1. LaGs

    LaGs Banned

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    Is it just me..?

    Discussion in 'Fantasy' started by LaGs, Apr 28, 2011.

    Or does there seem to be a massive amount of fantasy writers on this site, like a disproportionate amount? Not that this is a bad thing, it's not really my cup of tea, but it's just something i've noticed when reading through the writers showcase section. What do people think?

    It'd be nice to come across a writer with a similar style to me, but i've yet to post any of my stories up yet :)
     
  2. Youniquee

    Youniquee (◡‿◡✿) Contributor

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    Yes there is. I guess most people like writing fantasy because it focuses on imagination, which is really fun to use ^^
    What kind of style do you write?
     
  3. Mallory

    Mallory Contributor Contributor

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    I write dystopia and chick lit in my novels, and horror and satire in my short stories, and also scary-adventure children's stories like in the "Goosebumps" category.
     
  4. LaGs

    LaGs Banned

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    Yea i definitely understand that. I would say fantasy is the hardest genre to write sucessfully even though it gives you the most license to use your imagination.

    I like writers who just tell it like it is, i love dark humour and satire. I try to avoid flowery descriptions, that i suppose are commonly found in fantasy like "Oh the goblin was walking through the forest and the sky was a grey blue". I just sometimes find that kind of stuff really tedious, stuff involving kingdoms etc. (Apart from lord of the rings of course because that's just the benchmark)

    And im not trying to be harsh on fantasy writers or anything, but i suppose it all comes down to a matter of opinion just :)
     
  5. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    Fantasy tends to be the genre most young authors start out in. I think it's partly because a lot of children's/YA fiction is fantasy, but also because the broad range of imagination which it encompasses is so inviting (even if it does end up being mostly elves and dwarves).
     
  6. Youniquee

    Youniquee (◡‿◡✿) Contributor

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    lol how is that descriptions flowery in anyway xD that's pretty much straight up saying it. Flowery would be metaphors, similes and stuff. Fair enough, everyone has their own taste :D I don't like any thing horror.
     
  7. LaGs

    LaGs Banned

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    haha i could add in metaphors and similes if you want but that's just the first thing that came into my head!
     
  8. katica

    katica New Member

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    What genre do you write? Out of curiousity.

    And I wouldn't be surprised if most people here write fantasy. I think its a category of fiction that both men and women enjoy pretty equally. And I see it becoming more and more popular these days. Probably because of the popularity of certain series like Eragon and Harry Potter.

    I am a fantasy writer myself and this may surprise you, but I HATE flowery description. I completely agree with you. By 5 sentences of describing something, you've already bored someone enough that they are tuning you out, almost guaranteed, so I make my descriptions as quick as possible and try to incorporate them into the action if I can. Unfortunately, I just recently got told by someone that I don't have enough description and because of it, they can't picture my characters well enough. D= Whoops.
     
  9. Trish

    Trish Damned if I do and damned if I don't Contributor

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    I don't write fantasy, though I have been known to read it from time to time. It's just not my thing. Although, I suppose my wolf story could be considered fantasy, but that's definitely not the goal. They're just a normal wolf pack, not werewolves or magical or anything. They're awesome :D
     
  10. LaGs

    LaGs Banned

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    I've only been trying to write fiction for about 6 months roughly, but i have a reasonably fair idea of what i'm aiming for. I write about some experiences i've had IRL, but i also grossly exaggerate, try to add in humour, sarcasm. Anything that will make it more engaging to the reader i hope. A bit of realism never goes amiss i think :) I suppose you could just call that general fiction. I might even try my hand at fantasy some day who knows lol.

    If there's one thing you can be assured of it's that no matter what genre you choose to write, what subjects, there will always be someone who doesn't like it. I think if less descriptions help your style and make it flow better, then go for it. :)
     
  11. Melzaar the Almighty

    Melzaar the Almighty Contributor Contributor

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    I write a little fantasy set in other worlds with elves and stuff, but as I've matured I've grown into writing urban fantasy (not the painfully hip kind set in cities - that stuff bugs me :p) or just plain stories about people where nothing magic happens. I still world-build though. The background in fantasy means I prefer making up new towns and stuff, so I can pick the rules, but the stuff that happens isn't fantasy any more :p

    But I'll still write high fantasy when the mood strikes me. It's fun, and the place I go to relax. I realised a long time ago I'm nervous about writing the real world in case I mess it up. I won't even write my home town, which I know my way around blindfold, and loads of extra lore and stuff most people who've lived here ages don't. If I was writing it, I'd come up with a similar-but-not-the-same town and mix in all sorts of stuff, and leave out others.

    As a history student and being someone fascinated with beliefs and weird old stories, writing my possibly urban fantasy (I never called it that myself :p) is a more serious exercise than the "real-world" stuff.
     
