Short Analysis Essay
(Quick Note: Specific examples
may be bold in excerpts.)
When someone first hears about
fantasy writing, the first thing they picture is either Lord of the
Rings or some sort of fairy tale. There are in fact a large amount of
greatly known titles that kicked up the fantasy genre, and fairy
tales are a big part of the genre. Of course, that's just the
reader's point of view, or even the first glance at the genre. What
does the writer think about the genre he or she chose? What are the
thoughts of a fantasy writer on the fantasy genre? From a little bit
of experience and asking other writers whether in or out of a formal
interview, I was able to set that fantasy writers find reality dull
and loathe academia writing whether they can write well in it or not,
but love to write and put themselves into different stories for, not
only the reader's entertainment, but their own as well. Fantasy
writers use the genre to express his or her ideas without having too
many restrictions.
I ran an interview with
another fantasy writer. One of the first things W mentions is
that W writes to express herself. W said that W
first started writing in middle school, because that's when W
first started to role play, which is a form of fantasy writing
through co-operative writing. This also got her into visual
expression with drawing and art. In the interview, I represented
myself as Z and my interviewee as W. Below, I have the
first excerpt from the transcript, and W mentions
mostly role playing how how
role playing. As it seems, role
playing was her main source of writing, considering the repetitious
mentioning of the co-operative writing. W jumped
about on topics in topics, but her message was about self expression,
even at an early age.
Excerpt 1:
Z: How long have you been
writing in general?
W: Probably since Middle school.
W: Probably since Middle school.
Z: Middle School? How many
years has that been exactly?
W: Uhh... Let's see,
there's... (mumbling/scat) About seven.
Z: About seven years. When did
you start, like, tapping into fantasy?
W: Mmm..Fantasy was most
likely in public grade Eight/Nine 'cause that's when I started role
playing a lot more.
Z: Makes sense. Makes sense. I
started role play a lot more in high school, 'cause that's when I
found out about it. Um... What got you into writing? What made you
want to write in general?
W:
Because I was actually able to express myself when it comes to
certain things like... 'cause my writing was actually quite good,
'cause I actually took a writing course in sch- high school. And in
school right now.
...
W: It's when I really started
to role play, and that's when I really started to develop characters
and stuff like that.
Z: So is that when you started
in fantasy and building characters?
W: Yea,
like big time. And then that's how I started my drawing.
Another point W wanted to make sure that made its way into
the record was how much W didn't enjoy formal writing,
and how W wasn't very good at it. Excerpt two will be seen
below, and as a joke W says, “Me no good at formal writing.”
I had my laugh with this one, but in context, formal writing didn't
really pertain to business writing and such, but grammar and sentence
structure. W even explained how W wasn't good a
structure, not to put herself down, but to make a point. That point
was that W doesn't need to know structure in order to
write because her focus was on the story and making the story
something worth reading. One may counter that structure is in fact
important; as a matter of fact, W contradicts herself and
shares her importance of structure, but W stays with her idea
of story being the most important aspect in fantasy writing, and,
more importantly, her own writing. Even when she spoke, she portrayed
this idea. From first hand, I know her writing and errors like “I
can be more freedom” do come out often, but in the end, the
bottom line was that we'd continue because the story was interesting.
W also jumps into Academia writing, mainly because I brought
it up, but just by the mention of academia she made her feelings
toward school based writing clear. An interesting point W
makes about academia is that she compares it to a straight jacket,
and, like the importance of grammar and structure in academia
writing, it comes off as restricting and even overly restricting to
most fantasy writers.
Excerpt 2:
W:
'Cause, even though I can't write formal writing. I'm gonna say that
right now. Me no good at formal writing, but I can do good at,
um- I can do good at, um.. at like, non-formal and narrative or
something with anecdotes, -light chuckles while speaking- which I
actually know what that is, but uh.. I don't mind that stuff because
I can be more freedom; not like those persuasives and stuff,
like, there just too, neh.. Like, they're straight jackets to me in a
way.
Z: That's pretty cool. It
makes sense. I feel the same way about um.. academic writing and all
that kind of -
W: Academia!
Z: Academia, Yea. Because
it's-
W: Filled with Stupid
Jargon.
Going
hand in hand with academic writing, a common theme in the need for
fantasy writing is the idea of a dull reality. It connects because
everyone needed to go to school at some point in any form, and most
people will argue that reality for the most part is relatively
boring. Fantasy writers use the genre as a means of escape, even
pointed out by W in
the interview. Reasons may even be more personal than what I talk
about.
Section of Excerpt 3:
“Z: Um... Can you tell me
any example of what you've written, like... like why you enjoyed it
so much... Maybe?
W: -snickers- Uh... Because
I can actually escape out of what I can like- like I can escape out
of what's happening in my life. Like, if something's bad I can
start writing or I can think, but that's when I got obsessive
with role play post, 'cause I'd be walking around and my mind would
be running role play posts of what I should write and what I
shouldn't write and, like, multiple scenarios and what the person
would reply to and stuff like that.”
