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kippurbirdSo, I've been thinking about this one for a while.
I think that the most important question you can ask while creating a world and characters is "Why?" Why? Because it gives you reasons for why things are the way they are. Just because is never a reason. Things in the real world aren't there just because (even if sometimes it may seem like it). Things exist and people act in certain was because they have a reason to. These reasons may not ever be told with in the story it self, but they should be there in the background so if it ever comes up, you'll know why.
Fauna is one of the things that need to have a reason why. Not the regular fauna which for some reason remains consistent through out fantasy worlds. And which I'm just as guilty as any one else of doing, but it's easier to import familiar animals to create a world's ecology than having to build it up from scratch. This is needed for an alien world, but for most Fantasy lands, it's not. It's the fantastic creatures that need the explanation. Say you have unicorns. They're white, they've got golden horns and hooves, they dislike anyone who's not a virgin, they're magical. They are your typical, standard unicorn. Why? Why do these unicorns don't like virgins? Because that's what unicorns do? That's only in Earth mythology. In my world, mostly to be perverse to fan girls (spite is a wonderful thing. =D) I decided to have unicorns. But they weren't going to be the fluffy magical sort. They were going to be horses with horns. No more magical than a regular horse. In fact, for humans, there aren't any sort of magical horses available. The Fey have them, but they're just special like that. The reason why I gave the horses horns was because they are large flying predators in my world and they're going to need something to protect themselves with. A regular horse can only run, but these horses can at least try and gouge the predator's under belly.
When creating rules for magic, and magic in general, why is also a very important question. This why is something that may need to be explained in the text itself (as opposed to why the horses have horns) if you regularly see magic users. Magic follows rules or has some sort of system by which it works by. There maybe different types of magic, say like in Dungeons and Dragons, you have divine and arcane magic. And there may be different ways of accessing it, again from Dungeons and Dragons: Wizards learn arcane magic through the study of books while sorcerers have an inborn talent, usually from a distant magical ancestor. But the magic has rules. Wizards have to prepare their spells every morning. Clerics have to pray for their spells to receive them from their god. Arcane users are dependent on spell components, while divne are not. The reason for this is for game balance. But an in game way of thinking about it is that clerics' magic is a gift from the god they worship and so they don't need to figure it out so much as channel the divine energy while wizards approach it more like a science, figuring out what components -spoken and physical- create the wanted effect. It's rather like Magrat's type of witch, who figured out what kind of knife and apple was needed to get the name of the person you loved when tossing the peel over your shoulder. An eye of newt is all very well and good, but what sort of newt is it?
People motivation is another big why questioning. After all, why do people do the things that they do? They rarely do things in a vacuum. They may not know the reason for why they do something, but there is a reason. And here, most of all, just because doesn't cut it (unless they're chaotic neutral, but even then they have a reason). To get to the why of things for a character -the main characters most importantly- creating a detailed background is very important. Not only the character's history but their personality, religious beliefs, how they feel about things like their parents, outsiders, their jobs, what are they afraid of, what do they want to be in life. Having this on a separate sheet is very handy. Also writing scenes that explore some of these things, as background pieces that won't ever get into the actual book is useful. Sometimes I think they're more useful than an actual character sheet because it's story and it's the characters doing something as opposed to dry facts. Characters doing something always tells you more than dry facts. And it'll let you know why they react the way they do in the main story.
Annnnd... I lost my train of thought.
I think that the most important question you can ask while creating a world and characters is "Why?" Why? Because it gives you reasons for why things are the way they are. Just because is never a reason. Things in the real world aren't there just because (even if sometimes it may seem like it). Things exist and people act in certain was because they have a reason to. These reasons may not ever be told with in the story it self, but they should be there in the background so if it ever comes up, you'll know why.
Fauna is one of the things that need to have a reason why. Not the regular fauna which for some reason remains consistent through out fantasy worlds. And which I'm just as guilty as any one else of doing, but it's easier to import familiar animals to create a world's ecology than having to build it up from scratch. This is needed for an alien world, but for most Fantasy lands, it's not. It's the fantastic creatures that need the explanation. Say you have unicorns. They're white, they've got golden horns and hooves, they dislike anyone who's not a virgin, they're magical. They are your typical, standard unicorn. Why? Why do these unicorns don't like virgins? Because that's what unicorns do? That's only in Earth mythology. In my world, mostly to be perverse to fan girls (spite is a wonderful thing. =D) I decided to have unicorns. But they weren't going to be the fluffy magical sort. They were going to be horses with horns. No more magical than a regular horse. In fact, for humans, there aren't any sort of magical horses available. The Fey have them, but they're just special like that. The reason why I gave the horses horns was because they are large flying predators in my world and they're going to need something to protect themselves with. A regular horse can only run, but these horses can at least try and gouge the predator's under belly.
