I choose to write Fantasy and Sci-Fi because those are my preferred genres to read. I grew up watching Star Trek so that probably contributed a lot to my love of Sci-Fi. Fantasy has always drawn my attention because of the medieval weaponry, the magic and the completely separate worlds they're set in. Writing in these genres also forms a kind of escapism. I always feel as though I'm living through my characters.
Except from those needles in the haystack, fashion and trend motivated beginners likely end up as the rest of the chaff separated from the wheat.
Necro much? I don't strictly have an answer to the thread's nominal question, but I can respond to the meta-debate about what makes Fantasy appeal to some people more than others (or more accurately, why it doesn't appeal too much to me). I find escapism fundamentally childish. I don't really understand it, and with that in mind, I find that there's rarely anything to be done in fantasy that wouldn't be done at least as well in the 'real world'.
Huh, to be honest, and I don't mean to offend, but I doubt many writers (or readers for that matter) share your opinion on escapism. I'd argue that it's the main reason we have fiction in general. The idea of great and fantastical things happening to someone so completely ordinary gives me a sense of pleasure and awe that I can't find in the real world, firmly mounted in science and rules and laws. I enjoy fantasy because it takes away those boundaries and limiters, and let's you see a different set of rules to abide by, one where the things you dream of can be true. (Granted, I'm only fourteen, but I doubt my infatuation with the genre will diminish as I grow older.)
While some people lose interest in fantasy as they grow older, you may still enjoy it. It's still my genre of choice at 38. I wouldn't class it as infatuation, though infatuation for anything doesn't come as easily as I get older, not even for Cocoa Pops.
Huh- I only just looked up what the word meant. Lol. I still think I'll love it still when I'm older, because, and this I know is probably not the best approach to literature, I tend not to read anything but fantasy unless assigned a book outside of the genre. All my games have some form of fantastical element to then, and most of the shows I've watched since I was very young (as in my first memory is snippets of Howl's Moving Castle) were fantasy. Ok, maybe less infatuation and more obsession...
Eragon was another series which as a kid I grew up loving, the gap between the 3rd and 4th book though and given the fact that through that time I matured as a writer led to me recognizing a few flaws within it, but as a kid that book was awesome. Lord of the Rings and HP would have been influences as well. So being 19 a lot of my growing up was featured within these books/movies and people flocked to them in droves, like hating HP or the LOTR movies was a universal taboo As for myself, I wouldn't really call my novel fantasy, it's set in a different world but there's no real thing going for it such as magical powers or mutants. I just wanted a way to work within my time frame and setting up locations for my story, which creating a new world gave me the ability to do. I really like setting it within a late 1700-early 1800's feel where there was progress, but the world hadn't begun to evolve into what we see today. I'd probably say my novel is more attached to the Suspense/Adventure section than anything.
I'm new to writing and really have no desire to write fantasy at all. I don't mind reading it though.
I have been watching two hours of Once Upon a Time without commercials. I plan to watch more after HW while I brainstorm more on my 5 years in the making/daydreaming fantasy kitchen sink story.
I haven't read all of this thread, and I am probably repeating something that has already been said, but; I find it odd that given the huge scope of the fantasy genre so many people choose to write derivative Tolkienesque pieces.
Funny, mentioning about the Tolkien-imits... actually, it seems most fantasy doesn't come very close there (understatment), even if, in some cases, the intent to make something similar might've been there (including dwarves, elves, and men is actually not a recipe for ... (comparative lack of linguistic foundation is one small factor, though the general problem appears to be more style than anything else, writing fantasy in a more modern way, and then sticking it in a high-fantasy world... or then, putting in some "interesting" magic...) Besides the probably oft-cited sources above, though, (HP, films, games, etc), I think mostly its a development of escapism. Like, more than ordinary fiction escapism, and indicative of thoughts/feelings otherwise unexpressed. Doesn't seem to be unlike the sudden growth in dystopia/"apocalyptic-ish", though, which sounds like there's a growing sentiment of fear about the future... p.s. personally enjoy LotR, and thought consequently that I liked fantasy; but then, actually, maybe not the case, so it might've jsut spoiled my taste for others.
At the age of 30, my love for fantasy hasn't diminished in the slightest. But, now as an adult, I also have a desire to read other things besides fantasy.
Actually the thing I really want to do as a newbie writer is historic fiction/mysteries. I'll play The Elder Scrolls for my fantasy fix.
Exactly! I've been waiting literally years on this forum for someone else to voice this same opinion.... The real world is so extraordinarily complex, and then we have to take into account the billlions and billions of different subjective experiences. It seems comical to try to write a story in a made up world, that would never be able to as complex as the real thing. There are of course exceptions, especially when the writer acknowledges his fantastic setting, and never tries to convince the reader of its realism. For example, something like Alice In Wonderland.
The real world is amazingly complex, I'll agree- but again, I must argue, it is bound to set laws, both social and of physics, science, etcetera. Also, too many things can't happen simply because of that complexity, and the exception is rather rare. Escapism is often from a good adventure- something not easily found or in most cases, wanted, irl- but the definition of a good adventure can vary from person to person. It could be spy espionage, a cop drama, or in my case, as well as others whom enjoy a fantasy world, a magic duel.
Fantasy I think is usually best when it embraces the element of the fantastic. Fantasies that try super hard to be realistic, to attain the same level of drama attainable in real life, that's when things get to silly
I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean about trying hard to be realistic- almost every work does that, hence the willing suspension of disbelief. The ones that don't tend to be of a comedic or only semi-comprehendible sort. Are you saying you enjoy surreal fantasy more than dramatic fantasy, or something like that?
Surreal fantasy is great, yes. Most other stories work better in the real (or speculative) world, in my opinion.
Ah, I prefer dramatic fantasy myself, but to each his own. Just out of curiosity, (in retrospect, not really just curiosity) what do you consider "real world?" One functioning completely like ours? Or one with conspiracies and aliens and possibly a dystopia? Because some stories need a threat to literally everything, and as is, most of the greater world powers strive for peace today (or so I'd like to think).
