Right, this is technology in fantasy.

( Why magic can’t always take its place )

Next time: those pesky families, probably in a two-part post.

The amnesia rant won (by one vote) so here it is.

( Some weird things the brains of amnesiac characters get up to—a lot of them imposed by the author )

The technology rant is next.

The most people voted for the spunky character rant, so that goes first.

( Spunky characters don’t need to be banished, just toned down )

Next rant will be on either technology or amnesia, since those two currently have equal numbers of votes.

I was going to do a non-journey rant, and somehow it evolved into a non-war one.

Oh, well.

( Big dramatic battles? Oh, sure. But what happened before and after? )

I deliberately didn’t mention romance or mystery in there, because those were the two that immediately sprang to mind. I wanted more difficult ones. There is so, so much that can be done.

For readerravenclaw, a rant on creating villains that aren’t Dark Lords—or aren’t even designated villains, really.

( Fantasy doesn’t need capitalized Good and Evil. Really. )

Rant on balancing description, dialogue, and action next.

A couple people asked for advice on writing fantasy short stories. So here it is.

( A lot of fantasy short stories would be improved by authors remembering that they are writing actual short stories )

Again, not sure which one to do next.

A few people asked for advice on introducing characters/revelations/new situations/themes. For some reason, this one appealed to me the most, so here we go.

( Many fantasy authors have a problem with the beginning—anywhere in the book )

Yes, so, I lied about what the next rant was going to be about. I wanted to do this one instead.

( On—not eradicating it, not encouraging it, but managing humor )

Suggestions for next rant welcome.

This is the demon rant, asked for by maureenlycaon and several other people.

( Why I shudder whenever I see a story with a demon in it )

I think the next rant will be advice on writing a fantasy short story as opposed to a novel.

Well, a lot of people seemed awfully enthusiastic for a rant about Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind.

Never let it be said that I would pass up a chance to explain, in detail, why I don’t like these authors wouldn't give people what they want.

( There are tons and tons of better role models out there )

All right, so that got rid of some of the anger.

This is the rant on slavery.

( Some things that might be useful/some things that I wish more authors remembered )

Not sure what rant should be next, really.

Happy Halloween, everyone.

Here, have a rant.

( Ghosts—not just for horror anymore )

Next rant’s on slavery.

This deals mostly with clichés of fantasy, as usual, rather than individual things that authors have done or what necromancy was originally.

( Are you a good necromancer, or a bad necromancer? )

Rant the next shall concern ghosts.

The rant on servant characters- something I've been thinking about quite a bit lately, since I have a main character in one of my stories who's a servant.

( Authors should more often put their money where their mouth is )

Rant on the dead and necromancy is next.

The rant on vampires. This is focused on vampires in fantasy, not horror fiction, as I read very little horror compared to fantasy.

That means that this rant concentrates on the really, really annoying vampires.

( The masters of the night who want to feed on energy and whine until the sun comes up )

Servant characters shall be next.

A while ago, luna_manar challenged me to write a rant on what I thought was good descriptive prose. Well, here you go.

( Description has a place in fantasy novels—just not at the forefront of them )

There.

Rant on vampires is next, I think.

I'm probably not covering everything here. These are issues that I've found useful to keep in mind when writing disabled characters of my own.

( Some things obvious, some things not so obvious )

This rant is on shapeshifter societies.

( No, they're not human, they're not animal, they're both )

I think the next rant will be on handling disabled characters.

Once again, informed by my personal opinions, and the things I am so sick and tired of seeing in fantasy.

( Oh, look, we have shapeshifters! Tee-hee! *Limyaael gets out axe* )

Next rant is on shapeshifter societies, I think.

The second part of the plotting rant, on advancing the plot in small ways.

( It’s unfortunate that so many people understand ‘plot’ only as battles and romance… )

Shapeshifter characters next, I think.