Urban fantasy is a subgenre that combines the best of two worlds: grounded, present-day urban landscapes populated with otherworldly creatures. While most urban fantasies are set in large metropolises like New York City or London, there are occasional outliers. The size of the city does not matter as much as the way you intertwine the familiar with the supernatural.
One of the primary ways that urban fantasies differ from traditional fantasies is that most of the latter take place in rural areas where there is plenty of space, so it is easy to separate dragons, werewolves, or vampires from unsuspecting humans. In urban fantasy, however, magical creatures and supernatural forces are navigating the same dense, crowded cities as humans, so there are bound to be accidental interactions.
People often confuse urban fantasy and contemporary fantasy, but they are distinct subgenres. The primary difference between the two is that contemporary fantasy can take place anywhere, while an urban fantasy takes place in a city or town that functions almost like its own character in the story. Another important difference is that urban fantasies usually take place in our current day and age, while contemporary fantasies take place in times contemporary to when the story was written. For example, the contemporary fantasy category includes works like C.S. Lewis's Narnia series, which though contemporary, no longer feels "modern."
Urban fantasy stories tend to have a noir tone and feel, so they are darker than pure fantasy and often include crimes and the characters who solve them. If you're ready write an urban fantasy, keep reading for some essential tips to get started.
Choose your city and do your research
Establishing the setting for an urban fantasy story might sound simple, since you don't have to create a completely new world from scratch. But it's important to remember that many of your readers will be familiar with—or even live in—the city you choose. With this in mind, consider basing the setting on where you currently reside or somewhere you have lived previously. Readers can tell if you are intimately familiar with a setting or if you've done nothing more than a perfunctory internet search.
If you want to set your story in a city that you've never lived in, now you have the perfect excuse to take a trip in the name of research! Familiarize yourself with the city, talk to the locals, and find out what kind of people live there. Observe the way people interact with each other: do residents greet strangers with the same familiarity that they greet acquaintances? Do they seem to be friendly with the baristas, waiters, and shop clerks they see often? Are there events for residents to mingle, like festivals and block parties? Or does everyone keep to themselves? Are they nervous, or withdrawn? Pay attention to what occurs on the surface and consider what might be happening behind the scenes.
As you establish your setting, consider the following questions:
- What role does the city play in the story? Do aspects of the city provide the perfect cover for monsters and villains, or are there aspects that repel evil forces and offer protection to the city's innocent citizens?
- How do evil forces operate in your city? Can they move about in the open without humans realizing it? Or do they roam freely, terrorizing the populace?
- How does your protagonist relate to the city? Are they a native who feels at ease taking the subway alone? Or are they a new transplant to the city, about to uncover the city's supernatural secrets?
Don't create a fictional city
You might consider setting your urban fantasy in a fictional city of your own creation. Though non-traditional, creating a city from whole cloth avoids many of the pitfalls that might be encountered by a writer who doesn't know the city they wish to write about. If you aren't at home in a particular city, you may be more suited to a fictional urban environment. Twelve Kings of Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu is a great example of this kind of writing, but it comes at the cost of the series not adhering entirely to the genre's most identifiable conventions. It might be advisable to avoid writing about a fictional city for two major reasons.
First, publishers want you to reference a real-world city. Agents will be looking out for an author that grounds their work in real-world conflict and setting. Avoid the label "urban fiction" if your work doesn't meet this expectation. The reason agents search for this sort of writing is that it guarantees an audience – people from that city – and lends the author credibility in their descriptions. Further, readers of urban fiction have particular expectations. It is often better to meet your audience's expectations than to attempt to subvert them, especially if this is your first publication.
Second, the rules of your fictional setting need to be clear. The streets and important buildings, the factions, and the political agendas of the residents will need to be fleshed out, just as if it were a real place. Though this may be part of the fun for some writers, it could be a distraction for others. Such worldbuilding may lead to plot holes, procrastination, or a lack of believability.
Establish your central conflict
Conflict is essential to any good story. It's what hooks your readers and makes them want to keep reading. Some writers find it difficult to write conflict because it pains them to make their characters struggle. Luckily, the premise of urban fantasy—supernatural events or creatures co-existing with humans within the tight confines of a bustling, "normal" city—includes inherent conflict before you even plot out the details of your story. When you take urban characters who are trying to fit in and function as part of society and then complicate their daily struggles with monsters, magic, or supernatural elements, you've got an instant recipe for conflict.
As you plan the conflict for your story, ask yourself these questions:
- How does the city as a whole feel about the supernatural?
- How do the supernatural forces feel about "normal" human society?
- What prejudices or societal restrictions act as barriers between the supernatural and the mundane?
- Which characters (if any) refuse to believe in or see the supernatural, and how does such denial affect the characters' relationships?
- Who holds the power in this society, who wants the power, and who deserves the power?
