  Fantasy
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| Remembering who you are (as a writer) doesn't mean, "Stop growing." |
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I've seen many writers say the worst questions to be asked are, "Where do you get your ideas?" and "Why did you start writing?"
While I agree the first one is a weird one to have to answer, the second is one writers should ask themselves now and then. When you answer no one but yourself, you're allowed to really delve into the answer, and be as babblingly truthful as you like. It's good to remind yourself why you started doing this, and use it as a way of seeing where it's taken you.
The danger, I've seen in some, is that that they cling to an old ideal without letting it evolve. "Reviewer Naught said this part of my writing is weak, but that thing is the basis of why I started writing in the first place!"
(That quote may or may not be lifted directly from my own writing journal.)
Don't lose your ideal, but think about it. Say you started writing fantasy because you had all these ideas for a rich, colorful world and you wanted to "see" it on paper. You wanted to know if you could share that vision. Now imagine a slew of reviewers came along and said your world was not well developed, and that your race of intelligent, flying, six-foot-wide amoebas wasn't believable.
There are two extremes as far as reactions to that kind of feedback go. One, the writer really digs in and uses claws to hold onto that world and amoebas just the way they are, defending them until the end. Two, they trash it all completely and create a cast of elves in a Tolkien setting.
(Perhaps those extremes are a tad specific, but you get the idea.)
Your unique vision is what we need out there, what we readers are eager to see. Don't ditch your amoebas; make them believable. They have to mature as your writing does; their world may need to be filled out to include a less stringent gravity and a bizarre evolutionary history. That is, just because you write fantasy doesn't mean you can get away with not researching.
"I started writing fantasy because I didn't want to have to research anything. I can just make it all up!"
Sure, but if it doesn't have a basis in reality, readers have a hard time believing it, and if they can't believe in it, they can't feel comfortable, and nobody likes to stay where they're uncomfortable. (Okay, that's about half a lie, but a subject for another discussion.)
Even Terry Pratchett, with his Discworld series, has to make that world somehow believable. His world is flat, and perched on the backs of three elephants which perch on the back of a tortoise. He even seems to make fun of the idea that one must have a world where modern, earthly physics makes sense. His jovial narration, however, convinces you to "C'mon, just go with it." Most importantly, it's consistent, until it's not---then it's plot-worthy.
You're researching, whether you know it or not. Everything you read or watch, every conversation you join or overhear, every step you take on a sidewalk feeds into your knowledge of the world and personal interactions. You can choose to use what you learn in everyday life, or you can realize you're already researching, so you might as well go one step further and look up some ancient cultures. (You would not believe the inspiration you can get that way. Hey, you would not believe how often you can find an ancient culture that scarily mirrors one you think you made up all by yourself.)
But those are just two examples of why writers might make their start in fantasy. 1.) Amoebas are cool and I wonder how a single-cell organism might manage to be intelligent and 2.) Research is boring, but I wanna write!
Remembering your roots, and the passion that had you excited about writing, doesn't mean not evolving. I apologize for this allusion, but take Disney's The Lion King. As a cub, Simba was all about learning how to roar. He sings about working on his roar and Scar even uses that passion to against him. And his roar is.... Well, he's just a cub.
He lives through an exile from his destiny, goes through some trials, and nearly forgets that passion altogether. Until the end, when he lets out that big, grown-up lion roar. It took maturing, experience, and the heart to keep going for him to get there, through.
[Chy, you just compared us to a cartoon lion.]
I know, but c'mon, now. Just go with it.
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Notes from the readers of my previous newsletter, "Audience Intrusion"
Soulhaven 
Another great newsletter. A reminder & a leash-loosener. I shall take your words & write!
That's the spirit!
Lorien
Chy,
I found your newsletter today completely fascinating. Though I've considered (and worried about!) author intrusion before, the idea of audience intrusion is new to me. Definitely an important issue to consider. Thank you for the thought-provoking newsletter! I know I'll be stewing over these ideas for a while.
Outstanding! If you need help stewing, give a nod to asymmetrical. She's the one who got me to stewing on it.
jim1184 
Excellent newsletter. I fall into the (Those who don't plan) category. I can identify with the quote "Directors don't sell tickets for rehearsals." It is the same vague feeling I have about some of the material in my portfolio. My favorite quote " Don't get it right, Just get it written." It sounds so simple to follow the advice. However, "The easy way is always mined."
Good thing about that simple advice is that no matter how much it's mined, there's still an endless vein. Thanks for writing in!
michaelkryton
Thank you for the recognition.
Kryton
A Paper Dawg Newbie in the Paper Doll review Gang
And thank you for writing a story I wanted in my picks. 
Red
I think I'm a bit of both. I plan my stories but when I start writing I just come up with ideas that lead to the situation, and as I write about my characters I start to learn more about them. Even my strong man is starting to develop a joking personality.
That's the greatest experience, to me. I hope you're enjoying it, as well!
brom21
When you speak of audience intrusion, are you saying its wrong to have an undertone or a message in the story? Some of my stories have a spiritual undertone
in them. Where do I draw the line?
No, of course it's not wrong to have an undertone or message in a story. But when you start writing just to cater to what you think readers want to hear, it's time to take a step back and reconsider.
atwhatcost writes:
Whoa! At first I thought this NL was sent just to me. As I read on, I found out I'm not alone, but I do tend to get audience intrusion too often for those nagging internal fears I have as a fairly new fiction writer. I knew something was wrong. This pinpointed it for me. Thanks.
Hey, no problem. Glad to be a pinpointer. 
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Fantasy: January 11, 2012 Issue [#4820]
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