Is it "weak" to write fantasy?

[ueonts]

I find it personally a lot easier to write fantasy stories than anything else. It just comes so much easier to me than other types of stories and I can get immersed easily, but I wonder if it is "weak" to have this be the
case. I guess I wonder this because it seems that fantasy is the most common genre which makes me think it isn't that I prerfer it, its just generally the easiest. When practicing should I avoid fantasy and is this a true
or valid conviction to hold?

[denise]

What makes you thinks that? Each fantasy story even thought it's said that nothing is original, you are creating your own world-building. If it was weak then ACOTAR stories never would be that famous. Of course it's depends what kind of audience you want to reach but weak I don't actually think the genre is. Maybe finding good sub genres can help with the feeling towards the fantasy genre perse.

[panpanwuvmgau]

I had the same issue with Romance. It's not my favorite genre, but I often find myself writing Romance stories anyway. It's the easiest for me. Afraid that I might only be good at writing Romance and not quite satisfied to be called a Romance writer, I ventured into writing stories under different genres.

Eventually, I realized that the measure of a good writer isn't based on how many genres they can write in. It's how well they can write in one or multiple genres. There's definitely nothing wrong with exploring other genres. It's a great way to develop good writing skills. Just be aware of why you're doing it.

Being a master of one genre doesn't mean you're a weak writer if you're creating one of the best Fantasy stories that people can read. Similarly, a writer can't be considered good just because they can craft stories under multiple genres. Having the ability to write under multiple genres is still different from having the ability to write good stories under multiple genres.

[vapidink]

Fantasy isn't easier, no genre is really "easier". It all comes down to what you enjoy, what you want to write, and what skills you have. Each genre has its own challenges, and some might not be able to handle those challenges for all genres. Some people can write romance, others prefer sci-fi or fantasy, and others can toy with different genres, but it doesn't make them better or worse writers.

Fantasy can be plenty challenging. If you write high fantasy, you might have to create a whole world, magic system, bestiary, etc. Or maybe you write modern fantasy, so then you have to think of how to intertwine the modern world with more fantastical aspects. Or maybe you write one of the many subgenres of fantasy, like steampunk, historical, or superhero fantasy. Technically, sci-fi falls under those subgenres, and then you have other genres that can get thrown into your story, like comedy or romance.

Ultimately, you need to write what you want to write. Find joy in the things you create and the story you tell will reflect that in its quality.

[cherrystark]

I don't think it is "weak" to write fantasy. Everyone has their niche of what interests them. Fantasy is also a blanket umbrella for a lot of different subgenres, so it's all-inclusive.

I know it might ruffle some feathers, so I apologize in advance, but I do think it's a tad "lazy" only to write fantasy. I put "lazy" in quotes because fantasy is a gateway genre and a lot of writers tend to write it when they start out. While there are outliers, male writers tend to write more medieval fantasy and female writers write more fantasy romance.

While no shade to the people who write those subgenres, writers tend to put a lot of "rules" on what branch of fantasy they write. This is things like "traditional" fantasy writers putting a high premium on intense worldbuilding, while fantasy romance writers might focus more on trope conventions. (You can't really very from the norms or your work might not sell.) New writers read fantasies in their favorite subgenre and try to mimic what others have done.

To sum up, I don't think it's a bad thing for anyone to write fantasy. If you want to write fantasy, go for it. I just think that if you are going to write a fantasy, you should have something to say with your fantasy. Don't just copy everyone else's work.

[Lensing]

I don´t write fantasy and it would be hard for me to write fantasy,
the easy part for me would be creating the world and coming
up with ideas, the hard part is to communicate it to the reader and
make it interesting to read. I think writing fantasy is a pretty tough
genre and you have to work hard to make it interesting to read

[DasIstWunderblyat]

(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)

[Mallory]

I think you're seeing it wrong. You're saying you think it's "weak" to write fantasy because it's "easy" for you, but... Maybe it's because the fantasy genre just caters the best to your strengths and interests, and therefore you find writing it to be something that faces the least resistance in your head. Someone else might struggle trying to do the same thing you do with ease, because it's not "natural" to them the same way it is to you.

That being said, as a writer you should definitely read and experiment with other genres, just because they provide other perspectives and approaches that you just won't see if you submerge yourself in just one genre. I'm actually dealing with it right now, artistically. I feel like I'm stuck in my art, because I'm too comfortable with what I draw. Sometimes you gotta do challenging/unusual things to grow and learn.

But there's nothing wrong with mostly doing what you are good at.

[darthmongoose]

It can be described as "weak" or "lazy" to write basically anything where you can rely on conventions of the genre or your own experience and don't need to do research or worldbuilding.

