Limitless. That should be the definition of the Epic Fantasy genre. Yet, without the use of magic, are we not limited to the natural laws of physics? Are we not bound by the world as we know it, or at the very least, a world that would be theoretically possible? Where’s the line between ‘acceptable’ amounts of imagination and downright confusion? Have you ever read a fantasy novel that was too far out there? That held so little ties with the natural order of things, that your own imagination was incapable of grasping it?
I’ve come to realize that I’ve been limiting myself restrictively during the entire process of writing my fantasy series, that I haven’t really permitted my imagination any kind of freedom to see where it could lead me – and that’s just damn depressing. Why, as a writer, would I impose such boundaries on myself, on my own work? It’s literary suicide!
The best answer, is that I started the series at a young age, when my own world was quite small and my understanding of politics nil. Everyone knows that you can’t write a decent Epic Fantasy without the back-alley, back-stabbing, double-crossing, greed-driven process of politics and the wars thus wrought. The problem is that I can’t just wipe the slate clean and rewrite. I would never want to lose the integrity of the story, of the characters, but can I successfully infuse a brilliant amount of new imagination into an existing plot by just editing?
I suppose I don’t have any choice but to try. If I can’t give my books all of the opportunity to be ‘Epic,’ then who will, right? The upside is the pragmatism of the series as it stands, should make it easier to keep that balance between the feasible and the awe-inspiring. Between possible and magical. Writing, it seems, is a lot like baking. If you don’t use the right amount of each ingredient, it could all fall flat midway through.
Beloved bloggers, keep your fingers crossed for me… I totally suck at baking.
A.C. Melody 
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