Wharton would view McGonagall as the formidable guardian of a decaying, though still potent, social institution, much like the rigid society she chronicled in The Age of Innocence. The narrative would be deeply concerned with the tension between individual passion and the crushing weight of duty, capturing the subtle, unspoken sacrifices McGonagall makes to maintain the "sanctity" of Hogwarts. Her technique centers on masterful social irony and the psychological architecture of restraint, where the drama unfolds in the smallest of gestures—a tightened lip, a perfectly phrased reprimand, or the strategic placement of a cup of tea. Wharton would strip away the magical spectacle to reveal the cold, tactical brilliance required to navigate a patriarchal establishment, portraying McGonagall as a woman of iron resolve whose greatest battle is suppressing her own human heart to preserve the order she serves.
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hey i was wondering if you had any tips for writing dialog in a sci-fantasy world? or just sci-fantasy concepts. thanks!
Writing Notes: Science Fantasy
Science Fantasy - (sometimes referred to as technofantasy) a subgenre of speculative fiction that includes elements found in science fiction and fantasy.
Though speculative works can be traced back thousands of years, the science fantasy genre began to take a clearly defined shape in the 19th century with works from authors like H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Mary Shelley. These giants of speculative fiction dreamed up gadgets and gizmos, fantastic monsters, and flying ships aplenty.
At the time, the stories they wrote were referred to as "scientific romances," which basically equated to fantastic explorations of scientific concepts and technologies. Or rather, they created works of science fiction that relied upon and embraced fantasy elements to fill in the blanks.
Science fantasy has fluctuated a bit in application over time, especially during the Golden Age of Science Fiction, in which works of strictly hard science fiction were more celebrated, but the tradition never really went away.
Science Fantasy works take traditional Fantasy and Science Fiction tropes and throw them in a blender, purposely creating a setting that has the feel of both.
Expect to see a lot of classic Fantasy tropes (e.g. warriors with swords, dragons, wizards, castles, and elves) AND a lot of standard Science Fiction tropes (e.g. spaceships, aliens, lasers, scientists, robots, and Time Travel).
The fundamental difference between science fiction and fantasy lies in the realm of plausibility:
Science fiction takes what we know about scientific facts and technologies and proposes situations that might arise from the development of these ideas.
Fantasy focuses on the impossible or implausible, presenting situations and settings wholly dependent on magical and supernatural elements.
Fantasy and science fiction speculate on realities that differ from ours by magical OR scientific means.
Science fantasy speculates on realities that differ from ours by magical AND scientific means.
Science fiction focuses on what the future might hold for us based on science and technology:
How would society change if medical knowledge eliminated the aging process?
What are the consequences of climate change?
Science fantasy does the same but throws the fantastic into the mix:
What if a supernatural being offered us immortality?
Can we fix climate change with magic?
However, don’t confuse science fantasy with soft science fiction, which does not offer explanations for how its technology works, but also does not use magic to explain technology. Some works of fiction might occupy a fuzzy gray area between the two.
Fantasy explores the magical and supernatural without speculating about science or technology:
What would a world with dragons be like?
What if vampires lived among us?
Science fantasy throws science, technology, and futurism into the mix:
What if we discovered a planet with dragons?
How would society exist in a future with vampires?
Science fantasy may also arguably describe character oriented stories where the fantastic elements are very subtle and are common to both science fiction and fantasy.
Examples could include Paranormal Romance which just happens to involve Applied Phlebotinum, Time Travel or Artificial Intelligence.
Many such stories strive to keep the fantastic elements understated (often in the form of minimal Special Effects) in the interest of focusing on human drama.
Examples of Science Fantasy
R. L. Stine's Goosebumps: A kids' horror anthology series which features various sci-fi or fantasy monsters in each book.
The Twilight Zone: The earliest TV series in America to show the line between Fantasy and Science Fiction get blurred, from ghostly flying saucers to tales of a man who could create anything with a tape recorder.
Artemis Fowl: This is a major part of the premise, as the novels focus on Artemis' interactions with magic and the fairy folk while both sides make use of highly advanced technology. It's squarely between the two as well.
