if you want some extra world building help but aren’t sure where to start, check out my ultimate beginner’s guide to world building!
And before you go, don’t forget to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga. You can buy my books over on Amazon right now!