Sorry, but I don't agree. I've seen a significant fantasy presence in the bookstores for the last 30 years or so, competing pretty much evenly with science fiction. The popularity of fantasy RPGs in basements and clubhouses in the late 70s and early 80s seems to have been a driving factor, and Tolkein's writing was amajor influence on that trend. Potter was definitely a Harry-come-lately in the fantasy frenzy.
I think that you should be careful about critizing such stories. Origionalness of plot is not everything, but how well the plot is done. There is no origionalness in liturarture, its just about who can steal the most plots and mix them into one big plot. As long as the plot is not terrible and the writer is good, it doesn't matter.
Oh god in heaven, the names in the samples of knox's post are so unoriginal. Just find a name from some generic fantasy series and switch the letters around. Knox is right, it is fairly horrible. What you must understand about fantasy and SF is that its NOT ON TV. Fan fiction can sometimes just be horrid, don't write as if you're making a show. Literature is more refined, and write accordingly. Write with passion and diction and not a ratio of sword fights to lethargic love making.
Meh, I've thought about it, but I'm not doing it. lol I'd agree that fantasy is hard to be original with, but that doesn't make it rubish.
Okay I'm not going to bore you by saying my story is diffrent it would seem you have your mind made up and that's fine everyone is diffrent. However I am going to stand up for fantasy writers and say right now fantasy writing is not easy. Fantasy writing is a competitive market these days and you have to be good to be published. Because as you know with most editors it's the first chapter that cuts it. As most writing goes you can't just pull a book out of thin air. While a lot of horror writers, right down to mystery writers can use factual ideas to make their prose work, a fantasy writer has to create a believable world based off of ideas and concepts from today. I concider this clever and knowing the time it takes to world build and produce work losely based off of ideas I can assure you fantasy is not easy although now days it is becoming cliche.
Shakespeare wasn't exactly original he was just a talented writer. Which leads back to it's how well you write not how original what you are writing is.
I've just got the Collected works of Tolkien, and the scope and breadth of the world he created is mind boggling. Really. I'm not kidding. Check it out. He's even got an appendix the size of a modern day novel tracing gaps in the story, and a family tree for every family and a whole lotta stuff. Unbelievable. He spent 9 years writing though, so he had time.
I'm definately doing a fantasy series, and this time for a change it's a mother who's the source of all trouble, the plot, if I do say is, remarkably original and good, even my friends agree, how well I do it, I don't know.
I know what you mean using all those cliché human characters, guess that took a lot of imagination (sarcasm). I think most people gravitate towards things they already know and understand and try to spin it their own way. Everything has been done before, and on and on. I disagree when they say only decent writers make it, as their are a lot of bad ones as well. If you are displeased with a genres that is popular and has morphed into something you dislike, then: A, stop reading that particular genre if you find it bludgeoned to death. B:Write the story you would like to read, and see if it makes it into the mix. I hate the same tropes in like every Horror movie that has come out in the last decade, but I am not complaining about it. I don't have to watch horror films if I feel they all are basically crap. If I could I would make a Horror flick that wasn't one lame cliché after another. See it is simple once you think about giving it up or making it the way you would want it to be. Hope this is useful in your musings.
Er... you mean something other than my fantasy? (Granted my fantasy steers well clear from the tired Tolkien-esque tropes, and there are no dragons in this one.) Sure, I've got a little historical mystery going on. I can see why some would get fed up with fantasy, though. It's the genre that lets you make up literally anything you want, yet it seems most just want to do a quasi-Tolkien-esque story with elves, etc. set in a Medieval Era-like landscape. That said, what's wrong with just letting people like (or write) whatever they want? Less what you do, and more how you do it. (Wait, I think I ripped that line from somewhere and I can't remember the source...) If someone were to write a story about, say, a bunch of sea elves at war with a bunch of Earth elves, then he/she should feel free to do just that. If I don't like it, I just won't read it. Simple. But basically, the last thing I'd want to do to a new writer is lock them up in petrifying fear of not writing what they want to write about because it's 'too clichéd'. It's their story. They should feel free to write it. I only ask that they write it well and make their setting and characters interesting and relatable.
To answer the question of the thread ... *raises hand* Though I don't mind fantasy, I just feel it's hard to be truly original with it these days. Fantasy and vampire stories are a dime-a-dozen now.
I am not writing fantasy. Personally, I don't really enjoy reading fantasy novels although I do hear a lot about various stories in the genre from my partner who is waaay into fantasy. I think the thing that gets me about fantasy is that you can literally make up anything, it's almost too much freedom for me. Obviously having not read many books of the genre I am limited in what I can say about it and don't get me wrong I get why people enjoy both reading and writing fantasy novels, but I just enjoy stories more if they are grounded in reality. At the risk of sounding really boring and unimaginative I find it hard to relate to characters who are living these magical enchanted lives whilst I'm stuck indoors doing something really boring. I'm just trying to write the story I want to read, whatever genre that falls into. I'm trying to take the old tired tropes that relate to my story and flip them on their head a bit so hopefully it will be something a bit different.
You might prefer fantasy from the likes of K.J. Parker and others, where there is often little or no magic at work at all, and the people are living more difficult existences plagued by the sorts of problems that plague ordinary people.
It's a completely different story but it kind of reminds me of Game Of Thrones with all of the politics and double crossing. That is the kind of fantasy I can get behind.
Yeah, it's along those lines in terms of 'feel,' but the characters are ordinary people, not lords or royalty. A bunch of veterans and their families. No magic in the book at all, from what I recall.
I write mostly urban fantasy, but I also dabble in space opera, steampunk, horror and just straight up mystery. I think one of the reasons so many people write fantasy is because they can let their imagination off the lead a bit more. Also, given that the real world kind of sucks, it's perfectly understandable to want to create a world of magic.
So, did the original question of this thread have to do with whether there are any writers on this forum who work in genres other than fantasy? I am a relative newbie to the forum--signed up about a year ago, but really only started signing in when I submitted a piece for the summer short story contest. My impression has been that the active members on the forum tend to be those that write fantasy. Not sure whether that is unique to this forum or a reflection of the writing community in general these days????? I have no judgement about it (fantasy, that is), I just don't read it or write it. I don't read or write poetry, essays, historical novels, etc., either. I am working on 2 pieces right now--both quite different. One is a novel about a man who loses his wife suddenly late in his life and what then happens in his life, and the other is a creative non-fiction piece about my career as a psychotherapist--really a collection of stories--so no fantasies, but some fantastic tales. Would love to connect with other writers of either of these genres--fiction or memoir.
My story I'm working on is a fictional memoir in which my main character goes to a psychotherapist so it touches on a few similar themes to yours @DueNorth .
I wouldn't ever write a fantasy story. I don't have the imagination to create a whole other world, I don't think. I have read and enjoyed some of the more popular ones, and I'm not surprised that there are so many young aspiring fantasy writers in the wake of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games.