Subgenres of Science Fantasy
Sword and Planet. A popular genre in pulp fiction magazines, sword and planet stories send a human protagonist to a planet where they must contend with an alien society, usually with a sword in hand. It has the vibes of sword and sorcery—but in space. Not all sword and planet is science fantasy, but a sizable portion of it is. Example: A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Science and Sorcery. Proposed by the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, consists of stories wherein two distinct realities—one grounded in science and the other one of magic—interact with one another. This could include supernatural beings from another dimension invading a future Earth or an intrepid star traveler slipping through a portal to a mythical realm. Example: City of Bones by Martha Wells.
Magipunk. These stories blend magic and technology to create a fantasy science where magic either enables technology or is considered another form of technology. Think of flying machines powered by wizards or sentient war machines imbued with and controlled by the spirits of the dead. This subgenre can itself house many subgenres, several of which fall under the punk genre as well, like steampunk or magipunk (also known as magepunk, aetherpunk, or dungeonpunk). It can even include a "harder" punk genre like cyberpunk, but with stronger fantasy elements. Example: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone.
Dying Earth or Planet. This subgenre doesn't always mean the stories are about the end of our Earth, though the rise of climate fiction would make it seem so. Beyond that, it can often mean any fictional planet in the ever-expanding universe, or it could even be referring to some other world that exists in a different time and place. Sometimes, the "dying world" can be an abstract representation of a clash between an old way and a new way, too. So given these various circumstances for a Dying Earth, a solution can manifest itself in infinite ways—as you might imagine—and each one being equally techno-fantastic. Example: The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe.
Identify a focus. What do you want to stand out about your story, or what central concept should everything revolve around? Examples: Star Wars started with the hero’s journey and built out from that. Shadowrun wanted to be a fantasy version of cyberpunk.
Choose complementary tropes. Take the elements you know and love from both science fiction and fantasy, and start mixing them into something that makes sense for your story.
Avoid the kitchen sink approach. It might be tempting to sweep both shelves into the pot. After all, we love everything about science fiction and fantasy, so we want to include it all. However, this can create a jumbled mess or something that has so much going on that each ingredient can’t be properly appreciated. It can be done, but it takes a masterstroke to do it well.
To write dialogue in this genre, consuming media (e.g., books, films, TV series, screenplays) related to science fantasy might help inspire you, such as the examples above or your own favourite books, films etc in this genre. And you can find more examples in the linked sources. Hope this helps with your writing!
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Inciting incident of a story - the event that sets the main character/s on the journey that will occupy them throughout the narrative.
Typically, this incident will upset the balance within the main character’s world.
In classic detective films like The Big Sleep, for example, the inciting incident is the detective being asked to take on a new case.
In moments big and small, an inciting incident changes the life of a character, and the ensuing story is the fallout from that change.
Tips for Using Inciting Incidents in Your Writing
A compelling inciting action can be the difference between a gripping story and a forgettable one. Here are 3 techniques to make sure you’re writing the most effective possible beginnings to your stories:
Keep to your timeline. To make your reader or viewing audience emotionally invested in an inciting incident, make sure it takes place during the timeline of the story you’re telling. When an inciting action is a past event that others make reference to, it lacks the visceral truth of an incident that the audience has experienced.
Let your inciting action stimulate something sustainable. Your inciting plot point should drive a character to behave a certain way throughout the narrative. Make sure that the driving force will be sustainable throughout the full course of your story. A detective driven to solve a complicated case will sustain throughout the story. A man bitter about not getting the last slice of pizza could potentially be funny, but it won’t sustain a particularly long story.
Make your inciting action cause a noticeable shift in your character. A compelling inciting action will make your character take actions she would not have otherwise. In The Fugitive TV series, Dr. Richard Kimble loses his wife to murder and, worse still is accused of that murder. These traumatic events change Kimble, and they launch him onto a quest so compelling that it sustained four full seasons of television.
An inciting incident exists to launch a story.
