For those of you writing a fantasy novel set in a school...

[Zuhaib]

... how much will the school feature in your novel? Will your novel be completely set in the school or will it play just a part?

 

[GreenKidx]

Not sure if I know exactly what you mean. But one of my currents WIP does have a school setting/element. The way I have it planned out the school will only be physically present/"seen" for a couple chapters in the beginning. Then after that, only mentioned by the characters. Its an important part of the story, but only in that it gets all my characters together...

I'm curious, what inspired this particular question (if you don't mind sharing)?

 

[Zuhaib]

I'm curious, what inspired this particular question (if you don't mind sharing)?

My novel is set in a school which features heavily in the novel. It has been done before (Worst Witch) but was publicised heavily by Harry Potter. I was just wondering if anybody was using any alternatives.

 

[Susan Boulton]

My current work in progress features a UK village school circa 1947.

 

[starrypawz]

Yeah I had a story that was essentially set in a school and the surrounding town. It was a modern day mage academy story. Didn't work out.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

Why do you fear Harry Potter so much? Look at all those teenage-dramas on t.v, all of them are set in a typical highschool, and why shouldn't they? They are studying to become something/something later in life after all right? Why should fantasy be any different? Your characters need education, and since they are in a fantasy world, they need a specific type of education, nobody is going to point at you and say "plagiarist!", if your story is set in or around a magic school, J.K doesn't hold the exclusive rights to this literary feature.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Well, the school I am writing about is just a school. No magic taught at all. It's just part of the backdrop for the story and needs to be as real as I can make it. Sometimes writing about "magic" is easier than writing about the "real world."

 

[Zuhaib]

Why do you fear Harry Potter so much? Look at all those teenage-dramas on t.v, all of them are set in a typical highschool, and why shouldn't they? They are studying to become something/something later in life after all right? Why should fantasy be any different? Your characters need education, and since they are in a fantasy world, they need a specific type of education, nobody is going to point at you and say "plagiarist!", if your story is set in or around a magic school, J.K doesn't hold the exclusive rights to this literary feature.

It's not that I "fear" Harry Potter, for the questions I ask Harry Potter is just a prime example.

 

[Pyan]

If the school teaches magic, you might suffer from comparisons with Harry Potter: but if it is incidental to the main plot, being heavily featured but not a main character, as Hogwarts definitely is, you shouldn't worry too much.

People haven't stopped writing stories about aliens because of the success of Avatar....