Minimalist Fantasy?
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Minimalist Fantasy...
Spotted beautiful woman. Did same. We shared a smoke afterwards. I never learned her name.
Spotted beautiful woman. Did same. We shared a smoke afterwards. I never learned her name.
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That's minimalist *romance* Add a sword and a dragon... or at the very least a wizard
@ Stacia, too
Yeah, a pared-back writing style where there is a deliberate effort to conserve words and elevate the value of every word.
I'm thinking there probably isn't a fantasy piece in that style, because it would be hard to paint a fantasy world for a reader while being reserved with words. My quest for a genre for my book continues...
ummmm maybe Scott Lynch's Lies of Lock Lamora. He's not wordy and cuts straight to the point. Bit of language though, by bit I mean a lot. I really like the way he handles the setting, for the most part doesn't go into it too much unless it matters directly to the character at that moment.
I'm thinking there probably isn't a fantasy piece in that style, because it would be hard to paint a fantasy world for a reader while being reserved with words. My quest for a genre for my book continues...
Well, I'd suspect that since it's hard but not impossible it's been done many times before. Unfortunately I can't think of any that take minimalism to the absolute extreme, but then I can't think of many non-fantasy books that do that, either.
Maybe you could look into Glen Cook's Chronicles of the Black Company. Or his Garrett P.I. series, which is secondary world fantasy written in the style of Raymond Chandler.
Some of a paragraph near the start of the first Black Company book:
"Lightning from a clear sky smote the Necropolitan Hill. One bolt struck the bronze plaque sealing the tomb of the forvalaka, obliterating half the spell of confinement. It rained stones. Statues bled. Priests at several temples reported sacrificial victims without hearts or livers."
Not absolutely the barest minimum of words, but certainly not florid or rambling.
I'm thinking there probably isn't a fantasy piece in that style, because it would be hard to paint a fantasy world for a reader while being reserved with words. My quest for a genre for my book continues...
Luckily for you it doesn't matter. An epic fantasy written in a minimalist style is still an epic fantasy.
Yeah, a pared-back writing style where there is a deliberate effort to conserve words and elevate the value of every word.
I'm thinking there probably isn't a fantasy piece in that style, because it would be hard to paint a fantasy world for a reader while being reserved with words. My quest for a genre for my book continues...
A minimalist writer isn't limited by genre.
Try slipstream.
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Thanks, Gilead, that actually sounds about right. The simplicity and vividness of "It rained stones. Statues bled." is exactly what I was looking for. I know it might not be detailed enough for everyone's tastes, but I eat that stuff up. I'll give it a try.
@Sheila & Chiron - Thanks, I'll check both of your suggestions out!
@Kuwisdelu - I'm gonna read between the lines and say that you are calling my book epic. Thanks!
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If it's literary, I'd call it magical realism -- realism takes priority over magic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_García_MárquezGabriel Garcia Marquez is the leader in the genre in my opinion.
I'd tend to think the opposite. Magic in fantasy is generally constrained within the rules of the world or setting and works realistically according to those rules. The rules may be different, but they're clearly there.
In magical realism, magical elements are more likely to be living representations of the story's symbols, metaphors, or indications of a change in a particular character, and as such are capable of entirely breaking the story's reality at a whim.
Which doesn't seem to be what the OP was looking for.
Danrupe, you might want to check out these films to get an idea what magical realism is:
- The Devil's Backbone
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Like Water for Chocolate
- The House of the Spirits
- Exterminating Angels
- Twin Peaks (TV)/Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (film)
- Don't Tempt Me
- Chocolat
- Genesis
- Let the Right One In
- The Eclipse
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As Gilead pointed out, it doesn't sound like magic realism is what danrupe is looking for. And Let the Right One In isn't magic realism. It's straight-up vampire fiction.
I've been wondering this myself. I feel like the YA fantasy ms. I just finished definitely leans more toward a minimalist style than a lot of what I've seen out there. Here's hoping there's a market for it. I just tried to do a little bit of research on it and didn't end up with a whole lot.
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I've been wondering this myself. I feel like the YA fantasy ms. I just finished definitely leans more toward a minimalist style than a lot of what I've seen out there. Here's hoping there's a market for it. I just tried to do a little bit of research on it and didn't end up with a whole lot.
@Ginger - I want to see if your experience has been similar to mine. Think about all your personal friends you had read all or part of your ms. Of the ones that gave your quality (vivid and detailed) feedback, how many books on average would you say they read a month?
@richcapo - Pan's Labyrinth is the most frickin' awesomest movie I will never ever watch again. I don't think I took a single breath during that entire movie. I'll take a look at the magical realism.
I find the whole genre thing kinda confusing. I instinctively want to categorize books based on the final result. For example, if a book has werewolves, it's fantasy. But it seems the industry bases it on how the creatures came to be. If a wizard created them with magic, it's fantasy. If a UFO dropped them off, it's sci-fi. If an archeologist digs up a cave and inside is a fantasical world of werewolves (who, because the moon is further than the earth than it used to be, look like the cast of Jersey Shore), it's magical realism.
