In fiction, fantasy opens up a world of endless possibilities, while crime narratives constrain story into a specific structure.
That was the main insight I gained from the crime and fantasy panel at Edge-Lit this year. As someone who doesn’t generally write crime, I hadn’t thought to compare the two genres before. This point particularly grabbed my attention. Like any generality, I’m sure there are ways in which it’s untrue, but there’s also a lot of truth to it. And it shows how different genres, when brought together, can create interesting contrasts as well as bringing different strengths to the mix.
Maybe there’ll be more crime in my fantasy in future. I certainly like to write with constraints.