• Home
  • Posts RSS
Blue Orange Green Pink Purple

Tremendous Trifles: Favourites...Again.

{source} 
 the seventh day - your favourite genre to write

Someone asked me about this not too long ago, and I realized I really didn't know. Any one sample of my writing at any given time would probably fall sloppily in between two or three genres. I wrote one story that would belong mostly in the genre of fantasy, but that was far from my favourite. To remedy this - and to be able to give an answer to this question - I have coined my own genre: what I [would] like to read.

That may seem rather self-centred, but I think most authors follow that rule. I write what I admire most in a book: the ability to be fantastical without being strictly fantasy. That is, rather than saying "This all took place in a world called Idle Mirth in the Kingdom of Ethelfrythwyrdd where the good king Elbordir of Ethelfrythwyrdd ruled..." That would be closer to strict fantasy, and also largely a rip-off. As mentioned, I have dabbled in a little of that (the fantasy, hopefully not the ripping-off), but the fantastical is more to my taste.

It is difficult to describe the fantastical, but I'll try to summarize it as I see it in my own writing. As far as I can tell, it involves taking relatively modernish settings and intertwining them with the ideas (if not the literal figures) of the fantasy novel: heroes and monsters, kings and peasants, bards and jesters. Sometimes this comes complete with the swashbuckling duels; other times it carries the almost jarring note of the modern, tedious business of pulling out a gun and plugging someone.

Of course, even with the loose boundaries of fantastical to work within, things tend to seep across the boundaries into other realms. My current full-blown work-in-progress blends the swashbuckling with the tedious, but it also behaves as if it is a mystery novel. So you see, the old question of genres is still not an easy one to answer. But I think it is safe to say that when I write, the element I am striving for most of all is that element of the fantastical, the fairy-tale, the moderately unbelievable. If there are not dragons, there are the sort of characters that would be educated enough (having read the right sort of books) to know what to do if there were, and brave enough to venture to do the same. Chesterton advocated the necessity of the fairy tale in the ordinary; I should like to do that, though not as directly.
Read More 2 Missages | scribbled by Unknown edit post

2 Missages

  1. Rhoswen Faerie Wrose on August 7, 2011 at 8:37 PM

    *sagenods* That is an excellent way to put it.

     
  2. Ajnos Gamgee on August 8, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    You're doing exactly what Lewis and Tolkien did (not in writing style but in concept). There's a lovely quote in the Notion Club Papers (which unfortunately I don't have) that Lewis and Tolkien were talking once and decided that there were not enough books around of the kind they wanted to read. And so they concluded that they would write them. We know about their fantasy works, but they also wanted more Sci-Fi of Jules Verne's style. So they somehow decided that Lewis would write of space travel and Tolkien of time travel. Lewis succeeded, but unfortunately Tolkien did not (and even Lewis' attempted time travel adventure was abandoned).

    But my point is that writing what you want is a good idea. You may find, like these two, that others also want to read that kind of stuff, resulting in a famous work ;-)

    Ajjie >'.'<

     


Post a Comment
Newer Post Older Post Home

The Blind Leads:

  • A Spirit Not Of Fear
  • A Vapor in the Wind
  • Define "Weird"
  • Logbook 98
  • Petr's Blog
  • Scribbles & Ink Stains
  • The Everyday Miracle
  • The Penslayer
  • The Poetry of Lost Things
  • Winged Writings & Feathered Photos

The Authoress

Unknown
View my complete profile

Currently Writing:

Currently Writing:
Summary: A raggle-taggle tale of... something. Romance, children's fairy tales, and the misadventures of a detective all thrown together into one cup. Let steep 3-5 minutes. Cream and sugar, according to taste.
Progress: 22,346 words
Status: In-Progress

Currently Listening to:

  • Birds On a Wire - Hawk in Paris
  • Worn - Tenth Ave. North
  • Waking the Dead - MPJ
  • Not With Haste - Mumford & Sons
  • Amsterdam - Imagine Dragons
  • Firstborn Son - Andrew Osenga
  • You'll Find Your Way - Andrew Peterson

Currently Devouring (Figuratively)

  • Signs Amid the Rubble - Newbigin
  • The White Horse King - Merkle
  • Monster in the Hollows - Peterson
  • Little Dorrit - Dickens
  • Notes from the Underground - Dostoevsky

Read the Printed Word!