If Shakespeare had begun Romeo and Juliet somewhere in the midst of the young lovers’ courtship, the story might have been entertaining, but it would have lacked the emotional stakes created when the two protagonists first lay eyes on each other in the play’s inciting incident.
It inspires the protagonist’s central motivations throughout the story.
In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the protagonist Charles Marlow finds his motivation when he learns about a Mr. Kurtz, in the story’s inciting incident.
The story goes on to detail Marlow’s obsessive quest to find Kurtz, and the horror he encounters when he finally finds him.
Every event that follows within the timeline of the story achieves its significance insofar as it relates to Marlow’s inciting action.
Types of Inciting Actions in Literature
As a general rule, inciting actions fall into one of 3 categories.
Causal inciting actions. Inciting actions involving a deliberate choice made either by the protagonist or about the protagonist. This deliberate choice informs all story elements to come. An example of this is Luke Skywalker’s recruitment in the original Star Wars film from 1977. The inciting action is the first step in Luke taking the archetypal “hero’s journey,” as famously described by Joseph Campbell.
Coincidental inciting actions. Inciting actions stemming from random chance, coincidence, or a protagonist “being in the right place at the right time.” In C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia series, the children inadvertently stumble upon a magical land through a portal in the back of a wardrobe. This chance discovery leads to all subsequent actions in the story.
Ambiguous inciting actions. Inciting actions that occur under circumstances that are not fully explained. The audience is left to guess whether the protagonist is placed in her situation by choice or by chance. Such inciting actions are common in thrillers and mysteries like The Sixth Sense, and the true story is rarely revealed until the very end of the film.
Patti Smith would portray Harry, Ron, and Hermione not as the heroes of a finished war, but as ghosts of a revolution that never quite stopped burning in their blood. Her prose would be raw, rhythmic, and steeped in the romantic grit of the late twentieth century. She would treat their survival as a kind of long, beautiful, and exhausting rock and roll fallout. She would focus on the tactile artifacts of their shared history: the fraying wool of a jumper, the weight of a wand like a microphone held too long, the permanent imprint of scar tissue. She would frame their adulthood not as a settled peace, but as a restless, nomadic existence haunted by the electricity of their youth. Ultimately, she would view them as survivors of a myth they were forced to inhabit, capturing the aching nostalgia of three people who know that while the fighting is over, the feeling of being on the run and the profound, soul-deep solidarity of the outsider is the only language they still truly speak.
How does this interpretation of them as restless, myth-haunted survivors resonate with how you imagine their lives in middle age?
The most interesting thing about your character is not their wound. It's what they built on top of the wound to survive it.
The wound is backstory. The structure they built on top , the habits, the walls, the jokes they make to change the subject, the way they leave before they can be left, that's character. So don't show me the wound. Show me the architecture.
The reader will figure out what's underneath. That's the part that makes them feel clever. Let them have it.
Cool Ways to Show a Character Is Traumatized (Without Saying "Traumatized"):
• They memorize where every exit is in a room
• They check their phone repeatedly after sending a message, worried they said the wrong thing
• They freeze when asked a simple question, like they’re calculating the safest answer
• They over-explain tiny mistakes before anyone reacts
• They clean up messes that aren’t theirs without being asked
• They listen for footsteps in hallways before relaxing
• They downplay their own pain with humor or sarcasm
• They check locks more than once before bed
• They leave shoes near the door, ready to leave quickly
• They wake up instantly at small sounds while others sleep through them
• They carry painkillers, snacks, or water everywhere “just in case.”
• They don’t like closed doors.
• They test people subtly to see if they'll leave
• They sit near walls or corners, rarely the center of a room.
• Loud noises don’t scare them anymore, they just go very still
• They apologize automatically, even when nothing went wrong
• Compliments make them visibly uncomfortable.
