Greetings mythics!
I’ve been asked to be on a fantasy panel with other fellow fantasy writers for the upcoming Herts Book Festival (18th and 19th May) and the theme is World Building. I’ve always loved this aspect of writing and in fantasy, along with Sci-fi and Horror, world building is crucial. It’s obvious to say the if you are writing a contemporary novel then it’s pretty much a given that your readers will know about the environment the book is set in. Even if it’s set in a different country, the laws of physics, of nature, of the environment are the same so the writer doesn’t have to spend time explaining these aspects. They follow the known facts about the real world we live in (we could go down the rabbit hole of what is ‘real’ and what isn’t, but we’ll save that for another day!). What is world building? Let’s look at what good old Wikipedia says: “World building is the process of constructing an imaginary world or setting, sometimes associated with a fictional universe. Developing the world with coherent qualities such as a history, geography, culture and ecology is a key task for many science fiction or fantasy writers.” As I’ve already stated, I think its crucial for science fiction and fantasy writers. Why? A well constructed world needs to created by the writer and explained to the reader so they may understand the their laws of physics, their laws of nature, their environment. There may be a fair amount of cross over features from our ‘real’ world, such as the laws of gravity, the weather systems, or religions, but in order to be considered fantasy there does have to be a degree of difference. In fantasy, the obvious difference being magic. Planning the fundamentals. According to Tina Morgan from The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Volume One, the basics are Time, Physical, Inhabitants, Society and Magic. These broad categorises encapsulate pretty much all that is needed for a coherent and believable fantasy world. Time, and I would add Place here too, is knowing what era the world is set in. For example is your world prehistoric, futuristic, or another specific time in history? Every fantasy world is based and inspired from a ‘real’ time and place in history. My own world of Edra is based on a pseudo-medieval setting drawing from the history, customs, superstitions, folktales and lore from the British Isles. But there are, obviously, plenty of other cultures from around the world and eras to drawn on. What are the physical aspects? Are they earth-like or alternative? If they are earth-like then the world has to follow the normal laws of physics and the author needs to take time to get elements like the science, climate, and environment correct otherwise the reader can disengage if something doesn’t ring true. If the world is an alternative or parallel world then obviously some or all of these elements will be altered to suit the stories the author wants to tell. They still need to follow coherent laws of the alternative science, climate, and environment but also the author needs to explain these alternative physical aspects otherwise, once again, the reader will lose interest and become frustrated with an ‘anything can happen’ world. The inhabitants of a fantasy world will probably be very different to our real world. This is one of the major differences from other genres of literature. The imagination of the author can really shine here as they can invent new races and creatures alongside humans and earth-based animals. As well as the usual elves, dwarves, fairies, gnomes, orcs, and goblins, I try to include the lesser-known races such as boggarts, brownies, cluricauns, pookas, and ink-pot monkeys. I’ve even created my own flying iron-monkeys! It’s the same with monsters and creatures. There are hundreds of documented mythical creatures from around the real world to draw on and inhabit your world. Some are always popular such as the dragon, griffin, minotaur, gorgon, and unicorn but it’s always refreshing to see more unknown creatures such as the wendigo, will O’ the wisp, chenoo, thunderbird, hippogryph, and wolpertinger. To help with my world building I created an illustrated deck of mythical creatures, called Story Spark Cards, detailing the characteristics of 52 mythical creatures to inspire me to keep my stories fresh and exciting. The society and daily life will have a major influence on how the characters will behave and on their opinions and beliefs. Questions to answer for the author are what type of government, level of technology, education, justice system, businesses, money, medicine, arts and entertainment and magic does the world have? All these aspects will need to have a certain level, even if it’s basic, of thought and consideration in order for the characters to function in their environments. Again, if these are left to chance and keep changing or are disjointed, the author risks losing the reader because of frustrations of a society that unnaturally evolves. The society the characters are born into and grow up in will obviously influence and shape their personalities, beliefs and opinions. What lifestyle do they inhabit? Did they grow up in poverty or wealth? Are they educated or not? Where they exposed to a political upbringing? These, and more questions, need answering to help create well-rounded and believable characters. Probably the element that separates fantasy from other genres is magic. I strongly believe that in order for the magic to be believable for the reader, all the other elements (Time, Physical, Inhabitants, Society) need to be grounded in a solid and coherent manor. If the reader is fully immersed in the fantasy world, the magic in the story will be just as real as the other elements. It helps ground the magic for them and they will accept that magic exists. That said, the magic still needs to have rules and be coherent in itself, otherwise the reader will reject it and probably stop reading. The author has to decide who uses magic, how they use it, what magic system is used and what is its power. As I believe this is one of the most important elements of a fantasy story, spending time creating a coherent magic system is vital. If you are delving into fantasy world building for the first time, I recommend doing plenty research for elements where your knowledge is limited, use ‘How to Write’ reference books, and above all, have fun! After all, writing is where your imagination can play. But what about you? What’s your approach to world building? What reference book are a ‘must have’ Let me know in the comments! May magic be with you, always. Loquacious McCarbre Storyteller Extraordinaire References: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldbuilding The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Volume One edited by Darin Park and Tom Dullemond World Building essay by Tina Morgan from The Complete Guide to Writing Fantasy Volume One edited by Darin Park and Tom Dullemond The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction by Philip Athans Encyclopaedia of Things that Never Were edited by Michael Page and Robert Ingpen Story Spark Cards created by Ken Boyter and Rich Nairn: www.edratales.com
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Greetings mythics!
