Do you prefer reading/writing high fantasy (The epic LOTR) in contrast to not high fantasy (The witty chronicles of Narnia).

I have always favored high fantasy because it makes the story important, makes me believe in the world and everything makes sense.

High? Would you define the word?

High fantasy or epic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is set in invented or parallel worlds. High fantasy originated with the writings of William Morris, George MacDonald, and Lord Dunsany, and came to fruition through the work of authors such as J. R. R. Tolkien, whose major fantasy works were published in the 1950s. These stories are generally serious in tone and often epic in scope, dealing with themes of grand struggle against supernatural, evil forces. It is one of the most popular subgenres of fantasy fiction. Some typical characteristics of high fantasy include fantastical elements such as elves, fairies, dwarves, dragons, demons, magic or sorcery, wizards or magicians, constructed languages, quests, coming-of-age themes, and multi-volume narratives.

I could have just looked it up on wikipedia if I wanted more examples!

You should have. How have you been writing fantasy all this time and not known what high fantasy is?

Well it seems every time I ask my brother he tells me things that are high fantasy instead of telling me what it is

*smiles * I suppose I'm more of a "high" fantasy writer. I prefer epic scope, deep characters you grow with, and hard choices that always bring about life lessons. I'm not much of a CoN type writer.

OH! Ok... I know what you mean now! Exocosmic VS Endocosmic fantasy... I don't know all these foreign names... must be public school.

I write more high fantasy...though, the Chronicles of Narnia is my favorite series, I just can't seem to write like that. I like solid characters with chaotic pasts and crazy life styles, plot lines that are mysterious, and...explosions. Basically, something that can grasp the readers attention with drama or suspense.

Probably un-high fantasy, the only fantasy I can bring my self to write is a satire of high fantasy.

I honestly don't know. I'm not entirely sure what all the differences are between the various forms of fantasy, which doesn't help.

And looking at my stories, I can't really tell what type I write, either. I don't think I usually write high fantasy. I really don't know, though.

Whatever it is... If try to write everything "big" and of "epic proportions" and I have books filled with information about my worlds of mine... so I guess I write high fantasy?

It's rather like the thread we had about whether or not your novel was "epic." Lord of the Rings is 'The" example of high fantasy. Hugely developed world, a plot that involves repercussions for the entire worlds, enormous battles, enormous stakes, etc.

Not high fantasy kind of includes all the other fantasy subgenres. There is such a thing as low fantasy, but that's not everything that's not high. There are other categories such as cloak and dagger, and... I can't think of them all right now. An expert will stumble along presently. I typically don't write High Fantasy. I tend to think of those thousands of unnamed characters as individuals. Each one has his own story. Every maid who happens to be mopping, every soldier who lives or dies, every bootmaker and tent maker and groom and body servant, they all have lives and stories of their own and those are so much more fascinating to me then the mechanisms and politics of the ones who hold the fate of the world. Even when I write about royalty, even when I write about the end of the world, it's not usually epic in scale, or "High" in it's genre. The world coming to an end is usually the least of the characters' problems.

I enjoy some high fantasy, but I like un-high fantasy the best, I suppose.

High fantasy is my favorite fantastical form of writing, though I have dabbled in Fairytale, Sword and sorcery, and Urban fantasy.

Nope! Exocosmic and Endocosmic deal with worldbuilding, he's talking about styles of fantasy writing.

Even if I do write fairytales they have some kind of high fantasy aspect to them.

Oh yes, hmm... I thought it was that for a second...