Are You Writing Serious Fantasy? II

[Estella Brandybuck]

Fantasy writing is my main passion in life.

How did you decide that you wanted to write fantasy? What kind do you write?

Well, it's just the area that I'm the most comfortable in. It's fun and challenging, what more could you want? I love finding the balance between the emotional, physical, and spiritual aspects of the story. Making it fantasical (I'm willing to bet that's not a real word [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] ) and yet belivable to some extent. And with fantasy, you're able to create so much for the world you're writing in. So many different species, languages, places, and people are possible. The challenge comes in making them all real, bringing them all to life. I love it.

As for what kind - well, I write action, adventure, drama, and romance all in one story. It's tough, writing in so many different genres, but it's necessary for the story; I've got battles I need to write (those are the parts that are hardest for me [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] ), relationships that need to develop, exposition on past events, and... phew. It's hard, but that's just one of the things that makes writing so fun - the challenge.

Has Tolkien influenced your writing? If so, how?

Of course. He practically invented the genre, didn't he? I started writing my main fantasy story long before I'd read LotR, but as we all know, ideas develop long after you've started putting things down on paper (or WordPad, as the case may be [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ), and I think reading Tolkien made me more mature as a writer. He opened my eyes to all that's possible, to all I could be (I sound like an Army advertisement, don't I? [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img] ). Also, a lot of things in the Appendices inspired me - I was rereading the Tale of Ages and thought, "Hey, that looks like fun!" [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] So I wrote a timeline for my world. And it was more than fun, it was insanely helpful. I finally had a synopsis, and I hadn't even intended to write one! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] And though I'd been developing maps and languages before I read LotR, Tolkien really helped me to improve what I already had. Like I said, I became much more mature as a writer after I read Tolkien's works.

I guess we as fantasy writers are all indebted to Tolkien in our own way. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

By the way, I think threads like these are wonderful, giving writers a place to come together, share experiences, and help each other out. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[ July 11, 2003: Message edited by: Estella Brandybuck ]