Hi, I'm coltonamo42. I am new here and I'm just curious: What is fantasy? I have this like fairy tale type thing in my head when I think of it, but obviously there is more to it.

Fantasy is a genre that deals with imaginary, impossible concepts, and wields them to interweave with different aspects of the human condition.

To me, Fantasy does have that fairy tale aspect to it. But it also has something deeper to it. It is a powerful tool IMO, and can be used by an author to portray ideas to a reader in a way that the readers enjoy.

Aside from being extremely fun to write and do, I love developing my world. But aside from that, it is a persuasive genre, because of the target age group. Teens are very easily influenced. I think that as authors, we need to be careful what it is that we put in.

@ airianna: you see I could say that about sci-fi too though soooo

Elanhil: okay yea I can understand that, I read the Inkheart series once. That's fantasy right?

I agree, teens are influenced very easily. I've written short stories where I've had to be careful about what I wrote. It was story about a dream where the boy was witnessing Christ on the cross, He saw the trial and Barabbas being released and Christ being put on the cross. Long story short I had to be careful bout what I put in there.

Back to topic. What are other people's thoughts about what fantasy is?

Oh no, you wanna know about Sci-Fi, I have a thread over there on this subject.

I think fantasy is a genre that has a historical feel to a magical story. It doesn't have an advanced technology, and happenings that are unexplainable are usually caused by a variety of "magic", whereas in sci-fi, the unexplainable are usually caused by laws of the scientific world.

Fantasy is an imagined world, or our world with imagined happenings. It contains imagined beings, or imagined ways of life. Fantasy stories usually have a history, and have the feeling that history is a big part of the story, even though that history is also imagined. Fantasy is also seeing things through another person/being's point of view.

That's my ramble on it, anyway.

Yes, caution is advised...

To me sci-fi's technology is more advanced than fantasy, but that's not what this thread is about...

I think Bushmaid said it pretty good. So a lot more of the background of a world is needed for a good fantasy story.

Airianna: I will have to look for that thread. thanks.

So fantasy has history, low technology, a much more creative setting...I think I'm starting to get an idea

The way I put it is that fantasy doesn't just have a fictional story, fictional characters, and fictional place, but a fictional reality. Sci-fi uses technology and science to make impossible things happen, whereas in fantasy, impossible things just happen.

I'm a little confused...doesn't fictional mean that it's made up?

Right, so you make up a world where the laws of nature are different.

Fantasy is a figment of your imagination utilizing your view on the world in a context others can enjoy.

When done well it can be awesome.

You said they aren't fictional.

My apologies, I should have been more clear. I said that it doesn't just have fictional story elements, but also a fictional reality.

I think that the difference between Fantasy fiction, and fiction that is not Fantasy, is whether or not it is based in earth.

I do not think you can write a Fantasy story without some imaginary Place, whether it is an imaginary place on earth, or connected to earth by a portal.

The Otherworld.

And of course if you focus on imaginary technology then it becomes Sci-fi.

You can have a story about knights-errant without it being Fantasy, but when you include fairies you are in an imaginary world where you are utterly in the hands of the author.
You can also have an imaginary world that is entirely independent of earth, like my Otherworld.

The Otherworld is what I believe Holy Worlds is for, and that is why the name is so perfect:
Holy Worlds: we want Worlds that are Holy, whether they are Fantasy or Sci-fi; there are so few Holy Worlds for people to explore, and that is a real need, which we want to fulfill.

I agree with Bushmaid's description.

I don't write a lot of "fantasy" that has magic/spells, dragons, and orcs. I write the type of fantasy like: "In a land, far, far away..." ^^