If you’re an avid reader of fantasy like myself, you’ve probably stumbled across the genre of branching narrative novels, nowadays more commonly known as gamebooks. For me, I fell in love with the genre through Fighting Fantasy’s first book, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. But what the elves’ ears is a branching narrative novel and what is a gamebook? Is there a difference? According to the Scottish Book Trust their definition is: “Branching narrative fiction features immersive, game-like stories where the reader is cast as the main protagonist and can chose the direction the story moves by making choices and turning to the appropriate page to read the outcome.” To my surprise the origins of the genre is far older than I had realised. A lot older! Consider The Consequences! by Doris Webster and Mary Alden Hopkins is considered to be the first branching story, and was published in 1930. That’s fifty-two years before The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in 1982! But unlike the massive success of the Fighting Fantasy series, the branching narrative idea didn’t catch on when first published. This may seem like a surprise now considering the many popular gamebook series besides the Fighting Fantasy one: Lone Wolf, Destiny Quest, and Fabled Lands spring to mind. What is interesting, is the differences between Consider the Consequences! and the approach taken later on by the Choose Your Own Adventure books of the 1970s, both branching narrative stories rather than gamebooks:
And more to my surprise the genre’s earliest comeback was through education rather than entertainment. By the end of the 1950s, the branching narrative method was used as a training mechanism and so programmatic learning books were born. The Arithmetic of Computers, published in 1958, the first of the TutorText series, and according to Gideon in the article The Life and Death of Gamebooks, indicates why this subject may have been why gamebooks were not created sooner. Which, strangle enough, is the precise method of how gamebooks are written, through programmatic thought – choices and variables. For the genre to switch from the training world of educational purposes to the entertaining realm of storytelling took twenty years. In the 1970s adventure series such as, Trackers, Tunnels & Trolls, and Choose Your Own Adventure (with honourable mentions of Mission To Planet L, (1972), State of Emergency (1969) and Lucky Les (1967), exploded into bookshops showing how the branching narrative mechanic can be exciting if used within the context of a story where readers connect and engage in the practical and moral decisions they had to make. By the early 1980s the gamebook genre was well established, however, it wasn’t until the Fighting Fantasy’s The Warlock of Firetop Mountain that the genre broke through into a bigger, wider, and more mainstream audience. Ian Livingstone said at first the book wasn’t selling well and it wasn’t until they read a sample out on Radio 1 that sales shot up! And the rest is history as they say. But what of the differences? The main one I can see is branching narrative stories are pure choice based adventures whereas gamebooks have added a combat system to the story element and thus turning the story partly into a game. Before the reader begins the adventure they are asked to roll dice to determine various stats such as Skill, Stamina, and Luck. Readers (or players?) use these scores to test their abilities, by rolling dice, to overcome challenges and if successful, enable them to progress. The combat system is representative of role playing games, with Dungeon & Dragons launching only a few years previously, the blend of story and game was seemless. So where is the gamebook genre now? After the success of the genre in the 1980s and 1990s the popularity dipped massively. This could have been due to the rise and the ever increasing sophistication of video games. The gamebook genre didn’t disappear and is enjoying somewhat of a resurgence with new series continuing the gamebook tradition. Jonathan Green (author of seven Fighting Fantasy gamebooks) with his ACE Gamebook series, the new Definitive Editions of Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf, Michael J. Ward’s DestinyQuest, Victoria Hancox’s gothic horror gamebooks, James A. Hirons’ Paranormal Hero series, Savage Realms series, Oliver McNeil’s The Storymaster’s Tales, and Usborne Publishing’s Adventure Gambooks, to name a few, are all breathing new life into a historic genre than is not