Tuesday, August 10, 2010

The Art of Fantasy and Science Fiction Interdisciplinary Study

Widgets and Wizards: The Art of Science Fiction and Fantasy

Instructor: Mark Edwards




Science fiction and fantasy are sister genres -- at their best both focus on the impact of the fantastic or otherworldly on the human experience.  These genres tap into a sense of storytelling wonder and mystery.  At the heart of fantastic fiction is the question, "What if?"  What if we could teleport?  What if vampires really existed?  What if we had a pill that made everyone happy?  

The writer of speculative or fantasy stories has a distinct set of challenges, the most obvious of which is how to make the unbelievable believable.  This course will explore the elements of writing otherworldly fiction through readings and analysis of genre classics and current fiction, by developing "what if" speculative and supernatural concepts through research, and through writing stories in either genre. 

Because these genres are wide ranging -- fantasy includes horror as a subcategory, for example -- readings will be assigned based on the student's focus and interests.  There will also be exploration of current SF and fantasy markets as well as focus on avoiding genre clichés. 

The writing of the fantastic requires careful plotting, unique perspectives, and imagination.  Focus on these elements will help with the practice of any genre of storytelling.


Course Outline


Fiction submissions can be short stories, parts of stories, or sections of a novel.
 



  • First submission
What if? exercise -- 1-2 pages.
First fiction submission. 8-10 pages.
Story responses to 4 stories from one of the Anthologies.  2 pages.


  • Second submission
Second fiction submission.  8-10 pages
Responses to 4 stories from one of the Anthologies.  2 pages.




  • Third submission
Third fiction submission based on one the What if? exercis.  8-10 pages
Responses to 4 stories from one of the Author Collections.  2-3 pages.



  • Fourth submission
Fourth fiction submission -- rewrite of an earlier submission. 
Response to two of the novels.  2-3 pages




Anthologies -- (you'll be choosing one of these to read stories to respond to, for submissions 1 & 2)

Some of these are out of print, but there should be plenty of used copies on Amazon for reasonable prices.  If you can’t find them let me know.


The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One
editor, Robert Silverberg

The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural
Editors,  PronziniMalzberg, Greenberg

Masters of Fantasy
Editors, Carr, Greenberg

Arbor House Treasury of Science Fiction Masterpieces,
Editors, Silverberg, Greenberg


The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories (Oxford Books of Prose)
editor, Tom Shippey


Author Collections  (pick one to read for submission 3)

The Rhinoceros Who Quoted Nietzsche and Other Odd Acquaintances, Peter S. Beagle

Howard Who?  Howard Waldrop

The Avram Davidson Treasury, Avram Davidson

Black Book, A.S. Byatt

Think Like a Dinosaur and Other Stories, James Patrick Kelly

I Am Legend, Richard Matheson

The Dog Said Bow-Wow, Michael Swanwick

Dreamsongs, Volume 2, George R.R. Martin

Saffron and Brimstone: Strange Stories, Elizabeth Hand

The Essential Ellison, Harlan Ellison





Novels (choose two to read for submission 4)

Doomsday Book, Connie Willis

Last Call, Tim Powers

Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett

Men at Arms, Terry Pratchett

Lords and Ladies, Terry Pratchett

Illumination, Terry McGarry

Deep Six, Jack McDevitt

Mother of Storms, John Barnes

Coraline, Neil Gaiman

Little Big, John Crowley

Old Man's War, John Scalzi

Towing Jehovah, James Morrow

The Dreaming Jewels, Theodore Sturgeon

A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin

The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun), Gene Wolfe

The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle



 

Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Monster Pauses: Predators



It’s a standard element of horror movies: the Monster Pause. The alien/werewolf/knifeopath has kung-fu reflexes when inhuming secondary characters, but when confronting the main character(s) the mutant/vampire/cannibal slows it’s attack, or pauses dramatically or sadistically, or does a huge wind up to the killing stroke. This allows the protagonist to escape or hit the detonate button or stab the fiendish thingie with a weathervane. (This may also create a moment where the hero/heroine may elocute a final wisecrack through gritted teeth.)


