Writing the "Oh, Crap" Moment in Your Fantasy Book
Imagine you have a walking stick in hand, a backpack strapped on, and a sword at your side.
You walk across open green countryside and into the mountains beyond.
You camp at night, watching the stars above, set watches with your travel companions, and begin anew in the morning with coffee made over the fire.
(Yeah, even in my fantasies, I need to make sure imaginary me gets coffee. Want to avoid that 1 PM headache.)
I don’t know how you could be a fan of the fantasy genre and not imagine yourself out on an adventure at least a few times a day. I mean…let’s lose the whole giant spider trope. I’m out at that point.
Adventures, even in epic fantasy with dark magic and Liches that get stitches, sound like a hell of a lot of fun.
Writing adventures can be just as much fun. (I should know, running two different homebrew DnD campaigns, living my best quarantine life.)
The thing is, in fiction, we need to capture the reader’s attention. It’s not all fun and games for our characters, unfortunately.
At some point, Frodo and Sam have to face something a little more serious than Farmer Maggot’s dogs.
That’s where this obligatory scene comes in.
I call it “obligatory” because so many stories include it. Your reader might even expect it.
Your fantasy fiction needs a scene where things take a turn from this fun romp of an adventure to something extraordinarily serious.
Sure, they know there’s evil in the world, but it’s far off. All they have to do for now is get from point A to point B.
Then it hits: the “shit just got real” moment.
It differs from the call to action because your characters are already on their quest. They have bought in, know the hypothetical dangers, and are out trying to save the world.
But this moment makes them realize just how imminent the danger is and how terrible the situation they have gotten themselves into is.
Here are some examples to show you what I mean, and then I’ll dive into why this scene in your fantasy work is so important.
The Fellowship of the Ring
Not what you want to see on your walk back from the pub
It may not be Tuesday when this post releases, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to talk about Tolkien stuff.
Frodo and Sam, and in the book Pippen, set out from Bag End, not quite knowing how close the danger is. They figure they can make it through the Shire without much problem.
The Hobbits stay off the main road, knowing these are still dangerous times. They start singing, and they talk freely, not too concerned with the evil in the world in the safety of the Shire.
They even think they can go grab a mug of the best ale in all of the Shire at the Golden Perch. I get that.
Then a Nazgul of Mordor, a fallen king of Men corrupted by his lust for power now ironically a slave for eternity, shows up. Casual.
Things get super real, super fast.
The Hobbits are nearly overtaken by the Ringwraiths time and time again as they try to make it out of what they thought was safety.
In the movie, this is also portrayed because the Ringwraith shows up right after some good ol’ slapstick comedy.
The Hobbits have a goof in Farmer Maggot’s crop and tumble down a hill, almost falling in a pile of poop. Those rascals.
Then we get to hear the terrifying screech of the Ringwraith, and we all want off that road ASAP.
They seem like they might get caught, and our next sequence is the Hobbits making their daring escape from a Nazgul at night. Once they reach safety, they are left with the haunting realization that there are more than one of them.
Suddenly they are in constant danger.
The Witcher
A gruff Blood Hunter and sassy Bard. No DnD is complete without them
Now, this is a good example of how the “oh, crap” moment can be an emotional beat, not just an action-oriented one.
Yes, there are some minor SPOILERS for The Witcher Netflix series here, so read at your own risk. Also, would recommend. It’s entertaining and much funnier than I expected.
Towards the end of the season, there’s a dragon hunt. (The most DnD thing you could throw in your fantasy story, by the way.)
All season, Jaskier the Bard has some great banter with Geralt. It’s always lighthearted fun, and Jaskier gets them into a few situations that has Geralt bitching about everything.
There’s never a moment where you think that Geralt actually hates him or wants him to go away forever. Even if that’s what he might be thinking. It's set up to be fun.
Jaskier’s quest, if you will, throughout the whole season, is to keep finding reasons to travel with Geralt. There’s plenty of stories for the Bard to collect and coin to make. Also, have you seen Henry Cavil as the Witcher...just look at him!
But after this dragon hunt, things take a more serious turn. Geralt has to deal with an actual emotion, which isn’t really his jam. And he takes it out on Jaskier.
He screams at the poor little lute-playing bastard, and you smile at first because, hey, it's more banter and fun. But it keeps going, and Geralt doesn’t relent. And Jaskier doesn’t make any fun comment out of it.
It’s just emotionally devastating for Jaskier.
And that’s the last we see of him for the season. The next couple of episodes have fewer fun moments as everything seems to take a turn for the worst.
The fun quest romp now has more consequences than we are used to.
It’s serious.
Mulan
Aaaand this is why you put a screen in front of your fireplace
I know. This is a hard left turn, but hear me out.
Mulan has swords, epic armies clashing against each other, and a sassy dragon–you tell me its not a fantasy!
The first half or so of the movie is classic Disney fun. Sure, there’s an invading horde set out to destroy all the goodness in the world. But, still.
Mulan makes good friends with her comrades, and they sing some absolute bangers. You already have at least one song in your head right now. You’re welcome.
The fun stops literally in the middle of one of these songs as the army travels.
They come upon a village utterly destroyed by the invaders. It’s burnt down to kindling, and there’s no way anyone would have survived.
Men, women, children, all would have been killed in an attack like this.
The faraway threat of this invasion force is now right in our character’s faces. We get to see the severity of the situation.
And that’s the last song in the movie.
The tone totally changes from here on out.
Things are serious now.
Your Fantasy Book
Editing this is really gonna suck
The lesson here is an audience loves a fun adventure. But adventures have their dark side.
Your characters need a moment of realization. This terrible evil in the world is affecting even safe places. Their relationships with those they thought they would have forever can change in an instant. And the situation is just as dangerous if not worse than they thought.
Seeing it before their eyes makes it real for the audience too.
And it gives your character a moment to choose.
Are they still in this?
Is their journey worth it?
Will they be willing to make inevitable sacrifices?
Can they do this alone?
It’s a hero moment.
Your characters decide to keep going. The darkness is upon them, and their decision to go on this quest isn’t abstract anymore.
Everything after this is their quest to accomplish goals. But here...they prove why they were worthy of the journey in the first place.
And your reader will start to immerse themselves in these characters.
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