 Fantasy: January 08, 2014 Issue [#6085] |
  Fantasy
This week: Drawing Lines in the Sand Edited by: Storm Machine  
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Maps are beautiful things. A map shows fine details for all the setting, but that is not all the map holds. Whether you begin with a real place or a created one, look beyond the exact details of what is there.
A road or path shows a journey that the people in that world take. It will probably be a direct route from A to B, but why does that path exist? Why don't they go another place instead? Those reasons for the traffic are what take characters around. Does the path take a lot of turns to stay out of a bad area or just impassable terrain? The discovery of that particular path might have gone through many iterations instead, where the explorers first found one thing they wanted, then went farther.
Good and bad places happen in both rural and urban areas. The bad neighborhood where the at-risk kids rule is just as problematic for a character as the abandoned track in farm country with the rumors or real reasons surrounding why no one lives there.
Lines marking the territory borders will also change your character. If a character is from the wrong side of town, the wrong state, or the wrong country, everyone else may have a twisted idea of what that person stands for. Some territory might not be marked as if it was a state or country line. There is a fictional space where a religion changes, or where a certain sports team holds sway.
Right, I know. Fantasy. Science fiction. But that doesn't mean they don't have some kind of sport to fill their downtime. Those characters might still worship something. There will be something in the character's path every time he walks to school, like a pothole he never steps in until he gets frustrated. Or the bookstore she never looked at until the hailstorm ruined her car.
Is all that represented on your map? Don't just look at the lines and the boxes of the important spots. Fill in all the details of the characters' lives. |
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| |  | Heart's Cry (18+)
This is the first chapter of a book. Will be vampiric in nature in later chapters
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BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
Sometimes societies are forced to come up with new traditions.
Sometimes.
Mage 
Thank you for plugging my story, Time Out.
- Mage
Hope you received good feedback.
Mummsy 
This is excellent!  I had a lot of fun developing the religions and holidays for my trilogy. They're vital to the story as it progresses, and whether or not they appear in the stories, the backstory and world-building help create a richer story.
Yay!
Dan Hiestand 
Huge fan of the newsletter, thank you so much!
This is my fantasy epic, "Ciridian."
Just thought I'd take a shot at sending it in. :) Take care!
Good luck! |
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