Writing Lessons 4: The world
So now it’s time to get down and dirty. Time to start
writing this thing properly. One thing though; where does this take place? Now
this and the next three lessons on characters and plot are entirely interchangeable
and I rarely do my creating in this order but this is just what I picked for
the lessons since any choice would seem arbitrary in the end seeing as I do a different
order each time. It’s up to you and the amount of focus on each is also entirely
up to you.
The most effective way of creating a believable world is to make passing references to things outside of the characters personal experience. Have them refer to far off cities they can see out the train windows or mention offhand a group of characters that don’t actually appear. This gives the sense that there are others in the world and not just our heroes in a bubble.
For all of Breaking Dawn’s faults it does good with all the characters introd in the finale that get very little focus but do show that the leads are not the only people that mater in the universe. Hell the children of the moon were an ass pull and an entirely unneeded clarification but it revealed a little more of the world that expands the borders of the narrative beyond the horizons. If we can see the edges of the world then it isn’t a good story unless that is the entire point of the narrative. Oh and before I forget, I HATES THAT BOOK! Hates it, hates it.
If I remember correctly Alien featured close to nothing outside the ship and that works since the focus is on the terror of being trapped in a claustrophobic place with a vicious killing beast. You do only get one free pass per franchise though so Aliens brought in the Marines, Alien3 brought the prison planet and Resurection had...well the less said about that film the better right?
Each and every sequel should expand the world and also explore previous locations mentioned. One other way it could be done is with an expanded and/or shared universe were you could make references to the events of the main stories or other writers works. For example what was one nameless background Wookie doing during the attack on the Death Star? Sure as hell not playing go fish I’m sure.
How real a world you have also affects the amount of work needed here. If you are doing a story on earth or nearly earth then it’s easy since you need to create very little but if you are making it fresh out of whole cloth then you have to literally create everything. This is why I mostly do urban fantasy since the planet is all set out for me but I still get to add fantastic elements to it.
So many writers mess this up by putting very little thought into their epic fantasy setting and just copy Lord of the Rings or whatever. That may be OK for some readers but I enjoy something different in my readings. So basically put some imagination and effort into your locations and worlds because you created it and it deserves as much respect as your characters do.
So I have some reading for you this week; now I’m going to avoid saying comics or manga unless they are short or I have a specific arc in mind since it would be expensive/time consuming for you. Anyway this week may I suggest The Wind on Fire trilogy for its diverse set of locals and just plain odd set of cultures that really are different from anything else I’ve read. Also I will suggest The Wind on Fire trilogy because I loves it! I loves it! I LOVES IT! So for now I’m Silica and don’t go doing anything I wouldn’t.
The most effective way of creating a believable world is to make passing references to things outside of the characters personal experience. Have them refer to far off cities they can see out the train windows or mention offhand a group of characters that don’t actually appear. This gives the sense that there are others in the world and not just our heroes in a bubble.
For all of Breaking Dawn’s faults it does good with all the characters introd in the finale that get very little focus but do show that the leads are not the only people that mater in the universe. Hell the children of the moon were an ass pull and an entirely unneeded clarification but it revealed a little more of the world that expands the borders of the narrative beyond the horizons. If we can see the edges of the world then it isn’t a good story unless that is the entire point of the narrative. Oh and before I forget, I HATES THAT BOOK! Hates it, hates it.
If I remember correctly Alien featured close to nothing outside the ship and that works since the focus is on the terror of being trapped in a claustrophobic place with a vicious killing beast. You do only get one free pass per franchise though so Aliens brought in the Marines, Alien3 brought the prison planet and Resurection had...well the less said about that film the better right?
Each and every sequel should expand the world and also explore previous locations mentioned. One other way it could be done is with an expanded and/or shared universe were you could make references to the events of the main stories or other writers works. For example what was one nameless background Wookie doing during the attack on the Death Star? Sure as hell not playing go fish I’m sure.
How real a world you have also affects the amount of work needed here. If you are doing a story on earth or nearly earth then it’s easy since you need to create very little but if you are making it fresh out of whole cloth then you have to literally create everything. This is why I mostly do urban fantasy since the planet is all set out for me but I still get to add fantastic elements to it.
So many writers mess this up by putting very little thought into their epic fantasy setting and just copy Lord of the Rings or whatever. That may be OK for some readers but I enjoy something different in my readings. So basically put some imagination and effort into your locations and worlds because you created it and it deserves as much respect as your characters do.
So I have some reading for you this week; now I’m going to avoid saying comics or manga unless they are short or I have a specific arc in mind since it would be expensive/time consuming for you. Anyway this week may I suggest The Wind on Fire trilogy for its diverse set of locals and just plain odd set of cultures that really are different from anything else I’ve read. Also I will suggest The Wind on Fire trilogy because I loves it! I loves it! I LOVES IT! So for now I’m Silica and don’t go doing anything I wouldn’t.