 Fantasy: October 15, 2014 Issue [#6604] |
  Fantasy
This week: Fantasy Cultures and Views on Death Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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An Elf (written) Fantasy Newsletter
Since it's nearing Halloween and such, death is a topic that comes to mind. When building worlds and fantasy cultures, one should consider not only their views on death but other factors because adding the right details can really show the world to a reader even within a short amount of words on the page.
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October is a fun month with Halloween coming up, many people on the site focused on preparing for National Novel Writing Month, and the many possibilities for writing topics. While I'm focusing on world building before NaNoWriMo, this time the topic that came to mind is Death. Not only is Halloween close (the time when the veil between the physical world and spiritual world is supposed to be thin in some belief systems) and not long after that is a time known as Dia de los Muertos (days of the dead). There are many different cultures and views on death in our world, so why not incorporate a few different visions and beliefs in your fantasy one as well.
This works for either a whole culture/group of people in a story, or even a single character. While there are many options with this topic, I'm just going to cover a few points. Feel free to build this part of your world to whatever extent works best for the story both in the prep process and in creation that will help you write. First, when planning, consider the general views that the different cultures of the world will have on death, dying and on how to honor those who have passed away.
Different Species/Characters
If you have different types of characters, then you can consider what each one thinks happens to those that die, how the honor death and even burial if that information comes in handy during the story. For example: I'm going to write a story with elves, dwarves and humans. They won't all have the same views on death, so the interesting part in the world building process on that level is both figuring out where they vary and also finding some points of similarities that might come up within the series. However, even if your fantasy world is just one type of character (humans or any type), if there are different countries, regions, religions, or such, then there are going to be different beliefs in relation to death.
Some potential questions to consider:
What color is worn or used in decoration that indicates mourning?
Do they have funerals when someone passes away?
Are there burials or cemeteries?
Is there a particular ceremony or gesture performed to honor the loss of someone?
What about deaths during war?
Specific Character Instances
There don't need to be long drawn out paragraphs explaining the different cultural views on death within the story unless it's relevant and moves to the story forward. However, on a smaller scale, the different elements you've decided for the set of characters/culture can be shown through the views/actions of one character when writing a story. This is part of what helps create a reality for the reader, some of the minor details that combined paint a picture of a living world within the words. It doesn't have to be from the character's own culture either. The viewpoint character might notice something when going through a town during travels, or when interacting with different people after a disaster. There are many options available.
In the end, it's nice to have a few elements when it's relevant to the story. However, with world building, there are many things you can know and develop that may not show in the story at all. Maybe for Halloween, one thing to try out is to write a scene that shows one element of the main characters culture and views on death. Consider it good prep practice when preparing to write a long novel or series. I wonder if there would be elf ghosts...
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Last week I issued a challenge and one brave soul took it. Since I was discussing fashion in fantasy stories, I asked people to write a short story about a fantasy fashion show (as in fantasy characters taking part or watching a fantasy show) in less than 5,000 words. Thank you Shanachie  for taking the time to give it a try. 
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Other picks for the week in fantasy:
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How does a character or culture in your story view death? Is there a time when the spirit world is closer to the physical world? How does a character mourn the death of someone close to them?
Here is the one comment sent in from my newsletter on Fashion in Fantasy:
Comment by Snowhawk 
I loved reading all the comments on world building. For the month of September I am taking a course on World Building and enjoying it immensely. It is also interesting how everyone here has their own way of doing their world building. I am right now creating a world with different races, customs, religion, and science are just some of the areas I have been working on recently. This subject is so much fun and the possibilities are endless.
- Thanks for the comment. While I don't do much in the way of world building for most stories, I am finding all the different things you can develop to be fascinating. I can see how it's easy to get distracted from the novel writing when it comes to creating worlds.
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