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This week: What You Wish For Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.
-Washington Irving
If a man could have half of his wishes, he would double his troubles.
-Benjamin Franklin
Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them.
-Henri Frederic Amiel |
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"Be careful what you wish for - you may receive it."
I can't find an attribution for that saying, so we're going to go ahead and call it a cliché.
But all clichés started out as wisdom, and so, in this season of wishing and giving, I'll take a look at this one and how it relates to fantasy writing.
The theme of the "be careful" idiom is everywhere in fantasy writing, from some of the earliest mythologies to modern dramas. It is probably harder to avoid than it is to incorporate. Consider Aladdin, the Monkey's Paw, the Crane Wife, It's A Wonderful Life, and myriad others from different cultures and times.
Basically, the theme is simple: Someone makes a wish, the wish is granted, and as a result the wisher is left less happy than before the wish was made. Depending on cultural influences, it's either left that way, or things get fixed so that the person who made the wishes Learns What Truly Matters.
In its purest form, admonition against wishes serves as both a caution and a suggestion to think things through. Often, it's a warning against rising above one's station. Even more often, it can be lazy writing.
The reason for the theme's popularity is probably that everyone has wishes. Maybe you lie awake in bed at night, thinking of what it would be like if you won the lottery or got a windfall inheritance. Maybe you can only imagine good things happening. But a story that goes like "Ralph won the state lottery, paid off his debts, bought a mansion in Santa Barbara, collected a harem and lived happily ever after" is boring as hell, even if it's how you imagine your life going.
No, it's far more interesting to have Ralph's family sue him for some of the money, deal with a leaky mansion roof and earthquakes, and internecine squabbles among the harem, leading to Ralph's regret of ever leaving his job at Burger King. It's also useful for those who like the status quo of people having to work at Burger King.
So, my advice: if you incorporate some of these themes into your stories, try to find a way to twist it. Don't let wishes be ALL bad, but also don't let the outcome be all good. People should have wishes and dreams, but be realistic about possible outcomes.
And never tell anyone "May all of your wishes come true." That's just plain rude. |
Just some fantasy I found around the site:
| | | The Visit [18+] #1930441
Heather's got enough to worry about with uni, without her brother & sister visiting.
by ~MM~  |
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Fantasy: December 17, 2014 Issue [#6718]
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