Some thoughts on world-building

Yesterday afternoon a writer friend and I met at the library for a mini writers' conference. Up until now, I've flattered myself with the thought that Reyem, the fantasy world where my books take place, is very well-developed, well-rounded, and fleshed out. After all, I have a map of the North Continent, the alphabet of one of the languages, and I have developed four separate cultures for the four countries on the Continent.

Then my friend shows up with his world maps, his stack of binders full of information about everything from the technology to the plant and wildlife of his fantasy world, and several volumes' worth of information still in his head. Needless to say, I didn't do a whole lot of bragging about how developed my fantasy world is.

But, it did get me thinking about the importance of world-building as a fantasy writer. It's not enough to take your reader on a grand adventure with a wonderful cast of characters if they're doing it in a vague or shallow world. (You can click here to read my thoughts on the importance of descriptive detail in your writing.)

So fantasy writers, let's start at the beginning. What is the first thing you do when you start developing a new world? How do you get the process started? What methods work for you? What aspects of world-building are the most important to you?

Little Brother's Graduation

It's so hard to believe that my little brother had his graduation party this Saturday. It's hard to believe that his graduation means that my graduation was three years ago!

Cute, sweet little James (and I pray he doesn't read this to know that I said that) has grown up into - well, not that he isn't cute and sweet any more, it's just ... different now. He used to say things like "Hey Thithy, wanna come play carth with me?" And now, just the other day he told me that "If anyone ever tries to hurt you they'll have to answer to me." He went from being head-and-shoulders shorter than me for most of our growing-up years to being a full head taller than me. I remember when he started kindergarten. Now he's getting ready to start EMT Basic. If it has wheels, he can drive it. If it can throw a bullet, he can shoot it. If it comes apart he can put it back together.

Granted, he still hates poetry (I've given up hope of breaking him of that) and he is a bit of a dunce when it comes to classic literature (he calls it 'li-torture') but I guess an EMT doesn't have much need for poetry.

And at the end of the day (please allow me a moment to wax sentimental here) I still love him to death and am proud as I can be to have a great guy like James as my brother.

Just in case you do read this, James: Happy Graduation!

The Answer Revealed:

For all of you who have been trying to figure this out all week, here is the answer and explanation of the clues I gave you in the last post.

The woman is wearing a huge diamond wedding ring and diamond pendant: her husband had a lot of money in the past, so chances are he's not in a business that grows gradually.

She's had a face lift: this most likely would have been quite some time after they got married, so business has stayed steady and profitable for him.

She tans, colors her hair, and just opened a brand-new business in February (and not a business that is guaranteed to make huge profits, either): so her husband is making a lot of money now.

The only people making lots of money in this economy are doctors and lawyers. But a lawyer has to start small, grow his practice, and suffer some slow periods in his business. The diamond jewelry suggests that this lady's husband didn't have to start out small, and if he did it didn't take him very long to get past that stage.

He's a doctor.

Congratulations to Kate, whose guess was 'plastic surgeon'. But as for the rest of you ... well, I guess I'm going to have to come up with a few more scenarios like this, since your Sherlock skills apparently need a workout! ; ) Just kidding, and great job, guys!

I'll be back on Monday. Have a great weekend, everybody!

"I'm not psychic - just paying attention."

~Patrick Jane, 'The Mentalist'

My all-time favorite fictional character has to be the great Mr. Sherlock Holmes. That is probably the reason that I also love the show “The Mentalist”. For those of you who may not have seen it, the main character Patrick Jane is almost a modern counterpart of Mr. Holmes – only lacking the austere aloofness.

In the case of both characters, the thing that sets them apart and makes them the best at what they do is their ability to pick up on minute details and form accurate conclusions from them. The most surprising thing about their methods is that they work! Granted, in the case of Mr. Holmes we always get the explanation of how he knows what he knows, and we don’t often get all of that with Mr. Jane. But a person who is paying close attention can actually learn a lot about you just by noticing details.

With that in mind, I’m trying to work on putting good details in my writing – details that don’t just give the readers a vivid picture of the (character, building, etc.) but that make sense and actually help us learn more about them. And we all know how important that is to good writing, especially fiction.

I decided to experiment with it one day a couple of weeks ago. My mom had taken me to visit a newly-opened yarn shop in town. While we were inside, I decided to learn as much as I could about the shop’s owner without actually saying anything to her.

Here’s what I noticed:

1. She’s had a facelift – maybe two.

2. She tans and colors her hair.

3. She’s wearing a huge diamond wedding ring and diamond pendant.

4. The shop is brand-new, opened in February.

So now here’s a question for the Holmes and/or Jane fans reading this: What does her husband do for a living?

