Love it or hate it, if you’ve ever read
epic fantasy you know that it's different. Not just in the subject matter, but
in the language that is used. Epic fantasy tends to the more ornate, perhaps
the more old-fashioned.
Why is that?
I’ve heard it said that fantasy allows
writers to be sloppy, to use adjectives and adverbs to excess in ways that
isn’t tolerated in other genres. To some extent that is true, but that’s not
the reason. Even among excellent writers of fantasy, like Brent Weeks and
Brandon Sanderson, there is a certain feel to epic fantasy prose.
I’ve never written anything that isn’t epic
fantasy, and this is why. I don’t know that I could let go of the epic
fantasy
style. I know that other genres are different, but I don’t know how to create
them. Possibly because I’ve been immersed in the epic fantasy style for so
long, or perhaps just because I’m so in love with it.
But still, why is epic fantasy this way?
A thought struck me last night, that when
fantasy is filmed, like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones,
great care is taken with the accents of the characters. Why? I think because
it’s a critical part of the world-building. It just wouldn’t feel right if the
characters sounded like Americans or, perhaps even more laughable, Aussies. How
could you possibly immerse yourself in this world that is other, that is
elsewhere, and suspend disbelief, if Eddard Stark sounds like your neighbour?
I think that’s part of the answer to epic
fantasy prose. The language is different because the world is different, and it
ought to feel different.
The other part, I think, and a problem that
doesn’t exist in visual representations of the genre, is that so much of what
is seen in an epic fantasy world is other. The creatures, the
magic, the people, the clothing, the weapons, the buildings – everything
– we see none of this in our day to day lives.
While other genres can rely heavily on the
fact that the reader knows intimately what an iPhone looks like, and therefore
need not describe it in evocative, so much of what is present in epic fantasy
is drawn either from the pages of an unfamiliar history or the imagination of
the writer. Creating a vivid setting, a world in which the reader can feel
present, requires more description. The subject matter of that description is
often so fantastical or unfamiliar that the prose needs to be different in
order to convey the feel of it.
The prose of epic fantasy is different so
that we can be transported to a different realm of existence, in
which the sheer flights of fantasy produced by one person's imagination are
painted entirely with words.
If the characters in Game of Thrones were
Aussies:
Eddard Stark: Hey Bob, how’s it garn?
Robert Baratheon: She’ll be right, mate.
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2 comments:
Most of the Starks in GoT seem to sound Scottish, or maybe like Yorkshiremen (I'm not great at picking accents!). So how is it for people from those places watching? Does it sound as commonplace and "unmagical" as "How's it garn, Bob?" would for us?
We just binged on Season 3, and I couldn't help noticing the odd differences in accents between, say, Rob Stark and his mother, as if they came from completely different countries. But I agree, standard American accents would sound odd.
I, too, have been thinking about that epic fantasy "diction" in writing lately. I'm about to start writing the second volume in a modern urban fantasy trilogy. It's in first person, very conversational. I find it a struggle not to lapse into "epic" style when I'm writing -- that seems to come more naturally to me. I'm already looking ahead to the end of this trilogy and feeling some relief at the thought of going back to a more "epic" story so I can stop fighting my natural instincts.
I think they are probably based on British accents, but are not the same as British accents. I have Scottish relatives, and the Starks don't really sound Scottish to me - similar but not the same. I think we are more aware of differences from our own accents than others are - like Aussies and New Zealanders sound the same to others, but we know the difference. Same as how we confuse Canadians and Americans, but to them the differences are OBVIOUS.
I did read somewhere about how they settled on the accents for Lord of the Rings, and I seem to recall quite a bit of thought went into developing them. That said, I think the accents often draw from British inspiration because we so often unconsciously associate medieval type stuff with Britain or, at least, Europe.
I feel your pain trying to write away from the epic style! I think I would have to concentrate very hard to write differently. Part of it is that if you spend enough time writing epic fantasy that style becomes part of your own authorial voice.
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