Fantasy can be lazy if the person just goes with the most generic, bland fantasy setting possible. Like I could construct a super-lazy fantasy story so easily. "In the Kingdom of Concordia, ruled by the good King Albert, a young shepherdess named Mia discovers she is the long lost twin sister to Princess Alimere when she is saved from assassins by a dashing half elf called Kayde. Can she uncover the plot and find love?" I came up with that literally just now. Then I'd just throw in all the basic crap. I'd grab some 3D castle assets off the Clip Studio Materials marketplace, and my setting would have elves in it, and the elves would be skinny humans with pointy ears who are aloof and live in the woods and do magic, and it'd have dwarfs who are short, grumpy, have beards and Scottish accents. The clothing would be kinda-medieval, but not researched at all and modified to suit modern tastes. Lots of tunics, pants that look suspiciously like jeans tucked into high boots, nobody wears a hat, everyone has modern hair. There'd never be questions about whether monarchy is good, it'd just be like "so long as the king is good, the land flourishes", and I could probably bang it out really fast.

But you know what I could also bang out really easily? A totally uninspired modern office Romance. Lucy is an ordinary office temp working at one of the world's biggest fashion magazines. She dreams of becoming a fashion designer, but can never seem to catch a break! But then one day, she gets stuck in the elevator with a handsome stranger and falls head-over-heels for him. Little does she know, the man she had a brief, steamy flirtation with is Asher Chance, the son of the CEO of the whole company and her life is about to get turned upside down! Okay there we go, just download some basic office assets, a bedroom, some bars and restaurants... doesn't matter if they don't clearly resemble a specific city because the audience won't care and I'll never openly say what city they're in. Office life should be easy enough because I've worked as an admin myself... Yeah. Nothing too taxing there.

If you're just following the typical storybeats of the most generic examples of a genre, and you take absolutely no risks with your setting and characterisation and just base it on either stuff you've done yourself, people you know IRL or archetypes of that genre and stuff you've seen before, basically any sort of story can be low-effort. High school coming of age, slasher horror, isekai villainess fantasy-romance... they all have conventions you can 100% lean on, or the possibility of trying to subvert expectations and strive for originality and tight, surprising storytelling.

[liamnaughton7]

Writing fantasy is not "weak" for you. You're just "strong" at it. It's always good to know where you're strong and weak and every now and then wading into those genres that you don't have an affinity for. You may get stronger at those genres or it'll just feed into your fantasy work in interesting ways. I'm comfortable in drama and science fiction and have occasionally dabbled in comedy buy I find it super tough. I really must try fantasy and romance some day even if it's only once.

[KSlinger]

Not a fan of undermining anyone's work tbh, but if we're going to play this game surely the 'weakest' genre of all would be one in which you don't need to do any world-building at all? Where nothing needs explaining and everything occurs exactly as expected?

So a modern setting would be the ultimate 'easy' genre.

That said, I'd be careful with believing that you've mastered a genre rather than simply avoided challenging yourself.

[NickRowler]

I don’t really see it as weak, it’s a genre which has existed since the beginning of story telling. I think that is why it’s so popular.

I do think some fantasy writers struggle with world building or sometimes it feels like people recycling common tropes. You could also try pairing fantasy with other genres, if you want to try something outside your comfort zone.

[pixxiepinks]

Sadly, I have heard that before.

As someone who only writes fantasy myself, it is the genre I find the most comfort in, the one where I can truly express and tell the story I want to share. But it took me a long time to be happy with that, because much like you it seems, I was raised being told Fantasy wasn't a "Real Genre". From published authors, to editors, to school teachers; I was told that fantasy is the weakest genre to write in, that it is a fools' genre, and that writing it shows a lack of skill since you only rely on the imaginary.

And I have only one thing to say to that, NO.

There is no genre that is better than another, you are creating something from nothing, a tiny world that other people can see and enjoy. No matter if you are writing a historical romance, or a sci-fi with cheese-puff alien cats, you are still creating something. And I think that is what needs to be celebrated. If people are reading your work and YOU are happy with it, why does the genre matter?

(Not to mention lots of stories nowadays can't be so easily defined with only one genre, Fantasy stories have romance, mystery, drama, slice of life, and everything else in between. Don't limit yourself to the idea that it's only Fantasy, no story is ever only one genre.)

[MelancholicOtaku]

I don’t think any genre is weak to write, one still has to come up with the characters and their relationships with one another ,motivation etc, one has come up with the plot of the story, and how the world building would work.

[ueonts]

how do you get into and study writing in a new genre? If I wanted to, for example, study romance, how would I best do so?

[cherrystark]

Honestly, by diving in head first and studying it. When I first started writing online, that's when a lot of the discord about "werewolf" romances started in the forums. While I could make logical conclusions about what I didn't like based off what others said, I knew that I needed to read some to make my own opinions. Study the tropes. Study genre conventions. Learn as much as you can to make your own style.

I am very open about not liking certain genre tropes and things like first person POV. I made my opinions because I read stories that employed those tactics and I DNFd them. I then tried to figure out ways that I could make them work in my own writing.

In the case of romance, I'm not the best at it, but it's not hard once you know the lingo.