When creating rules for magic, and magic in general, why is also a very important question. This why is something that may need to be explained in the text itself (as opposed to why the horses have horns) if you regularly see magic users. Magic follows rules or has some sort of system by which it works by. There maybe different types of magic, say like in Dungeons and Dragons, you have divine and arcane magic. And there may be different ways of accessing it, again from Dungeons and Dragons: Wizards learn arcane magic through the study of books while sorcerers have an inborn talent, usually from a distant magical ancestor. But the magic has rules. Wizards have to prepare their spells every morning. Clerics have to pray for their spells to receive them from their god. Arcane users are dependent on spell components, while divne are not. The reason for this is for game balance. But an in game way of thinking about it is that clerics' magic is a gift from the god they worship and so they don't need to figure it out so much as channel the divine energy while wizards approach it more like a science, figuring out what components -spoken and physical- create the wanted effect. It's rather like Magrat's type of witch, who figured out what kind of knife and apple was needed to get the name of the person you loved when tossing the peel over your shoulder. An eye of newt is all very well and good, but what sort of newt is it?
People motivation is another big why questioning. After all, why do people do the things that they do? They rarely do things in a vacuum. They may not know the reason for why they do something, but there is a reason. And here, most of all, just because doesn't cut it (unless they're chaotic neutral, but even then they have a reason). To get to the why of things for a character -the main characters most importantly- creating a detailed background is very important. Not only the character's history but their personality, religious beliefs, how they feel about things like their parents, outsiders, their jobs, what are they afraid of, what do they want to be in life. Having this on a separate sheet is very handy. Also writing scenes that explore some of these things, as background pieces that won't ever get into the actual book is useful. Sometimes I think they're more useful than an actual character sheet because it's story and it's the characters doing something as opposed to dry facts. Characters doing something always tells you more than dry facts. And it'll let you know why they react the way they do in the main story.
Annnnd... I lost my train of thought.
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 07:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 05:57 pm (UTC)And I think I'm rambling now. But yes, I agree with you.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 12:53 pm (UTC)I always rolled my eyes at that myth, sort of how I roll my eyes at the increasing obsession with having sex in society these days.
But they weren't going to be the fluffy magical sort. They were going to be horses with horns. No more magical than a regular horse. In fact, for humans, there aren't any sort of magical horses available. The Fey have them, but they're just special like that. The reason why I gave the horses horns was because they are large flying predators in my world and they're going to need something to protect themselves with. A regular horse can only run, but these horses can at least try and gouge the predator's under belly.
Damn. You not only took one of my ideas, but made it cooler and more plausible. XD
The biggest gripe I usually hear from non-fantasy fans is that they see magic as a deus ex machina, because it can do almost anything with little or no explanation. The sad thing is, with a lot of fantasy books I can't disagree because that's the truth. Strangely enough though, one of the biggest sci-fi fan I know, who normally stays away from fantasy, loves The Lord of the Rings.
Sounds like you know what you're doing. I think one of the biggest things for a good story to have is a sense of all the different threads coming together at the end, wrapping everything up neatly and elegantly without losing the reader's attention.
By the way, much icon love :)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 02:38 pm (UTC)Well, the reason for the virgin myth was because the unicorn was a symbol for Christ for some period of time. That's what I vaguely remember anyway. *used to read lots of 'non-fiction' regarding magical beasts when she was young*
Of course, not all unicorns had that myth. It depended on the type of unicorn. XD
And... there is an interesting economics book called 'More Sex is Safer Sex' that you might find interesting. You may or may not agree with the guy's essay on that but it was certainly intriguing.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 10:45 pm (UTC)Of course, not all unicorns had that myth. It depended on the type of unicorn. XD
Yeah, you have a good point, that sounds familiar. I think that's true, but since my memory sucks, I can't really say for sure :)
And... there is an interesting economics book called 'More Sex is Safer Sex' that you might find interesting. You may or may not agree with the guy's essay on that but it was certainly intriguing.
*shrugs* I believe in seeing as many sides of an argument as I can and keeping an open mind. Well...trying to, at least ^_^'
no subject
Date: 2007-05-16 12:12 pm (UTC)Back in ye oldene thymes, everything was symbolic. About seven and a half minutes into the second episode of The Day the Universe Changed (I'd give you the link if was still there), James Burke describes how early Christian monks considered a rose:I think that allegory may even be how humans naturally think, that things aren't the sum of their properties so much as representing some abstract concept. Remember when you were reading Greek mythology when you were a kid? (A wild assumption here, true, but not a baseless one I think.) Just about every supernatural happening illustrated some capital-M Meaning. We've seen this kind of thing in just about every creation story and fairy tale we can remember, where characters exist only as plot points.