Get to know your characters
Urban fantasy is usually character-driven, so it is essential that you create well-developed characters that resonate with readers. As you get to know your characters, consider the following:
- What are the protagonist's beliefs and feelings about magic and the supernatural? Perhaps your protagonist is staunchly skeptical or atheistic, or their initial understanding of the supernatural is surface-level.
- How will your protagonist handle the challenge of straddling two very different worlds? Will he or she prefer one world over the other?
- Which characters are aware of the supernatural elements and which characters are completely clueless? What separates the two?
Since urban fantasies are character driven, readers should be able to relate to and even sympathize with your antagonist(s) or villain(s). Remember, no one is all good or all bad: just as your protagonist is flawed, so too should your villain exhibit positive or relatable traits in turn. This will complicate the story or impact the reader's opinion of them.
Give your city character
A defining element of urban fantasy is the setting's status as a character in and of itself. In many cases, the city is an entire cast of characters, and each borough has a particular personality. Often, this personification of the city is literal within urban fantasy – the city can be said to be alive, because it is literally alive or has a will of its own; other times this is simply a useful brainstorming strategy, or the city feels alive to certain characters. Ask yourself some of the following questions to determine the temperament of your city:
- What does the city want? What does it need? Identify any possible weak points in the city's infrastructure – what changes are taking place alongside the developing narrative?
- What parts of the city are asleep, and which are awake? Why are some places more active? How old or young is each neighborhood or district?
- How is the city divided? What are the major areas of the city? What kind of people live in this city, and how are they divided?
Tie characters to boroughs or neighborhoods
Depicting archetypal characters, as urban fantasy often does, forces a writer to toe the line between portraying the uniqueness of their city without completely caricaturing its citizens. In many cases characters are tied directly to a specific neighborhood or area, and these characters are used to describe – and in turn, are described by – that area. Though superhero comics are by no means urban fantasy, there is a good deal of overlapping themes and characterizations in these two subgenres. It can be useful to look at comic books to give yourself an idea of how to portray a particular city or borough: Ms. Marvel is from Jersey City; Peter Parker is not just from New York, but Queens specifically; and Daredevil is from Hell's Kitchen. Each of these characters is a strong example from which to build a character that represents an area, and is represented by that area in turn. Because the characterization of urban environments is similar in superhero fiction and urban fantasy, reading comics featuring characters tied to real-world cities is likely to pay dividends in terms of understanding how to paint the characters that might appear in them.
Once a character has become representative of a neighborhood or area, it becomes easy to draw that character into conflicts linked to that area, or to draw the people of that area into challenges that face the character. The Netflix animated series Trese does an excellent job of showing the different factions within Manila, their conflicts of interest, and how a protagonist can be thrust into these conflicts.
When a character from one borough comes up against a character from an opposing borough or city, conflict between the two is natural and can be used as a cue for action. Furthermore, a character may act differently depending on whether they are in their element, or out of it. All this can be tied to location.
Create rules for the supernatural elements
You will need to do some worldbuilding and set some parameters for the supernatural aspects of your story. Try to envision an average day in your supernatural creatures' lives. Do they rest, and if so, for long? Do they eat? What kinds of things do they eat?
Do your supernatural creatures have headquarters or gathering places? If so, you can add humor and connect with readers by using supernatural creatures or events to explain the everyday irritations of urban life, such as the perpetual traffic congestion near that one intersection downtown or the pungent smells that waft out of every subway grate.
Once you establish the rules for the supernatural aspects of your story, make sure you follow them. Readers will notice if you violate your own rules.
Where is magic hiding? Why?
Many works of urban fantasy disguise the supernatural, and that disguise can be pivotal. The popular Vampire the Masquerade role-playing game by White Wolf publishing is named for the "masquerade" that separates vampire and human society. In this setting, humans are unaware of the supernatural because the vampire princes orchestrate the division between the human and supernatural worlds, and vampire society punishes those who reveal themselves. In other urban fantasy stories, the boundary between human and supernatural has to do with the human mind's inability to easily comprehend magic, or the sheer inaccessibility of magic – it is rare and secreted away, or only possible in the "hidden world" within the story. These rules about how magic is concealed and revealed lead to complications:
- What happens to supernatural creatures who are revealed to the mundane world? Why does the supernatural not reveal itself more frequently?
- What happens to a mundane human who stumbles upon the supernatural? Is it possible to interact with magic unintentionally? What are the possible consequences?
- What conflict exists in the supernatural world that does not exist in the mundane world, and vice versa? In what way do the conflicts of one world bleed into another?
While some writers may be tempted to explore the idea of mixing magic with the real world so that the protagonist is already familiar with these concepts at the start of the story, this also breaks the most basic conventions of the genre. This is the key difference between urban fantasy and magical realism. Magical realism portrays the fantastical and real existing side-by-side; magic is understood and accepted by those who cannot access it, and they may even benefit from its presence. A key element of an urban fantasy story, however, is the way that the supernatural world hides itself, even if it's in plain sight.
