So the little poll said, so shall it be.

( About both kinds )

Since this deals with attitudes, I won’t be addressing strategy and tactics here; it’s mostly about the social and cultural associations of battles, duels, and other methods of killing. Also, it has few separate points; most of the ideas I wanted to present are gathered together under general ones.

( You can’t swing that sword that way )

Class/caste systems is next, according to the poll.

( So here we are )

And so far, it looks like attitudes towards killing and violence is next.

All right then.

Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. Given the time period I live in, I don’t even have to deal with some things that would have been de rigeur for an American white, middle-class woman a few decades ago. So, if you see something in the rant you think is biased, ill-chosen, wrongly-worded, or offensive, please correct me. The nice thing about using an LJ post as a format for this rant is that I can clearly show the correction of mistakes by strikeouts.

( So here we go )

All right. After all, I am hardly immune from criticism, either.

Tell me what you think.

This is just a short and, at times, rather obvious rant to get back into the swing of things; I recently returned to university and am running around trying to get settled.

( And, after all, it goes with the continuing theme of romance and sex )

I don’t know why there seems to be a tendency to idealize particular sexual practices in fantasy—whether it’s a cousin of the tendency to idealize romance, or whether an impression truly exists that we have just got sexuality all wrong in our world and in any other world, it would be better.

On to fantasy narrative poetry. This is heavily prejudiced towards the nineteenth century as far as examples go. That’s my area to be in love with.

( Some tips on writing fantasy narrative poetry )

Two things more: I’ve realized that while I love reading and writing prose fiction like blazes, and I admire music, it’s poetry that reaches in and tears the heart out of me, makes me weep, and makes me want to study it academically. Fantasy narrative poetry is, for me, the best kind, combining a good number of my obsessions as it does. So this rant is a lot more personal than the others.

And finally, poll on the next rants will be up soon!

Ah, on to music in fantasy. Once again, as with clothes, this is going to be about general things, since I can’t tell you exactly what kind of music was played at ancient Greek festivals or whether the people in your alternate-England shouldn’t be enjoying a certain style of music because that would have to be alternate French. (Those kinds of things are researchable. But I am a) lazy, and b) interested more in researching poetry).

( So: other uses of music )

The rant on narrative fantasy poetry is next, and then a new set will start.

Blame tsuki_no_bara for this one, if you like. She asked specifically for holidays in the last rant. (Well, and so did other people).

( Why you don’t have to just copy the Wiccan calendar. Or the Christian one. )

And next, quiet moments!

This is more about how various aspects of storytelling might interact with other aspects of your world's culture.

( Read more... )

Wish there was more science in the books I read lately. And fewer teenie heroes.

This is less of a rant and much more of a listing of pros and cons. In this case, the pros and cons refer to whether or not to actually put stories and poems from your world's mythology/history/culture into the narrative itself. Basically, it comes down to what kind of writer you are, but some things might also depend on the individual story, the poem or tale in question, how important it is to the plot, and so on.

( So, some considerations )

Like I said, very personal. I dropped songs and poems into my stories all the time when I started writing fantasy, because that was how Tolkien had done it, and I thought that was part of how you wrote fantasy. Later I mostly cut those. I also have to say that other than Tolkien and Susan Cooper, not a whole heck of a lot of fantasy authors have impressed me with admiration for their poetic skills, especially in prophecies.

I'm in a good mood. More than half my writing is done for the day (3700 words down, 2500 to go), I have Stephen King's Song of Susannah to read, and, best of all, I have no freshman English papers to grade this weekend.

So here's another post.

( Storytelling )

Not nearly done on this yet. I get fascinated by culture, and building it is probably my favorite part of making a fantasy world.

(If that's not an inspiring title, I don't know what is).

And to go back to beautiful poetry for a moment, this is Yeats's "Hosting of the Sidhe":

THE HOST is riding from Knocknarea
And over the grave of Clooth-na-bare;
Caolte tossing his burning hair
And Niamh calling Away, come away:
Empty your heart of its mortal dream.
The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round,
Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound,
Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are a-gleam,
Our arms are waving, our lips are apart;
And if any gaze on our rushing band,
We come between him and the deed of his hand,
We come between him and the hope of his heart.
The host is rushing ’twixt night and day,
And where is there hope or deed as fair?
Caolte tossing his burning hair,
And Niamh calling Away, come away.

( Art in a fantasy culture )

I've been thinking entirely too much about fantasy art lately. Random thoughts about non-human drama in the middle of taking notes about German tragic plays are not good.

Obscurer subject again. Don't hurt me.

But first, some lines that have a lot of poetry and hints of storyteling in them, from Swinburne's "A Ballad of Death":

By night there stood over against my bed
Queen Venus with a hood striped gold and black,
Both sides drawn fully back
From brows wherein the sad blood failed of red,
And temples drained of purple and full of death.
Her curled hair had the wave of sea-water
And the sea's gold in it.
Her eyes were as a dove's that sickeneth.
Strewn dust of gold she had shed over her,
And pearl and purple and amber on her feet.

( Literature and culture in fantasy )

If nothing else, more reading in the genres that gave birth to fantasy, especially past fantasy and epic poetry, is not to be sniffed at.