C. S. Rickard

Archive for the ‘world building’ Category

I love the creative process. I really do.

I can’t convey the high I get when I’m writing or thinking through a scene and all of a sudden my mind takes off! It focuses on one, little kernel of information and sprints through a maze of thoughts morphing, merging and creating new variations or themes until it finally stops. Heart pumping with anticipation, I grab the new thought before it vanishes, then stand in awe at the evolution of that one little kernel that started it all.

I find it an absolutely amazing experience.

The process of writing is a fascinating one. Many people outline scenes or create one-line statements per chapter to keep them on target. I simply can’t do that. If I did, my mind and creativity would whither and blow away.

I definitely fall into the second category. Those who sit down with a blank screen (or paper, depending upon your medium of choice) with a general idea. In my case, I knew the overall story I wanted to tell, and I knew how it would end. In fact, I had the end clearly envisioned in my mind before I wrote a single word.

Writing the first draft was like test driving a new car in a new country. I didn’t know the roads, but I knew how to drive, where I wanted to go and generally how to get there. Along the way I found which roads were dead-ends, which ones were really windy and took me too far out of the way, and which ones took a bit longer, but the scenery was beautiful and well worth the extra travel time. I met some wonderful people on those roads as well as those I’d rather forget.

The first revision I thought would simply be an effort of cutting out the dead-ends and wayward routes and focusing on the direct path with a few scenic detours along the way.

That isn’t all that’s happening.

As I revise, images and details are emerging in my head that didn’t exist before. I’m discovering a depth to the cultures I’m writing about. A history is emerging I wasn’t aware of, along with some interesting myths and beliefs. The more I write, the more solid my characters become. I’m noticing quirks in them that I don’t remember creating. Attitudes and prejudices are becoming more substantial.

They are becoming real.

But now I wonder…isn’t hearing a bunch of voices in your head called schizophrenia? Maybe that’s only if you aren’t a writer.

One of my favorite parts of writing fantasy is world building. I love playing in my imagination. As a kid, my sister and her best friend referred to me as a dreamer. While I like doing things and being active, I can be just as content staring out the window for hours on end.

At first, my world building was focused on the basics, like how does the world function, what people populate it, how is it divided geographically and demographically, what types of plants and animals live there, what is the technology, what is the current political situation?

This all gave me a broad brush stroke of the present day world, but I want to create a world with depth and richness. So I started going back and creating a history for each species and kingdom. I’m also developing several conflicting religions along with the power struggles that go within each. While these are fun, what I find myself pulled towards lately is folklore and mythology. Every culture has some, so I wanted to create a few for my world too. The challenge: whatever I create needs to be critical to the lives of the respective cultures.

I’ve developed one myth thus far that I really like and it plays into the end of the story. I’m working on a few more, but a big part of the fun is simply imagining…thinking up various things and letting them play out in my mind to see if they work.

I wish I could instill this love of imagination in my children. I would love to get them to ‘unplug’ and just go inside themselves once in awhile and see where it leads them. I can get them to turn off all electrical equipment to play cards or a board game with me without trouble — they enjoy playing, but they never willingly do it just to dream.

I sometimes wonder if we’re losing something with all the sensory overload we expose ourselves to day in and day out. We’ve become so immune to it, our senses need more and more to feel any stimulation at all. Kinda reminds me of drug or alcohol addiction.

I just finished reading the Warded Man over the weekend. Before I summarize my thoughts, a random question. Why do publishers feel the need to change an author’s title when a foreign book gets published in the US? Foriegn languages aside, I’m talking specifically about British books. Both the Warded Man and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone were written by a Brit and published over there. Yet in both books the pulblishers changed a word in the title just for the US. Shipment to other countries, from what I understand, used or translated the original word used in the UK. The Warded Man is called the Painted Man everywhere else. And most know that the Sorcerer’s Stone is called the Philosopher’s Stone in Europe.

I don’t get it. What is so different about Americans that we are perceived as unable to read and understand the same words as the rest of the English speaking population? Personally, I think it’s a waste of time and effort and should be left as originally published. I mean Philosopher versus Sorcerer? Either one works for me. However, it did take me a few paragraphs from HP before I understood what “snogging” was. Couldn’t the Brit’s come up with something a bit less…distasteful sounding than snogging? Yuck!

Back to my post…

The Warded Man, by Peter V. Brett: This is a debut author, which is why I read it.

Warning: a few spoilers

Overall, a very good read. I liked the plot and the characters. The novel is broken into vignettes, each focusing on one of three characters: Arlen, a young boy from a rural village; Leesha, a youg girl from what I think is a slightly larger village; and Rojer, youngest of the three and orphaned as a small child.

In this world, various types of demons rise from the ground each night attacking humans. The only protection from the attacks are wards or sigils. These are drawn on walls, buildings, posts, anything that can create a small area of sanctuary for those within.

The book follows the three over a period of about 15 years or so. Chunks of time have elapsed in each one, but the writing makes sure the reader is aware of anything noteworthy during the lapses. The end of the book finds the three finally meeting one another and agreeing to journey together.

Arlen and Leesha seemed quite believable to me both in character and ability. Rojer, however, I hesitate on. The book doesn’t make it clear if his ability is a gift of magic or something he’s able to teach others. If he can teach others, I wonder why no one ever figured it out before. It also brings up what I think is an inconsistency in the book. Demons attack the inn when Rojer is an infant, yet music and fiddling were filling the room at the time…inconsistent.

The world was interesting, but not overwhelming. Many fantasy novels spend quite a bit of time describing places and cultures. There was some of that here, but not enough that I clearly could see this world before my eyes. I would have liked a map, at least, to lay out all of the cities described.

One thing that did bug me about the story were the cultures of the cities. I didn’t really get much sense of diversity or depth, except in Krasia. And the problem I had with that city/culture was it too closely mimicked the middle east. To the point where you could almost switch out the word Krasia for most any Arab country. I had expected more originality than that.

Otherwise I thought this was an excellent first novel and fully intend to purchase the next in the series, which I believe comes out next spring.