Fantasy. What do you think of when you hear the word fantasy (as in the genre)? I think it can be a fairly negative and restrictive category to be lumped into. Dungeons & Dragons, sword and sorcery, stuff that was done way better by Tolkien back in the 50s. I write fantasy, but I don’t want to be pigeon-holed as a fantasy writer because I don’t write that kind of stuff. I prefer modern near-future settings with steam punk slants, but to the groaning masses I’m probably still a fantasy writer.

Oh well, Stephen King mentioned how he had become a horror writer without ever really intending to (I believe I read it in his very useful On Writing book) and that he didn’t mind too much because it put his kids through college. If I’m ever in that position then I doubt I’ll be complaining too much!

It’s the same with Sci-fi - instantly I think of nerds and Star Trek, before I think of stuff like Star Wars or War of the Worlds (which in my opinion have a wider appeal - whether or not this is fact, I do not know). I refuse to buy the latest issue of SFX because it’s got a photo of Sylar on the cover doing the Star Trek sign - is that supposed to entice me?! well it doesn’t. It’s a brill magazine, though, even if the “F” in the SFX logo looks a lot like an “E” …hmm, I wonder.

Ultimately in order to work out as stories, both the above genres need similar problems that we all must face and a dollop of human condition or there would be nothing for the reader or viewer to relate to. Still, it’d be nice for a few cooler-sounding genres to appear. For example, “fantasy” could become “awesomepeoplereadthese” or some cut-down variation of this. Wouldn’t that increase reader/viewership? Just an idea.

I had a dream the other night where I was forced to leave my family home pretty quickly. I forget the details but it was some apocalyptic scenario possibly only involving this part of Devon because I think the plan was to just move up country a bit and live as nomads. Now I know full well that in situations like that you should really just leave - I think the destruction of my home was imminent because people were all panicky, but before my escape I went into my room and started selecting things I couldn’t live without.

Basically I got myself a carrier bag and stuffed in two of my story manuscripts (double-spaced), my mobile phone and my wallet. I spent a good deal of time in deliberation over what else I could cram into my straining Asda bag but pretty much settled at that little lot. It intruigues me that I glazed over my DVD collection and books. I don’t remember grabbing my mp3 player either. I must have been feeling ruthless. In reality I’d probably have spent a good deal more time trying to ransack my own room, and possibly have left it too late to leave (house crumbles/burns/is eviscerated with me inside, amen). It would be an interesting scenario to try, I’d love to be able to live without things and lead a simple life near the foothills of Alaska (is life there simple? I don’t actually know) but then I do like my DVDs. And my books.

Hmm.

I mention in the title up at the top of the page that this blog features writing. Up until this point that has been a massive fib - all I’ve really done is talk about cinema and music. I am doing a fair bit of writing when I’m not 9-5ing though, honest!

Recently I’ve been writing short stories, aiming to have them published in magazines. Hopefully I’ll crack it and this’ll add a bit more weight to my writing CV. Maybe I’ll be able to put a story or two on the site then, but we shall have to see. So far I have two short stories, one is a fantasy/fiction piece concerning time travel and another which is a claustrophobic sci-fi tale. I have quite a few ideas which I hope will flourish into more short stories. I’d like to get to the stage where I have an army of these which I can use as ammunition whenever someone shows interest in my writing and asks to see some.

I’m really enjoying writing these. It helps me to focus on words and sentences, to keep everything tight, to (try to) tell a coherent story in a short space of time and to watch the word count. I’d advise anyone who likes writing and is looking to be published to give it a try. Also, on weekday mornings when I’m fresh (knackered & grumpy) I can edit a printed copy and check it for flow/spelling etc.

Whether I’ll continue with these one-a-week short stories remains to be seen, as I am starting to get into writing my new book, but I’ll update here with any developments. Until then, if you’re a writer – happy writing!