I have a really fun idea I want to do but it does, at least for the first book, involve a school setting (not for the whole book) and I'm really wondering if schools or academies in mg fantasies would be considered a tough sell to agents or editors at the moment. What do you think? Is it cliche?
Are Fantasy Schools or Academies Cliche now in MG?
- Thread starter AndreaX
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It's only a cliche if you do it poorly.
IOW, at least IMHO, a school setting is no more inherently cliche than, say, a dragon or a quest. It's the execution that makes them interesting and fresh or stale and boring.
So write your story. Believe in it. There's always a market for a good story. And even if it is a tough sell right now, wait a few years and the winds may shift again, and you'll have yourself a nice finished seaworthy manuscript on which to hoist a sail.
IOW, at least IMHO, a school setting is no more inherently cliche than, say, a dragon or a quest. It's the execution that makes them interesting and fresh or stale and boring.
So write your story. Believe in it. There's always a market for a good story. And even if it is a tough sell right now, wait a few years and the winds may shift again, and you'll have yourself a nice finished seaworthy manuscript on which to hoist a sail.
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A lot of fairytales happen in a "kingdom", but nobody thinks that's a cliche. Actually, I never thought about it before because the setting is often invisible. What we most remember about those tales are the characters and the events. The actual events can vary widely. Characters vary wildly.
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You mean you want the school itself to have fantasy elements, along the lines of Hogwarts?
The magical school setting is common because it makes sense. Regular kids go to regular school. Why shouldn't magical kids go to a magical school? There's an element of wish fulfillment, too, since a lot of kids wish they were studying spells and potions instead of math and grammar.
Whether or not anyone considers the idea of fantasy schools to be cliched, I don't think these stories will disappear. They're too much fun! It has been done a lot, though, so if you want to stand out, you'll need to put your own unique twist on it. The trick is to make sure your fantasy school story doesn't sound like all the other fantasy school stories out there. Being very familiar with the market and what's already been done will help.
The magical school setting is common because it makes sense. Regular kids go to regular school. Why shouldn't magical kids go to a magical school? There's an element of wish fulfillment, too, since a lot of kids wish they were studying spells and potions instead of math and grammar.
Whether or not anyone considers the idea of fantasy schools to be cliched, I don't think these stories will disappear. They're too much fun! It has been done a lot, though, so if you want to stand out, you'll need to put your own unique twist on it. The trick is to make sure your fantasy school story doesn't sound like all the other fantasy school stories out there. Being very familiar with the market and what's already been done will help.
Magic school settings only bother me when they are almost identical to Harry Potter with no crreativity in characters, settings, or plot, though defeating the big bad sort of plot may be unavoidable. Sometimes I feel like some authors only bother changing names and the settings a little bit without adding their own style. If executed properly, I do believe authors can still bring something great to this setting. As long as you bring your own unique details into it, I don't think it should be much of a problem.