P.S. Yes, you can figure it out using only the details I gave you above. I did it, and I was actually correct! Can’t wait to hear what you come up with!

The joys of editing...

Writing is definitely a love/hate relationship. Editing, on the other hand, is a hate/hate relationship. So just to make it official, I hate editing!

Why can't Draft 1 ... or even Draft 2... just be perfect the way it is? It would make life so much easier for the writer. I can hear Heather and Trav out there saying 'I told you so' so I will admit that yes, most of it I brought upon myself in my frenzy to complete Draft 1 by 12/31 last year. Still, dissecting every little scene and conversation trying to determine if I chose just the right word to describe a character's expression or action, trying to determine the best order to put the scenes in for story flow, trying to figure out if the character dashed into the room or if he just hurried into the room...

But, I can't complain too much. Editing is just another part of helping the reader experience the world I've created. It's part of helping them get to know my characters. Really, it's part of getting my work accepted and published so that readers can experience it at all.

So, with that in mind, I'll stop my complaining ... and get back to editing Son of The Shield.

Book Review: Fable Weaver, by Carlie Gernhart

If you are looking for a fun, exciting, and unorthodox adventure, this book is a must-read. Winner of the 2008 One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN) contest, Fable Weaver combines the story of a modern teenage girl with a generous helping of fantasy adventure.

Linnet, the main character, is a Fable Weaver, responsible for making sure that all figments return to Tierra Fabula (the place where characters go after their stories are over) from their vacations on earth. Always around to guard and assist her are Sekker, Arkose, and Izar - a trio of changelings with an obsessive love for cinnamon and video games.

The best thing about this book is the fact that it literally give you the best of both worlds, from car chases to sword fights, attic crawlspaces to Camelot, security systems to enchantments, and struggling to outsmart everyone from the local police to Morgan le Fay.

Really, the only thing that the book left me wanting (aside from a sequel) is a bit more explanation regarding how Linnet became a Fable Weaver in the first place, because other than a brief mention of it in passing at the beginning of the book, we really don't get a lot of information on that.

Otherwise, this is a fun and fabulous story that you can enjoy over and over (although I recommend having a plate of snickerdoodles handy when you do - you'll understand why when you read the book).

"Marginalia"

In the Democratic Review, November 1844, Edgar Allan Poe began his article “Marginalia” with the following words:

“In getting my books, I have been always solicitous of an ample margin; this is not so much through any love of the thing in itself, however agreeable, as for the facility it affords me of penciling suggested thoughts, agreements, and differences of opinion, or brief critical comments in general. Where what I have to note is too much to be included within the narrow limits of a margin, I commit it to a slip of paper and deposit it between the leaves…”

Now, I have a few friends and acquaintances who consider marking in the margin of a book to be ranked somewhere between ‘a hanging offense’ and ‘a mortal sin’. Most of those are the same friends who would like to see me dead about now…

But I digress.

I share Edgar Allan Poe’s love for marking in my books. It may be as simple as a single line underneath a sentence or description that struck a chord with me. It may be a brief note on why a particular paragraph is particularly well-executed, or a note of agreement or critique. Sometimes, as Mr. Poe said, it may even extend to a slip of paper tucked in between the pages. Regardless of what form it may take, the majority of my books are full of notes.

To those among my readers who may be going into cardiac arrest about now, I can only say “sorry”. I know many of you will agree with me when I say that there is nothing like the moment when you read a sentence, a description, a line of dialogue that touches something… stirs something… awakens something… deep inside of you. Those moments are sadly few, far-between, and worth remembering.

Yes, my books are ‘marked up’ and full of notes – but I will always be able to remember the moments when a turn of phrase or well-crafted verse captured my fancy. My books have the same feel about them as my house: not always spotless, perhaps, but lived-in, comfortable, and well-loved nonetheless.

So, all your readers out there, let’s have it: which category do you fall into? The ‘thou shalt not mark in thy books for any reason’ category, or the note-takers category?

Son of The Shield Teaser

Okay, I know that in real life the writer of the story doesn't get to be the writer of the teaser too. But I just couldn't resist now, while I have the chance. So, here's my teaser for Son of The Shield.
**********

The fate of a nation...
And the faith of its people...
Have collided with the destiny of one man.

A twelve-year-old war and a centuries-old enmity are racing to a catastrophic finish. The country of Moritar has rallied the forces of evil in a merciless onslaught against the nation of Adelfia. The force of their desireto destroy is equalled only by the force of the Adelfians' determination that they will not be conquered. And the scale of victory and defeat is balanced in the hands of a man withno true loyalty to either side ... a man who is a traitor no matter which side - and diestiny - he chooses.

