tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post3562965036038367651..comments2023-04-27T10:10:36.337-05:00Comments on Adventure Awaits: Holes in the Literary World Part 1 - Realism in FantasyTracey Dyckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-60636724289306412512018-05-27T10:15:10.666-05:002018-05-27T10:15:10.666-05:00Right, some cliches are tropes for a good reason! ...Right, some cliches are tropes for a good reason! As long as they feel REAL to me, I totally don't mind. You're right, spec fic characters seem to roll with the punches way too well.<br /><br />Right?? I would need a loooot of support from my Mentor and Sidekicks to stay alive. XDDDTracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-68995631419646260352018-05-27T10:12:53.920-05:002018-05-27T10:12:53.920-05:00I haven't yet, but it's on my TBR! I'v...I haven't yet, but it's on my TBR! I've heard excellent things about it! :D Maybe I'll be able to pick up the first book this summer.<br /><br />Another series I've heard has very realistic consequences is Red Rising--that's also on my towering TBR. XDTracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-23853567364991136892018-05-25T22:24:22.215-05:002018-05-25T22:24:22.215-05:00I love this!! I totally agree with you about emoti...I love this!! I totally agree with you about emotions feeling so cliche in spec tropes. Of course, characters are going to act a certain way, and sometimes you can't avoid sounding cheesy. But when it's cliche after cliche, it gets really annoying really fast. I want to relate to these characters! So if they're doing just dandy with no worries or realistic reactions, I feel like a pathetic bean, because I for sure couldn't handle whatever they're going through as well as they are.<br /><br />I mean, if I was 'the chosen one', I can say for sure that the crushing pressure and self-doubt would kill me before any monsters or villains would. XDMadeline J. Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14651322832150574847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-83358709156487575462018-05-25T19:57:31.466-05:002018-05-25T19:57:31.466-05:00The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turne...The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner blows my mind with its worldbuilding. The descriptions, the politics, even the mythology are so well developed, it feels like a world that truly exists. Have you read it?E.F.B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06529827382872964343noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-3985404028899136172018-05-22T20:37:26.759-05:002018-05-22T20:37:26.759-05:00Thanks, Jenelle! Glad you enjoyed.
Exciting! I me...Thanks, Jenelle! Glad you enjoyed.<br /><br />Exciting! I mean, headache-inducing too, at times, but I will DEFINITELY appreciate all the hard work you're putting into it. <3Tracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-19853416619053071202018-05-22T20:34:58.166-05:002018-05-22T20:34:58.166-05:00Thanks! Oh, I agree 100%--we need more homeschoole...Thanks! Oh, I agree 100%--we need more homeschoolers (who aren't automatically weird or unsocialized). XD Also yes to more tall girls. I'm on the taller side too, and nothing at all like those "short and mousy" protagonists either. XDTracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-35953849649262821732018-05-18T16:49:37.603-05:002018-05-18T16:49:37.603-05:00Excellent post! I agree with all of these :)
I...Excellent post! I agree with all of these :)<br /><br />I'm doing some CUH-RAZY world-building stuff in my Turrim Archive series, and I am grateful that I now know of at least one reader who will appreciate the lengths I have gone to. :)Jenelle Schmidthttp://jenelleschmidt.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-73188859736446937352018-05-18T14:29:35.329-05:002018-05-18T14:29:35.329-05:00This is a really neat discussion! I wish there wer...This is a really neat discussion! I wish there were more homeschooled characters. I was homeschooled and it would have been nice if growing up there were other characters like me. Also more tall girls. XD Most girls in YA novels are always said to be short and mousy. I'm very tall for a girl. Always have been, so it would be nice to have some more tall ladies in fiction. <br /><br />storitorigrace.blogspot.comVictoria Grace Howellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01849013182543674707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-10371711221946394532018-05-18T13:35:17.212-05:002018-05-18T13:35:17.212-05:00Thanks, Blue! I kept going back to the same favori...Thanks, Blue! I kept going back to the same favorites when brainstorming the book examples, honestly. So many of them fall under all three categories! XD<br /><br />Oh, no I haven't! But I've heard of each of them and really, really want to read them. Especially Storming. If it's really as well-developed as you say, I'll have to bump it higher on my TBR!Tracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-85574432319106648182018-05-18T13:33:54.707-05:002018-05-18T13:33:54.707-05:00Sheesh, I needed this a few years ago too, and it&...Sheesh, I needed this a few years ago too, and it's still a good reminder for myself now! Ack, travel logistics are a real pain sometimes. That's one of my biggest worldbuilding struggles, I think. I applaud your work!<br /><br />Oh goodness, YES. Tolkien was the worldbuilding boss. o.o<br /><br />That's a good point too. The amount of metaphor/allegory in a book deserves a lot of attention!