Writing Forum

It has probably been a month with nothing discussed because members are busy writing stories not wasting their precious time jabbering in forums! Just sayin'.

So I will now waste some story writing time to putting in my ha'penny's worth.

First off, I think saying the current US elections are a "monumental moment in the history of human civilization" is rather over-egging it by a long way, Mr Wild. The election might be monumental in the history of the USA certainly, but definitely not of the entirety of human civilization. The current political situation in the US is extremely polarized - the Republicans, many of whom seem to be drifting too far to the right towards fascism and Democrats many of whom seem to be drifting too far to the left towards Marxism (both ideologies are similarly authoritarian) - so I'll grant you it is easy for each side to consider non-believers or non-adherents to the cause as totally misguided or even evil. Both ideological ends want to control everything people do because both sides believe their particular ideas are morally superior. They impose these 'moral' ideas by resorting to purges of those perceived to be an out-group, or to be wrong-thinkers in order to achieve their notion of a societal 'Utopia'. We have seen the results of these attempts at 'Utopia' from both extremes - The National Socialists in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Franco in Spain, Stalinism in Russia and Eastern Europe, Chinese communism and North Korea.

Donald Trump, I think is popular, because he is anti-establishment and is perceived by his supporters to tell the truth. I surmise people are tired of being lied to by both politicians and the media. I think a lot of people in the US, amongst other things, are fed up due to the death of proper journalism. They don't want the biased opinions of media pundits on their news channels, they want to know the facts of a situation without editorial slant or spin - you can't solve a problem or deal with a situation fairly unless you have the facts. I think, also, they are getting fed up with political correctness and are worried by an extreme section of the left who want to scrap the Constitution's 1st amendment.

I agree with Matt that fantasy is a great vehicle to explore the intricacies and nuances of real-world politics. I was actually thinking of writing an article for the FSFS newsletter on (epic) fantasy and politics and religion. I'd cover the two together because in a lot of cases, both past and present it is impossible to separate the two. Political ideologues do become as hidebound and dogmatic with their politics as those who are piously religious, and the religious invariably use politics to further their particular dogmas.

I think the defining thing about epic fantasy as a genre is the overarching global battle between the forces of 'good' and 'evil' set in some fantastic place where magic is part of the fabric. Like Matt, I don't think it necessarily means that the setting has to be medievalesque, but there does need to be a real sense of otherwhere, which means the story could be contemporary in feel. I think a battle royal between the two ideological extremes would be a fantastic plot or sub-plot and/or theme for an epic fantasy story. The protagonist(s) could start their journey on one side of the divide and his/her/their quest would be the seeking of the balance point between the two. Evil versus evil with the 'good' trying not to get crushed between the two nefarious bookends, or a journey out of ideological darkness along the long, winding, rocky, pitfall-plagued road to enlightenment.