Here was my experience with my critiques of this novel (specifically relating to where they thought I had "not enough"):
Reader #1: Reads books in three days tops, so he reads a couple a month. He thought that I needed to do extensive world building--like, giving an entire chapter or two to the "history of the land" kind of world building. For pacing's sake, I added some world details where they felt natural.
Reader #2: Probably reads a book every couple of months. Chose him because he likes the fantasy genre. He wanted some more character development, which was a fair critique.
Reader #3: Probably reads about the same as Reader #2. I chose him because he's experienced in writing action scenes. He wanted me to slow down a little (but not as much as Reader #1), which was also fair.
Now, I've since gone back and drafted twice so that (most of) these concerns were answered, but I didn't give just pages and pages of history of the world, as an example. I think that the style is still relatively sparse even though I added something like 10,000 words (~20,000 from the 1st incarnation) and did a lot of detail work with it... Gosh, I'm sorry. That was probably a longer answer than you even wanted. Oops.
Reader #1: Reads books in three days tops, so he reads a couple a month. He thought that I needed to do extensive world building--like, giving an entire chapter or two to the "history of the land" kind of world building. For pacing's sake, I added some world details where they felt natural.
Reader #2: Probably reads a book every couple of months. Chose him because he likes the fantasy genre. He wanted some more character development, which was a fair critique.
Reader #3: Probably reads about the same as Reader #2. I chose him because he's experienced in writing action scenes. He wanted me to slow down a little (but not as much as Reader #1), which was also fair.
Now, I've since gone back and drafted twice so that (most of) these concerns were answered, but I didn't give just pages and pages of history of the world, as an example. I think that the style is still relatively sparse even though I added something like 10,000 words (~20,000 from the 1st incarnation) and did a lot of detail work with it... Gosh, I'm sorry. That was probably a longer answer than you even wanted. Oops.
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No, not really. But you're on the right track in that it largely depends on the purpose of the fantastical in the context of the story. Is the explanation magical, scientific, or metaphorical? I really ought to blog about this like I've been meaning to.
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Please do! I know I can't be the only one a bit confused by all of it.
Here was my experience with my critiques of this novel (specifically relating to where they thought I had "not enough"):
Reader #1: Reads books in three days tops, so he reads a couple a month. He thought that I needed to do extensive world building--like, giving an entire chapter or two to the "history of the land" kind of world building. For pacing's sake, I added some world details where they felt natural.
Reader #2: Probably reads a book every couple of months. Chose him because he likes the fantasy genre. He wanted some more character development, which was a fair critique.
Reader #3: Probably reads about the same as Reader #2. I chose him because he's experienced in writing action scenes. He wanted me to slow down a little (but not as much as Reader #1), which was also fair.
Now, I've since gone back and drafted twice so that (most of) these concerns were answered, but I didn't give just pages and pages of history of the world, as an example. I think that the style is still relatively sparse even though I added something like 10,000 words (~20,000 from the 1st incarnation) and did a lot of detail work with it... Gosh, I'm sorry. That was probably a longer answer than you even wanted. Oops.
Not at all... I think your experience sort of matches mine. The people who had the most problem with the lack of details where people who read a lot. For me, people who said they didn't like to read were the ones that come back to me with some of the most vivid and amazingly accurate descriptions of my story. Now that they keep bugging me for the rest of the book, they might have to say they actually *like* to read. Perhaps atypical books fit atypical readers.
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Although I'm not sure richcapo's list of movies are all magical realism, I do think they give good examples of a minimalist or modernist way of telling stories in which we'd otherwise expect a lot of luxe embellishments.
For example, although Let The Right One In is indeed straight-up vampire horror, it's presented in a stark, stripped-down visual style with great economy of story. I loved it, found it powerful and engaging.
On the other hand, I also recently watched a movie called Long Time Since, which did not impress me. It's mystery/thriller with a possible (implied) fantasy element, but it is filmed in such a strict minimalist style that it actually undermines what should have been a strong and emotional suspense story.
I like the idea of using an unexpected style to tell an epic fantasy. Just be sure the style supports the story rather than overtaking it.
For example, although Let The Right One In is indeed straight-up vampire horror, it's presented in a stark, stripped-down visual style with great economy of story. I loved it, found it powerful and engaging.
On the other hand, I also recently watched a movie called Long Time Since, which did not impress me. It's mystery/thriller with a possible (implied) fantasy element, but it is filmed in such a strict minimalist style that it actually undermines what should have been a strong and emotional suspense story.
I like the idea of using an unexpected style to tell an epic fantasy. Just be sure the style supports the story rather than overtaking it.
There are all sorts of graduate school/fancy pants ways to define magical realism -- I go the caveman route: Literary fiction with a little magic and a lot of realism. In other words it's magical REALISM. (And it typically doesn't give a shit about the details: It's magic, it happens, end of story. No "system" or explanation wanted or needed.)
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Fantasy written with a spare, concise style. For Pete's sake ... nobody has mentioned L. Sprague de Camp?
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