(Forgive the random title)
Fantasy is such an iffy genre for me. I love the magic, the romance, the tall tales and the rich environments. I hate the medieval living styles, torches and horses and figures hooded and cloaked and sometimes I even hate that all I can conceivably bring to the table is a sword or something.
I don't like lords or nobility because it doesn't relate to me. But I love Fantasy. An escape from the real world, an adventure into a place that could not possibly exist in my world. And yet the inextricable ties with real life are what attract me to the very thing I'm using to escape. And I think that's a big thing: we're escapists, but we seek realism.
The plots have ties to real life. The worlds and their characters need to seem real. The challenges help the characters grow just as real life helps us grow and we're always seeking some kind of enlightenment, some kind of change in our personality. But how real is the fantasy? If we were called to arms would we pick up the "Sword" and take on the "quest" and triumph as we see the heroes? Or do we live in such a state that we would become reclusive, avoid the problems, and try to escape? Would our real lives makes a convincing story? Yes and no, I would say. My own life would make a good piece of fiction but in writing it, reliving everything in such excruciating detail would be bad for my soul.
So I write fantasy, as apparently all young people do. I write about what I want, what I can't have. Characters that are astonishingly good looking. Characters 'blessed' with the flaws I wish I could have so I could overcome their problems and show the world how amazing I am. Worlds and problems I would trade real life for in an instant. Saving a princess from a castle and maybe some DRAGUNZ are involved? Yes please. A hi-tech weapons facility is creating supersoliders and I need to get the serum and create an antidote with a sexy femme fatale sidekick? Yes please! Dinosaurs have been brought back to life and are running around devouring every human in sight because it's their nature and they would be the dominant species!?!? Yes... well, okay, maybe not that. But still, it's awesome.
Fantasy has so many facets that tie into life; some we see, some we don't. Why do we pursue the fantasy? What are we looking for? What do we want out of what we read? That's the question I'd like to ask.
Fantasy is such an iffy genre for me. I love the magic, the romance, the tall tales and the rich environments. I hate the medieval living styles, torches and horses and figures hooded and cloaked and sometimes I even hate that all I can conceivably bring to the table is a sword or something.
I don't like lords or nobility because it doesn't relate to me. But I love Fantasy. An escape from the real world, an adventure into a place that could not possibly exist in my world. And yet the inextricable ties with real life are what attract me to the very thing I'm using to escape. And I think that's a big thing: we're escapists, but we seek realism.
The plots have ties to real life. The worlds and their characters need to seem real. The challenges help the characters grow just as real life helps us grow and we're always seeking some kind of enlightenment, some kind of change in our personality. But how real is the fantasy? If we were called to arms would we pick up the "Sword" and take on the "quest" and triumph as we see the heroes? Or do we live in such a state that we would become reclusive, avoid the problems, and try to escape? Would our real lives makes a convincing story? Yes and no, I would say. My own life would make a good piece of fiction but in writing it, reliving everything in such excruciating detail would be bad for my soul.
So I write fantasy, as apparently all young people do. I write about what I want, what I can't have. Characters that are astonishingly good looking. Characters 'blessed' with the flaws I wish I could have so I could overcome their problems and show the world how amazing I am. Worlds and problems I would trade real life for in an instant. Saving a princess from a castle and maybe some DRAGUNZ are involved? Yes please. A hi-tech weapons facility is creating supersoliders and I need to get the serum and create an antidote with a sexy femme fatale sidekick? Yes please! Dinosaurs have been brought back to life and are running around devouring every human in sight because it's their nature and they would be the dominant species!?!? Yes... well, okay, maybe not that. But still, it's awesome.
Fantasy has so many facets that tie into life; some we see, some we don't. Why do we pursue the fantasy? What are we looking for? What do we want out of what we read? That's the question I'd like to ask.
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