A Small Fantasy Survey

[Nihal]

It was floating on my Tumblr this morning, originally posted by thewritingcafe. I thought it was interesting.

According to my calculations, approximately 1500 people were heard, and given the Tumblr gender ratio, a good number of these were also women. Discuss!

Word cloud generated by the listened people, I can only post 4 images: http://24.media.tumblr.com/d422fef204ba42919dbdb3a24782543f/tumblr_mumkbfnPIG1rm1lq0o5_500.jpg

 

[Asterisk]

Wow, thank you! There is some valuable information in this survey that all fantasy writers should think about....

 

[Philip Overby]

Those results jive with about what I'd imagine. Nothing really surprising for anyone that's been following the genre as of late. The only thing that kind of raised my eyebrow was "Celtic." I'm not sure what kind of genre that is. Is it fiction just based on Celtic mythology? I'm also not surprised with more of a leaning towards modern styles like urban fantasy.

I'd be interested to see what would happen if we posted the same survey on Mythic Scribes.

Hmm...

 

[GeekDavid]

I'd be interested to see what would happen if we posted the same survey on Mythic Scribes.

Hmm...

I dare you, Phil.

 

[Amanita]

This is interesting even though not very different from the stuff you normally here on forums like this one or over at NaNo.
I'm a bit surprised that people seem to be so bothered by female healers though. I didn't come across them that often and I think there at least better than women who only exist as rewards for the heroes or reasons why he wants revenge.
I'm tired of the cliché that healers have to be kind, compassionate, perfectly good people. One of my major villains is a healer/physician, the latter's more appropriate in my setting. And the one on the "good" team is male.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Based on a lot of the comments, I really got get Addison Lane's story out there.

[Link to Phil's blog featuring her short story.]



EDIT - I don't think it's female healers that bother those commenters so much as it's female characters having the 'weaker' roles in the party. In other words, supporting the men who do the real hero stuff.

I'm not sure how common that is, seeing how the last fantasy novel I read had Arya Stark, Brienne of Tarth, and the Mother of Dragons—all strong women in their own ways (two non-romantic, one um… gratuitously queer a couple times).

 

[Motley]

Very interesting poll.


But, I have to ask why on earth were the results put in confusing graphics? Why, for example, is "Alternate World" below and behind "Sword & Sorcery" when it has more of the vote? Not the clearest infographic I've ever seen.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Could it be that there's a preconceived notion among fantasy readers that women are more common in healer roles because it matches the general view of stereotypes in the genre?

 

[Svrtnsse]

But, I have to ask why on earth were the results put in confusing graphics? Why, for example, is "Alternate World" below and behind "Sword & Sorcery" when it has more of the vote? Not the clearest infographic I've ever seen.

I think the theory is that it makes it more fun to look at. Graphs and bars and diagrams are inherently boring so the idea is to spice things up a little and make it a little crazy and fun.

...or maybe I'm just being an old cynic.

 

[Nihal]

I have a theory for where the "female healers" come from: Games.

Though they're not that common in books, they're really common in games, not only NPCs but the standard expectation of male games for female gamers. "Oh, my girlfriend will start to play with me and hang out in-game. I'll show her how to play a cleric."


And this "Celtic" genre is likely a blob of Celtic and Scottish flavours, probably some arthurian inspired stuff as well.


P.s.:

Based on a lot of the comments, I really got get Addison Lane's story out there.

Hah, this story was pretty much on the right spot. xD

 

[GeekDavid]

I know from my experience, one of the most common comments I get when I tell friends I am writing a fantasy novel is, "put in a strong female character."

I did in Librarian, and I intend to in The Heretic's Challenge, though they'll be different kinds of strong women (one a swordswoman, the other a thief).

 

[Svrtnsse]

Definitely. Playing wow since release there are far more female than male healers - in-game genders, not actual players.

 

[GeekDavid]

Definitely. Playing wow since release there are far more female than male healers - in-game genders, not actual players.

I must be the exception to the rule. I always play male toons, and I love playing healers... I find it allows ME to stay alive better.

 

[Ireth]

Hah! I have three named healers so far in my untitled WIP, and two of them are male; one who will come in later is also male. I also have at least two female characters who are not romantically involved, two male gays, one bisexual female, and likely more that I can't name off the top of my head.

 

[Legendary Sidekick]

Hah, this story was pretty much on the right spot. xD

Addison herself is, being both non-romantic and queer.

I suppose that's a combination most wouldn't bother to write, but it's just how I saw the character.

 

[ThinkerX]

Hmm...thinking as I type...

...most of my stuff is either 'dark fantasy' or 'sword and sorcery' (or both together), which seem to do well enough, so maybe I'm alright there. I do try to work a bit of mythology into my tales, but not all that much, as they're on the short side. I believe my world building is good enough.

As to the not so good things...well, Solaria does use a sort of 'fantasy europe' for a template, and Solarian society is patriarchal...so hmm...

As to the comments and word cloud...apparently they are looking for more gay women? Or stronger female characters? And less romance. As yet, I don't have that many female characters, and those are straight...though I suppose a couple could be bi.

'better and more imaginative elves'...mine might or might not qualify. As yet, they're sort of 'apart'.

'other races'...I got rachasa 'cat-people' and revamped goblins and hobgoblins...do they count?

I do have to wonder if this survey is biased somehow. Need to see another one or two or three...