You know you write fantasy when...

[trix_of_magina]

I saw a post on one of the blogs I like to check in on that listed signs that the author was a "Fairy Tale Blogger". (Here's the post if you're interested, and there are links to the other posts in this blog chain for further reading. :D) This got me thinking, and I decided I'd do a list of my own. There's a forum thread on this in the NaNoWriMo forums, so I'm taking some of the items from there, but I'm adding a few of my own as well. All of them apply to me. If you find any of these appropriate for you, mention them in the comments. I haven't received any comments over here in forever.

The first word of every item I came up with will be underlined for convenience.
You know you read, write and love fantasy when...

• You spend a lot of time figuring out the "backstory" for your 1500-year-old characters...(well, most of my long-lived characters are significantly older than that, but...)
• You try to write a normal short story and fail every time.
• Certain music makes you imagine epic battle scenes.
• You sit down to write a plot synopsis, only to get sidetracked by writing a complete history of your world from its formation all the way to the beginning of your story. (I'm getting better, but I used to do this every time I tried to write a plot summary.)
• The book you initially intended to be a stand-alone splits into eight books, which you only combined into three after the series expanded even further and sprouted sequels set hundreds of years after the current plot. (Story of the Sisterlands. And I'm even contemplating opening the Star-Sceptres Trilogy back up into eight books again. Le sigh.)
• You have to write out a full page dedicated to your character's bio because you have to include all their different names, powers, and abilities. (Well, some of my main characters had adopted names, and some have nicknames too! And they need all the mage-talents and inner talents they have!)
• You suggest that the solution to making Glass/crystal weapons functional in combat without breaking is to reinforce them with magic, and find that totally normal.
• You hear an interesting name while watching TV and think: I love that. I have to give it to one of my characters! (Commander Harmon Rab from JAG immediately comes to mind. :D)
  • You misspelled a name you decided to use and then didn't change it because it looked more unique that way. (Antario was based on Ontario, and I left it that way partly because the latter is the name of a real-world province of Canada.)
  • You like making up names when you can't think of real ones that suit your characters.
• You read transformation/age regression stories on DeviantART and are disappointed by the lack of detail because you're planning on doing similar things in your own novels and wanted some inspiration. (Guys, seriously, don't look at me like that...)
• You can spend hours just sitting there, imagining stuff about your made-up worlds, and then struggle to write those imaginings down because you want to get them just right.
• You look at ordinary, every day animals and start wondering what you could call them after you'd added wings and maybe a longer tail. (Which is how the Lanotehara got started. They were originally housecats with wings and extra tails that had magical singing voices. They've gone through a few changes since then, but they still possess many of the traits they did originally.)
• You dream about traveling to a fantasy world and then get annoyed when you wake up two minutes later with a full bladder.
• You know that the most interesting dreams you have are when you have a full bladder while the rest are due to you not needing much more sleep, and so you inevitably wake up before anything truly awesome can happen in them.
• This disappoints you because you love some of the ideas you get in dreams and want to see where they lead.
• Every time you write the word "eleven" you think the words "brothers", "princes" or "swans", because The Wild Swans is your favourite fairy tale, and you're writing a novel based on it (which is what I was doing during last NaNo. I'll finish it next Camp :D).
• Because of this, eleven is now one of your favourite numbers, the others being three, seven, twelve and seventeen.
• They all became your favourite numbers because of something fantastic you read/watched and enjoyed.
• Telepathy is a viable and regularly utilised method of communication.
• You came up with a musical code for your singermages so you can translate their spells into the melodies they use.
• You're fairytale-based novel suddenly develops what can only be described as an order of fairy ninjas. (Did I ever tell you guys about that? The really crazy thing is they aren't all fairies. The order comprises the least scrupulous individuals from all the fae races which include, but are not limited to, fairies, elves, dwarves, sylphs, nayads, tree nymphs, pixies, merfolk, nagas, frost sprites and some others I have yet to come up with. Tulatia is a big realm, after all. The order itself is being called the "Faelin" for now. I'll probably have to come up with something better eventually, but that'll do for the moment. I'll need to flesh out the concept somewhat, but they're worth keeping even if they mostly exist in the never-to-be-seen backstory.)
• Your stars are not giant balls of gass, but worlds of their own covered with immense trees that have glowing leaves and whose fruit burst into light when they reach a certain stage of development, and most of that light is sent up to the luminosphere so that they look like stars normally do on earth from the surface of the world where your story is set. Said light is the purest form of magic in that world.
  • The stars are also home to many races ranging from humanoids with wings whose skin comes in many more colours and shades than humans to creatures that look like a cross between griffins and centaurs that also come in nearly every imaginable colour, and those aren't even the weirdest ones. Said races are also magical to varying degrees.
  • After reading several posts mentioning the provision of sufficiently large animals to serve as a food source for dragons, you start wondering what the more carnivorous races of starfolk would prey upon, and decide that there must be some non-sentient star-animals that they can eat. Now all you have to do is come up with them...

If your interest has been peaked by any of the tidbits I posted here, you may ask about them in the comments. If I don't think it's too spoilerific, I'll explain myself.

If any of you didn't already know just how crazy I actually am, you do now. :D