Identify your target market
Urban fantasy is a popular subgenre in young adult (YA) fiction, so evaluate your story and see if it is appropriate for tween and pre-teen readers. Plenty of adults consume YA fiction, so you might actually increase your reader base by writing for a younger crowd. You can still include romance and intrigue in YA stories, but you will have to keep your language tame, and any sexual interactions will need to occur off the page. Steering clear of mature themes can be accomplished by interrupting scenes before they get steamy, or by keeping things strictly flirty.
Your target demographic is also an important consideration for elements of your story pertaining to crime and corruption; it's always beneficial to explore themes like these with younger audiences, but be sure that the way the information is presented is accessible to people in the age range you're writing for. There is a certain level of legal jargon and referential humor that will fly over the heads of younger audiences.
Identify potentials for romance
Speaking of romance, romance isn't an absolute requirement for urban fantasy, but love interests and love triangles are frequent features. Just think of all the conflict and angst you can create as characters navigate romantic feelings for supernatural creatures or for characters with different beliefs!
Furthermore, urban fantasy has a direct overlap with the ever-popular vampire and supernatural romance subgenres. Be aware that there are exactly two types of readers of these stories: those who really want to see Dracula in a committed relationship, and those who stop reading as soon as a supernatural romance takes root. It would serve you well to choose a side to write for, and stick with it: either supernatural romance is off the table, or it's integral. The middle ground is unlikely to please either audience.
Consider adding mystery and crime elements
Since urban fantasies tend to have a noir tone, many plots involve protagonists trying to solve a mystery or a crime. Crime-fighting cops and amateur sleuths are common tropes in urban fantasies, because the possibilities are endless when you consider the supernatural forces they'll have to investigate or the magical powers they'll wield to apprehend perpetrators. Other common noir tropes that would particularly benefit an urban fantasy story include:
- Characters who are haunted by their pasts: Perhaps a deuteragonist in your story has hidden involvement with an event that helped create negative circumstances in your plot.
- Expositional monologues: Your character having an inner monologue, or even a play-by-play with their fellow good guys of what's been discovered so far, can be a helpful tool for readers to assess all the evidence and make guesses and theories of their own. After all, for many readers, that's the best part of a mystery. Not all urban fantasy stories need to be based in detective fiction or mystery, but they certainly go well together!
- A minor crime that reveals a major aspect of the plot: fleshing a small crime out into a complicated web of corruption over the course of a narrative. Just be careful not to get lost in your own web!
- The Incompetent Cop: This character trope serves to reinforce the competence of the protagonist, while also serving as an additional source of urgency – your protagonist had better get to that evidence before the other detective bungles it! It can also serve as a much-needed bit of comedic relief in a serious story, if you can do it tastefully.
Remember that though the normal rules of a crime scene investigation may not be in effect, the investigation sub-plot should avoid breaking the established supernatural rules. If the vampire murderer can't cross water, and they disappear across a river after committing a murder, then their ability to accomplish this type of escape should be explained. If the explanation is unsatisfying, then expect your readers to lose interest.
Consider "hidden world" tropes
Another common urban fantasy trope is traveling to a hidden world. This is present in works like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and China Miéville's Un Lun Dun. In these cases, a supernatural world concealed within the urban environment is accessed and has its own rules. This is perfect for those writers who may be less familiar with the city in which their story is set. Less research is required when the character is more directly removed from the mundane elements of the setting. Consider the moment when Harry Potter walks through the wall at platform 9¾ – immediately following this transition to the magical world, Rowling is able to take greater liberties with the events of her narrative. Living chocolate frogs, moving photographs, and minor spells for repairing spectacles quickly introduce the character (and the reader) to the magic of the world.
The "hidden world" trope also allows a character to neatly progress through the Hero's Journey. This allows an author to structure their novel in a manner that is proven to be successful, and it gives the author a chance to subvert the expectations of readers, because most modern readers recognize at least the majority of the elements in the Hero's Journey. The hidden world allows an author to provide supernatural aid to their hero or introduce a mentor, and the entrance and exit to the hidden world are excellent moments for a hero to literally "cross the threshold" or experience a satisfying "return." Further, the hidden world trope pushes our hero toward Apotheosis – a realization central to that character's development – because they are placed in a new (and often hostile) environment that allows them to literally or figuratively confront certain elements of their character.
A great way to learn more about writing urban fantasy is to pick up a book and start reading. GoodReads features a list of the top user-reviewed urban fantasy books, so you can find books that already resonate with your target demographic. As you read your way through their list, pay attention to tropes that feel overused or aspects that really draw you into the story.
If you follow the tips above, you will be on your way toward writing your first urban fantasy story!