 Drama: October 16, 2019 Issue [#9799] |
This week: Creating the Imaginary World Edited by: Joy  
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“If you're building a fantasy world that exists outside of the rules of our real world, why would you write it to conform to the rules and binaries that we have today? Why still limit yourself?”
Lachlan Watson
“If something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open, but if it isn't there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed. That's why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones.”
Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“Some things have to be believed in to be seen.”
Ralph Hodgson
“Reality and fantasy are not two separate spheres but one whole. They are like a world's atmosphere―reality behaving as a low front, fantasy a high front. Each remains somewhat distinguishable and yet they swirl and join, affecting and manipulating the other. One cannot perceive where reality ends and fantasy begins, but life would grow stagnant and die without the influence of both.”
Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes
“We don't create a fantasy world to escape reality. We create it to be able to stay.”
Lynda Barry
Hello, I am Joy , this week's drama editor. This issue is about creating an imaginary world.
Thank you for reading our newsletters and for supplying the editors with feedback and encouragement.
Please, note that there are no rules in writing, but there are methods that work for most of us most of the time.
The ideas and suggestions in my articles and editorials have to do with those methods. You are always free to find your own way and alter the methods to your liking.
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Welcome to the Drama newsletter
Now that NaNoWriMo has drawn near, as writers some of you will build settings for your stories. Whether you will designate a fantasy land with unicorns, dragons, intergalactic battles, or even a make-believe contemporary city here on earth, you will be creating an imaginary world.
The construction of a totally fictional planet or a fantasy world points to an alternate reality, but at the same time, it still captures our understanding of right and wrong or beautiful and ugly. Because of this fact, an imaginary world has less to do with the background and environment and more to do with the characters you put in it.
As in most successful stories, in an imaginary world, the main characters are the ones to give that world a point of focus in order to anchor the story’s events. Unfortunately, most inexperienced authors pay far too much attention in the setting or the place elements of their stories instead of the ways their characters see that world and operate in it. A character’s perspective, point of view, and voice can determine the ways the readers will relate to any created world.
Even though they may not be the central focus, the supporting characters also affect that imagined world since they influence the main character and the arc he or she follows. The supporting characters may help establish the present world or maybe disturb it, too, which creates strong dramatic events.
In my opinion, the best way to give a taste of the imaginary world to the readers is to show the characters operate inside that world through scenes and especially inside the opening scenes. If you begin with a description of the imaginary world that is many paragraphs or pages long, you will bore the readers. If you write such a description, it is a good idea to keep it for yourself as a referral material.
For presenting an imaginary world, the use of the five senses is important. What is also important are the objects and other fantasy elements the characters deal or work with. Their degree of importance, again, depends on the character’s actions, state of mind, and ability to detect them as well as their relationship to the plot. The ways your characters notice things will influence how the readers view that world.
Then, each world, imaginary or not, has some layers of history, mythology, religion, and customs. You shouldn’t omit the politics, society, culture, and laws and regulations of that world within the confines of your story. For this task, some questions to ask can be:
 What is the scientific nature of your world? For example, how many suns, oceans, landmasses it has and does it have a different atmosphere than the earth?
Is your world magical or scientific or is it a rift between the two or is it something else you can think of?
Do everyone in that world use the same language or do the languages and ways of expression differ?
Are the beliefs, religions, lore, and superstitions the same or different from place to place?
Is there a caste system, be it openly acknowledged or only implied? Are there any other social customs?
What about food, music, and entertainment?
What about its technology and transportation?
Are the flora and the fauna the same or different from the earth? If different, note them during your preparation. This way you’ll know when and if to include them in the scenes.
What is the landscape like? You’ll need to think about this so you can create a solid backdrop for the events.
Creating an imaginary world takes a bit more preplanning than writing a story within the known world. It may be a good idea to focus on one element at a time and take it from there. You can go as in-depth as you wish or you may want to make it much simpler. It’s all up to you. Good world-building adds richness to your story or novel, and its possibilities are endless.
Wishing you the best with NaNo and all your other writings...
Until next time! 
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This Issue's Tip: An imaginary world's boundaries should not limit you; always, look for the possibilities within those boundaries.
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Feedback for "About Secondary Characters and Sidekicks"
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Quick-Quill 
I have an MC that is a cop on a mission. I needed a secondary Character that would be opposite of him, but would be in the story. I had an epiphany. I thought of a reformed prostitute. She'd know the business and the players. She wants to help these girls out of that life. The community knows who she was and still judge her. They look at my MC as her client. He tries to show she's now a christian and is not the same woman. I decided to write this as people change, do their sins need to follow them? Can we as a society forgive past actions when present actions show a life has changed? Are we so beyond belief that the Story of Scrooge is a myth? When you know people this has happened to, it's real, but what does that say about judging? People tout tolerance, yet they judge others openly and don't give them equal tolerance. I hope this story will not just be about finding a killer, but shed a subtle light on forgiveness. Can we look at a prostitute who's changed and truly forgive her? Can a policeman in the 1920's take a stand and support her and not get tarred with the same judgement brush?
It seems your story is multi-faceted, which is the most literary way, in my opinion. Finding a killer is fine but when you add a character to it who touches our sensibilities, you raise the quality of the story.
As to your questions, I think it is within your writerly powers to make your readers forgive the reformed prostitute, and the same goes for the policeman. If you can accept and forgive them and present them in a positive way, most of the readers should, too. After all, Anne Rice made us accept Lestat, didn't she! The same goes for some of the Godfather characters.
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Beholden 
Thanks very much for including my story, "Bogwart's Best Birthday", amongst the Editor's Picks!
Beholden
My pleasure.
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