So, I realize we are all shaking off the shackles of carbs and sugar from all the Christmas festivities...but I have been reading Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, and I have lots of thoughts....
Characters are the most important thing. Everything in a story rides on its characters, even the plot. Your characters are the soul of a story, the center which the reader will bond to, which they will grow to love and hate, and when you have the emotions of the reader, you have succeeded in your job, you simply have to guide them through it.
In the space of sci-fi and fantasy, it's incredibly easy to look at the greats like Tolkien or Sanderson and identify the fluff of what makes their work good. But we don't love Superman for his powers, we love him for his virtue.
In the same way, I will never love a wizard for his magic, I may like him, but I will only love him for his character.
Genius that he is, I think even authors like Sanderson fall into this trap (and readers of his as well). His magic systems are some of the greatest. He has changed the industry with them.
But without characters you care about, solid, tight arcs with believable weight and emotional change, a magic system or a world, or a sword, or a dragon somehow fall short.
What makes fantasy good is not what makes it different. What makes it good is what makes any good story: good characters, and a good plot.
The additional things merely enhance the experience the authors tools for crafting story.
Never forget your characters. Without them, your story will always lack life.
But as always, what do you think? Where should a story start?
