On Writing : Writing Epic Fantasy: What Makes It Magical for You? by Aleksey Salikhov

Hey, Aleksey Salikhov. Congratulations on publishing your first book! Being able to write anything I can imagine makes Fantasy magical for me. I focus on the characters first, then I go into the world-building and magic systems when I outline a Fantasy script.

I love this so much, Aleksey Salikhov. Congratulations on publishing Between Light and Darkness! That’s such an incredible journey. I’ve been deep in worldbuilding myself for over a year now while working on my fantasy trilogy. It’s been such a rewarding (and sometimes overwhelming!) process but like you, I’m always drawn to the balance between the epic scale of the world and the intimate, personal moments between characters. I think that contrast is what makes fantasy feel grounded and emotionally powerful.

For me, worldbuilding is about history, culture, and mythology — building a world that feels lived in and as real as our own. But it’s those quiet, human moments that keep me coming back to the page.

Hi Aleksey Salikhov - congratulations on publishing your book - that's fantastic! I searched for it on Amazon and found it. The cover is beautiful! I especially love that this started as bedtime stories for your kids. I primarily start with the goal or end of the story and what I want to say as a central message. In one book series, it's "family is forever" while in another it's "overcome" while another it's "weakness is power". From there, I craft the characters and from there, world building. That's usually where I plant myself for a while.

Hi Maurice Vaughan , thank you so much for the congratulations - it means a lot! I totally get why you’d focus on characters first; How do you usually approach building your characters - do you start with their backstory or their motivations? I’d love to hear more!=)

Hi Leonardo Ramirez , thank you so much for the congratulations and for sharing your experience - I love that you started writing for your kids too! It’s amazing how these bedtime stories can grow into something so much bigger. I really resonate with your approach of starting with a central message. In Between Light and Darkness, I wanted to explore the idea of light and darkness within us all - how even in the darkest times, family and hope can shine through. I love your themes of ‘Family is forever’ and ‘overcome’ - they’re so powerful! How do you decide on the central message for your stories? I’d love to hear more about your process!

Hi Ashley Renee Smith thank you for the kind words - I really appreciate it! I’m so glad you enjoyed hearing about my journey. Worldbuilding for over a year sounds intense - I bet your world is incredibly detailed! In Between Light and Darkness, I spent a lot of time on the magic system, making it both a gift and a curse for the characters, and I loved creating contrasts like warm family hearths against the cold, dark wilderness. What’s your favorite part of your worldbuilding process? I’d love to know more about your project!

Aleksey Salikhov Congratulations on publishing Between Light and Darkness! What a great Showreel too! AI or an animator?

You're welcome, Aleksey Salikhov. I start with a character's personality.

Hi Pat Savage , thank you so much for the congratulations and for liking the showreel - I really appreciate it! To answer your question, the showreel was created using AI, but I wrote the prompts and did the editing myself to bring the vision of Between Light and Darkness to life. I’ve been experimenting a lot with AI for visuals - in fact, I consider it a separate art form! On my YouTube channel (@Aion-VOX), I’ve shared tons of music videos for my songs with AI-generated visuals that took ages to create. It’s been a fun process to blend music and visuals this way! Have you experimented with AI for any of your projects? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for sharing, Maurice Vaughan! Starting with a character’s personality makes so much sense - it really sets the tone for how they’ll act and grow.

You are very welcome Aleksey Salikhov and I'm honored to connect. And thank you so much for the kind words. I like the way you describe the exploration of light and darkness within us all. It's as if there's a battle within all of us between the two. Most of the themes comes to me via a life experience that becomes something that I feel strongly about or compelled to write. The greatest example of that is "Haven of Dante" (the "overcome" theme). Many years ago, my wife was kidnapped and assaulted at gunpoint. For most people, that would scar them for life. But if you were to meet her today, you'd never know this happened. She "overcame".

With "The Jupiter Chronicles", I grew up in a single-parent, poverty-stricken family. We were VERY poor and at one point, I was homeless (this actually happened twice). My dream was to have a family of my own someday - it meant so much for me for this to happen. So a lot of what I went through was conveyed in the story of the protagonist. It all stems from a life experience that lights something up inside of me and compels me to share that no matter what has happened to you, you are loved and will overcome. The dark night of the soul is temporary and joy comes in the morning if you stay the course. Don't stop in the fire, walk through it.

You're welcome, Aleksey Salikhov. Thanks for starting this discussion. I'm sure it's going to help writers.

Thank you so much, Aleksey Salikhov! I love hearing about your approach to Between Light and Darkness. I’m always drawn to magic systems that come with real consequences, and those contrasts you mentioned, like the warmth of family versus the cold unknown, are exactly the kind of emotional texture I love in fantasy stories.

For The Kindred, I think my favorite part of worldbuilding has been the history and mythology. I’ve spent a lot of time developing ancient stories, lost gods, and fragmented pieces of the past that my characters are slowly uncovering. It’s layered with political conflict, but at the heart of it, it’s a story about grief, legacy, and resilience. I also love creating small, intimate cultural details: creatures, games, traditions, or objects that hold personal meaning for the characters. Those things that make the world feel lived in.

My magic system is rooted in natural-born elemental gifts that most, but not all, are born with. But over generations, the people of my world have discovered ways to amplify their gifts or even tap into elements outside their natural abilities through the use of various crystals found and mined across the continent. Some of these crystals are common and used in everyday life, while others are incredibly rare, which has had a huge impact on the economy, politics, fashion, class systems, and even the black market. It’s been so fun to explore how something like magic, which starts as a very personal gift, evolves into a commodity that affects the entire structure of society.

I’d love to hear more about your magic system, It sounds like you’ve built something really rich and layered!

I love to read fantasy and the wonderful worlds people have imagined. Writing fantasy is fun, too, because you don't have to be grounded in reality and can create to your heart's content.