writing vs devices

[larkin]

I feel like I am completely out of step.  Maybe CR is devoted specifically to fantasy writing.  This is good and I am all for it, but I am not very good at writing or reading fantasy. 

I try to write from reality but in the last decade, new forms of communications have taken hold.  Everything from MMPORPG, skype and superficial texting are ways that we communicate. 

It is very hard to write using these vehicles and like fantasy writing they obscure and clutter reality.  A friend on the internet is not always a real friend. They are phantoms and you are a phantom to them.  They form an intense part of your life and then suddenly disappear as if they never had existed. 

A fantasy genre I do relate to is the post-apocalyptic.  Maybe because it is in the air like an approaching storm or borrowing from the Matrix, "Like a splinter in the mind".  Maybe it is a longing for all these devices and webs of connectivity to be stripped away so that we are left naked..

Does anyone else have thoughts like these?

[Parker]

I do, Larkin, especially about friends. I have moved around to various parts of the country due to my work and I have made and left friends in every one of those places. Thank goodness we can stay in touch via the internet. Where I live now, out in the country, I don't have anyone that I can call a good friend, but I have email and that helps a lot. The thing about friends is that, as Agatha Christie points out, we only know of anyone the things that they choose to tell us or let us see, so I don't mind having just internet friends. I know them as well as I do my visible friends, plus I don't have to buy them Christmas gifts.

On the other hand, I do like fantasy fiction. I love dragons and magic and castles. Far too many fantasy tales are simply rehashing the themes in Lord of the Rings and I dislike their lack of originality. Too many times some dark force is going to enslave and destroy the world, only to be defeated at the last moment by an unlikely little hero. I prefer writers like Terry Pratchett.

I wonder if living in Massachusetts at this snowy time of year perhaps makes you a bit melancholy and brings post-apocalyptic thoughts. I used to live in Boston and we sometimes had two feet of snowfall at once. They used to tell me that if you can't take the winters you don't deserve the wonderful summers. I miss Boston.

I don't know if any of that makes sense because I'm not sure just what I'm trying to say, but Merry Christmas to you.

Parker

[Zach Caldwell]

To me a writer, should write what he/she wants too. Tell the story they want to tell because they want to tell it. They should not write because they want to make the readers happy for the sake of being happy. Write it and they will come. Those who appreciate the story you write that is. Those are the ones you will appreciate later on.

As for friends. Friends is, to my mind, a broad term. If I were to visualize how I see family and friends it would begin with me in the center. I have an inner core that encircle me, these are the friends and family whom I respect and trust without doubt or question. These are the people whose opinions and adivce that I rely on constantly The next ring out is friends and family whom I respect and appreciate but do not trust as much as the inner core and whose thoughts and opinions I consider but less so than the inner core. The rings continue outward with each having less of an impact on me.

To thy own self be true, fore if you are not true to yourself then you are never true to others. One has to accept that human beings are a quirky bunch. Relationships, friendships, life whatever it is, is always and forever changing and moving like a river. Be happy for the people whom come and go from your life. For in some small way they have impacted your life and or you may have impacted theirs.

When it comes to friends online, one just has to be a little bit more aware. Aware that it is the internet and people can pretend to be whoever they want to be. But that does not apply to everyeone and some good friendships can be had. Time will show you who are your real friends and those who are not. Like in the real world, we just have to be careful to not invest too much too soon into relationships or friendships. Which seems like a common sense thing to do. But society has developed into a want it now or as fast as they can get it.

That is perhaps, what I think you are getting at larkin. We are all moving and operating in a fast pace society that we are not taking the time to slow down and enjoy the simpler things of life. I look at where the human race has been, where it is and where it will be. I believe that eventually we will find a balance. To find that balance we have to move from one extreme to another, through that collective experience will come a balance. At least it is that hope and faith that lets me face each new day and to try and add a little bit more balance to it with the family, friends and people that pass through my day and life.

[Al Norris]

All Fiction is Fantasy.

That being the case, why or how does it matter the form used to produce said fiction, as long as it is ultimately able to be enjoyed?

Perhaps I'm not understanding the premise?

[larkin]

All Fiction is Fantasy.

