I've often wondered why there is such a strong stigma against fantasy these days, as if anything you write that doesn't take place in this exact world automatically excluded from being literature. It's true that there is a lot of mediocre fantasy out there, but I think that the same could be said about any genre. And fantasy is a very difficult genre to write well, I think, partly because it requires a lot of attention to logistics at the very least, if not a ton of research besides. In some ways it's not unlike writing historical fiction, except usually that gets more credit.
I remember when I first told my mother all about my main/current project- there was a slight pause when I had finished and then she asked "Does it really NEED to have magic and zombies in it? I mean, why don't you just write historical fiction?" To me, this just kind-of sums it all up.
I know, I really hate it. The mediocre fantasy just gives people a bad impression, I believe. Even so, most published fantasy writers have put some degree of work into their writing- I'll admit even Paolini put some effort into his stories, even if it's just in the volume of writing. People don't seem to recognize that building worlds and writing words down an so on is a lot of work, they're just like "o psh, creating a universe from scratch is nothing. I beat Halo on legendary." I think your story sounds fantastic. xD Zombies are not just a gimmick if they're done well! Half-Life is an example of that. One of the things I hope to do with my writing is prove that fantasy can be literature as well, with well-developed characters, (hopefully) good writing and a point to it all.
Thanks, that's very sweet of you! I hope that some day I will get it polished into fantastic-ness, even though right now it's an unfinished mess. :-(
It sounds like we both have very similar goals. I would love to be taken seriously as a writer, but I also prefer fantasy to straight-up historical fiction because I feel like I'm allowed to have more fun with it. Even though I am writing about 18th century America, it's nice not to be forced along a specific path and be yelled at by historians if I choose to deviate. I mean, I love the flavor that that era gives, but it's still my alternate world. That, and I have always felt that the "patriot"/rebel side gets so darn much hero worship that I was determined to give the other side a little love. I would think that making up your own world from scratch would be the same, only more so. Of course, the nice thing in your case is that nobody can fault you for being untrue to your world's events- I mean, nobody knows them better than you, right? ;-)
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I remember when I first told my mother all about my main/current project- there was a slight pause when I had finished and then she asked "Does it really NEED to have magic and zombies in it? I mean, why don't you just write historical fiction?" To me, this just kind-of sums it all up.
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Even so, most published fantasy writers have put some degree of work into their writing- I'll admit even Paolini put some effort into his stories, even if it's just in the volume of writing. People don't seem to recognize that building worlds and writing words down an so on is a lot of work, they're just like "o psh, creating a universe from scratch is nothing. I beat Halo on legendary."
I think your story sounds fantastic. xD Zombies are not just a gimmick if they're done well! Half-Life is an example of that.
One of the things I hope to do with my writing is prove that fantasy can be literature as well, with well-developed characters, (hopefully) good writing and a point to it all.
Reply
It sounds like we both have very similar goals. I would love to be taken seriously as a writer, but I also prefer fantasy to straight-up historical fiction because I feel like I'm allowed to have more fun with it. Even though I am writing about 18th century America, it's nice not to be forced along a specific path and be yelled at by historians if I choose to deviate. I mean, I love the flavor that that era gives, but it's still my alternate world. That, and I have always felt that the "patriot"/rebel side gets so darn much hero worship that I was determined to give the other side a little love. I would think that making up your own world from scratch would be the same, only more so. Of course, the nice thing in your case is that nobody can fault you for being untrue to your world's events- I mean, nobody knows them better than you, right? ;-)
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