Opportunities, Obstacles
Continued from “A book with blank pages”
…But this time I was lucky! I managed to get into the fantastic Flagler College in St. Augustine, FL. And what I discovered there, aside from some excellent surf and a campus which was a lot like Hogwarts in the real world, were some amazing opportunities and some relatively disheartening obstacles.
The opportunities included a fantastic writing program. The teachers were personal, approachable, and they really cared about how much you progressed. The college colloquium also brought authors in to the school, had them speak to students, and even teach a few writing workshops. So I had the opportunity to learn from a number of professional authors — Tim O’Brien, David Poyer, Elizabeth Graves.
But the difficulty I ran into was a bit of prejudice against fantasy writing. ‘Genre writing’ was considered to be of lesser artistic value than literary fiction. So, at first, my professors not only discouraged fantasy writing, they wouldn’t even let me write fantasy in their classes!
I didn’t think this was fair. You see, the kinds of stories I wanted to write were fantasy stories. Stories that included ridiculous, impossible, things like elves and dragons. Stories about imaginary worlds. Stories based, in some part, on myths. But these kinds of stories weren’t considered to be a very serious course of study for a young man in the southern writers tradition like I was. In fact, they were considered to be a part of a literary ‘genre’ ghetto that relied on repetitive plot lines and lacked the experiential quality literary writers favored.
I didn’t feel these accusations were fair either. In fact, I thought they were downright ludicrous.
The paths of experience are wild and varied. Aren’t dreams reflections of life? Isn’t fantasy writing a lot like active dreaming? And don’t dreams have much deeper meaning than simple experiences? Don’t they provide us, not only, with insight into what has happened to us, but in their greater impact on us as individuals and as societies? For aren’t cultural myths a lot like cultural dreams?
No. Not fair, and in my opinion, very shortsighted.
So I argued with my professors. I said ‘what about Beowulf? Isn’t that a lot like a fantasy? Isn’t it also considered to be one of the great works of Western Literature? What about Hans Christian Anderson? Didn’t he write faerie tales? Isn’t a faerie tale a lot like a fantasy? What about J.R.R. Tolkien? Wasn’t he a professor at Oxford? One of the most prestigious literary institutions in the world? Wasn’t he also the author of that seminal fantasy series — “The Lord of The Rings?”‘
So over time, I made a real pain of myself. I would follow my professors into their offices and argue my case. Some of these professors began to close their doors on me. But I persisted.
Finally, after two years, they folded and decided to allow me to write fantasy in their classes. One professor, whom I still consider to be a very good friend, said to me — “Well, it’s obvious you’re going to write fantasy regardless of my views. I don’t think I’d know how to teach you, though. I don’t know very much about fantasy. So the only advice I can offer is that you read as many of the great works in your field as you can and that you write every day.”
It was the best thing I’d heard about fantasy in all my years at Flagler! When I did begin to turn in my fantasy work, the professors called it ‘magical realism.’ A few even seemed to think it had literary value.
Odd, for my assault on the ivory tower yielded, in time, a very human response. Encouraged, I continued writing… (to be continued)
July 9th, 2007 at 11:49 am
I for one am very happy that you stuck to your guns.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:07 pm
Rob - LOL, how fun to call it ‘Magical Realism’ because that’s exactly what it is! You actually put it on paper - mine stays in my head . . . either way it is: Magikal and Real ~ thank you again for sharing, maybe one of these days, I will put pencil to paper and get my story started!
For now - I am content to read great fantasy works (as you were advised to do) and am delighted that the second book is right around the literary corner!
Have a wonderful week my friend - cre8tiveone
July 9th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Thanks Al! Sticking to your guns is not easy in the least. But we are still somewhere near the beginning of the story and things get a lot harder
For Creative One –
Thank you so much! Yes, I agree! Magical Realism was a very close match. I just think they were trying to get around using the term fantasy
As for The War of Mists — It is certainly on the way! Are you ready? Do you have sword and wyrd close at hand?
July 9th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
Fantastic
July 9th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
LOL - I am ready . . . sword & wyrd w/me always!!
July 9th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
“When glimflirs golden lift and fly…”
July 9th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
‘magical realism.’ !!! I love the way that rolls off my tongue LOL.
July 9th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
For Irish Rose –
I always liked it too. Seemed a bit paradoxical.
July 10th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I never thought of it in that way and now it makes perfect sense…‘magical realism’ ….but of course now why has it not been called that before now? Truely thank your for sticking it out when we know so many before you have caved!!!
July 11th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Man, you definitely didn’t have it easy. I’m glad you stuck it out! Can’t wait for book 2 either!
July 11th, 2007 at 9:31 am
For Michelle –
Actually, Magical Realism is a term for a certain kind of literature. It tends to be more heavy on dreams and magical interpretations of the world. Actual magic is more confined to fantasy. As a style of literature, magical realism is alive and well :).
July 13th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
I read similar article also named Opportunities, Obstacles, and it was completely different. Personally, I agree with you more, because this article makes a little bit more sense for me
September 7th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Hey all, my internet sites do not work today, for the second time in 2 months. My internet hosting Firm says the server is under attack and theyre working on getting it fixed. Okay, so it is under attack and theyre fixing it. But this is the 2nd time in 2 months for us. Third time in the 3 year history with them. Is this too many? Or do you guys have similar experience with other hosting companies?
September 19th, 2011 at 9:00 am
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail. I’ve got some ideas for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it develop over time.
April 13th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
I create a comment when I like a post on a site or I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion. It is caused by the sincerness communicated in the article I read. And on this article The Fantasy Scribbler: An Author Blog » Blog Archive » Opportunities, Obstacles. I was actually moved enough to drop a commenta response
I do have a few questions for you if you do not mind. Is it simply me or does it look as if like some of the responses look as if they are left by brain dead people? 
And, if you are writing at additional places, I’d like to keep up with you. Would you make a list the complete urls of all your social sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
April 26th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
I do consider all the ideas you’ve offered to your post. They are very convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are too brief for novices. May you please extend them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.