That being the case, why or how does it matter the form used to produce said fiction, as long as it is ultimately able to be enjoyed?

Perhaps I'm not understanding the premise?

 

Thanks Al.. All fiction is fantasy.. You'd be right in saying that but fiction can also reveal truths previously unobserved more than a chronology of pure facts.  

 

Edited December 25, 2015 by larkin

[larkin]

To me a writer, should write what he/she wants too. Tell the story they want to tell because they want to tell it. They should not write because they want to make the readers happy for the sake of being happy. Write it and they will come. Those who appreciate the story you write that is. Those are the ones you will appreciate later on.

As for friends. Friends is, to my mind, a broad term. If I were to visualize how I see family and friends it would begin with me in the center. I have an inner core that encircle me, these are the friends and family whom I respect and trust without doubt or question. These are the people whose opinions and adivce that I rely on constantly The next ring out is friends and family whom I respect and appreciate but do not trust as much as the inner core and whose thoughts and opinions I consider but less so than the inner core. The rings continue outward with each having less of an impact on me.

To thy own self be true, fore if you are not true to yourself then you are never true to others. One has to accept that human beings are a quirky bunch. Relationships, friendships, life whatever it is, is always and forever changing and moving like a river. Be happy for the people whom come and go from your life. For in some small way they have impacted your life and or you may have impacted theirs.

When it comes to friends online, one just has to be a little bit more aware. Aware that it is the internet and people can pretend to be whoever they want to be. But that does not apply to everyeone and some good friendships can be had. Time will show you who are your real friends and those who are not. Like in the real world, we just have to be careful to not invest too much too soon into relationships or friendships. Which seems like a common sense thing to do. But society has developed into a want it now or as fast as they can get it.

That is perhaps, what I think you are getting at larkin. We are all moving and operating in a fast pace society that we are not taking the time to slow down and enjoy the simpler things of life. I look at where the human race has been, where it is and where it will be. I believe that eventually we will find a balance. To find that balance we have to move from one extreme to another, through that collective experience will come a balance. At least it is that hope and faith that lets me face each new day and to try and add a little bit more balance to it with the family, friends and people that pass through my day and life.

 

Zach, thank you very much for commenting.  The situation you describe about successive circles of support and interdependent friends and family is an ideal that we don't all share by choice or circumstance.  Writers by nature tend to be more solitary and introspective.

In a simpler time it was boy meets girl or in this case, boy meets boy or a bit edgier, boy meets stranger which currently is considered, politically incorrect, are real events that can happen.

What the internet can do and does is expand the lens of private fantasy. I learned to write dialog while assuming a fantasy identity.  Not making a judgment one way or another, pornography is an enhanced fantasy for masturbation.  When two people meet on skype to share JO or whatever, they are having an authentic experience that is physically safe and disease free.   

On the other hand, it is not real because it relies on a technological infrastructure beyond our reach.  In real life the same encounter might be very different.  It may be more intense in a world fraught with pit-falls and emotion filled back stories.   

Hopefully these individuals will go on to have real physical experiences,..but not always. virtual encounters can sometimes be more compelling and intense that real ones making them less risky and dependent on,...the Matrix. 

Anyway it was not my object to be critical or controversial but instead, to analyze what we are living through and provoke discussion.    

 

Edited December 25, 2015 by larkin

[ken barber]

Finding the perfect balance between an online life and real life is crucial. I have only been a part of this online community for almost two years now and have never depart from my real world. I am not a solitary creature rather thrive in the group outing and gatherings of friends and family. As I am writing this I am also relaxing before a big group outing for New Years. My writing tends to come from real world concepts in a Fantastic Setting. I often use the phrase I write "Ordinary People doing Extraordinary Things."  

I have a very active but safe sex life in the real world and don't indulge in the cyber sex concept. Sex to me is two people together in the same place sharing a moment of intimacy weather its just that one fleeting moment or  a relationship. I don't judge those that use the online cyber sex and in return I expect them to not judge me. I have a healthy active sex life for a 42 year old man and am proud of that.

I am starting to rant here so I will just end with saying write what fills your heart write what sings to you. The more variety the better the entertainment.