far from celebrating 100 years of existence. Let’s raise our flagons to that! What about you? What was your first gamebook that hooked you into the immersive genre? Let me know in the comments! May magic be with you, always. Loquacious McCarbre Storyteller Extraordinaire References: Scottish Book Trust: https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/articles/engage-reluctant-writers-using-branching-narrative Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamebook Renga in Blue: https://bluerenga.blog/2019/06/06/brief-history-of-gamebooks Int Fiction: https://intfiction.org/t/1930-s-consider-the-consequences-the-first-book-to-offer-a-choice-based-branching-narrative/64048 Gamebooks: https://gamebooks.org/Item/11406/Show Awesome Lies Blog: https://awesomeliesblog.wordpress.com/2021/08/27/the-life-and-death-of-gamebooks Jonathan Green – Gamebook Author: http://jonathangreenauthor.blogspot.com James A Hirons – Gamebook Author: https://jamsplace.co Greetings mythics!
Welcome to the first Edra Scrolls blog. I’ll be rambling on (but in a good way) about various topics, themes, and subjects all under the guise of fantasy and folktales. But what do I mean by fantasy and folktales? As a child I fell in love with Jim Henson’s The Storyteller, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, Lord of the Rings, Knightmare, Dungeons & Dragons, Talisman and a plethora of folktales, each sparked my imagination and gave me a life-long love of fantasy. Be it TV show, board game, film, I didn’t care as long as it was fantasy. I spent hours pretending I was a knight on a valiant quest, or a rogue who risked his life trying to steal treasure, or a wizard casting spells to ward of evil. Whatever the fantasy story, I was immersed and happy. According to my dear friend Wikipedia, “Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and usually inspired by mythology or folklore.” A pretty good summary as you’d expect. But fantasy, to me, is so much more than pixies, elves, dwarves, and magic! It’s about the characters who live and breath in these fantastical realms that keeps me there as I live and breath their every step with them. You could say that about any genre of fiction, and you’d be right. In order for myself to become immersed in the story, I need to be emotionally attached to its characters regardless of genre. However, what draws me into a story is the fantasy elements. I love magic and mythical creatures. I love the bizarre and unusual. I love the strange and the unknowing. Well written fantasy and folktales combine all these elements as well and having emotionally engaging characters and storylines. Another definition of fantasy is from the Gotham Writers website, “While science fiction draws on and extrapolates from what we know about reality and science, fantasy invents what does not (and likely could not) exist in our reality.” Whilst this serves as a solid broad description I would add that there are many subgenres of fantasy that do draw upon what we know about reality and science. However, fantasy gives the writer the freedom to bend those realities and science to suit their particular world of fantasy. One huge ‘advantage’ for fantasy authors over others comes from the world building aspect. This allows the writer to create and invent aspects of their fantasy world that do not exist in our normal reality and shape a new reality that has its own laws of physics and science. This is where the joy of creating magic systems, creatures, and cultural histories occurs that isn’t found in other genres. Like all good genres, there are many subgenres contained within, and fantasy is no exception. According to the website Master Class there are 18 fantasy subgenres:
Maybe it was my young introduction to fantasy that ‘did the damage’ or the era I grew up in, whatever it was, I’m glad the damage was done and proud to write and read fantasy, in all its genres. What about you? Let me know in the comments. May magic be with you, always. Loquacious McCarbre Storyteller Extraordinaire References: Subgenres of Fantasy: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/a-complete-overview-of-fantasy-subgenres Wikipedia on Fantasy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy |
Loquacious McCarbre is a writer and performer, co-creator and host of the fantasy YouTube channel The Bottled Imp. He created the Edra Tales fantasy world to showcase his literature, spoken word audiobooks, visuals, and creative projects. Past
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