<br /><br />Thank you!!! :DTracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-8712457238136715892018-05-18T13:31:44.008-05:002018-05-18T13:31:44.008-05:00World building is so complex! They say something l...World building is so complex! They say something like a tenth of the world-building knowledge you design should actually come out on the page... the rest is your own development behind the scenes. Which is kind of daunting if you think about it that way--OR it can be very motivating and fun if you see it as a secret world and only you know the full extent of it. :DTracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-90041479460810251512018-05-18T13:30:01.033-05:002018-05-18T13:30:01.033-05:00YAYYY! I was really looking forward to starting th...YAYYY! I was really looking forward to starting this series too, so I'm glad you like it so far! :D<br /><br />Exactly! I think Robert Liparulo taught something like that at Realm Makers last year--that if we do a good job painting a picture of ordinary, relatable details, readers will be able to believe the fantastic, strange, out-of-this-world concepts we write about.<br /><br />But there's so much ROOM to explore the five senses in fantasy! You literally have an entire new world to explore with fresh eyes. Maybe in contemporary and historical, it's a bit easier because the details are things we normally encounter, so our minds need less help making the setting come to life. *shrugs* I agree, though, it's rare for me to truly FEEL the physicality of what fantasy characters go through.<br /><br />GIVE ME ALL THE FEELS, OKAY. THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR. Ohhhh, yes, A Time to Die had incredibly vivid detail. Poor Parvin! D:<br /><br />Ahahaha, this is what *I'm* really working on too, and it's one of the big missing ingredients in my Journeys of the Chosen series. XD So... don't feel bad.<br /><br />Ahhh, that makes me so happy! Thank you, Christine!<br /><br />(XDDDD)Tracey Dyckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03445222618456673198noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-42318465746385709102018-05-15T23:00:17.239-05:002018-05-15T23:00:17.239-05:00Great post!
Many of the books you gave as examples...Great post!<br />Many of the books you gave as examples are ones that I've read and enjoyed, or desperately want to read. <br />There are two books I've been enjoying lately, that I think fulfill these points well: Pendragon's Heir by Suzannah Rowntree, and Storming by K.M Weiland. Have you read them? Bluehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311819189733225274noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-36260603017938187462018-05-13T00:13:18.966-05:002018-05-13T00:13:18.966-05:00Young fantasy writers need to read this... Right n...Young fantasy writers need to read this... Right now I am working on the whole backstory/figuring out the painful details of how large my continent is, how long it should take for my characters to get across it, etc. The whole backstory creation of a fantasy world is... Whew...<br />I have a whole new awe for Tolkien's Middle Earth. <br />I was thinking about Christian metaphors in fantasy lit, and I realized some is very complicated, and some is very simple. Mine is very complicated, so it has been hours of work, not even writing my book, just working on the WORLD.<br />Great post, I really enjoyed this!!!!!<br />astoryspinner.blogspot.comEricahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02458065240978259125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-66798147853672818822018-05-12T16:23:35.491-05:002018-05-12T16:23:35.491-05:00You make such good points! I agree there needs to ...You make such good points! I agree there needs to be realism, emotion, and a well defined word in order for the story to be engaging. I need to work on world building more myself. Skye Hofferthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02385765274513034927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6620960568844915525.post-15414968649196876352018-05-12T15:30:52.355-05:002018-05-12T15:30:52.355-05:00YAAAAY!!!!!!!! I was so, so hoping you'd do th...YAAAAY!!!!!!!! I was so, so hoping you'd do this series. I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS! And can I just give a big AMEN to this post? Good gracious, YES!<br /><br />I absolutely LOVE your point that if you engage the senses, bring in the emotions, and build the world up so deeply, it will ALL feel real. We won't think twice about dragons reigning the skies, because all the emotions and senses make US feel things. Wow. Such a powerful thought!<br /><br />And yes to ALL THE THINGS. I feel like fantasy DOES often lack in the five senses. It seems like with contemporaries and historical fiction, these senses are much more engaged than in spec-fic. Not always of course, but I do tend to really FEEL what the character feels in real world tales more so than fantasy ones. We're so often told that the characters have been walking for days and are exhausted and hungry or whatever, but I rarely actually FEEL it, you know? That's something I need to work on more myself.<br /><br />And the emotions! YES. So, so, sooo important. Honestly, to me anyways, really bringing out the emotions is the most important part of storytelling. Plot twists and amazing worldbuilding is good and all, but if it doesn't make us FEEL, what's the point? I 100% agree that the A Time to Die series, the Lunar Chronicles, and Eye of the Oracle excelled at this. A Time to Die also really, REALLY brought out the five senses. Almost too much. Lol! Parvin's suffering felt so real. My word. o.o<br /><br />And of course worldbuilding is a biggy. It's one of the most important things in fantasy and, like you said, it often feels like the author is just checking off a box, making everything so straightforward and not nearly as complicated as the real world is. Except...this is where I fail a lot too. But I absolutely live for books with deep, intricate, well-thought out worldbuilding.<br /><br />I'm just soaking up this whole post and taking mental notes for my OWN stories. This was golden advice and I couldn't agree more. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us!<br /><br />(P.S. Your "dragon-blessed minute" made me laugh. XDDD)Christine Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15859881278385314279noreply@blogger.com