What can you do to make your UF series cool and original?

Yāoguài · Jun 14, 2012

There's been a spate of threads on here asking about cliches and weary elements. They're great threads, fun and informative, but I was wondering what the opposite direction would look like.

What would seem fresh and exciting to you in an UF series?

For me, number one would be cultural material I haven't seen before. If I pick up a book that has the elements I DO like about urban fantasy, as well as exposing me to cultural lore I've never seen before, well, that book gets added to the top of my pile.

Also, a different historical period. Vampires and werewolves are fun, but put them in the Roaring Twenties with flapper dresses and the Jazz Age, and I'm hooked. Faeries are great, but set them in the Vietnam War/hippie era, and you've got something special.

What would excite you?

Question · Jun 15, 2012

Nice idea!

I'm doing my best to give the story a less gritty feel. Most UF focuses on relationships and action, but my story pushes that back a bit and puts a lot more emphasis on the milieu. I'm going for something with the level of worldbuilding in Harry Potter, and so the hidden society side of my story is pretty lively. I feel like a lot of UF is just regular mystery or crime fiction with guns switched out with spells and criminals switched out with vamps. I've got no problem with that, but I would like UF to spread its wings a bit (i.e. stories that aren't just crime fiction) because the only real constraint of UF is that a significant portion needs to take place in an urban setting.

I think my stories will bring something new to the table. Well, if not new then fresh.

Mr Flibble · Jun 15, 2012

For a WIP I've got on the go - well, I was getting a little tired of all the vamps/werewolves/supernatural stuff. So there aren't any (except in passing and they may, or may not be a delusion). No secret hidden society of weird creatures or anything else. People have secrets, but no hidden society.

Just a guy

With magic

And no memory of how he got it...

LadyV · Jun 15, 2012

Question said:
Nice idea!

I'm doing my best to give the story a less gritty feel. Most UF focuses on relationships and action, but my story pushes that back a bit and puts a lot more emphasis on the milieu. I'm going for something with the level of worldbuilding in Harry Potter, and so the hidden society side of my story is pretty lively. I feel like a lot of UF is just regular mystery or crime fiction with guns switched out with spells and criminals switched out with vamps. I've got no problem with that, but I would like UF to spread its wings a bit (i.e. stories that aren't just crime fiction) because the only real constraint of UF is that a significant portion needs to take place in an urban setting.

I think my stories will bring something new to the table. Well, if not new then fresh.

I nearly did a happy dance when I read this!

For the longest time, I struggled with identifying my book as Urban Fantasy. It definitely posesses many elements(urban setting, magic, mythological creatures, action) but lacks most of the grittiness. I'm just relieved to see someone else with a similiar idea.

So, I guess my method to add some freshness to UF is to add more traditional fantasy elements with less graphic content. I like mytholocial creatures that aren't used to death. There's not a siginal vampire or werewolf in my story. I do have a demon, but he's not your usual evil entity. Heck, he might not even be evil. I also like to put unique spins on already established creatures of myth, or just make up my own.

Silver-Midnight · Jun 15, 2012

Truthfully, I don't know. I do have some ideas coming here and there, but I don't know how different they are or whatever. I try not to think about truth be told. Haha.

Jess Haines · Jun 16, 2012

Having vampires and werewolves in your work isn't necessarily the problem when it comes to originality. Sometimes it's just putting your own spin on things. Shake 'em up and give your own take on things.

Though I would be interested in seeing more UF that explored unusual Eastern creatures and mythology in a contemporary setting. I haven't seen too many of those.

JMercedesD · Jun 16, 2012

We originally had our own twist on werewolves in our series, but ended up eliminating them because screen time was too minimal. Our twist for UF is instead taking angels from a completely scientific and secular POV.

There's magic, but it's explainable as drawing energy from between dimensions (in the case of the "angels" and "demons") or the power of human belief forcing other-dimensional creatures to bow to the laws of our dimension.

I agree with Jess Haines in that I'd like to see more of the eastern mythos handled. Western European is done to death.

Kerosene · Jun 16, 2012

I say this all the time:

It's not the idea, it's how you execute it.

Urban fantasy really doesn't have much to go on. So it's really how you set apart your writing, your scenes, your characters into something that'll force the reader in.

rwm4768 · Jun 16, 2012

Maybe you could write urban fantasy set in the future. That way, you can have cool creatures and ray guns.

frimble3 · Jun 16, 2012

Yāoguài;7355818 said:
Also, a different historical period. Vampires and werewolves are fun, but put them in the Roaring Twenties with flapper dresses and the Jazz Age, and I'm hooked. Faeries are great, but set them in the Vietnam War/hippie era, and you've got something special.

What would excite you?

I do like the idea of Roaring Twenties vampires. Speakeasies and gangsters and Jazz clubs. Lots of night-time action and reasons for people to both be out late, and to vanish mysteriously.

Stormhawk · Jun 17, 2012

WillSauger said:
I say this all the time:

It's not the idea, it's how you execute it.

Urban fantasy really doesn't have much to go on. So it's really how you set apart your writing, your scenes, your characters into something that'll force the reader in.

I apologise if I'm misinterpreting "doesn't have much to go on" but...UF is fantasy in an urban/city (or suburban) setting - you can do what you want with it.

For a genre that can contain Charles de Lint's Newford and Anita Blake, and everything in-between, it's a genere that has potential, not one that is constrained just by vampires, werewolves and whatever the new en vogue creature is.

LOG · Jun 17, 2012

LadyV said:
I nearly did a happy dance when I read this!