• They keep important things within arm’s reach at all times
• They watch people’s hands more than their faces
• They flinch at movements that aren’t threatening
• When someone raises their voice, they go quiet instead of arguing back
• They assume blame first, even when it makes no sense
• They’re surprised when someone keeps their promise
• They brace themselves before asking a favor
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Hi! Love your blogs. I couldn't find anything on 'vampires' in your references. I was wondering if you could cover this illustrious yet monstrous figure? Many thanks!
Writing Notes: Vampires
Vampire - (in popular legend) a creature, often fanged, that preys upon humans, generally by consuming their blood. They have been featured in folklore and fiction of various cultures for hundreds of years, predominantly in Europe, although belief in them has waned in modern times.
Common Depiction:
A bloodsucking creature
Rises from its burial place at night, sometimes in the form of a bat, to drink the blood of humans.
By daybreak, it must return to its grave or to a coffin filled with its native earth.
Tales of vampires are part of the world’s folklore, most notably in Hungary and the Balkan Peninsula.
The disinterment in Serbia in 1725 and 1732 of several fluid-filled corpses that villagers claimed were behind a plague of vampirism led to widespread interest and imaginative treatment of vampirism throughout western Europe.
Vampires are supposedly dead humans (originally suicides, heretics, or criminals) who maintain a kind of life by biting the necks of living humans and sucking their blood; their victims also become vampires after death.
These “undead” creatures cast no shadow and are not reflected in mirrors.
They can be warded off by crucifixes or wreaths of garlic and can be killed by exposure to the sun or by an oak stake driven through the heart.
Origin. Creatures with vampiric characteristics have appeared at least as far back as ancient Greece, where stories were told of creatures that attacked people in their sleep and drained their bodily fluids.
Tales of walking corpses that drank the blood of the living and spread plague flourished in medieval Europe in times of disease.
Cultural historian Christopher Frayling points out how the vampire myth is a parody of the Christian resurrection and a “satanic version” of transubstantiation—the Catholic belief that during Holy Communion the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
The vampire myth allows us to examine societal taboos we aren’t always able to discuss. “It’s about wanting a demon lover to take you over; about desiring undesirable things,” Frayling explains. “It transposes them into this myth in a rather pleasurable way.”
Hatred of Garlic. Many cultures have long believed in the extraordinary powers of garlic; from ancient Egypt to Romania, garlic has been used as a natural insect repellent, a natural antibiotic, and as protection against other preternatural evils. Modern belief in garlic’s curative powers against vampires likely comes from these more ancient beliefs.
Literary Examples
The most famous vampire is Count Dracula from Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula (1897).
In the 20th century Anne Rice’s novel Interview with the Vampire, published in 1976, notably introduced the world to vampires that were brooding and self-loathing and squabbled like humans.
Modern vampire treatment in popular culture is usually divided into cycles.
The Malignant Cycle (1922-1948): The vampire is treated as a creature of pure horror, as popular in the early films like Nosferatu and Universal films.
The Erotic Cycle (1950-1985): The vampire is considered evil but alluring, like in the Hammer Horror films.
The Sympathetic Cycle (1987-2001): The vampire is seen as a tragic monster to be pitied, but still feared, though they can sometimes be redeemed, usually by becoming human once more.
The Individualist Cycle (2003-present day): The vampire can be bad, good, or in between, much like humans, and their transformation to vampirism does not imply a change in morality.
In modern vampire literature, the shift from the vampire’s legendary Gothic characteristics to a more romanticized heroism becomes apparent.
The 20th and 21st centuries brought about a new version of the classic vampire.
This creature distances itself from the dark, horrifying being and grows into a more desirable partner (both romantically and socially) than its predecessors.
As was seen in the vampire literature of earlier centuries, the vampire was always the one who attacked because of repressed sexual desires.
Instead, now the human poses the larger threat for the modern vampire to have the ability to control his blood lust because the human now seemingly has control over the vampire’s sexual agency.
The female characters have been refashioned from being threatened to posing more of a (sexual) threat. Examples:
Isabella Swan from The Twilight Series and Gabrielle Maxwell from the Midnight Breed novels actively seek a sexual relationship with their vampire counterparts and are even willing to abandon their identities and constantly risk their lives for a chance to become part of the vampire world.
