You’ll find debates on this topic in lot of places. High fantasy, urban fantasy, Sci-fi…if it doesn’t currently exist then it’s fantasy right?

I suppose. But there are different levels of the fantastical and differing purposes for using the fantastical. That’s where my own definition starts to come into play. Why fantasy? Why the impossible?

To me,  the fantastic serves a purpose greater than itself. It is metaphor, steeped in symbolism. The word fictional dream–which someone uses to describe the active part of reading–is exactly what fantasy is–fictional dream. Everything has dual purpose. Everything is symbol. Decoding it and making sense of it, is the act of reading a fantastical story. I tend to think of it more in the way fairy tales are constructed, a purposeful construction. Just as in a real dream, your mind can make anxiety or fear into a tangible object you can feel, see and touch–the same with fantasy. Dragons, magic, a bear skin….symbol.

What fantasy isn’t? A magic escape hatch to get your characters out of trouble. An easy way for them to resolve their problems. Note, in fairy tales there is always a price for the easy solution. It typically works in ways that drag the characters deeper into trouble.

Even urban fantasy, which is barely fantasy still has some symbolism in it. Not by purposeful construction o f the authors though–it’s like writing unicorn stories–symbolism is inherent in a well known fantastical creature. Whether or not they pursue it is a different matter. Mostly not. Maybe with a surface level twist.

Anyway, I guess I’ve just been thinking some about it. You don’t have to love or write high fantasy to use the fantastic–but at least understand what it is and how it is best used. Just my own preferences.