Britva
Moderator Posts: 37 Registered: 1/8/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 4/4/2004 at 10:52 AM |
Just a reminder, before you post please read the forum rules at: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&
amp;file=article&sid=667&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0 |
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Anya
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 656 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/4/2004 at 08:23 AM |
I was reviewing this section of the site and it brought up a question:
would a Dark Age setting be classified as fantasy in genre? I ask this for
the two are very close, yet one happened in our history and the other
is...well, fantasy. At the same time, though, a lot of fantasy
role-playing systems take a lot from the Dark Ages.
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Anya
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 656 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/4/2004 at 08:52 AM |
On a note, I would not attempt to do a Dark Age setting until I did further
research on the customs of the area I would base my story on, but I ask
this mainly for the fact that the Dark Ages setting is part of our history,
but at the same time, can easily slip into the Fantasy genre if one is not
careful. |
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Devin
Administrator Posts: 317 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Online
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posted on 18/4/2004 at 01:03 PM |
I think you're missing the 2 biggest points of the fiction workshop.
Point number 1 - write something specifically for the workshop. It sounds
like you're wanting to submit something you've already written.
Point number 2 - write something real. The workshop is trying to help
people write more believable fiction. The rules about not writing genre
fiction are to keep people from using it as a crutch by making them write
about something that sounds real. If you want to write genre fiction, you
have to be able to write about real stuff first, or nobody will ever be
able to suspend their disbelief when they read it.
____________________ So Sayeth Me |
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Anya
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 656 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/4/2004 at 03:07 PM |
Actually, it was something I wrote just for the Fiction Workshop. Nothing
more, nothing less. It was merely a test of my writing abilities and I did
write something that's more "believable". I just asked the question here
about history and whether or not it'd be considered fantasy. You seemed to
answer my question close enough, though. I didn't miss any of those points.
Thanks.
[Edited on 4/18/2004 by Anya]
[Edited on 4/18/2004 by Anya] |
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Britva
Moderator Posts: 37 Registered: 1/8/2003 Status: Offline
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posted on 18/4/2004 at 11:49 PM |
Devin's pretty much on the mark here. I would like to say, though, that I
think historical fiction is a broad enough category that it isn't, in and
of itself, a genre. In other words, you can write stories set in the past
and have them be in any genre, or none at all. I think Pillars of the
Earth is a good example of a medieval story that isn't really genre
based.
However (and this is a BIG however), any historical fiction submitted to
the fiction workshop is going to be held to a higher standard. Basically,
you better have a really good reason why the story you wanted to tell
couldn't be told in any other time or place. For example, the fact that
you really like samurai swords isn't a good enough reason to set your story
in medieval Japan.
I hope this cleared things up for you. If you want to submit a story set
in the Dark Ages, I'll certainly take a look at it. But before you write
it, think about why you want to set it in the Dark Ages. What is it about
that particular time period that is absolutely necessary to the story you
want to tell? Could the story work in a simpler, modern setting? |
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Shade
Fanatic Posts: 289 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 25/4/2004 at 02:29 PM |
I completely forgot that this would be a perfect example of "genre free"
writing that was also of high quality. http://www.corpse.org/issue_12/marriage/beckman.html
"Exquisite Corpse" has always been an excellent venue for quality writing
with a bit of a twist. And most of it while categorized into sections to
some extent, is not "genre" but just life. The link above is to one that I
found particularly humorous. ____________________ It is only through the lack of sex that humanity derives the need for an
all encompassing blind love. And in that moment of extreme horniness with
no relief in sight, in that moment can be found the birth of religion.
-Me |
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feralucce
Extreme Fanatic Posts: 1810 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
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posted on 25/4/2004 at 02:36 PM |
Devin: I would like to disagree with your statement about haviing to be
able to write the "real stuff" first... I know there are beter writers than
I.... but my peices are (technically genre) and I write them skillfully...
I suck at the "real stuff." writing ...
Feral ____________________ The earth turns on a tilted axis - just doing the best it can.
Hohenheim of Light~Full Metal Alchemist |
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