Even
while talking about escaping reality, W
retouches on the idea of expression and the unimportance of grammar
in excerpt three, but explains how much she learned and improved,
despite W's belief in
the unimportance of structure and grammar. Despite her need for
expression, W explains
that nothing she wrote had any direct connection to events in her
life, and changes the topic to Alice in Wonderland. This is where W
jumps into fairy tales, mainly one of her favorites, which happens to
be one of the more abstract slips into fantasy stories.
W
didn't explain something directly, but she did explain her becoming
obsessed with role play and co-operative righting. This falls into
the idea that fantasy writer's continue to write for their own
entertainment. She herself was obsessed with role playing and wanted
to continue it because she enjoyed it. Her focus wasn't on the people
involved in her co-operative stories, but on he own need for posting
the shorts or pieces to continue the story for her own purpose.
Excerpt 3:
Z: Um...
Can you tell me any example of what you've written, like... like why
you enjoyed it so much... Maybe?
W:
-snickers- Uh... Because I can actually escape out of what I
can like- like I can escape out of what's happening in my life. Like,
if something's bad I can start writing or I can think, but that's
when I got obsessive with role play post, 'cause I'd be
walking around and my mind would be running role play posts of what I
should write and what I shouldn't write and, like, multiple scenarios
and what the person would reply to and stuff like that.
Z: I need you tell me like,
stuff like um... how you felt like when you were writing.
W: Like what I feel when
I'm writing is that, you can exp-, it's more about expression and
how you can do it like, when I first started to role pl- Fantasy
write, like, I didn't give a care about grammar. All grammar
nazi's would curl up into a ball and go over to the side and in a
corner. Like they.. But now I can write proper dialogue and stuff
like that.
Z: So everything was just
based off making the story.
W: Yea, and not the actual
making sense and stuff.
Z: At any point in time, did
any of the stories that you went through, did it ever link to you and
maybe some part of your life.
W: No.. No.. Either from
like some stuff I
heard, and I think I did
one based off of Alice in Wonderland.
Z: Is that one of your
favorite stories or something?
W: Yea, I liked Alice in
Wonderland. It's one of my favorites.
Now,
W did say that she
didn't use any of her life events as points to plot down in a story,
but she does help bring up a point on character choice and
development. When making a character or many characters, writers
often, if not always, put a pinch of their own personality in their
characters. W explains
how she couldn't play off of fan-based characters which would be the
main character in known stories, but had to make her own original
character to partake in a pre-made world. W
creates her own character in order to partake in the co-operative
writing, and that falls under expression, which ends up being one of
the main reoccurring themes.
Excerpt 4:
Z: Ok,
that's mostly fan-fic, but that's still part of you. Um.. gee, what
was I gonna ask?...Characters! How do you develop a character, like,
what makes a character your character?
W: Hmm...
Through names, by looking online for name generators and looking for
a good picture, and just go straight to personality, but I try to
skip over personalities. Because- when I do big profiles, because if
I don't, If I do, I'll feel like I'd have to be accustomed to it.
Cause that's why I can't do fan-based characters, I can only do
“OCs” like original characters because they're not structure and
that's why- Yea I'm not good with structure.
Z: That's
cool, so everything has to be Original character, but um, is
there any kind of personality or trait that makes your character Your
character, like what makes your character unique?
W: Um..
sometimes most of my characters are stubborn and short tempered and I
can be both of those very normally because, cause even teachers
and my boyfriend have told me that I can be both, “That you are
very- you can be sometimes short tempered and you can be very
stubborn.” Even- Especially when I'm sick
Z: That's
an interesting aspect because, every writer, every one of their main
characters, they always put, or even any one of their characters,
they always put a little bit- a part of them into the characters to
at least make them interesting to themselves. So, what's important I
writing to you, like what part of writing is important to you, like,
other than expressing yourself.
W: Making
sense.
Z: But
you just told me that making sense wasn't that big of a deal, you
used to say that it was all about the story.
W: Yea,
but it has to be a story, but it has to make sense and... if you want
them to read it... we did fairy tales, we did fairy tales from a
different perspective, and I did quite well because I did it from
another persons perspective. And um... and this fairy tale I wrote,
it's funny because I found this online. It was from the Grimm Tales.
Just
from one interview, I was able to gain the general basis of the
purpose of fantasy writing in the writer's eyes. This is even despite
the fact that I am a fantasy writer and follow similar rules. I don't
normally talk to other writers about the writing, only write with
them and observe their principles through their writing. Fantasy
writing is used to possibly touch actual events or even instances in
one's self in a manner that will let the writer fully express
themselves without the restrictions from other genres and even the
restrictions of everyday life. Fantasy writing lets idealism reflect
realism and even uses idealistic settings to solve realistic
problems.
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