The difference between fantasy and science fiction

by Natali Shira Silbiger

Both the genres of science fiction and fantasy are very popular in today's literature, movies and TV productions.  In spite of their seemingly everlasting popularity, many people, among them even devout fans, confuse them to be the same genre.  Or if they know the difference, they are often unable to explain it.

The common grounds of both genres are that they describe a setting whose reality substantially differs from our own.  Consider Interstellar on one hand, and Harry Potter on the other.  Both films depict a world in which fantastic things can occur, such as time travel and journeys of kilometers in a split second.  However, while Interstellar provides a scientific explanation for any abnormality in its reality, Harry Potter doesn't.  It simply is the way things are.  That is, in a nutshell, the major difference between sci-fi (Interstellar) and fantasy (Harry Potter).

Yet many people tend to think that because the laws of fantasy worlds are not explained, it means that 'anything goes'.  That might be the case, but only in poorly written works. 

One of the most basic rules for fantasy writing is the rule of consistency.  You can go with your world-building imagination as far as you wish, but once the frame was set, it has no exceptions, in the same manner that gravity has no exceptions.

The too many fantasy writers who ignore that rule are the main cause for the misconception that writing fantasy is just too easy.