Live your life the way you want to those that judge you only do so to hide their short comings. They are attempting to degrade you to rise to the top of the pack as you so wonderfully described in "seeds of war". There is another way to rise to the top and stay there. Respect. 

Not sure if my rant was even close to this discussion but it felt go to do

Thanks

[ken barber]

 

I wonder if living in Massachusetts at this snowy time of year perhaps makes you a bit melancholy and brings post-apocalyptic thoughts. I used to live in Boston and we sometimes had two feet of snowfall at once. They used to tell me that if you can't take the winters you don't deserve the wonderful summers. I miss Boston.

 

I live in Providence RI and work across the border in Mass and this year until this week the weather has been gorgeous 

[larkin]

I live on the Cape and it was 70 degrees Christmas Eve

[ken barber]

I know it was so nice. Yesterday was bitter cold but nice again today. You know what they say in New England if you don't like our weather wait 5 mins. 

[larkin]

I think cybersex was very popular for a time but diminished after pic exchange and today, skype.  It changed from fantasy to people seeking real contact.. Seeking to connect using text only could be dodgy. 

There is a hardcore RP community but I could never get used to the protocols. 

Although it can draw from cyber and tech style communications, creative writing, fantasy or realistic, is something separate. It is story telling.  

[ken barber]

And story telling is what we do. Writing in the RU has opened my eyes to different styles and almost broke my brain a couple times. 

[Shayn059]

I do, Larkin, especially about friends. I have moved around to various parts of the country due to my work and I have made and left friends in every one of those places. Thank goodness we can stay in touch via the internet. Where I live now, out in the country, I don't have anyone that I can call a good friend, but I have email and that helps a lot. The thing about friends is that, as Agatha Christie points out, we only know of anyone the things that they choose to tell us or let us see, so I don't mind having just internet friends. I know them as well as I do my visible friends, plus I don't have to buy them Christmas gifts.

On the other hand, I do like fantasy fiction. I love dragons and magic and castles. Far too many fantasy tales are simply rehashing the themes in Lord of the Rings and I dislike their lack of originality. Too many times some dark force is going to enslave and destroy the world, only to be defeated at the last moment by an unlikely little hero. I prefer writers like Terry Pratchett.

I wonder if living in Massachusetts at this snowy time of year perhaps makes you a bit melancholy and brings post-apocalyptic thoughts. I used to live in Boston and we sometimes had two feet of snowfall at once. They used to tell me that if you can't take the winters you don't deserve the wonderful summers. I miss Boston.

I don't know if any of that makes sense because I'm not sure just what I'm trying to say, but Merry Christmas to you.

Parker

On the other hand, I do like fantasy fiction. I love dragons and magic and castles. Far too many fantasy tales are simply rehashing the themes in Lord of the Rings and I dislike their lack of originality. Too many times some dark force is going to enslave and destroy the world, only to be defeated at the last moment by an unlikely little hero. I prefer writers like Terry Pratchett.

I, myself write a lot of this type of stories. And in most fantasy stories its good verses evil. If you have something new, I'd love to hear your ideas.

[Jeikor]

One of the things that makes fantasy true fantasy is the good vs evil theme. Tolkien used it, C. S. Lewis used it in Narnia and even in Rowlings' Harry Potter books it is used. There is also always a 'savior' type who gives up his life only to come back. But those three are very different in how they approached the common theme.

[Parker]

I like a good villain in a story and, like most people, I usually like for my conflict to be clearly defined good and evil. I just don't always like for the evil to be out to destroy the whole world. That's why I like Terry Pratchett's type of stories where the antagonist is human and has believable motivations, like greed or jealousy.

I am referring to mainstream published stories, not the ones that I read here. I certainly don't intend to criticize anyone's work at Castle Roland. I'm just making an observation about Fantasy fiction in general. It's what I love to read the most. Lately I've become a big fan of Urban Fantasy, especially Ilona Andrews.

I began a story years ago about a different world where a young boy from a village takes a journey. His adventures are not dangerous, just interesting, so it is a story with no conflict. Someday I'll pick it up again. 

[Shayn059]

I didn't think you were criticizing, I just wanted a clearer description of your idea. I'd like to hear more sometime It could help with future story lines and situations i my work.

