Over the last few years there have been several occasions where I have been out at friends or talking within a group when the subject of what I do for living arises. I have to smile as when I say I am a Writer, I do see the stance of the person in front of me change, its almost as if my profession appears worthy to them, until of course I mention I write Fantasy and Adventure.

I note the silent scoff and the sudden loss of credibility the person has for me, and I smile inwardly, because I understand how low Fantasy is on the literary scale, and indeed many publishers actually refuse manuscripts if they are fantasy based. It does appear in some circles to be the joker in the writing pack, but that just goes to show how little they actually know about the world of Fantasy and the writers within it, you see fantasy has to be so real, it has to be plausible and believable.

Fantasy is actually immensely difficult to get right and mainly because the fantasy reader, who can also be very Geeky, tends to be a very keen follower of the story. In all fairness when writing I will not allow the opinion of anyone to cloud my judgement, I cannot write for the fans of my writing or any other, I can only write what I want to read, but in that aspect I face my greatest challenge, because when it comes right down to it, I am possibly the biggest Fantasy Geek in the region and so I set the bar high.

Fantasy actually has a massive following, but in many cases readers do not advertise, I find it a shame because it is challenging to write, and for the reader it can at times be complicated to follow. If you don’t believe me read the Silmarillion by Tolkien, still one of my all time favourite books, but I must admit one that took several readings in my youth to really start to understand in its full depth. Fantasy in many forms is far more wide spread than people at first believe, the industry on a whole skirts round it trying to avoid it, but in print and also in gaming it has a deeply dedicated following.

Odd as it may appear, the thing about Fantasy is it has to based in reality, so the reader can actually use their imagination to live in the artificially created world, it is a lot harder than most people realise to get it right without making gaffs that a reader will spot and call you on. I like to think of it as active participation on the behalf of the reader, as again I think the reader has to open themselves up to the possibility of an artificially created life or world, and then try to find a way in which they can be a part of it. If you are unsure play one of the modern Xbox games, it will not be long before you are sat in front of the screen hating the enemy and sweating with frustration as you try to find your way through the animated world before you. A good fantasy read has to create that same effect, only instead of using graphics, the writer has to pick out the right words that allow you to imagine the place you are in with clarity.

A line used in the early days of HTTK to describe my books and a huge compliment was “a world that could have been ours, had our world took a different direction.” I remember the first time I saw it, it was a pretty frightening moment because up until then I had not realised the depths within the writing I had done, and it really made me take another long hard look at what I had committed to paper. My own writing involves a different kind of world to this one, even though it is actually based here in this world after a deadly virus wipes out much of humanity and the world we know falls into destruction. I did consciously try to rebuild the world in a way in which I felt survivors would actually face the mammoth task of basic survival, and then the rebuilding of a way of life, but until that moment, I had not been as fully aware as I should have been and it created a great deal pressure for the writing of the second book.

I think it is easy to dismiss fantasy, but behind the scenes it is far more integrated than most people realise. The research alone is massively time consuming, because if I want to use a technique or approach, I have to make sure it works before I write a word. I have drawn the maps, designed the house interiors, built the weapons, lit fires without matches, and learned which herbs make a rabbit taste good and even can be used to heal a wound quickly. All of that had to be done and described in detail before I could even think of slipping a little magic in the mix that made your eyes turn lilac, and give you the ability to talk to your relatives using only your mind.

Fantasy no matter how much some may scoff, requires all of the skills needed to write any other form story, it does not matter if that may be classical literature or modern fiction, the fact remains that if you get it wrong and explain something in a way that makes no sense at all, others out there sat in quiet places will discuss and pull apart your story to see if holds water. HTTK is well over one million words long at the moment, but the notes I have used to get it all in place and make it a living version of life are far greater, and I have to confess, that for myself personally, it has been an awesome adventure and I have loved every moment of it, and I can only hope those who read it will see it in a similar light.

I am not sure who quoted the saying, but for myself I think it is the yard stick to which all of us adhere. Fantasy has to be so real; it becomes reality (Unknown).