创作一本书或一个故事并非易事。都市奇幻并非像犯罪或爱情小说那样广为人知的文学类型。虽然都市奇幻的定义并不难理解，但若想创作一部都市奇幻题材的小说或故事，则需要注意一些方面。本文将探讨以下几个问题：什么是都市奇幻？如何创作都市奇幻作品？关键因素有哪些？都市奇幻作品有哪些例子？
Urban fantasy is a genre present in literature and it includes short stories, novellas, and novels in which characters are concepts are set in a real-life urban setting or the present day. Urban fantasy Books are often overlapped with paranormal romance which consists of themes such as vampires, werewolves, faeries, zombies, and more. But urban fantasy is not essentially a paranormal romance. Some of the elements of this genre are an urban setting, a noir aesthetic, magic, a protagonist who is linked between reality and supernatural, magic, and fantasy tropes.
Some of the characteristics that establish the urban fantasy genre are – A. Urban fantasy tales are set in cities – typically cities present in the existing world, occasionally set in a small town, but is rare and it may also be present in the alternate universe. B. Often drawn from stories of other genres – the reason why urban fantasy seems similar to other genres is that this genre tends to imitate other genres and stories which are based on urban settings, such as Thriller, urban hardships, intuitive atmosphere, and things like that. C. Presence of supernatural creatures – Urban fantasy tends to have creatures like demons, vampires, wizards, zombies, and more.
Some of the key factors that one has to keep in mind if they want to write urban fantasy: Set the Rules – before you commence writing your story, you need to comprehend which aspect is going to be supernatural and what are the basics will be drawn from reality. When you choose an urban place, think about how you are going to present their lifestyle and every day and how would you include supernatural in that; Create the Story Around a Core Clash – Since this genre blends well with factors like a Thriller, suspense, and mysteries, you need to start your story with a conventional trope of the protagonist protecting the city from terrorist or solving an enigmatic crime.
如果都市奇幻故事开篇不够精彩，超自然元素和配角们就会黯然失色；主题基础——将超自然角色融入琐碎的现实生活或许有趣，但如果没有一个明确的主题点来构建，就很难留下深刻的印象。这个题材本身就适合探讨情感、科技、人际关系和基本道德等主题。
需要记住的一些基本事项包括：选择一个城市背景并对其进行全面研究，确定中心情节，了解故事中的人物，赋予你的城市都市奇幻的精髓，为超自然角色制定规则，在你的故事中加入犯罪和悬疑元素，最重要的是了解目标受众。
一些标志性的都市奇幻小说包括：尼尔·盖曼的《美国众神》、伊洛娜·安德鲁斯的《凯特·丹尼尔斯》系列、吉姆·布彻的《德累斯顿档案》、本·阿罗诺维奇的《伦敦河》系列、费丝·亨特的《简·耶洛克》系列、查莱恩·哈里斯的《南方吸血鬼谜案》等等。
另请参阅： 7本书让你的孩子坚强自信
