Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Fantasy World Building:

What’s that you ask? Or maybe you already know. You have heard the cliché about curiosity killing the cat and satisfaction bringing it back. Well, in fantasy world building the cat wants to know if the sky is blue, or maybe purple. Is up, still up, or is it down? Do people have one nose or two? Is it in the middle or their face? Does the law of gravity work there? Or is everyone floating around like a sci-fi mesmerizing cloud formation?

Every fantasy writer must create their own world and establish its rules without boring the audience to death. I mean, do you really want to read two hundred pages of what’s up and what color it is? No, I didn’t think so.

This aspect of creating a world and letting the reader discover it is both challenging and fun. In my case, I let you experience a medieval world through a modern American’s eyes. The grass is green, the sky is blue and so is the water. Rocks are just that, large and solid. Horses gallop; people speak through their mouths and eat just as we do here. The law of gravity continues to hold the earth together. So why is she having such a hard time?

We all remember Dorothy’s quest to get home. At the end of the book we learn that she has always had the power to do so by clicking the ruby slippers together and repeating, “There’s no place like home.”

Missie’s search to find a way home is frustrated by the ever increasing threat that Renwyk poses. Not to mention a prince who is charming, good looking, and totally infatuated with her. Frustrations abound. But perhaps for her, the most difficult part is that her music is so much more powerful in Gil-Lael. People claim that she has healing powers when she plays the flute. Could any of this really be true? If she returns home, will she miss the power her music holds in Gil-Lael, but won’t have in modern America?

Yours,
N. R. Williams

2 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You're right, some aspects need to be similar and taken for granted or the readers don't relate.

N. R. Williams said...

Thanks for your comment Alex.
N. R. Williams