This contrasting presentation of the vampire’s romantic characteristics could be associated with the time period’s viewpoint of sexuality.
Instead of the repressed sexuality that were apparent in 18th and 19th century works, the modern Byronic vampire is not the main villain who presents danger to those around him.
The vampires are the now the victims who are tasked with repressing their desires, while humans seek to fulfill their desires in becoming a part of the vampire world.
Some Vampire Tropes
Animorphism: Vampires commonly turn into bats (or other nocturnal animals, such as wolves).
Chinese Vampire: An undead being from Chinese Mythology called the jiang shi, depicted as a hopping vampire/zombie that feeds on chi.
Cross-Melting Aura: Some vampires are powerful and evil enough to repel or destroy holy weapons.
Daywalking Vampire: Contrary to most depictions, some vampires may actually be immune to sunlight.
Horror Hunger: A person starts to feel intense cravings for blood after being turned into a vampire. How well they're able to resist these urges can vary.
Missing Reflection: Vampires often do not reflect any image in mirrors. Sometimes extends to not appearing in photos, films or videos as well.
Turning Back Human: A common goal for people who've been involuntarily vampirized and don't want to stay this way.
Undeath Always Ends: When even undead vampires can still die.
Voluntary Vampire Victim: Someone willingly lets a vampire feed on them.
Wooden Stake: Stabbing or impaling vampires through their heart with a sharp, pointy wooden stick is the classic method for killing them.
Melville would cast Crouch as a man consumed by his own rigid, self-imposed legalism, much like the monomaniacal Captain Ahab or the detached, wall-building Bartleby. He would move the story away from the high-fantasy stakes of the Triwizard Tournament and focus instead on the claustrophobic, soul-crushing atmosphere of the Ministry. His technique utilizes weighty, philosophical symbolism where the law is not a tool, but a great, inscrutable white whale that Crouch chases to the detriment of his own humanity. The prose would be dense, hypnotic, and filled with dark reflections on authority, duty, and the hollow nature of an existence sacrificed entirely to a professional obsession. Melville would portray Crouch as a tragic figure of bureaucracy, a man who has so thoroughly identified with his office that he has effectively erased his own identity, leaving behind only an empty, cold shell of a man who is eventually devoured by the very order he tried so desperately to uphold.
Staring at a blank page with a dozen great ideas for your favorite characters but no idea how to connect them is a struggle every writer faces. Understanding narrative structure is the most effective way to transform those scattered scenes into a cohesive, compelling story. For those new to writing fanfiction, where you are already working within an established world, these structures provide a reliable framework to help you organize your new plot threads and keep your narrative moving forward.
1. The Hero’s Journey (Monomyth)
Popularized by Joseph Campbell, this structure is the backbone of many epic fantasies and adventure novels. It follows a protagonist who goes on an adventure, faces a crisis, wins a victory, and comes home changed.
Best for: Action-adventure, "Chosen One" AUs, or stories where a character is transported to a new location (Isekai).
Key Stages: The Ordinary World, The Call to Adventure, Crossing the Threshold, The Ordeal, and The Return with the Elixir.
2. The Three-Act Structure
This is the most standard Western narrative model. It breaks the story into three distinct parts, ensuring the pacing remains tight and the stakes continue to escalate.
Best for: Almost any fanfiction, from short stories to long-form novelizations.
Act I (The Setup): Introduces the status quo and the "inciting incident" that disrupts it.
Act II (The Confrontation): The protagonist struggles against obstacles, leading to a midpoint climax.
Act III (The Resolution): The final battle or decision and the aftermath (the "new normal").
3. Fichtean Curve
Unlike structures that rely on a slow build-up, the Fichtean Curve is composed of a series of crises that occur in rapid succession, leading directly to the climax. It is designed to keep the reader on edge.
Best for: High-intensity thrillers, "hurt/comfort" fics, or political dramas where the characters are constantly under pressure.
How it works: You skip the long exposition. You start the story at a point of high tension and move from one "crisis" to the next, with very little downtime between them.
