The Trouble with Portals-Laura Zimmerman

Do portals that move your character to another time and place work within modern storytelling? This is the question fantasy and sci-fi writers have been struggling with over the past several years.

Imagine this: You’re reading a book with a great hook, the characters have depth and relationship, and the plot moves at just the right pace. Then out of nowhere, the main character is transported to an entirely new world that needs to be saved. The previous one is forgotten and a new plot begins.

Would you continue reading? Many readers of fantasy and sci-fi complain that, although it has worked in the past, the “portal to a new world” genre is overdone. Here are a few reasons why.

First off, the reader has no investment about what happens in the alternate world. Once you’ve established the main characters and the world around them, it can be jarring to expect the reader to jump into yet another world and begin caring about that one, too. Unless the jump between them is done with care, the reader can feel betrayed for having cared about the original world in the first place.

Also, there’s often not enough at risk. In many portal stories, the fantasy world is in peril, while the one left behind goes on without much thought or threat. The reader might be inclined to wonder why the main character doesn’t just leave the fantasy world to its own devices and go back to the safety of reality.

Another downside is when the reader realizes that without the portal, there would be no story at all. When the main character literally needs to leave reality to find adventure, the story can feel stale and overused. The portal is simply a mechanism to get a character from point A to point B so the “real” story can begin, which can reflect lazy writing.

So, how does a fantasy or sci-fi writer avoid the proverbial “portal trope?”

For starters, take a step back from your story and investigate whether it has a few key ingredients. Is your portal integral to the main plot? Is the portal woven within the threads of the story? How is the real world related or impacted by the alternate world?

Why does the portal appear at that specific spot, at that time, on that day? Who is able to access this portal and for how long? What price is there to be paid for using the portal? (There is always a price to be paid when using magic, otherwise your main character could use magic to fix the problem from page one.) Why must the main character travel to that alternate world, when he/she could just stay in the safety of reality?

Finally, if you take the portal out of the story, how will it affect the plot as a whole?

If you have solid answers to each of these questions—and you can make a strong case for the validity of that portal—then there is no reason a reader should walk away from your story. The reader should be so invested, that they don’t even consider it “another portal story.”

Do you include a portal within your magical world? Before you move forward with your work, take a few minutes to consider how you can find a balance between the real world and the alternate world. Doing so might keep your manuscript out of that “slush pile” and in the hands of an editor.

Laura L. Zimmerman is a homeschooling mom to three daughters, and a doting wife to one husband. Besides writing, she is passionate about loving Jesus, singing, drinking coffee and anything Star Wars. You can connect with her through Facebook and Twitter and at her website, www.lauralzimmerman.com