This postSpent six hours today at “Life, the Universe and Everything”, BYU’s annual science fiction & fantasy symposium. Where to begin? First, overall impressions. I’d expected more people — standing room only, that kind of thing. Alas, none of the classes I went to was even half full. Well, maybe the keynote, but it wasn’t much over half. In fact, in the last class I went to there were only seven or eight of us. (It’s interesting how very small numbers — we started out with three panelists and three audience members in that class — totally change the dynamic of a class.)
Secondly, we’re all aware of the stigma attached to science fiction and fantasy. Even I, who love both, felt almost embarrassed to be seen at the symposium. It’s silly, really — heck, SF&F movies are almost always the most popular — but still I felt vaguely out of place. And overdressed. (Such is my lot in life. ;)) It’s not just the stigma, either. The people who do SF&F are often…different. Not all of them, mind you. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. Let me put it this way: you know how homeschoolers are often perceived as “different”? It’s the same with SF&F people. I have no idea why that is. What I do know is that there was a discernible difference between the people inside the classrooms and those walking around campus. Having said all this, I’m not really sure what I think. Thoughts?
Anyway, getting to the classes themselves:
Class #1: SF&F in the LDS Culture. (Panelists: Dave Doering, James Dashner, Eric Swedin, Julie Wright, Dave Wolverton, Lee Allred.)
First off, Lee Allred’s brother Michael is the one who did the Book of Mormon graphic novels I mentioned on Thursday. Small world. :) Dave Wolverton wrote The Courtship of Princess Leia, which I read years and years ago when I was heavily into Star Wars fiction. And Julie Wright wrote My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life, which I saw in the BYU Bookstore a few months ago but still haven’t read. I’d never heard of the others before. Anyway, I took only occasional notes (one or two things per class), so these writeups will mainly be “things that stood out at me” rather than “detailed explications of what went on.” The latter are usual boring anyway. :)
I can’t remember who said it, but someone remarked (quoting someone else, I think) that fantasy is the last great bastion of religious literature. In mainstream fiction, miraculous healings and gifts of prophecy are laughed right off the stage. But in fantasy, they’re acceptable and even normal. Fascinating — I’d never looked at it that way.
Someone also brought up the scornful attitude some Latter-day Saints have toward SF&F — say, Harry Potter, for example. And yet ours is a faith which believes in worlds without end, in supernatural power, in things unseen. How ironic. :)
Class #2: The Case for Wonder: scientific literacy and science fiction. (Keynote: Julie E. Czerneda.)
This was one of my favorites, mainly because Czerneda is a very good and charming speaker and also because she showed a bunch of movie clips. :) I realized during her presentation that I haven’t read any science fiction lately (though I’ve been doing fine on the fantasy end with my Diana Wynne Jones marathon — I’m halfway through Hexwood now). That needs to change. I miss science fiction.
The keynote also made me want to start studying more science. Not necessarily to become a scientist, mind you, but to spend more time keeping abreast of the latest developments, to expand my horizons. I’ve been focusing on the humanities to the exclusion of much else. (And, tangentially, I really want to brush up on my math skills so I can start learning all the cool stuff I never got to, like linear algebra.)
Class #3: The Origins of Fantasy. (Panelists: Michael R. Collings, Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, Scott Parkin, Dave Wolverton, Brandon Sanderson.)
Mainly a discussion on what constitutes fantasy. Sanderson said fantasy began in 1977 when Del Rey began publishing books as “fantasy” rather than as science fiction (or whatever it was they were doing), but he admitted that he was talking about “fantasy” as a word, since before then they called them “romances,” and they’ve been around in one form or another for a very long time. (They admittedly didn’t start to take on their modern form until within the past couple centuries, though.)
Class #4: Feeding the Soul: writing short stories and poetry. (Panelists: Julie Wright, Virginia E. Baker, Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury, Michael R. Collings.)
Collings mentioned that writers often start out as poets, then go to short stories, and then end up writing novels. To my surprise I realized that I’ve almost been following that route myself — most of my creative writing has been poetry (to my surprise!), and I’m slowly starting to write short stories, and eventually (hopefully soon) I’ll start writing novels. But it all began with poetry. How fascinating. It’s something I completely hadn’t realized about myself.
Two writing exercises they brought up: first, write 15-20 lines that start with the same word or phrase. (Like “Once I…” or “Seven” or something.) Second, and I think this was from Orson Scott Card if I recall correctly, write the thing that scares you most. That sunk deep.
Finally, someone (probably Collings, who taught poetry at Pepperdyne for 30-odd years) said something about Milton being condemned for sexism these days and how ridiculous it was to judge a 17th-century author by 21st-century standards. I liked that. :)
Class #5: Second-Class Citizens: the stigma of YA and Middle Grade authors. (Panelists: James Dashner, Stacy Whitman, Julie Wright, Rebecca Shelley.)
Halfway through the class, Dashner asked everyone who was writing a novel to raise their hand. Practically every hand went up. He then asked who had actually finished a novel. There were four or five. None of those was mine. That needs to change. :) I don’t say that because it’s some kind of competition — it’s not me against other writers, it’s me against myself. Writing a novel is my Everest. Or Kilimanjaro for variety. :)
Class #6: Creating a World Visually. (Panelists: Howard Tayler, Steve Keele, Brian Hailes.)
After getting all excited about matte paintings early this morning (a story for another time — I’ll probably blog about it on BenjaminCrowder.com soon), it was nice to go to a class on art. The main thing that stuck with me was the need to do lots of studies before creating the actual artwork. It’s something I understand intellectually, but inside I keep thinking that real artists just whip things out with ease. I’ve got to get rid of that philosophy…
A few closing words
(I needed some way to set this last bit off from the rest. There wasn’t a class called “A few closing words.”) So anyway, I’m glad I went. It reminded me just how much writing and art are a part of who I am. And it was an intense creative jolt, inspiring me to get moving and stop slacking off.
One last thing: some guy in the audience had a t-shirt with a digital clock built into it. I’d seen some of the LED-ish display shirts, but a real clock? — very, very cool. And he happened to turn towards me just when I was wondering what time it was. :)
