Writing Your World: How to Build a Fictional Setting. Science fiction and fantasy have done something amazing to the fictional world.
Once relegated into a neat little group of their own, a reader could say "I only read fantasy" and others would know exactly what they meant. Fantasy was (almost) always set in another realm, another plane, or another world entirely and dealt with (mostly) mythical and made-up characters. Somewhere along the way, the lines that separate "fantasy" from another genre like "romance" have become blurred. In some cases, the line is almost nonexistant. How so? So, to have a fantasy-romance or a science-fiction .... whatever - this is going to get too messy if I try to come up with all the possibilities - there are basically two required things: mythical characters and fantastical settings.
How to build a great fictional setting? Earth, Like-Earth, or Totally Fantastic? Now for the hard part. Be careful when you take this step, because you can get more complicated with it than is nessecary. Map it? Creating a Realistic Fantasy World. By Penny Ehrenkranz Did you ever wonder how David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, Piers Anthony, or J.
R. R. Tolkien created their worlds? These and other successful fantasy writers found the magic to create realistic fantasy worlds, but they didn't find it in a book of spells. Creating your fantasy world means building a world based upon reality and making sure that your reader knows the rules of that world. J. How do you go about creating a reality that readers will accept as readily? Defining the Physical World Defining your locale can be a good place to start. Orson Scott Card began his fantasy novel, Hart's Hope, by designing a map. Instead of a map (or in addition to it), you may prefer to jot down descriptions of places you will need to use in your story. Defining the Rules of Magic Magic is often the key in fantasy. In Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom of Landover series, wizards and witches have innate power. Defining a Consistent Reality Related Articles: World Building 101. World Building 101 by Lee Masterson You are the ultimate creator of your fictional world.
No matter where or when your story is set, regardless of what events unfold, and despite the characters you introduce to your readers, they are all products of your unique imagination. "But I write romance set in the present time," I hear you cry. It doesn't matter whether your story is set in 16th century Middle Europe, or the 28th century Altarian star-system, your story still belongs in a world created entirely by you.
So, even though it can be great fun to invent strange sounding planets in distant galaxies, complete with lethal atmospheres and budding alien life-forms, there are still writers out there who would much prefer to deal with Earth as we already know it. The good news is you still get your chance to put on your megalomaniac's hat and play God! Regardless of where (or when) your story is set, YOU have decided your characters' destinies for them. . - Are the seasons consistent? Maps Workshop — Developing the Fictional World through Mapping. Most of the books I’ve written have started with a map.
Not with an idea, or a character, or a theme. With a hand-drawn map, doodled out first while I was sitting and keeping someone else company, or while I was on break, or when I couldn’t think of what to write and had no ideas to speak of and knew that if I drew a map something would come to me. Some of the maps were fairly artistic from the start. Some began on napkins or the backs of throw-away paper, and only became things of any artistic merit after they’d served their initial purpose of handing me an idea for a novel.
Now I know this is a weird little quirk of mine, and I can’t guarantee you that if you’ll just draw a map, it will give you a novel that will sell. I have favorite tools for mapping. This first map is going to be your continent. Before we get started, I want to be VERY clear about one issue that I know some of you are already sweating over. Okay. Get out your graph paper. It’s time to make use of your mistakes. Now…