 Fantasy: September 03, 2008 Issue [#2590] |
  Fantasy
This week: Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened.
-Jennifer Yane
There is still no cure for the common birthday.
-John Glenn
A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
This week, Writing.com celebrates its 8th birthday, so this issue of the Fantasy Newsletter is devoted to... birthdays! 
As with a many cultural traditions, it's important for fantasy writers to examine the origins, purpose and traditions of birthday celebrations and see how they can be applied, ignored, twisted, or improved for fictional cultures.
In the Western world, the birthday - the anniversary of one's birth - is often celebrated as a time of joy, of personal achievement for the young and of remembrance for the old. According to my sources , the "birthday" traditions we observe seem to have started with the Mithraists, who brought the idea of a birthday celebration to Europe via Rome.
Okay, so that comes from Wikipedia, so I'm not sure how much credence to give it, but let's go from there anyway. It's common in our culture to celebrate birthdays with a party, including cake and presents and, especially for younger folks, games.
But of course, other cultures may celebrate birth anniversaries differently - or ignore them altogether!
In the realm of fantasy, perhaps the most famous birthday celebration is that of Bilbo Baggins, who celebrated in fine Hobbit fashion by giving presents to his guests, rather than the other way around - thus launching a world-famous plot.
But what other takes on the idea of "birthday" could there be?
Well, from the many worlds of Robert A. Heinlein, we get the idea of, rather than birthday, marking the anniversary of one's conception day - and for those who insist that life begins at conception, that particular way of marking personal time may make a lot of sense (except when it comes time to explain to the kid what "conception" really means).
Either way, perhaps somewhere there is a culture that uses the "birthday" as a time of reflection, a time of honoring those who gave you life - perhaps in that culture, the child presents gifts to her parents, or spends the day fasting and meditating.
Alternatively, or perhaps in conjunction with any of the above, it could be a cultural norm to use the birthday as a kind of personal New Year's Day, a time to look back at the year before, make resolutions, and plan for the year ahead. A time to start over, as it were, as if born anew every year.
There are those, even in our culture, who reject the idea of a birthday. Perhaps it is too individualistic, out of tune with a religious or cultural standard to subjugate the individual to the needs of a group identity. But I say the celebration of a birthday is too important to an individual's social identity to let it go by without some form of acknowledgment. And that also goes for community birthdays, so... Happy birthday to Writing.com! |
A few birthday-related items (okay, sometimes it's a stretch) for your reading pleasure 
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Last month, I wrote about comic books as a medium for fantasy or science fiction stories.
A thinker never sleeps  : Comic books are so overlooked as a medium. Yet there are so many out there using very impressive plots and narrative styles, The Sandman Series, Tekkon Kinkreet, Pride of Baghdad (Graphic Novel). Not all comics are for kids! Great newsletter.
Good examples, all - I'm a big fan of The Sandman and all Neil Gaiman's work.
PoisonAvy21 : I love comic books and comic book heros, I was just thinking about that last night. Thanks, that's !Awesome!!!
I suppose great minds really do think alike 
Caledonia Lass : (Responding to a question someone else had about the economics of Tolkien's Wood Elves) On the comment about the economy of Tolkien's Wood Elves, I don't recall Tolkien focusing on any aspect of money except when speaking of the fortune Bilbo was leaving Frodo.
When writing a fantasy story about Elves, especially woodland ones, you might consider how people in the mountains traded way back in the 1800's with furs and pelts. Perhaps there is no economy to speak of but rather a trading/barter system.
I've read quite a bit of Tolkien's works as well as his biography. If there is something out there I haven't read as of yet, then perhaps I missed out on this little fact. Granted his work was filled with rich materials and the like, but think of the races. Dwarves used gems and metals, men were the only ones concerned with any real coin. Elves live a much simpler life and work together almost as a tribe. It's a consideration. Hope this helps!
Certainly good points. The important thing is to think about it and use an economic system that makes sense with other aspects of the culture you're using.
THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  : Thanks for talking about the comic book! I include this format under "literature" when I take workshops on reading for pleasure!
- Sonali
While comics can certainly be literature, Sturgeon's Law still applies ("90% of science fiction [or any reading material] is crap"). Wait - "workshops on reading for pleasure?" Don't you just... um... read for pleasure? Seems it wouldn't take any skill beyond the ability to read.
Ðungeon Щarden  : While I agree you can find some interesting story ideas from comic books, I feel you do an injustice to independent artist and writers by not mentioning webcomics. While the majority of webcomics are newspaper style humor comics, there is a wide selection of comic book and graphic novel style webcomics out there.
I do a webcomic myself which you can find at http://www.DungeonWarden.com
You're certainly correct. There are several webcomics I enjoy. One particularly whimsical one, with a solid fantasy story (though still a work in progress) may be found at: http://www.webcomicsnation.com/poyorick/ I was focusing on printed material, but the points remain the same for web-published material - which often bypasses editorial strictures, for better or worse.
Babyangel-doing-Nanowrio : I just wanted to say that this is a good newsletter and I enjoy it greatly, but I do got a question. Do all fantasy novels have to have some kind of prophecy that the main character has to achieve? I mean all fantasy novels are pretty much the same. I haven't read one that doesn't have the same plot. Could you sugguest some books to me? Please. Sorry if it sounds like some kind of rant. I don't mean for it to be. I was just wondering.
Big question! Short answer: No. Longer answer may be worthy of a whole newsletter, or series: "Fantasy plots" or, in this case, "Overused fantasy plots." There can be a fine line between genre convention and cliché, and the "hero fulfills prophecy" thing may have slipped into the latter. But considering what's probably the two most famous fantasy stories out there - Lord of the Rings and Star Wars - it's certainly not ubiquitous. Prophecy informs both to some extent, but both Frodo and Luke Skywalker forged their own destinies. And yes, I consider Star Wars to be fantasy, not science fiction, a point I've harped on in the past.
Hero prophecy is, however, useful to drive the plots of fantasy role playing games - another topic entirely.
Thanks for the feedback, as always, and until next time,
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