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For this month's newsletter, I decided to touch upon a worldbuilding aspect that I've done before, but put it away on a shelf for awhile. Climates. Today we'll be focusing on the Desert.
Deserts are characterized by extreme temperatures. There are arctic deserts with very cold temperatures, but today I'm focusing on dry, hot deserts. These kind of deserts can be found all over the world and on almost every continent. In the United States, there are desert areas in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico. In Africa, there is the Sahara, the largest non-polar desert in the world covering 3.5 million square miles. In Australia there is the Great Western Desert, three large deserts often grouped into one (popularly called "the Outback"). The Thar desert is in northern India and Pakistan. The Arabian desert covers much of the Middle East.
Wind is generally light in the desert, allowing the evaporation of moisture in the intense heat and since the wind usually blows downward, the area is seldom penetrated by air masses that could produce rain. Thus, a very dry heat that makes up what we consider to be desert regions. Contrary to popular opinion, however, most deserts are only 30% sand. Because it is so hot and dry, few plants and animals can survive in the desert. Plants are usually low to the ground and small, and have ways to conserve water. For example, their leaves are packed with nutrients and some have the ability to store water for long periods of time.
The only animals living in the desert have to be able to burrow into the ground to avoid the scalding hot temperatures of the day. Some examples of these are insects reptiles, birds, and even jack rabbits.
Average Temperature: Between 20 degrees Celsius (68° F) to the extremely hot 49 degrees Celsius (120°F).
Average Rainfall: Under 5-10 inches a year. Most rainfall will occur in a close period of time between longer periods of dryness; a "rainy" season.
For any person, there are three basic necessities that come first: water, food, and shelter. Desert dwellers know that the most important thing is water. In our own world, wars have been fought over who would get to drink and water cattle at an oasis. Keep the harsh setting in mind when creating your characters. Harsh setting usually, but not always, makes for harsh characters. Those of us in modern society and our comfortable temperate climates have never been without water. Even if the water gets turned off at our house, we can always run down to the grocery store and buy some. What would it be like to never be able to do that? What if the nearest source of water was at least a day's journey away? How would you conserve water? Not only water for people, but what if your characters are shepherds? Now there are more mouths to water. What would happen to your characters if they were cut off from their only water supply? How would the scarcity of water affect how often your characters bathe? Or even cry? Wasting water would be almost blasphemous, because in the desert, water is the difference between life and death.
Now for food... There are few plants in the desert so your characters' diet probably consists mostly of meat, but if they live near an area where vegetation is plentiful, perhaps near a river system like the Nile in Egypt, perhaps they have better variety.
Another aspect to keep in mind is the heat. Heat can kill in a desert, which is why it is important to keep nearly all the skin covered if you're going to be out in it for very long. But you don't want to suffocate in your clothes; they must protect, but they must also allow movement of air.
That brings me to shelter, the last necessity. If your characters are in a desert, they know that they must have constant access to water, so if they happen to find a source that won't dry up with years of usage, perhaps they might consider building a permanent building. With what materials, however? There are few trees in the desert, even in the rich lands along rivers, trees are not used with the wanton extravagance they are used in the United States. Well, there's plenty of sand and dirt around, perhaps bricks then? What other resources would your characters have at hand?
Or what if your people are nomadic like the beduoins of the Arabian desert? Brick homes will not suit for their lifestyle. Their shelter must be easily moved when necessary, but sturdy enough to withstand sandstorms. Tents, of course, or is there something else that your characters might use?
Here are a couple of movies you may want to watch to get some ideas about living in deserts:
Lawrence of Arabia
Flight of the Phoenix
The Four Feathers |
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From: schipperke
Erin:
Thanks for the history on one of my favorite authors!
You're welcome! 
From: Louve  
Thanks for the article on Tolkien ; He was such a writer... Even if tehre are other very good fantasy writers, he can be credited as the founder (or re-founder) of the genre. Beren and Luthien shall not be forgotten.
From: Maimai J Saves for Upgrade
I love your NL about J.R.R. Tolkien. He is one of my all-time favorite authors. I'll forever honor him for giving us the wonderful world of Middle Earth. Right? ('ayt!)
Right! 
From: billwilcox
Erin!
I can't believe you didn't mention my Tolkien-parody "The Fellowship Of The Wing" What a wonderful tribute to such a ground-breaking Fantasy author--Write On!
Sorry Bill, but there were so many choices and I didn't want to overload the readers  .
From: Bob DeFrank 
A concise but detailed look at Tolkien's life, and more than fitting for the occasion. Hopefully your article will encourage others to learn more about the man behind Middle Earth.
On a personal note, I'd love a chance to meet him, but I'm afraid he'd have confused me with all the nutcases who kept stalking him.
Probably because I'm not that far from being one.
From: ridinghhood-p.boutilier 
I very much enjoyed your article on Tolkien. All of the Inklings are interesting writers. If you can find Charles Williams work--especially the novels--you are in for a strange ride. Try his novel The Greater Trumps if you are a Tarot fan.
I've yet to venture to other Inklings outside of Lewis and Tolkien, but someday I will .
From: FantasyTeen
Thanks for putting my short essay about Tokien in the newsletter, that was suprising. (pleasently so) Thanks.
You're very welcome.
From: Walkinbird 3 Jan 1892
"The Lothlorien Forum" most humbly thanks you, bowing low for undertaking so thorough a homage to J.R.R. Tolkien this month! I congratulate you and hope to see you around our gathering spots from now on!
From: scribbler
thank you so much for featuring Tolkien. I could not have ask for a better newsletter. :]
From: thatBobguy
Thank you- I didn't mark Tolkein's birthday, but I will from now on. Great job illuminating the life of this creative genius and putting it all in perspective. Nice job. And, I am thankful here that sometime in the early part of last century a stray bullet didn't deprive the world of this man's writings. I wonder how many axe blows to the roots of the human tree have happened that we will never know? And, thank you for a great job telling this story.
From: Strange Wulf
Okay, this has to be one of my most favorite Newsletters yet. ^_^ I am a fan of Tolkien (though he gets a bit long-winded at times), and this made my day.
Thank you for the bit of history and the links. I won't be deleting this NL anytime soon.
From: Lobelia is truly blessed
I hear your last newsletter was all about my FAVORITE author, J.R.R.Tolkien. So I immediately subscribed to the fantasy newsletter- but where can I read that issue? The archive hasn't been updated since last June.....
Hi Lobelia . You can check out my article on Tolkien here: "Invalid Item" . |
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Fantasy: February 08, 2006 Issue [#864]
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