  Fantasy
This week: Do You Build Worlds? Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf (written) Fantasy Newsletter
Many people have different approaches to creating worlds and getting ready to write stories within them. Some world build and others just write. I explore the question of world building in general and get ready to start out on my first big world building adventure. |
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The task of building worlds can be a challenge and often is an integral part of writing fantasy. While I write a fair amount of fantasy and science fiction for they are what I hope to submit for publication my experience with world building outside of the novels/stories is very limited. To put it another way: I wrote a novel first draft that is over 170,000 words without any attempt at building the world before or during. I have almost 3 finished first drafts of novels in fantasy or sci-fi with another near done and more in progress, but I have never done a proper world build attempt. The closest I've done is a few of the exercises in NaNoWriMo Prep Challenge are about the world of the story. I know others who have had the opposite problem: them spend so long building a world then lose interest so don't get to the actual writing of the story. And others fall between the spectrums. So, I'm curious.
Do you build worlds?
And I ask in part because I have decided before NaNoWriMo 2014, I am going to spend 2 months working on building worlds. The novel I picked is the first in my long pondered epic fantasy series and since I attempted the novel back in 2010 (reached 50k in 15 days then stopped), I already went through Prep with it. So, instead I am going to try and figure out this world building concept.
How do you build worlds?
Since I've never done it, I'm not sure what are the best approaches because it is quite the daunting task. I went to a session on world building at a writing conference years ago and have a list of things to consider with the world, but there are so many things I haven't done. It's almost crazy, but I've never even created a map for a story. But at the same time, it's freeing because trial and error is a good practice often times. What will work for some people may not work for me. Many tasks in writing are about finding what works best for you in particular and playing with worlds is one of those tasks.
Many go digital, which probably isn't surprising since many of us write online and well, this is a writing web site. There are different programs that can create useful world building items. Scrivener has sections in the documents for things like character work sheets and setting information. A plethora of options exist.
I'm going a bit old school. I bought clearance notebooks (less than 25 cents a piece with my discount) and I'm painting over the cover so I can write on it with sharpies and draw whatever I want on the covers. Even though writing by hand can cause minor problems with my hand, sometimes it helps to take on a different method and since I mostly type, going to go with the pen and paper route for this world building challenge.
So, I may not be an expert at this task in fantasy writing but I'm going to give it a try. What about you?
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So... Do you build worlds?
Last time I wrote about the reader and considering the audience to a certain degree when writing. I got some interesting responses that differed and show how some feel on the topic.
Comment from Lawless - Proud Pantser
The only thing I can say out writing to an audience is that it really won't help you much.
As an avid reader, all I can really do is write the kind of stuff that I would like to read. I know where the limits of the unbelievable are for me and that's as far as I will take things in my work.
When you start writing for the audience instead of writing something you, yourself enjoy, then you are going to start banging your head against a wall eventually. How can you possibly write for an audience you don't y know is going to be there?
Stop thinking about the audience. Stop thinking who "might" read the book. Write the story. I mean, isn't writing the whole point in the first place?
- To each their own. But to clarify, I wasn't saying that the reader dictates the story because many people do write for themselves and no one else. However, the consideration of primary audiences isn't a bad thing either, especially for those that want to some day sell their work. It is useful for marketing and for the rest, it's just kind of an interesting thing to consider. It doesn't have to change anything. I write the story I want, but for me, I like to consider some reader factors especially when I'm pondering where to submit as I hope to be published one day. But others will have their own take on the subject.
Comment from Taunia Lynn
When my daughter was in high school, I was wondering how my book would work in a type of real world atmosphere. My daughter had no problem taking the story, chapter by chapter, to her friends. I guess the book will do good with high school girls, because they kept chasing her down for the next chapter. That's not bad considering that is how Stephenie Myers became famous. However, I wanted to find out how the book would do in other markets, so I joined writing.com. I will be interesting to see what happens. Yet, if I am not interested in my own writing, it is not worth anything.
- Yes, it's good to have interest in what you are writing. It's harder to write with something that will interest others if you aren't interested in what you're writing.
Comment from Quick-Quill 
I knew who the reader's would be before I even started my novel. They would be book club women, women on vacation, Women between the ages of 35-95* (or older). This would be a story that could have and did happen in real life. My beta readers (a book club) said they couldn't put it down. That gave me the courage to keep presenting it until I got a publisher. I do believe you have to have a story that people relate to, in fantasy it still must have boundaries with in that world that stay there. If MC can't cast a spell in the beginning, it better not happen in chapter 3 unless this is remake of HP and they are in school.
- Nice to know ahead of time, to have a general idea and that way you could find the right beta readers once you had the story written. Some people will vary on what they believe, which is always interesting and what brought me to the topic, especially when fantasy is the genre.
Comment from BIG BAD WOLF is Howling 
To be honest, I write what I like - turns out that plenty of people like what I write. Only one person has called my stuff "unbelievable", and that came from a guy who thinks that only "His" dragons are the "Real" ones, and others are "D+D wannabe" rejects - in short, I don't hold his opinions much credit. After all, Fantasy is Fiction.
That being said, I got a fistful of reviews from the UENG, as I'd won them from the group, and the items that they reviewed said that I needed to do plenty of work researching a certain topic that the group deals with, and they are right on that.  
- Good for you as you have to go with what works best for you to keep writing stories. Though I can also say, I get what you mean with the types of stories we see in UENG. Sometimes, a little research and knowing those that might enjoy them in particular can help a tad.
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Fantasy: August 20, 2014 Issue [#6506]
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