First Scene - magical realism or fantasy?

Several weeks ago I wrote about my first conference and the scene I came up with during the magical realism workshop. I thought I'd post it here. Maybe typing it up will give me some storyline inspiration.

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There was a time when the Elementari were prolfic and welcomed in every town and encampment, their gifts deemed to bring good fortune. But memory of that time was fading. That was before the Long Day. In this age, children born with sense sight were often drowned at birth or abandoned.

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M'miri left the fire circle and wandered up the hillside overlooking the settlement, through brown, brittle grass that crunched underfoot. The bag of coins the elders had given her jangled on her hip. She crested the knoll and circled around. Vibrations tickled the hairs on her legs, letting her know she had found the spot.

She sat down and waited. M'miri closed her sight eyes and opened sense sight. Soon she began to see them. The droplets of moisture drifting lazily in the air. Concentrating, she drew the droplets together. As they joined, their masses increased. They could no longer drift about aimless and carefree. M'miri could feel their wieght pressing down upon her.

As the first raindrops fell, her sense sight closed. She opened her sight eyes and headed down the hill, leaving this village behind. The wind picked up, her scarf blew off exposing her long blue hair. M'miri scooped the silk as it tried to escape in a swirl of dust. She listened to the rain hit the dry leaves of the trees behind her. Down the road lay another settlement in need.

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Okay, I know this needs some editing (I read the passivity and alliteration in some of the sentences I was typing!) But, it's a start. Now to see if it lights a spark.

WordSpring

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend a writing conference held at one of the local community colleges with a few members of our local critique group. I wasn't sure what to expect from a writing conference, certainly not one held at a jr. college. I was pleasantly surprised.

Butte College has been hosting WordSpring for several years, this being the 5th Annual. It was a one day affair. I attended four workshops. Three were good, one was meh. Not a bad percentage. Classes were offered by staff from Butte College and published authors.

The workshop I was most excited about was one on Magical Realism. I had no idea what MR was, but it sounded intriguing. The definition given by the presenter was a little vague. I must admit, I'm still not 100% sure about the difference between MR and Fantasy.

Please let me explain my confusion. He said that in MR most of the world is pretty much like this one, whether present day or past, but that within this 'ordinary' world was an element of magic. At this point I kind of thought I understood.

Then someone asked for examples. He offered (among others) Harry Potter. This was hottly debated by audience members and where my confusion comes in. Much of Harry Potter is the normal world, but magic shows up in many places in many forms. Not only that, but there are mystical creatures everywhere one turns. If Harry Potter is MR, then what constitutes fantasy? I could feel my understanding of MR slipping away.

People agreed to disagree and we moved on. Towards the end of his time he told us to take five minutes and try to write a MR scene. I mulled over his words: like this world but with an element of magic.

Element. I guess I fixated on that word. I wrote my scene and when time was up he asked us to share it with a partner. I shared mine with a woman from my critique group. She was impressed and refused to read hers. On the ride back home she told everyone that I had this awesome idea for a book.

Now, who doesn't like to hear that? The problem is, I felt like an impostor. At the moment, I've no idea about any other aspects of the story. She has such faith in me, I hope that inspiration seeps into my consciousness soon.