Yes, this looks kinds familiar to me too.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 06:15 pm (UTC)I actually got the idea from Terry Pratchett, when he had Granny Weatherwax describe a unicorn as just a horse with a horn on it's head to Ridicully, in Lords and Ladies.
The biggest gripe I usually hear from non-fantasy fans is that they see magic as a deus ex machina, because it can do almost anything with little or no explanation. The sad thing is, with a lot of fantasy books I can't disagree because that's the truth. Strangely enough though, one of the biggest sci-fi fan I know, who normally stays away from fantasy, loves The Lord of the Rings.
It's my personal belief that Magic should never be used as a deus ex machina. Magic is a tool that can be avalible to the heroes of the story, but it shouldn't be the thing that allows them to suddenly solve the problem. Magic can be part of the solution, but it shouldn't be The Solution.
I'd like to think that I know what I'm doing. Sometimes I may delude myself into thinking that. But most of this is my opinion from what I've learned in my own writing.
I absolutely LOVE that icon. It's just so... wonderful. "And then I did it anyway" =D
no subject
Date: 2007-05-15 10:57 pm (UTC)Still, it's a rarely-used concept. I'd definitely go for it :)
It's my personal belief that Magic should never be used as a deus ex machina. Magic is a tool that can be avalible to the heroes of the story, but it shouldn't be the thing that allows them to suddenly solve the problem. Magic can be part of the solution, but it shouldn't be The Solution.
Word to that!
I'd like to think that I know what I'm doing. Sometimes I may delude myself into thinking that. But most of this is my opinion from what I've learned in my own writing.
Well, when it comes to writing, everyone tells me there's no set formula for writing a bestseller/classic, so I figure as long as you're passionate, put a lot of effort into it and manage to pin down a good story, you just might make it. Not that I'm any expert in the subject...-_-
I absolutely LOVE that icon. It's just so... wonderful. "And then I did it anyway" =D
Crow from MST3K is so awesomely clever, isn't he? XD I wish I was that clever!
Unicorns
Date: 2007-05-16 02:37 am (UTC)It's only rarely-used like that in fantasy fiction. It's pretty common in general, particularly among those who dislike unicorns. Which I personally find silly.
And it's generally true, if your unicorn doesn't have all of the classical features (like the lion/cow's tail and the cloven hooves) or it's not one of the other types of unicorns, like the Middle-Eastern, carnivorous, musical gazelle that hypnotized it's next meal in the desert or the Asian, carp-scaled, single-antler horse that had more in common with dragons, judges, and destiny. And then there's always the 'original' description of the unicorn which shared a lot more in common with the Rhinoceros. Indeed, most unicorns were not mentioned as having golden anything... they had ivory horns based on narwhal teeth and the aforementioned cloven feet.
There's also the classic tale (I believe it was from India, but I am too lazy to look it up right now) of the boy with a single horn protruding from his forehead, who was born from the union of a hermit monk and a female deer.
My personal opinion is that there is an archetype that people often follow blindly. Most of which occurs in young children's literature, where the author doesn't bother going into great depth because their book may not even have chapters in it. But to decry unicorns without actual knowledge of the original mythos or even what else they can be like irks me.
Which, I guess isn't what was necessarily happening here. After all, Kippur gave a reason and her unicorns are not technically meant to be actual unicorns. It's just that I'm rather defensive of unicorns because I think they get a bum rap. (Admittedly, they're not -the- most interesting and inventive of all the mythological creatures, but they have endured for quite some time as a symbol and a myth for a good reason, in my opinion.)
