by Janet Quinn
When writing fantasy, there are so many things to keep track of it takes an entire notebook of its own. If I’m writing a historical, I know what religion my characters are likely to be, though it’s not always important. I know how my characters are going to dress and I have books to double check that I have everything correct.
In fantasy, I’m making it up as I go along. Linda Mac (Linda MacLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont)took a class on building a fantasy world which she found very helpful. I think it might have been a good idea, but I seldom have time to take classes. That means I learn from my mistakes, which are frequent.
Writing a fantasy novel, it’s easier to catch the mistakes. If the world is for one time use, then anything that needs fixing, I’ll find by the time I get to the end of the book. Ooops, I forgot about what religious ceremonies I might need. I can always go back and fix that. Maybe the dress I picked for my characters really doesn’t work, not a problem. I can redress them before I’m through.
The problems come when you want to create a world and use it over again. When I started the Augeas stories, I was only concerned with getting two of them finished and into the publisher. Having my characters dressed in robes seemed like a great idea. Robes are really awkward especially for soldiers, but I’m stuck since two of the stories have been published. Then when I commissioned pictures of my characters, just because I wanted to, and received the picture of Dorjan, my first thought was, “Boy, I hope he’s got on underwear, otherwise things could get indecent.” Guess I’d better add underwear to the list of clothing.
The other problem was, that being in a hurry, I didn’t really sit down and plan everything out. I wrote the two stories, sold them and went on to the next two. Story three, I figured out that the humans shouldn’t be as long lived as the Ancient Ones. Why would they call them Ancient Ones if they didn’t live a lot longer? So I had to write all these notes on the first two stories so that I’d remember to make changes when I got my edits. Poor Brencis has been several many ages now. He was really old, middle aged, no age mentioned and finally back to sort of really old.
The important part about writing fantasy is consistency. When you build a world, as the author you have to think about such things as religion, politics, life style, recreational activities, food, clothing, housing, and on and on. Every part of daily life has to constructed. Then you have to throw in the fantasy part. I have magic in my world, but figuring out what kind of magic wasn’t an easy task. I consulted my expert, my son Rob, and finally decided that the magic was done with the mind. But not everyone could have the same abilities. Not only would that be boring, but then they’d all be equal and there would be no conflict.
There are still several many holes in my world which I keep filling with each new story. Augeas’ residents are of two races, so of course there must be half-breeds. How are they treated? The Guard plays a game called Clootie. What are the rules? They must have some kind of religion. Every culture has a religion.
As soon as I finish stories five and six, I’ll try and figure out some of these things. And I’m still trying to figure out where I could put in dragons, just because I like dragons.
Drawings by Jasmine Tanner, veildandy.deviantart.com
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Available now by Janet Quinn at her website: http://www.janet-quinn.com/ -
WHISKEY SHOTS Vol 7 from Whiskey Creek Press,
WILD HONEY
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THE IRISH COUNTESS, THE LUCKY LADY and A MOMENT IN TIME
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THE KILTED GOVERNESS, ARROW OF THE HEART and THE RIVER'S TREASURE
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