: Re: How long can a fantasy novel stay in metaphorical Kansas? I am writing a novel with the basic Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland or the Matrix if you want structure. The novel begins in perfect

@Eichhorn147

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4000 words isn't an awful lot. I understand the need to get the plot rolling, but it's good to establish the mundane that the MC will miss before ripping it from them and taking them on the adventure, and any critic that is complaining about your work solely because it isn't perfectly adhering to genre expectations is frankly impatient and unimaginative.

That being said, there are many ways to tell if you're spending too much time in 'Kansas'. Firstly, ask if it's going to be relevant in the later adventure, either for plot details or for characterisation. I don't want to use my own work as an example, but I'm much more familiar with my own writing process than others.

So, my character has a chapter of 'Kansas' around 5000 words, then at the end of another 5000-ish word chapter, she escapes 'Kansas' and starts her journey to the more magical ends of the world. However, every 'Kansas' scene has a purpose:

MC establishes herself as resentful of her neglectful mother
MC establishes herself as easily taking things personally and her rebelliousness by ruining her mother's bed; a 'safe environment' method of establishing an otherwise conflict-heavy trait.
The city she lives in is established to be urban and apathetic to the needs of the individual, as is her mother.
MC's love for her half-sister is established, proposing that should she leave, she would miss something.
Finally, she establishes herself as creative (in her pranks and snowman-building) and good at instinctive navigation.

All of these come into play later in the story; her resentfulness towards her mother mellows out into ready acceptance of a foster mother, her rebelliousness and sensitivity to criticism hamper her ability to become disciplined and good at archery, the city and her mother's apathy provides a solid reason for her to run away, her love for her half-sister provides her with internal conflict as she makes her way further from home, and lastly, her creativity and navigation skills are both skills she uses in the climax.

So, when you're constructing your early 'Kansas' scenes, think of it as... a small, sandbox-like area where character traits and motives are set up for later in the story but major, story-turning conflicts cannot come as a consequence.

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