Writing about fictional worlds can be time consuming and full of behind the scenes work. It can also be frustrating when the "insignificant details" don't work out the way they're supposed to. The truth of it is, though, every detail is crucial when you are writing about a world that doesn't actually exist.
As this wonderful article from Writing-World.com will tell you, the first thing that you need to do is define your world: what it looks like, the time period, the kinds of people that live there, local animals, etc. You may be sitting there thinking "Why do I have to include animals? No one cares about that!" But, if your character is being stalked by a dark shadow in the bushes is it going to be a rabbit? A bear? Maybe even a tiger squirel!?
As this wonderful article from Writing-World.com will tell you, the first thing that you need to do is define your world: what it looks like, the time period, the kinds of people that live there, local animals, etc. You may be sitting there thinking "Why do I have to include animals? No one cares about that!" But, if your character is being stalked by a dark shadow in the bushes is it going to be a rabbit? A bear? Maybe even a tiger squirel!?
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| Cute, but vicious! |
The stalker makes a difference whether or not your character makes it back alive, so it plays a role.
The second most important part about writing within a fictional world is to keep in consistent. If the people's moods fluctuate that's fine, but if the world is attacked by a monster and three hours later everyone's dead except your protagonist- that's not so good. It's a huge jump to make, and you may lose a few readers.
Personally, I find the hardest part of creating a fictional world is making sure your characters stay constant. By that I mean your protagonist is from our world and lives in our society. When s/he goes into the new world that's set in an alternate universe where cavemen and dinosaurs exist, their lifestyles are going to be different. Once your characters from each world meet each other, sometimes those important differences blur together too quickly for the reader to believe it's character development, and it's confusing from that point on.
In my opinion, fantasy writing is harder than realistic fiction because you have to consider creating a world that is unique, but not so different that it alienates the reader. The goal to a believable world is to have a handful of noticeable differences, but bring enough of our world into it so that readers find familiarity and safety.
A movie that does this well is Gabor Csupo's "Bridge to Terabithia" based off the book of the same name by Katherine Paterson. It's about two ten-year-old neighbours who create a fictional world and vanquish monsters that resemble their school bullies. The most impressive part about this movie is the believability of Terabithia. See for yourself!
The second most important part about writing within a fictional world is to keep in consistent. If the people's moods fluctuate that's fine, but if the world is attacked by a monster and three hours later everyone's dead except your protagonist- that's not so good. It's a huge jump to make, and you may lose a few readers.
Personally, I find the hardest part of creating a fictional world is making sure your characters stay constant. By that I mean your protagonist is from our world and lives in our society. When s/he goes into the new world that's set in an alternate universe where cavemen and dinosaurs exist, their lifestyles are going to be different. Once your characters from each world meet each other, sometimes those important differences blur together too quickly for the reader to believe it's character development, and it's confusing from that point on.
In my opinion, fantasy writing is harder than realistic fiction because you have to consider creating a world that is unique, but not so different that it alienates the reader. The goal to a believable world is to have a handful of noticeable differences, but bring enough of our world into it so that readers find familiarity and safety.
A movie that does this well is Gabor Csupo's "Bridge to Terabithia" based off the book of the same name by Katherine Paterson. It's about two ten-year-old neighbours who create a fictional world and vanquish monsters that resemble their school bullies. The most impressive part about this movie is the believability of Terabithia. See for yourself!
We've all day-dreamed about overcoming our fears and ruling over those that push us down, and this movie allows us to see ourselves in the characters. Fantasy writing is frustrating and hard on the imagination, but if it's done right, the results are well worth the struggles.
I had never considered just sitting down and thinking about the animals you find in a fantasy world. But it really is important. It comes to the question of: "Is this the type of world where you have dragons and griffions and that sort of thing or are many of these creatures new and different?" The animals in a world are just as important as the people or races. I have to keep that in mind :)
ReplyDeleteAn author can spend 100 pages grabbing a reader's attention, and then BAM! one wrong sentence and the world is destroyed. I've gotten frustrated with novels in the past simply because the world doesn't remain consistent, or there are a lot of holes that could use fixing. Even what seems like 'useless' details--like perhaps the animals--helps readers ease their way into a new world.
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