  12. spklvr

    spklvr Contributor Contributor

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    Suddenly I feel like what I write don't count as fantasy, even though it does. It's all set in our world and modern times (except the princess story I'm writing with my cousins), and usually involve monsters like vampires and stuff. My favorite story of mine right now revolves around the theme "what makes humans too good to be food". I'm not vegan or anything (mainly because every vegan I have ever met have been A**holes), but animal rights concerns me.

    However, I also write a lot of realistic stories. Love stories and whatnot. But I never really finish those. Or they end up at kind of awkward lenghts like 40 000 words.
     
  13. TheSpiderJoe

    TheSpiderJoe New Member

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    My first novel is a blend of sci-fi and urban fantasy but it's definitely not the "high" fantasy that most people are accustomed to. As a life-long D&D player, I'm well versed in creating fantasy type environments but the novel I've been itching to write for the last 8 years is set in modern times.

    I'm still a huge fan of the fantasy genre in almost any form but I honestly don't think I would ever write a fantasy novel. Not due to lack of skill but mostly lack of interest and desire.
     
  14. katica

    katica New Member

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    I'd love to write romances because I love reading them, but I can never think of anything interesting to say! Mine are always 10,000 words long at most (which is horrible) and I always mess them up in some way. T_T
     
  15. HBAdams

    HBAdams New Member

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    I write fantasy/sci fi because real life is tedious and I'd rather not be here, even if it's only mentally.
     
  16. katica

    katica New Member

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    I understand that feeling completely.
     
  17. psychotick

    psychotick Contributor Contributor

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    Hi,

    Guilty as charged. I write pretty much only fantasy and sci fi, (and some technical stuff), but then that's also what I read. I like to be lifted out of the here and now into some other reality where I can let my imagination run loose.

    Cheers.
     
  18. Vacuum Eater

    Vacuum Eater New Member

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    Umm, that's not flowery. This is flowery:

    "The stumpy goblin was gliding with uncharacteristic grace and speed over a bed of soft coppery leaves, never pausing to look at the fiery canopy of maple boughs above or the cornflower blue sky higher yet."

    :D
     
  19. Reggie

    Reggie I Like 'Em hot "N Spicy Contributor

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    I often like drama and comedy, but I am not even sure what type of writing style my story is. I am guessing it may be fantasy or Science Fiction, because it involves the main character’s brother coming back to life as the main character's guardian angel after he dies. Though I do not intend to write fantasy, it could be natural enough for me to slip right into the hands of fantasy. In addition, I would have to agree that many books young authors write are typically writing fantasy. Even though I don't like reading or watching Science Fiction and Fantasy, which is less interesting for me, I probably write fantasy anyway, though it is unintentional.
     
  20. digitig

    digitig Contributor Contributor

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    I don't know of any branch of fiction writing that doesn't focus on the imagination. And as for fantasy being an escape from reality -- well, all of the romantic fiction I've read has been every bit as much unrealistic as if the romance had been between a werewolf and a Martian!

    I suppose I write kitchen-sink dramas, stuff that is firmly rooted in reality. I'd like to get into crime writing, but I don't have the ideas.
     
  21. Islander

    Islander Contributor Contributor

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    I think so many people write fantasy because it happens to be modern. Sometimes crime fiction is more popular, sometimes spy fiction, sometimes science fiction, and so on.

    Then again... you could argue that fantasy IS mainstream, and the current trend towards fantasy is just a return to normal. What would you call Gilgamesh, the Odyssey and the Iliad if they had been published today? Under what bookstore section would Shakespeare's Macbeth, The Tempest or A Midsummer Night's Dream, or Milton's Paradise Lost, be placed if they had been written by a modern author?

    Realism didn't come into fashion until the 1700's.
     
  22. LaGs

    LaGs Banned

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    I totally agree with this. Just because you're writing about goblins doesn't make you any more imaginative than the author who writes about a person who acts like a Goblin. Fiction is fiction, and all plots have a range of characters, the stories have twists and turns...and of course it takes imagination to do this!
     
  23. Porcupine

    Porcupine Member

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    I only ever wrote one story that might be termed fantasy, and that was a long time ago. Mostly, I write historical fiction or modern fiction, usually (in fact nearly always) with military and espionage elements of one kind or another. But I too have noticed a strong fantasy section on this site, frequently involving vampires.
     
  24. digitig

    digitig Contributor Contributor

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    Well, Macbeth would be under Magical Realism. And as I understand it The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, A Comedy of Errors and all of Shakespeare's historical plays were written well before the 1700s.
     
  25. Tesoro

    Tesoro Contributor Contributor

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    That was exactly what I thought too when first entering this forum. :) there seem to be a majority of fantasy writer on her, but certainly not only. I don't write or even read fantasy (never had, even as a teen) and I write suspence or romance or a mix of the two, which is a genre I like. What genre/-s would you say your writing belong to?
     

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