People presume they are/have to be 'girly' and 'lovey-dovey'... though, really, is that necessarily a bad thing? Too many beautiful mythological creatures are ignored or considered childish because they're most typically depicted for young girls, where-as the ones most frequently attributed to boys are always cool at any age.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-16 01:05 pm (UTC)Fauna is one of the things that need to have a reason why. Not the regular fauna which for some reason remains consistent through out fantasy worlds. And which I'm just as guilty as any one else of doing, but it's easier to import familiar animals to create a world's ecology than having to build it up from scratch. This is needed for an alien world, but for most Fantasy lands, it's not. It's the fantastic creatures that need the explanation. Say you have unicorns. They're white, they've got golden horns and hooves, they dislike anyone who's not a virgin, they're magical. They are your typical, standard unicorn. Why? Why do these unicorns don't like virgins? Because that's what unicorns do? That's only in Earth mythology. In my world, mostly to be perverse to fan girls (spite is a wonderful thing. =D) I decided to have unicorns. But they weren't going to be the fluffy magical sort. They were going to be horses with horns. No more magical than a regular horse. In fact, for humans, there aren't any sort of magical horses available. The Fey have them, but they're just special like that. The reason why I gave the horses horns was because they are large flying predators in my world and they're going to need something to protect themselves with. A regular horse can only run, but these horses can at least try and gouge the predator's under belly.
This seems to me to be quite similar to the latest "news" posted at pasteldefender.com/news, regarding anacosmism - the hyperversal equivalent of anachronism. I don't agree with everything I think is being said there, particularly that horses are anacosmistic but humans don't necessarily seem to be, but it's an interesting read.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 03:00 am (UTC)Oh, JDR... JDR has some interesting ideas but... I remember the wankery at Portal of Evil and the comic strip before Pastel Defender. And just... so many things that are just plain wrong. It's a bit like Eragon, only through the roof... :D
But! Back to the concept of anacosmistic... I don't believe that normal fauna IS that way. I think most people don't either. The thing is, with fantasy, we view it as an alternate universe on an alternate earth, unless it specifically says that it isn't. So we tend to give it a lot more leeway with the environment than we do with sci-fi. Then again, most fantasy gets more leeway than sci-fi because the worlds that are created can't always be explained with science and thus can't be criticized as strictly in that regard, to an extent.
So really, it's just that the readers expect and allow fantasy to be lazy. They, perhaps, even want to see more typical things in fantasy than they do in sci-fi. I'm not saying that fantasy is necessarily less original. But people tend to be more forgiving with the little things, so long as the rest of it is admirably unique. (Not to mention, fantasy is notorious for avoiding fauna in general, except where it can't. Such as horses, or some unique beast like dragons, being the main method of transportation.)
Plus, as people in general, I would say that we tend to want some things in common with our own world. We find it comforting and it gives us a focal point with which to compare the rest of the world. Hence, the typical usage of humanity as the protagonist race in most commercial adult fantasy. It's not impossible to use another race instead, no! But it's harder to explain the differences from humans, particularly if there aren't any humans to reference (it certainly takes more time anyway.) Even when they do use another race, sometimes they take the easy route and don't go into much depth with it (which is really the shortcut most children's fantasy takes.)
no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 03:34 am (UTC)Oo! Details! What's the dirt on Unicorn Jelly?
no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 03:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 03:49 am (UTC)Not even constructive? Since this was Portal of Evil you mentioned I suspect she didn't get many nice comments.
Unless you're asking what was Unicorn Jelly like? :)
More like details on things that are just plain wrong.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-17 05:38 am (UTC)... You have seen her artwork, right? It's been awhile since I've really even looked at any of the stuff in her website forums but still, I'm pretty certain that's evidence enough. XD
More like details on things that are just plain wrong.
Hrmm... she introduced a female character whom she said was essentially meant to represent the PoE in the comic? And the unicorn jelly title character is eaten by other characters? He does it as a matter of self-sacrifice, to save their lives and purify the poisoned food but...
Also, the fact that her self-insert character is named Kay-Wai (K-Y Jelly) and in the little side-story, semi-alternate universe comics, was the boyfriend/girlfriend of the unicorn jelly? I really can't remember too much specifically about it. The thing is, JDR has some interesting ideas in her storyline. She just has poor execution overall, over-uses angst, and has really bad art in general.
She also whines quite a lot about her life but from what I remember, she has no job, has no interest in a job, and at one point more recently, was trying to get her fans to pay for a new computer for her... without necessarily offering them anything in return (like exclusive art or new comics or some other merchandise for donating.)
Oh and there was the incident she mentioned in her forum about how she once ruined a roleplaying game for everyone involved, by turning an overly cutesy Christmas scene into a scene of gore and grisly horror. Which, sounds like it might not be so bad... except for how she explained it. Basically, she fucked it up because she wanted to break up with someone at the game and didn't sound as if she had any real remorse for ruining everyone else's fun. And then her fans all told her it sounded funny. Which it kind of does but the way she explained it, it sounded like she took everything way too far (saying that she raped Mrs. Claus for instance) and that all of it was uncalled for. She basically broke off all connection with everyone else in the RP group in doing so.
But my memory isn't the best so don't quote me on that. ^^;