For the longest time, I struggled with identifying my book as Urban Fantasy. It definitely posesses many elements(urban setting, magic, mythological creatures, action) but lacks most of the grittiness. I'm just relieved to see someone else with a similiar idea.

So, I guess my method to add some freshness to UF is to add more traditional fantasy elements with less graphic content. I like mytholocial creatures that aren't used to death. There's not a siginal vampire or werewolf in my story. I do have a demon, but he's not your usual evil entity. Heck, he might not even be evil. I also like to put unique spins on already established creatures of myth, or just make up my own.

WillSauger said:
I say this all the time:

It's not the idea, it's how you execute it.

Urban fantasy really doesn't have much to go on. So it's really how you set apart your writing, your scenes, your characters into something that'll force the reader in.

What Will said.

Really, in its broadest sense, Urban Fantasy is simply a fantasy story primarily set in a populated area. Could be a city, could be a town, etc.
It really seems to be more about NOT being a traditional, set-in-olden-times setting. Modernity comes about more just because it's easier, and the greatest urban environments exist in the present.

Jess Haines · Jun 18, 2012

frimble3 said:
I do like the idea of Roaring Twenties vampires. Speakeasies and gangsters and Jazz clubs. Lots of night-time action and reasons for people to both be out late, and to vanish mysteriously.

This book exists.

lbender · Jun 18, 2012

'Cool' is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen silly things that others think are cool.

By definition, 'Original' is not something someone can tell you. It's something you have to come up with yourself. If you copy someone else's idea, it's not original.

Good luck.

Silver-Midnight · Jun 18, 2012

frimble3 said:
I do like the idea of Roaring Twenties vampires. Speakeasies and gangsters and Jazz clubs. Lots of night-time action and reasons for people to both be out late, and to vanish mysteriously.

There's also this but this is more Paranormal Romance than Urban Fantasy: http://www.susankrinard.com/ChasingMidnight.htm

Cairo Amani · Jun 18, 2012

I already started a thread about this--but I would love to C more MCs who are "normal" at the beginning of the book and aren't cops, or private investigators or detectives or paranormal investigators...just humans as far as they are concerned.

Also some gay MCs! that's what im writing

Yāoguài · Jun 18, 2012

C.J Bluestone said:
I already started a thread about this--but I would love to C more MCs who are "normal" at the beginning of the book and aren't cops, or private investigators or detectives or paranormal investigators...just humans as far as they are concerned.

Also some gay MCs! that's what im writing

J.A. Pitts has a gay main character who starts out as a prop-maker.

LOG · Jun 18, 2012

L.L. Raand's The Midnight Hunt seems to involve homosexuals.
It seems UF, but I'm not entirely certain.

Stormhawk · Jun 19, 2012

C.J Bluestone said:
I already started a thread about this--but I would love to C more MCs who are "normal" at the beginning of the book and aren't cops, or private investigators or detectives or paranormal investigators...just humans as far as they are concerned.

Also some gay MCs! that's what im writing

My MC is a hacker at the start of the story...more because she can't hold down a regular job due to being more than a little crazy.

And...out of my main cast of 7, I've got one asexual (the MC), two bisexuals, and a genderfluid character. If I can expand into the secondary cast, you can add in a tonne more LGBTIQA+ characters (seriously, for me, it's more like "token straight people" than the other way around).

Mr Flibble · Jun 19, 2012

My MC is a kid's/street magician at the start of the story. He's also homeless and living in a squat.

His best mate is/was Special Forces, tougher than tough, and gay.

Inquisitive_Lass · Jun 19, 2012

In my UF that I recently started, while I have a few of the more known monsters such as Vampires and Werewolves, I try to keep them away from the center of the action. The idea actually inspired from seeing so many novels with detective like running into the action, thought...'what would happen by putting those detectives together with action surrounding them' which ultimately took off to another idea altogether, my inspirations came from different places. It will be quite gritty, especially for being YA. The best way to make something original and fresh is to make sure it has twists as the storylines and characters become develop.

ladyleeona · Jun 19, 2012

Write really, really awesome books. Especially because Kristen Nelson reports editors are seeing tons of UF submissions and not buying many. (Second to last paragraph.)

Personally, I'm blurring the lines (maybe too much...eek) between UF and SciFi. That's what I'm going to call it, because the next best description of my WIP would be 'a genre-cluster*&#$.'

.

I would love to see more UF in different cultural settings, though. That would be fantastic

Yāoguài · Jun 19, 2012

Jess Haines said:
I would be interested in seeing more UF that explored unusual Eastern creatures and mythology in a contemporary setting. I haven't seen too many of those.

JMercedesD said:
I'd like to see more of the eastern mythos handled. Western European is done to death.

ladylilchubb said:
I would love to see more UF in different cultural settings, though. That would be fantastic

Are you listening, publishers? Are you listening?

Jess Haines · Jun 21, 2012

Yāoguài;7369123 said:
Are you listening, publishers? Are you listening?

You're probably not seeing it because publishers aren't getting much of it in their slush piles, or the stuff they are getting is not ready to see the light of day.

If you want to see more Eastern-slanted UF, or UF based on another culture that badly, why not write it yourself? Not saying it to be snotty, I'm honestly curious what you expect the pubs to do about it if they aren't getting any submissions like that.

Personally, I'd read it, but I don't have the time to do the research to write a story like that and do it justice. I'm busy enough with juggling the day job and the books I'm already contracted to write. Just my 2¢.

Sheryl Nantus · Jun 21, 2012

My series at Carina has a shapeshifter who can't shift.

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