Twitter & Chirp:

Lighthearted Labels:

A.A. Milne Andrew Peterson Battling Unbelief Beauties That Pierce Like Swords Beautiful People Brokenness Chesterton Darjeeling Falcon Dorothy Sayers Dusty Greeks I Need Jesus Jane Austen Joy in the Journey Lady Jane Life's Soundtrack LifeIsRelationship Love Miss Brewster OMySoul Odd Lewis References Paradoxes Pieces of poems Puritans Steep Tales Story Scribblage Tenth Avenue North The Extraordinary Ordinary Wodehouse Writer's Block

Ancient Scribblings

  • ► 2013 (5)
    • ► December 2013 (1)
    • ► July 2013 (1)
    • ► April 2013 (1)
    • ► March 2013 (1)
    • ► January 2013 (1)
  • ► 2012 (19)
    • ► October 2012 (2)
    • ► September 2012 (1)
    • ► August 2012 (5)
    • ► April 2012 (2)
    • ► March 2012 (2)
    • ► February 2012 (4)
    • ► January 2012 (3)
  • ▼ 2011 (64)
    • ► December 2011 (5)
    • ► November 2011 (4)
    • ► October 2011 (4)
    • ► September 2011 (3)
    • ▼ August 2011 (14)
      • ♫ now I'm flying with my feet on the ground
      • With One Minor Excerption...
      • Tremendous Trifles: Hasty Conclusivity
      • Tremendous Trifles: Literary Notes
      • Tremendous Trifles: Makeup
      • Tremendous Trifles: Current Project
      • Tremendous Trifles: Basic Instructions
      • Tremendous Trifles: Favourites...Again.
      • Tremendous Trifles: Bucket List?
      • Tremendous Trifles: Least Favourites
      • Liebster Award: Recommended Reading
      • Tremendous Trifles: Inspiration
      • Tremendous Trifles: First Times
      • Tremendous Trifles: Literary Favorites
    • ► July 2011 (4)
    • ► June 2011 (6)
    • ► May 2011 (4)
    • ► April 2011 (6)
    • ► February 2011 (6)
    • ► January 2011 (8)
  • ► 2010 (10)
    • ► December 2010 (1)
    • ► November 2010 (2)
    • ► October 2010 (3)
    • ► September 2010 (1)
    • ► August 2010 (2)
    • ► January 2010 (1)
  • ► 2009 (58)
    • ► December 2009 (4)
    • ► November 2009 (1)
    • ► October 2009 (1)
    • ► September 2009 (6)
    • ► June 2009 (4)
    • ► May 2009 (5)
    • ► April 2009 (9)
    • ► March 2009 (6)
    • ► February 2009 (6)
    • ► January 2009 (16)
  • ► 2008 (41)
    • ► December 2008 (4)
    • ► November 2008 (4)
    • ► October 2008 (2)
    • ► September 2008 (6)
    • ► June 2008 (1)
    • ► May 2008 (6)
    • ► April 2008 (9)
    • ► March 2008 (2)
    • ► February 2008 (4)
    • ► January 2008 (3)
  • ► 2007 (8)
    • ► December 2007 (2)
    • ► November 2007 (5)
    • ► October 2007 (1)
  • Search






    • Home
    • Posts RSS
    • Comments RSS
    • Edit

    © Copyright Insanity Comes Naturally. All rights reserved.
    Blog Skins Designed by FTL Wordpress Themes | | Free Wordpress Templates. Unblock through myspace proxy.
    brought to you by Smashing Magazine

    Back to Top