 Fantasy: December 04, 2019 Issue [#9901] |
This week: Particular Setting: Schools Edited by: Dawn Embers  
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Fantasy Newsletter by Dawn
Schools are common settings for young adult speculative fiction in particular but they can be elements found in many different stories. How people/creatures learn and develop can show something about the world to the reader. |
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Fantasy and Sci-Fi worlds have many different elements and settings. There are so many options for places to set a story and even more places that can be used as stopping places or sections within the long range of the world the characters must travel. One of those options is a school.
While it's more prevalent in speculative fiction stories where the protagonists are either children or young adults (in fact many popular books and series are set in schools) there are many other stories that can use a school some point within the story. There are the flash backs from the adult character's childhood to help show how they got to that point or developed a certain way. How they were trained or what they learned can be a big influence on who they become as adults after all. Also, events that happened during those ages that might have taken place in the setting of a school can be dramatic or even traumatizing, which makes them of use for showcasing conplications and different elements of the character.
What type of school system is used can also show much about the way the world is for the character and everyone else within that realm. Even small aspects can really bring a world to life since most readers have their own background of education so can related to different parts of the education system. What items are used, how tests are done, and other school traits will show parts of the world to the reader in relatively quick fashion.
Consider what items are used in the schools as an example. Do they have books? Is paper a common resource or is it something scarce? Do they not use such materials out of reverence for the trees? What about classrooms? What do they look like in the speculative fiction world? In the front of the classroom, is there a wall that works as a board for writing assignments and other things (afterschool punishments much like that of Bart Simpson) that requires the use of chalk, erasable markers or even magic? There are many options to how much technology a school has and thus what a character might have access to or have used in their youth on their path to becoming adults.
Also, who gets to go to the different schools is another element to consider. Aside from youth, there can be training programs or universities in which older characters go to learn. The setting for each one, the equipment available and who gets to use the facilities to learn are all elements that can be considered when building up the education system of your fictional world. Who teaches at the school is another par to consider and then there is also the administration since it takes more than just a few teachers to keep things going... or does it?
If it's a tiny community, maybe there aren't many and the school is just a few characters who teach those who need to learn. What would a small fairy colony do as far as education? What about trolls in the mountains? And then there are the solitary creatures who don't even spend long with family before living out on their own. Some might not have formal training at all and others maybe be forced into a system they don't appreciate or that causes them problems. Either way, their are many stories out their with different worlds that will have their own education systems. It all depends on how you want to write them.
What is the school system like in your world? What are your favorite novels that include schools as part of their setting? Read a few, check out some others to see what writers have done thus far, then go write your own. |
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What are schools and education like in your speculative fiction world?
Last month, for this newsletter I discussed some aspects of the first draft. Here is the comment sent in over one particular, NaNoWriMo friendly, approach to the very first draft:
Comment by Osirantinous 
How do I approach the first draft? Jump in head first, really. I just write the characters (or, rather, they write) and for the most past there appears to be no plot whatsoever. But, also, I already start editing even before I'm finished the first draft. I suspect I never actually 'finish' a draft; it just evolves and evolves until it's the finished product!
- Interesting approach. Even pantsing or plotting can have different approaches within the same similar method. I often just right in but have either a main plot or subplots that drive the characters a little. Endings are hard to reach with long novels too. I've restarted a few to make major changes before even making the half way mark at least twice. I'll do a newsletter on final drafts or just "finishing" them at some point.
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