Predators exaggerates the Monster Pause into actual film structure – the foldable-fang-faced predators of the movie gradually slow down their lethalness as the film progresses so that when Adrian Brody, playing a mercenary who might be named Stoic Gravelvoice, has a final confrontation with the last monster, it seems to be stunned into stupidity and slow-motion from recognizing an Oscar winner.
The first thirty minutes of Predators is compelling; a multicultural group of killers and mercs find themselves free-falling into a jungle and gradually figure out that they’ve been relocated to an alien world as the lions for a big game hunt. The cast -- including Brody, Laurence Fishburne, Alice Braga, and Walton Goggins in his credible smirky psycho mode – means that this version is much more watchable than the Schwarzenegger original. The interesting problems of reorientation and survival -- and the possibility that this dangerous bunch of humans might find a way to work together to defeat the predators -- are tossed out and replaced by gore, shock kills, and lots of running about as soon as the hunt begins.
There’s a certain lack of imagination here, sadly common in science fiction films. The speculative setting and concept are just that, not integrated into the plot and the problem-solving that the characters have to deal with. It’s a slasher film on another planet – and sadly that’s what many audience members are happy with.
(And could they have talked to someone about the planetary physics? A leaf spins rapidly in a pool, suggesting a wonky coriolis effect, meaning what? A superfast planetary spin? Then why doesn’t the planet seem to move in relation to the sun --and why then do we finally get night? A look at the sky shows other huge nearby planets – which would cause insane tidal effects – and mean that the jungle would not look like an earthly jungle. And if, as it’s suggested, they’re on a much larger planet than earth, then why aren’t the humans feeling the effects of more gravity?)
But back to the Monster Pause – or in this case the lingering (and possible malingering) of predators. There is no sense to their actions as hunters. They seem to be looking for game that fights back, and the earlier films tell us that they don’t kill the unarmed. But why let the humans get away when they can blast them at any point? And if they want to make it a challenge, why use high tech invisibility screens and energy weapons? You’re already bigger than the humans – grab some spears and go for it. (Which reminds me – one set piece that has potential is the sword battle with the Yakuza assassin versus a predator. This is undermined by having a predator that seems to be moving a lot slower than the human, yet still cutting him up.) They seem to enjoy watching their prey try to survive, panic, and maybe turn on each other, and they’re obviously bloody minded sadists. But their lack of logic seems to be written off as not understandable because they are aliens, or that they are working on evolving their technology through combat, or other such nonsense that is hard to buy.
The hunting and killing are done for effect – each death is a set piece that doesn’t follow any sensible pattern that would actually create suspense. And without suspense we're just left with some nice visuals and tension free action. Contrast this with a film like Aliens, where the creatures hunt to feed and reproduce and don’t pause for their close-ups.
(And another SF issue – the predators are a part of pop-culture now, so we have to accept them as bipedal dreadlocked crab faces with human-like bodies and technology. But does every other alien have to be like something on earth? The hunting “dogs” the predators utilize look like hyenas with spikes all over them. How about a flock of six-winged hoverers with no heads and eye clusters on their bodies? Something that leaps from tree-to-tree with tentacles? Or something that isn’t just something we recognize with stuff pasted all over it.)





Thursday, March 11, 2010

I'm required by the FDA ...


... to state that side effects may include: pandiculation, floundering, Big Macs, snurling, camel-toe, hagiolatry, venting of spleen, sophophobia, cat's cradles, friction, doodling, hair cramps, looming, cliches, torpor, dreamlessness, sniffling, and strumpetocracies.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

I deny all responsibility for:

soggy French fries, poppy seeds between your teeth, smelly Sci-Fi fans, Lysenkoism, silverfish, homicidal oompa-loompas, overacting, deconstructionists, Dick Cheney, the pox, dudes who call you "bud," buds who call you "dude," dog sweaters, lampreys, deodorant on the outside of your shirt, ghost hunters, frozen nose hairs, and demonic posesssion.

Continuity

I hate when you forget something in chapter three that was really cool and then write something in chapter nine that's just as cool but can't happen if the cool thing in chapter three isn't changed and then you have to decide which cool thing to leave in to allow other specific cool things to happen in the book later. Know what I mean?