Son of The Shield

Hey, everybody, I'm back!

It's been almost two months since my last post, I know. 2010 got off to a rough start for my family. It started when I got a full-time job literally dumped in my lap after a year of unempoyment - a bit of a shock, needless to say. In late January, we found out that my grandpa's leukemia was back with a vengeance after 12 years of remission. That news was followed two weeks later by his passing on February 2.
Since then it has been a frenzy of trying to adjust to the loss of our family patriarch. It's a strange feeling when you see or hear something and think "I've got to tell Pa about that - he'll just love it!" and then realize that you can't. It's odd to walk through my grandparents' house and hear only the sounds made by an empty building. But inspite of all that we're happy for him and can't wait to join him on the other side with our Savior.
So if, during the last two months, any emails and phone calls have gone unreturned, any blog or apricotpie posts have gone unread, birthdays unnoticed, struggles unencouraged, victories uncongratulated, etc. - tell me about it! I've missed you all, and I'm eager to get back 'in the loop'. Now that things are starting to develope some sort of routine (and I've got a brand-new-just came-home-from-the-store-last-night-!!! laptop to write and post on!!!) I'm back on line and dying to get back in touch and on top of things. So if there's any big news, interesting news, just news in general, or if you just want to talk and help me ge tup-to-date on all the goings-on, fill me in - pretty please!

The promised inside info...

Whew! Suddenly I look up and it's been almost two weeks since my last post! Sorry about that, but as a few of you know I have to drive to my grandparents' house to use the internet - and with all of this snow I haven't been able to get out! By the way, I think we should all make an effort to congratulate all of the environmentalists who so nobly gave up their SUVs and incandescent bulbs for the sake of stopping global warming - their efforts have obviously met with smashing success. Now can we please go back to SUVs so we can thaw out for a while? ; )

But I digress.

Since you've asked so sweetly (and since Heather and Traveler might come after me if I don't), I'm posting some of that insider information I promised on Son of The Shield! So here goes:

First off, I'm sure some of you have noticed the capitalization 'error' in the title (shouldn't it be Son of the Shield instead of Son of The Shield?). Nope. That's deliberate. Reason being: just as, in our world, we refer to God as "The Lamb of God" or "The Lion of Judah" - by His title, not His actual name, in Reyem, the world where SOTS is set, they refer to God by His title "The Shield" instead of by His name "Azor". Likewise, as in our world followers of Christ are called "Christians," in Reyem the followers of The Shield are called "the Protected".

So, if The Shield is God of Reyem, the title Son of The Shield means 'Son of God' right? Well, yes ad no - that's a little tricky to explain. Let me start by telling you a bit about how I had the idea for SOTS. I was standing in the kitchen doing dishes - a great start, eh? Anyway, I turned around and looked down the hall to the front room, where the lights were off and it was dark. I saw a shot of a man with blonde hair and blue eyes sitting on a horse, and a young woman with dark hair and gray eyes standing nearby. As I watched, the girl's eyes suddenly went from pale gray to black, and - well, I won't say what she did next, because that would give away part of the story! (mwahahaha) Anyway, I was quite intrigued by what I had seen, and I went and got my name book, hoping to find some good names for the characters I had just been introduced to. Skimming through the girls' names, I found the name 'Orienne'. Perfect! It suited the dark-haired woman wonderfully! So I moved on to guys' names. None of them really grabbed me. I did, however, find a meaning of a name that I loved. The name was Ransom, and it meant - son of the shield. Sweet! I didn't care for the name, but the meaning was awesome - perfect for the title of a story, I thought. So I named the man on the horse Ransom in spite of my dislike for the name, hoping that it would grow on me. It didn't. As time went by, I actually grew to dislike the name even more. It just didn't work for the character, no matter how I tried to make it. But I had already begun to call my vague little idea by the title "Son of The Shield", and that part fit perfectly.

Eventually I found the name 'Sorek' - a perfect fit for the man on the horse. The name 'Ransom' became the name of the group of six men who are chosen to lead Adelfia. These men, "sons of The Shield," are ranked as sons, from First-Born to Sixth-Born. If one of the younger sons dies, for instance: the Fourth-Born, the sons younger in rank than he move up to fill his place and a new youngest son is chosen by the remaining sons. If the First-Born dies, however, his replacement can be chosen only by The Shield.

So, while technically the title SOTS does mean "son of God", it doesn't refer to the Son of God. It simply refers to the men chosen to lead The Shield's people. All of the Redeemed are Sons, after all. "And if children, then heirs"... you get the idea, I hope. If my rambling attempts at explanation have left anyone profoundly confused, please let me know and I'll try to clarify!