[Kyle Aarons]

there are quite a few stories on this site are sci-fi and fantasy, yes, but what are you really looking for? You want a mystery? a romance? adventure? If you are, there are stories here that fit, even if it is with a bit of Sci-fi or fantasy involved. It is hard to see what angle you are coming at this from. We do some contests and we did historical fiction on the last 4th of July contest. Not any sci-fi or fantasy there.

Maybe if you tell the authors what you are looking for... one or more of us my take up the challenge. It's a great deal of fun for some of us to jump out of our normal boxes and try something new.

[Kyle Aarons]

I like a good villain in a story and, like most people, I usually like for my conflict to be clearly defined good and evil. I just don't always like for the evil to be out to destroy the whole world. That's why I like Terry Pratchett's type of stories where the antagonist is human and has believable motivations, like greed or jealousy.

I am referring to mainstream published stories, not the ones that I read here. I certainly don't intend to criticize anyone's work at Castle Roland. I'm just making an observation about Fantasy fiction in general. It's what I love to read the most. Lately I've become a big fan of Urban Fantasy, especially Ilona Andrews.

I began a story years ago about a different world where a young boy from a village takes a journey. His adventures are not dangerous, just interesting, so it is a story with no conflict. Someday I'll pick it up again. 

Parker, I wish people would give me some good criticism. There is no way for me to know what people don't like about my works unless someone shots me a line of fifty. For me not getting criticism is worse than getting lots of 'thank yous' although those are very much appreciated as well.

However, I disagree with conflicts being about being straight forward on who is good and who is evil. For me I feel most conflicts have some good and evil on both sides and I do my best to reflect this in my writings. So with this being said, my works my not be your cup of tea and I totally accept that.

[larkin]

there are quite a few stories on this site are sci-fi and fantasy, yes, but what are you really looking for? You want a mystery? a romance? adventure? If you are, there are stories here that fit, even if it is with a bit of Sci-fi or fantasy involved. It is hard to see what angle you are coming at this from. We do some contests and we did historical fiction on the last 4th of July contest. Not any sci-fi or fantasy there.

Maybe if you tell the authors what you are looking for... one or more of us my take up the challenge. It's a great deal of fun for some of us to jump out of our normal boxes and try something new.

I didn't start the thread as a challenge but as one writer to another.. Most of the people on CR are still reading and writing. This is not the current norm in the culture at large. 

I went into a McDonald's dining area the other day and every individual was on one sort of device or another.  You might see the same thing on the subway or at the airport.  For someone like me who loves video games, I am certainly not passing judgment. I am making an observation.   

My point is that a lot of people are immersed in devices and are communicating through artificial interfaces. Reading is very low on their list and it is difficult to describe these new cultural manifestations using old media (writing). The advent of video moves it from abbreviated text and voice into the visual. The phenomenon of up-loaded body language.  This emulates real life and the participant can easily forget what world he is in..

My question might be, how would you portray a world like this, characters, story and dialogue, in written story form and still be authentic?

 

In regards to your comments about feedback and support, perhaps every writer should make an effort to contribute encouragement and a constructive critique as an obligation for having their own work receiving its due?   

 

[Al Norris]

All Righty Then!

After reading your last post and re-reading your Opening Post (OP), now I think I see what you are getting at.

Even up here in the backwaters of Idaho, I see this phenomenon. Walk into a cafe and watch some younger people, at the same table, text each other, instead of actually talking. I've even seen folks my age do this.

I have to shake my head in wonder, because we are loosing our interpersonal communication skills. Take this stuff away, and would people really know how it interact with each other? In the short term, the answer is, no. It would take a long term plan to re-educate folks how to communicate, even on the level we are "speaking" here.

Actually having to write out your thoughts, in a manner that everyone can understand, is difficult at best (no body language to attach to the words and give them the meaning you really want). You can not hold real conversations when using L33T-speak (or whatever they call it today).

Soooo, how would I portray this world? Very, very satirical. I'm not sure any other way would suffice, except to bring satire into it, so as to ridicule it at the same time.

[larkin]

Perhaps like Huxley's "Brave New World" It must told from an outsider's point of view.