I'm slowly easing my way bank into writing, finally. In the last couple of weeks I've written a Science Fiction short story, added to a children's fantasy I've been working on, cleaned up up a couple of chapters in the next Queen of Darkness story to submit to my critique group, and wrote down some ideas for major plot points in the next Deluti book.
Between not feeling well, and the nagging doubt of my ability as a writer, it's been difficult to find the joy I once had while writing my stories. I know it's par for the course as many writers feel they will never be good enough, but sometimes I wonder if I'll ever get better.
I've gone back and re-read some of the things I wrote several years ago and think, this is better than what I'm writing now. Yet others have commented on how my writing has improved. Why can't I see it? Maybe the style of writing I enjoy reading is not the same as what others enjoy.
Which brings up an interesting point. A topic of discussion came up the other day in a fantasy support group I belong to. The question was: "What makes good fantasy?" I was blown away by the number of folks who replied; "It has to be realistic, or make sense". Hello! Have they even read the definition of fantasy in the dictionary? If you want realism, read non-fiction. I thought about all the popular fantasy stories out there, both in print and on screen, and there is a decided lack of realism.
What is realistic about walking, talking trees, dogs who can fly, or humans who can change into animals? "But we're talking about things like a real planet with earth and sky, and a sun to provide energy, real food to eat, that kind of realism".
Oh really? Many years ago, I read a story that still haunts me to this day. It was about a civilization of sub-atomic energy beings living inside a light bulb. They knew their source of energy was failing and would soon burn out, and were trying to deal with the inevitability of their mortality. Some accepted their fate while other struggled to find a way to save their civilization. The light bulb shattered, and the end saw a human sweeping up the debris and dumping them in the trash. Where is the realism in that?
Anyway, I'm always amazed at the different things people look for in fantasy.
Thanks for reading.
I can't speak for your folks, but to me "realism" is the wrong word. It invokes the reaction you're having. "Credible" might be a better choice. "Convincing" and "consistent" are also contenders.
ReplyDeleteShort stories (that light bulb story sounds groovy!) can get away with being extra odd and allegorical because they're short. There is a sort of acceptance that you can't establish a whole world with rules in a few pages. Make your cunning and clever point and move on. Full novels or trilogies require setting and points of reference and a place to plant one's feet. It certainly doesn't need to be as normal as planet Earth, but the writer needs to create a plausible world we can believe in.
Maybe it is just a matter of semantics, Murray. Or maybe it has more to do with my personal preferences. Probably why I don't really care for urban fantasy. The more unrealistic and bazaar, the more I like it. Lol
DeleteWhen men and women fantasize it is generally about something that is possible but will never happen. Maybe we've been using the term wrong. Unlike Big Murr I don't take exception to 'realism' and I think he is right about all the other words as well.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the genre, the author builds tension, characters react emotionally as they should to the tension, obstacles have to be over come and if they need to get to the other side of the mountain in a hurry they can race around it in a ferrari or shapeshift into a falcon to get there. It's all about the trappings, the setting and how the characters work with it and thus the reader by proxy.
That is where skilled world building comes into play so that the fantasy aspect doesn't get to the point where unbelievability can't be suspended for the sake of the story.
I read a similar story to your light bulb one where a guy was set on a block of lead and zapped with a shrinking ray. The story then went through his falling through all these worlds in the lead. The ones that wanted to stop his shrinking didn't know how and the ones that he came to that did know how wouldn't. I loved that story. Some people have such an imagination and the skill to relate it that I sit in awe.
I'm hoping you share your sci-fi with us as well. In so many ways sci-fi interlaces with fantasy. The only real difference is unbelievable things are possible based in science as is available or thought to be available. Jules Vern's nuclear submarine wasn't made up by him. Science at the time predicted that it was possible and he ran with it. Take the story off Earth and the meld of sci-fi and fantasy comes together well. That is probably why we see sci-fi/fantasy lumped together in genre lists so often.
Good to hear your back in the saddle and pounding out the verbiage in a steady stream. I wish you and yours all the good health so that you won't be distracted as much this year as you were last. See you next month.
Thanks Jerry! I'm praying this year will be better also, but you know as well as I do that at our age, things can happen at any time.
DeleteI'll probably share my sci-fi story next month before sending it off for edit. I hope to submit it to several magazines or contests if it's good enough.
As I said to Murray, the whole fantasy vs. reality thing probably has more to do with my preferences than anything else.