4. The Quest Structure
In this format, the narrative is driven entirely by a specific goal. The story is a sequence of events—often episodic—that take the characters from Point A to Point B.
Best for: Road trip stories, "getting the team back together" plots, or scavenger hunts.
Why it works for fanfiction: It is very modular. You can easily insert "filler" chapters or side adventures while keeping the main destination (the goal) in sight.
5. The Nested Narrative (Frame Story)
This involves a "story within a story." You might have a primary character telling a story about the past, or a character finding an old journal that recounts a different adventure.
Best for: Flashback-heavy fics, revealing character backstories, or exploring lore that isn't shown in the original source material.
Why it works for fanfiction: It allows you to explore "canon-divergent" events while keeping your current characters safe in the "frame" of the present day.
Tip for Fanfic Writers: Because you are already working with established characters, you don’t need to spend as much time on "Act I" introductions as a novelist would. You can often start much closer to the action because your readers likely already know who the characters are and how they generally behave.
Which of these structures sounds like it might fit the story idea you currently have in mind?
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If Alice Walker Wrote the Story of Petunia Dursley
If Alice Walker were to pick up the pen to explore the Wizarding World, she would not be interested in the flash of wands or the glory of battles. She would look at the margins. She would look for the voices that are silenced, the women who are broken by patriarchal expectations, and the quiet, heavy work of survival.
For Walker, the best character to anchor this vision is Petunia Dursley. She would take Petunia, a woman defined by her bitterness and her smallness, and peel back the layers to show the deep, painful roots of that anger—a story about a sister left behind, a girl who tried to make herself "normal" because the world told her that was the only way to be safe.
The Walker Blueprint for Your Fic
1. The Power of Voice and Testimony
Walker is a master of the "letter" format—the personal confession that speaks to a history larger than one person. A Petunia-centric story would be told through her memories, her private internal dialogue, and her struggle to reconcile the woman she became with the girl who once stood in a garden, watching her sister fly.
Writer Tip: Write in the first person. Let your character speak directly to the reader. Don't worry about "plot progression" as much as "emotional truth." What is the one thing they have never been able to tell anyone?
2. The Burden of "Respectability"
In Walker’s work, characters often feel forced to adopt a persona of "respectability" or "correctness" to survive in a society that doesn't value them. Petunia’s obsession with cleanliness, her nosy neighbors, and her hatred of "magic" would be reinterpreted as a desperate, terrified shield. She is trying to build a world where nothing unexpected can hurt her.
Writer Tip: Show the labor behind the character. If your character is "mean," show us the anxiety that drives it. Show us the hours spent scrubbing floors just to feel like they have some control over a chaotic universe.
3. Healing the Ancestral Wound
Walker writes about the journey toward self-love and the reclaiming of one's own story. A Petunia story wouldn't be about her becoming a witch; it would be about her finding a way to forgive herself for the resentment she harbored. It would be about her looking at Harry—not as a burden, but as the last piece of the sister she lost.
Writer Tip: Find the point of intersection between your character and the people they despise. What part of "the other" do they actually see in themselves? That is where your story starts.
4. The Beauty in the Ordinary
Walker elevates the domestic—the kitchen, the garden, the chores—to something sacred. She shows that the small, quiet lives of women are where the most important battles are fought. Petunia’s house wouldn't just be a dull place; it would be a fortress of her own making, full of meaning that only she understands.
Writer Tip: Give your "boring" setting dignity. Describe the way the light hits the kitchen table or the specific way your character arranges the tea cups. Make the mundane feel vital.
The TL;DR for Your Next Fic
Write with empathy for the "villain." Every "mean" character has a story about why they decided to close their heart. Find it and tell it with grace.
Focus on the internal journey. The biggest conflict isn't with Voldemort; it's with the character's own shame and regret.
Keep the prose grounded. Use the language of everyday life to explore heavy, deep emotional truths.
Does the idea of writing a "redemption" story for a character most people dislike appeal to you, or do you prefer to keep your focus on the main heroes?
