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Posted By: Berry Dec 03, 2004 - 03:31 am

In response to a discussion between a few of us were having on another topic, I got the feeling that I may have been too rigid in my approach to my stories. Usually I try to keep my stories grounded in our present day world in some way in order to keep the story plausible but I wondered whether I should try to really let myself go so I did, I didn’t think about whether it was believable or not or try to tie it in with any theory about the universe I might have. I have now ended up with another world, the world does not have the same physical laws of our universe; creatures made from our imaginations and reinforced through worship or reverence of some kind, populate it. I do not know if I have gone to far? In creating a new world I do not know how much to make it add up. Before when I was much more rigid I had clear boundaries for such things but with this experiment I do not know how clear to make the details to the reader. I have made it all up as I go along and now I feel a bit lost like I have created something too big and too complicated and I don’t know where to go from here. Can anyone help me?

Posted By: cleasterwood Dec 03, 2004 - 04:09 am

I did that in my first book, sort of. I took a ancient culture, Egypt, bent it to my story, tweaked the surroundings to coincide with controversial theories and went with it i.e. ancient Egypt doesn't look like Egypt but has fertile land where desert should be. Everything was mapped out before I started writing because I knew where I wanted the story to go. I went so far as to add actual Egyptian magic without thinking of the universe's rules. I don't see anything wrong with it as long as it's a logical progression. If you inadvertantly created a new world, good! I suggest breaking out a pencil and paper, drawing the basic layout of the new world so you have a visual, and go with it!

Posted By: Magus Dec 03, 2004 - 01:40 pm

If your story works then I say you're doing what you should. It's always important to grow and streatch yourself as a writer.

I say this from my own personal experience:

Whatever world you create, whether it is or is not fantasy, you must always have some kind of rules, some aspect of realism to it. You cannot just create a spell or a weapon or something of the like when you're in a jam to just be there and work. You cannot just make up some spell on the spot to help you when you can't think of what else to do.

You must create some manner of realism, some boundries, for your world and then stick with them. This will make your world, and most likely your story as well, believable, no matter how surreal or fantastical it may be.

Posted By: Aldan Dec 04, 2004 - 12:49 pm

I agree with Magus on this... rules are important for people to connect with it. I suppose that it may be possible to create an enjoyable story set in a world/universe without rules or laws, but that would then require the AUTHOR to be such a fantastically good storyteller that he could get around that problem. Why do I call it a problem? Because even the most anarchistic person on this world is effected by laws that he takes for granted. Gravity is such a law. The need for humans to breathe is such a law. The solidity of objects is such a law. If none of that is necessarily true, then it'd make it very difficult for the reader, because all of his/her assumptions will be totally incorrect. Minor differences create fantasy. Major ones create difficulty, IMO.
Therefore, be sure that you create rules, even if they are totally different from the rules that we know, and stick by them at least enough for the reader to become used to those rules and can begin to subconsciously equate them with rules they're used to before you break them. Breaking rules is often where a story comes from, so I'm not leaving that out at all.

Posted By: Magus Dec 04, 2004 - 05:40 pm

That's pretty much just what I was getting at, Aldan. Structure is needed in some form, no matter what kind of story you decided to write.

Posted By: Seeria Dec 08, 2004 - 04:43 am

You might try browsing over these sites for more ideas on how to make your very fantastic fantasy world actually plausible.


The most extensive collection of questions to consider when crafting a world that I've ever seen can be found in the work of Wrede's write up.
http://www.sfwa.org/writing/worldbuilding1.htm


MWBG's site deals more with creating the magical parts of your fantasy worl, but does touch on cultures and such.
http://www.web-writer.net/fantasy/

Jacmus's site has info more about the mapping of your fantasy world than the cultures.
http://www.jacmus-prime.com/

Just one of many sites concerning fantasy languages and/or making your own, though I find this the most informative for beginners.
http://www.langmaker.com/ml0102.htm


Dwarf's (as in the person not the race) world creation site
http://members.tripod.com/%7EBadDwarf/world_creation.htm

Posted By: Magus Dec 08, 2004 - 12:54 pm

Wow, that's a lot of links...

**Clicking on links**

Posted By: Berry Dec 10, 2004 - 04:59 am

Thanks Seeria, great links and I found quite a few of them very useful. I have now gone to both extremes of making my stories very grounded and really letting myself go. I found that I have 2 very distinct styles when I had thought that I didn’t have any. My fantasy story is getting a serious editing at the moment and I am trying to make sure that the world I am creating makes sense to me and rules that I can believe or at least conceptualise with some clarity. I do not write notes however, my stories are totally stream of consciousness until I come up against something that jars me, my new story however is already about 22’000 words and I am afraid of getting totally lost in it. I am not sure how to remedy the situation as I have no notes to elaborate on and it seems superfluous to start writing notes at this stage in the story. Is it? Or is there some there some other way I could stop myself totally going off on one.

Posted By: Aldan Dec 10, 2004 - 07:27 pm

Is it superfluous to add a fender to a car after the rest has been built? Or an exhaust? *shakes head* IMO, going back and plotting out what you've written will only help to solidify your story, and will help it to not leave too many loose ends, because when you see how many you've left, it'll give you the opportunity to expand on your story in closing those up... You won't need notes to ELABORATE on, but instead the plotline will allow you, like a drawn roadmap, to see where you've gone, and to get an idea of the direction in which you're headed.

Posted By: Aeawyn Dec 16, 2004 - 04:03 pm

I say that you cant go too far out. There are readers who like every kind of book. Part of the point of writing is too use your imagination....dont hold it back! Most people connect with readers by feelings, not by daily activities. Try and do that.