Honors Projects

Writing a Fantasy Novel

Abstract

The goal of this Honors Project was to write and outline a manuscript for a fantasy novel. Worked into that goal was to create a unique magic system, a world, and a pantheon, which was accomplished through research of other fantasy worlds and other mythologies both fictional and historical. The story revolves around the central questions of identity (including the fluidity of gender and sexuality), concerns of future aspirations, and how education applies to those topics through facilitating conversation; these themes are not commonly discussed in mainstream fantasy. The current manuscript, which houses over 42,000 words, also includes a visual representation of the magic system in the form of a Venn diagram, a family tree of the pantheon, and a map of the world that I created. As a whole, the manuscript pushes the boundaries of mainstream fantasy in regard to themes and formatting, as seen by the use of parenthetical asides and footnotes to represent collaborating narrators and facilitate worldbuilding), and chapter-by-chapter character lists and descriptions to make the large cast easier to remember and distinguish.

Major

English

First Advisor

Dr. Heath Diehl

First Advisor Department

Honors Program

Second Advisor

Dr. Caitlin Marley

Second Advisor Department

Classical Studies

Publication Date

2021

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