Class Reflection

While taking Blogging for Journalists at the University of Northern Colorado, I learned the networking side of blogging: blogging is a useful tool for journalists to share their thoughts with their target audience as well as build a portfolio outside of published clips. I also learned that designing a blog visually is almost as important as the content, and without pictures and an attractive layout, few people are likely to read a blog. One of the most important things I learned from the class, however, is that a blog is a tool for discussion. It's not just about putting my own thoughts out there and that's the end of it. I can really start a forum for conversation on a topic.

 

I think that I managed to make my blog attractive and at least a little interesting, as I dealt with topics in pop culture as well as things that a niche audience would appreciate. However, I think I could do a little better in making my post read a little less like essays and more like calls for discussion.

 

The biggest surprise of the semester came when all my classmate comments were on certain posts. I found it very interesting that the first week, all comments were on my one post with pictures, while in following weeks all comments were on my most recent posts.

 

Before beginning the blog, I wish I had known more about how to use Blogger, since I have always used WordPress. It's very different and I struggled a little bit with formatting, even though Blogger's platform is simpler.

 

I will definitely continue blogging in the future, as I've had a personal blog on a similar topic for a little over a year. However, I think I will be working harder to make my posts more conversational and relatable to readers. I might also expand to blogging about literature as a whole, instead of just fantasy.

 

I have a bit of advice for future student bloggers: don't be afraid to pick what you're interested in. Your thoughts are boring if you're just rambling about a random topic you don't care about, but when you have a passion for something, it's obvious. While reading your thoughts about something you really care for, I learn more, I want to know more. Suck people in with your passion. Be you.

Religion in Fantasy: Part 2, Impact

Whether fictional, historical or a little bit of both, every well-built fantasy world and detailed fictional society is in some way affected by religion.

I discussed in an earlier post the rampant presence of Norse mythology in fantasy - something about that cold north, man - but plenty of fantasy encompasses ideas from other cultures and even "modern" religion, some of my favorites being Haitian Vodou, Egyptian mythology and Hinduism.

While it might be my go-to for all posts, I think A Song of Ice and Fire is one of the best examples of fictional religion. George R.R. Martin put extreme effort into creating his religions, some of the most notable being the "Old Ways," in which gods take the form of twisted, white Weirwood trees; the Faith of the Seven, in which one god takes on seven faces that offer followers different blessings; and that of the red priests of R'hllor, where one true god, the lord of light, commands all followers. All of them have bases in real, historical religions, and just my descriptions should allude to those connections.

While creating religion to use as a story driver is common to all fantasy, some writers take it a step farther and make it the center of their world.

One of my favorite fantasy series of all time, perhaps the whole reason I enjoy reading and writing fantasy, is the Shadowmarch quartet by Tad Williams. It starts like other epic fantasy, with royalty and castles and mythical beings that threaten them. However, as the quartet progresses, the mythology of the world becomes the driving force behind the story. It eventually culminates in one thought: Are the gods powerful because they are gods, or are they gods because they are powerful?

In Shadowmarch, like many other high fantasy series, an organized society subscribes to a polytheistic system of beliefs. Multiple gods represent various things: the sun, the moon, life, death. It's the most common form of fantastical religion, because it's so interesting to assign a name, a face and a history to a concept as wide as life or death.

It's also a fascinating part of history. Greek and Roman myths are probably the most famous of this representative system. For instance, Athena is not just a goddess, but the goddess of wisdom. While Aphrodite is also a goddess, she is the goddess of love, so their roles in Greek society are incredibly different.

No society can exist without some type of belief system, even if that belief is athiesm, and it plays a crucial but varying role in each. No matter if that society is real or fictional, religion is part of the foundation that any society's tower would topple without.

I highly recommend Tad Williams' books to anyone who is interested. He really knows how to create a good story and relatable characters. Also, his series Memory, Sorrow and Thorn inspired George R.R. Martin to write A Song of Ice and Fire in the first place. No big deal.

Religion in Fantasy: Part 1, Why Faith?

If there's one topic I could study forever without getting bored or running out of subject matter, it's how people react to religion.

On a psychology level, humans are, to varying degrees, spiritual beings. Faith and worship are an integral part of every society. Every society in history has some type of mythology. Creation myths, anyone? Everyone needs a place to go when they can't find answers. The instinctive solution is to look to higher power. Something that makes certain that no matter how chaotic your own life is, things will be okay.

I see religion as sort of a parent. When you're little and it feels like your world is falling apart, you're always confused and you're scared out of your mind half the time, you go to mom and dad and they can reassure you that everything is okay. And you have complete faith that it will be, because it came from mom and dad. Well, the same thing applies when someone goes to their God (in whatever form God comes) to look for those answers. While mom and dad might not really know or can't really guarantee perfection, it gives you comfort. Faith gives you comfort.

Religion takes hold of people, gets so deep within them it can cause fear as much as comfort. Entire wars have been waged over whose religion is correct: an unanswerable question. And the unknown causes fear. Having your one sanctuary from unanswerable questions come crashing down would unravel everything, for most. And if you've ever studied history (especially European history), you'll know that the motivation behind almost everything leading up to today - politics, societal organization - has something to do with religion.

In summary, it's a building block of civilization. Which is why it also has a presence in almost all fantasy.