Tag: fantasy

Clothes of Female Characters in Fantasy

Writing Thoughts

Update 29/4/24: Thanks to the surprisingly informative platform that is TikTok, I’ve recently learnt tightlacing was a particular style for corsets that not everyone wore. I leave my woefully uneducated original article below, as some of its points still stand and it talks about my female characters’ choices of clothes.

If you follow me on social media, you may have recently seen me complaining about the availability of comfortable/practical options for girls clothing. I’ve been looking for school uniform for my daughter, who starts school in September, but the trousers from the shop we can afford (a supermarket) are all form-fitting stretch material (which gets hot in summer and cold in winter), and the shoes are mostly T-bar and Mary Jane styles, or are light up. (On a side note, why are supermarkets making light up school shoes?)

From the moment girls are born, they have pinks and frills thrust upon them. Even on underwear. Yes, gentlemen readers, the trim on young girls underwear is almost always frilled elastic, rather than the nice turned over piece of fabric boys briefs have. This kind of elastic can rub. Some find it comfortable, but for those who don’t, the only real option is to buy boys underwear, unless you can afford something other than supermarket/big chain clothes (lucky you).

But I don’t want this entire post to be a rant. I want to talk about clothing for female characters in fantasy. Women seem to have two options for clothes in fantasy: dresses or form-fitting leather trousers. Have you seen the episode of the TV show Friends where Ross wears leather trousers? Imagine wearing a tight-fitting pair of those while running around, fighting for your life. No thank you.

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5 Writing Prompts for Fantasy Authors

Fantasy Prompts

Prompts are an excellent resource for writers. Even if you have a work in progress, you can use prompts for writing exercises, or to give yourself a breather from your main project.

I’m often tweeting that I’m working on something new when I shouldn’t be. Most of these short story starts are sitting unfinished, but I never see them as a waste of time. They help me explore new ideas or try different points of view – I usually write in a close third-person perspective, yet I like to explore first person and omniscient in short stories. How can a writer find their voice if they hold themselves back from exploring all the options?

Stories can be as long or as short as you want, they just need a beginning, a middle, and an end. So, without further rambling, here are 5 fantasy prompts I hope will get your creative juices flowing, leading you to a middle and end.

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Winter’s Legion – Poem

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This poem was first published in my newsletter 1st September 2021. I write a poem for each issue. Be amongst the first to read them by signing up to my newsletter, The Thellian Herald.

Winter’s Legion

by Gabrielle Steele

Summer wanes and the nights close in,

Dragons fly south to sandy Nim,

To lose their fiery reverence,

Invites snow griffins’ insolence,

In autumn time they do rehearse,

To drumming of their wingbeats’ verse,

Then as winter our way glances,

Griffins start their lethal dances,

They summon frigid wind that blows,

Through ev’ry home to dim hearths’ glows,

But dragons come, lured back by spring,

Their roars about this land do ring,

On wing the griffins flee to Nor,

Winter’s legion does rule no more.

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