Yes, that was the explanation driven into our heads. A lot of English Lit
profs and the English Lit canon despised science fiction because it didn't
delve into character enough.
I found it a bit silly, considering their idea of delving into character
can also be interpreted as navel gazing. I did have one professor who
shirked all that, and adored genre fiction. He taught a course on Cinema:
The Western, and Science Fiction and Contemporary Works. He was my favorite.
And it is true, in a way, being taught and having taken a lot of writing
courses -- does affect how you write.
"That is the geographer in me. I like how things fit together and how
things work. There are similarities in writing historical fiction to
writing fanfic - there is that same necessity to use a framework. But even
my purely fantasy worlds still have a framework because I am building them
on fundamental ecological principles"
That's rather interesting. Building worlds based on ecological principles.
I think it depends also on one's mind-set. I tend to build worlds based on
political and legal principles, along with engineering. Although generally
speaking, the world means less to me than the characters. If I can't get
into the characters and their motivations, the work loses me. I don't
necessarily have to like the characters, they just have to interest me on
some level. Which is a problem I've had with many stories here and there.
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branchandroot
Re: Writing
Date: 2017-06-14 01:26 pm (UTC)Yes, that was the explanation driven into our heads. A lot of English Lit profs and the English Lit canon despised science fiction because it didn't delve into character enough.
I found it a bit silly, considering their idea of delving into character can also be interpreted as navel gazing. I did have one professor who shirked all that, and adored genre fiction. He taught a course on Cinema: The Western, and Science Fiction and Contemporary Works. He was my favorite.
And it is true, in a way, being taught and having taken a lot of writing courses -- does affect how you write.
"That is the geographer in me. I like how things fit together and how things work. There are similarities in writing historical fiction to writing fanfic - there is that same necessity to use a framework. But even my purely fantasy worlds still have a framework because I am building them on fundamental ecological principles"
That's rather interesting. Building worlds based on ecological principles. I think it depends also on one's mind-set. I tend to build worlds based on political and legal principles, along with engineering. Although generally speaking, the world means less to me than the characters. If I can't get into the characters and their motivations, the work loses me. I don't necessarily have to like the characters, they just have to interest me on some level. Which is a problem I've had with many stories here and there.