Commuter to Reality: Reality

"The best fantasy is written in the language of dreams. It is alive as dreams are alive, more real than real … for a moment at least … that long magic moment before we wake. Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer.
Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. Reality is the strip malls of Burbank, the smokestacks of Cleveland, a parking garage in Newark. Fantasy is the towers of Minas Tirith, the ancient stones of Gormenghast, the halls of Camelot. Fantasy flies on the wings of Icarus, reality on Southwest Airlines. Why do our dreams become so much smaller when they finally come true?
We read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spices and hear the songs the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks to something deep within us, to the child who dreamt that one day he would hunt the forests of the night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and find a love to last forever somewhere south of Oz and north of Shangri-La. They can keep their heaven. When I die, I’d sooner go to Middle Earth."-
George R.R. Martin (paragraphs mine)

And that says it all. But in case you're intimidated by the long quote, let me state in the worlds of Owl City: "Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there."
Besides, if we're Christians, we should believe in another world, a reality beyond what we can see with our eyes. So why is it that only such a small box of writing is labeled "realistic?"

Commuting To Reality: Stirring the Soup

There once was a cook who liked to explor different recipes for stew. Not all of them turned out well, but all of them were learning experiances. Because the cook wanted to explore other options, she decided to take a class from a head chef. The chef would only allow vegetarian soup, believing that meat-based stocks were only a way to ignore subtle flavors. Besides, so many people were becoming vegetarians that it was not a wise idea to make meat stews.
The cook sighed but accepect. After spending much time rummaging through the vegetables offered, she chose her ingrediants and made a small batch of stew. The chef tasted the sample, declaring that the cook's favorite ingrediant (although used in smaller quanities than the cook prefered)was too strong for the restrictions. And the result desired was such that the cook could only met it by nearly elimating her ingrediant.
The afore mentioned cook is also weary of the soups that the chef requires students sample.

Happy Appreciate a Dragon Day

History of Appreciate A Dragon Day
Great Dragons of Old

Reading Suggestions:
Dragons in Our Midst/Oracles of Fire/Song of the Ovulum by Bryan Davis
Tales of Goldstone Wood by Anne Stengel
DragonKeeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul
Dragons of Starlight by Bryan Davis

Commuter to Reality: Apprentice Writers

Okay, that's not exactly how my professor put it, but she keeps talking about not aiming too high--a still life, not the Sistine Chapel ceiling. And all this stuff in the book about needing to get to know your character, knowing what they want...
I don't think I know everything about writing. I know I learned tons in my poetry classes, and even my best fiction is nowhere near ready for publication. But I have completed four NaNoWriMos, have several serial stories in progress, and had one short story accepted to the online magazine Mindflights. My characters don't just tslk to me--they argue and fight and REFUSE to do what I want them to do. I really don't feel like a beginner anymore.
And so what if I want to aim high? It's my decision, and I accept that I probably won't make it. But I'd rather aim high and fall then aim low and succeed. I learned more from my 2010 NaNo--which was absolutely frightful-- than from a short drabble that got good reviews. But the failed NaNo showed me several things--about cast size, passion, and plot balance--that I have employed in my better stories.
I'll do what she wants, of course. But I have a feeling 'aiming low' will be harder for me then aiming high. My litary backyard is much harder to enjoy than all of time and space.

Commuter to Reality: 'Pulp Fiction'

Many--perhaps most--teachers of fiction writing do not accept manuscripts in genre, and I believe there's good reason for this, which is that wereas writing litary fiction can teach you how to write good genre fiction, writing genre fiction does not teach you to write good liteary fiction--does not, in effect, teach you "how to write," by which I mean how to be original and meaningful in words.--My textbook

I stumbled across this quote from the back of my textbook while glancing through it (finally arrived yesterday, much to my relief). Ironically, the professor mentioned the difference between genre fiction and "literature" in class today. Her points boiled down to:
1. Genre writing is plot-based, literary fiction is character-based.
2. Genre fiction does not have pyscological realism.
3. Genre fiction relies heavily on large, often unrealistic events.
At least, that's what I heard.

My response:
1. How do you show character except through events? Also, if you cannot take out the specific character and replace him without the plot collapsing, doesn't that imply a certian degree of character-basis?
2. To quote G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy/:

The fairy tale discusses what a sane man will do in a mad world. The sober realistic novel of to-day discusses what an essential lunatic will do in a dull world.

3. In certian worlds, big events may be quite reasonable.

And examples for all three (All from Doctor Who for consistancy)
1. The Doctor may enage in many adventures, but those adventures often stem from/are complicated by his nature. One episode that grows directly out of the Doctor's character is "Amy's Choice."
2. While no one now alive is responsible for the genocide of their home planet (we think), the Doctor shows the scars of that action even when he tries to hide it. One of the first things mentioned about him in the revived series comes in conversation with the Nestene Concious,

That's not true! I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault! I couldn't save your world! I couldn't save any of them!

3. In the Whoniverse, it is perfectly reasonable that aliens invade Earth (especially on Christmas) and are scared off by a screwdriver, because they know who they are facing.

Commuter to Reality: A Report from the Field

Here we are in the wilds of the web, attempting to track down an inspirus realisticus. Although I have an abundance of inspirus speculatus, my current sponser will only be satisfied with inspirus realisticus captured by outline summeries. This adds an additional level of difficultly, as I perfer the pantser ploy.
I began by inspecting older specimens of speculatus, hoping some of them had realisticus realitves. But this approach proved unsuccessful. My associates had no helpful hints for me, nor did my old records prove useful. I then attempted to search the forests of flickr for images of realisticus, but none of them leapt out at me, and I wish for a healthy specimen. I have also inspected dearblank and postsecret to no avail. I am currently seeking the audio realisticus, but time is running out, as my sponser requires proof of the beast's existance by Wednesday.

Commuter to Reality: Irony

So I google "mainstream fiction story ideas" and what is my top result?

SF Explores Ideas the Mainstream Fiction Won't