I’m grappling with how to avoid formulaic fantasy tropes in my fiction writing. I lean into a nuanced character-centered novel with depth, set in a fantasy milieu, vs. a violent battle between good and evil (the popular paradigm). Ursula K. Le Guin’s notes are helpful… Immature people crave and demand moral certainty: This is bad, this is good. Kids and adolescents struggle to find a sure moral foothold in this bewildering world; they long to feel they’re on the winning side, or at least a member of the team. To them, heroic fantasy may offer a vision of moral clarity. […]