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Writing Fantasy Series, a free arts course on Tomo

Writing Fantasy Series

Transform your imagination into an epic saga. Learn to build immersive worlds, design intricate magic systems, and craft characters that readers will follow through multiple volumes.

Like Duolingo, but for Writing Fantasy Series. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.

71 levels across 8 sections, about 142 minutes end to end, roughly 28 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Spark of the Epic, Crafting the Realm, Populating the Realm, The Laws of Magic, Structuring the Journey, Writing the World, Thinking in Series, and Refining the Vision. It starts from scratch.

71 bite-size levelsAbout 5 minutes each

Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android

Quill the Quokka, the guide who teaches the Writing Fantasy Series course
Writing Fantasy Series
with Quill the Quokka
71
Levels
8
Sections
5
Min/day
What you'll learn

Key ideas in Writing Fantasy Series

  • World-building elements are settings, not drivers
  • The What If question bridges reality and fantasy
  • Action requires character choice or obstacles
  • Premise needs character hook and speculative element
  • Readers engage with struggle over mechanics
  • What If is the north star for world-building
  • Character struggle over world-building
  • The What If question
  • Personal stakes vs global stakes
  • Intimate threats vs geopolitical ones
  • Primary motivator
  • Inciting incident status quo
  • Point of no return
  • The 'Want' is the surface-level goal the character thinks will make them happy
  • The hierarchy of stakes in a fantasy epic
  • The 'Need' is the internal growth or realization required to actually resolve the story
Why not just Google it

You've tried the other tabs

Wikipedia

Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.

YouTube

You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.

ChatGPT

One answer, then back to scrolling.

Online courses

Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.

Tomo gives Writing Fantasy Series the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.

Try a question

Here's what playing it feels like

A real question from this course. Take your best guess.

Charting the Course for Adventure

What is the only way to truly move your fantasy story forward?

Get it right to open this lesson and 70 more in the app.

Course map

How to learn Writing Fantasy Series, step by step

Go in order. 71 short levels across 8 sections, about 2 hours 22 minutes in all, five minutes a day.

  1. 1

    The Spark of the Epic

    • Finding Your Core Conflict
    • Choosing Your Fantasy Flavor
  2. 2

    Crafting the Realm

    • Geography as Destiny
    • History and Lore Without Info-Dumping
    • The Atmosphere of the Everyday
  3. 3

    Populating the Realm

    • The Reluctant Hero and the Chosen One
    • Building the Fellowship
    • Creating Memorable Villains
  4. 4

    The Laws of Magic

    • Hard Magic vs. Soft Magic
    • The Cost of Power
  5. 5

    Structuring the Journey

    • The Quest Structure
    • Pacing the Middle of the Book
  6. 6

    Writing the World

    • Fantasy Dialogue and Voice
    • Sensory World-Building
  7. 7

    Thinking in Series

    • The Multi-Book Arc
    • Foreshadowing and the Long Payoff
  8. 8

    Refining the Vision

    • Subverting and Using Tropes
    • Preparing for Publication

8 sections · 18 units · 71 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.

Questions

Questions about Writing Fantasy Series

  1. How do I learn Writing Fantasy Series?

    Go in order: start with The Spark of the Epic, then Crafting the Realm, then Populating the Realm, then The Laws of Magic, and 4 more sections after that. On Tomo that's 71 short levels, about 2 hours 22 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.

  2. Is there a Duolingo-style app for Writing Fantasy Series?

    Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Writing Fantasy Series is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.

  3. Is the Writing Fantasy Series course free?

    Yes. Writing Fantasy Series is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.

  4. How long does it take to learn Writing Fantasy Series?

    71 levels across 8 sections, about 2 hours 22 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.

  5. Do I need any background to start Writing Fantasy Series?

    No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.

New

Tomo is in ChatGPT

Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.

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How it's taught

You pick the voice

This course
The Pirate

Writing Fantasy Series is taught in the Pirate style: arr, learning be an adventure!. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.

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