Magic System Development: Origins and Behavior

Where does it come from? Where does it go? The reader may never know but you sure should!

Know the source and behavior of the magic in your world – not just to help with consistency but for inspiration. The generation or creation of magic may be indued with spiritual, scientific, or historical significance. Changes in the behavior of magic may foretell (or be the result of) profound changes in your world.

While brainstorming, you probably want to place limits on magic and consequences for its use. After all, if magic exists, then it coexists with other parts of your environment and therefore affects those parts. Whether you remove something that existed naturally or add sommething that did not exist before. Either action has consequences for the environment – even if this environment is in another plane.

In summary, if there is magic in your world, make it part of the world

Share how you integrate magic into your world.

Verbal Fight Scenes: Anger Patterns in Relationships

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      Parent. Love interest. Best friend. Rival. You main character will react differently to anger depending on the nature of the relationship she is in – and the nature of the other person. Luckily for the writer, within the relationship these reactions are  consistent across time (until one character decides to change).
      Anger patterns are a useful way to further individualize relationships and characters. Why does your character go on the offensive with her father but go silent with her mother and use sarcasm with her brother? Notice that there is an internal pattern to the scenario that I just laid out that can be explained by several different back-stories. Once you know the why of your character's side of several relationships, you will probably have a predictor for how she will automatically react in other relationships.
      What allows this anger pattern to continue? Your character's pattern in the relationship is enabled by the other person (otherwise the relationship probably would have been severed long ago). Person B knows the moves in this dance every bit as well as your character. Even though there is anger, they've (unknowingly) agreed that this is the way to handle it. So when your character finally starts taking responsibility for herself and tries to change this pattern... well. The other character will try to restore the old pattern.
      While verbal fight scenes can happen at any time in a story, of course, but these scenes are especially likely to happen when other character try to prevent your character from changing. Even allies are likely to have verbal fights with your character when your character's change also means a change in their relationship.
      “Change back” can include logic, threats, and actual punishments. These efforts by other characters initially meet with some success as your character backslides. You can see how these attempts can be turned into verbal fights where your character comes out worse of in some way. She can backslide and temporarily gain peace or she can hold fast to her new thought process and risk damaging (or loosing) a relationship.
      I hope this gives you some new ideas and helps you further understand and develop your characters through their relationships with others. Anger can be a useful tool!

Verbal Fight Scenes: 2 Dysfunctional Anger Types

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I am going to introduce the Viper and the Ostrich. These are my (impromptu) names for two opposing anger management styles. It might help you, as you develop your characters, to consider them at two ends of a spectrum of dysfunctional styles. Both feel anger and react to it but accidentally do so in ways that prevent resolution of the deeper problem that they are reacting to. Their behavior patterns beg for you to write verbal fight scenes.

The Viper lashes out at others. Often only a tiny surface piece of the issue is addressed. She has a reason for being angry but because she attacks people, the injustice, imbalance, or threat does not get resolved. After the verbal fight, she may feel bitter or even more determined to solve the problem. Unfortunately, she will probably use the same methods as last time and people will respond in the same way as before. Further, her emotional outbursts can undermine her future attempts (“she's just hysterical”). If only the Viper learned effective anger management, she might actually become a champion for herself and her cause.

The Ostrich hides from her anger until that anger bursts into angry motion. She (and others) sees herself as “nice”. She often denies feeling anger – even to herself – and fights it by trying to bury it in guilt, justifications, and excuses. The “nicer” she acts, the greater the internal pressure of the anger. It builds and builds until it geysers forth – often at inappropriate moments and over minor things. The verbal fight scene often ends with the Ostrich feeling fearful, tearful, hurt, and/or guilty. The opponent often bolsters this reaction. After all, a “nice” person puts others first, sacrifices her own needs to meet the needs of others, right? The Ostrich often has tremendous empathy and compassion for others. If only she learned effective anger management, she could channel these strengths while meeting both her needs and the needs of those around her.

The Viper and the Ostrich provide just one spectrum of dysfunctional anger management for you to explore. Knowing different dysfunctional styles of anger management is important since these types allow for more conflict, greater character growth, and more nuanced characters. Good places to get ideas for anger management types are books,articles, and videos on fixing these problems. To create characters with room to grow, just take the self-help book's ideal, then flip it backwards and turn it inside out.

 

Verbal Fight Scenes: Stages of the Fight Scene

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      Verbal fight scenes can be enhanced by the view-point character's anger (short-term, of course, but often also long-term anger), her anger management style, and the anger patterns in that relationship. Anger is an emotional reaction to a problem. In earlier posts, we looked at many situations and issues that can trigger anger. In this post, we look at a common expression of anger – the verbal fight scene. Remember that as with any scene, a verbal fight scene needs an inciting incident, a complication, a climax, and (usually) a resolution.
      Verbal fight scenes are often a character's attempt to fix the problem that she is angry about. Maybe a buried resentment is brought to the surface through another character's actions (words are a type of action). You should decide whether you want to tap into a flash-pan of short-term anger or flame the banked embers of long-term anger. Both can allow you to develop your character. I happen to like to bring long-term issues to the surface because it is one way to introduce or develop backstory,character development, environment,and backstory (see posts from earlier this month).
      Luckily for the writer, there are many ways the character can go wrong. Venting, blaming, and sarcasm are just a few unproductive ways a character may express anger during a fight scene. Unfortunately for the character, poor anger management practices tend to either make the problem worse or keep the situation the same as before. This might be because the opponent withdraws, retaliates, or dismisses the viewpoint character (To name just three possible reactions.) One technique to make the complication more effective, you can have the antagonist trigger your viewpoint character's flaw, prejudice, or backstory wound.
      Such a scenario is almost certain cause the climax and a bad outcome for your viewpoint character – especially in the first half of the story when she is primarily reactive rather than proactive.

Anger and Growth: Secondary Character Arcs

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If you want, your character can become a catalyst of change for other characters. When your protagonist acts to change, the characters closest to her will react (if they react like real people, that is). Since your character is in many types of relationships, you might want to show your readers how the main character's choices instigate positive (or negative) change in another character.

Introduction. So long as your character acts “normal” (meaning she hasn't tried to change yet), your secondary characters will know how to treat your main character, will know what to expect from your main character, and will know where he stands with your main character. Some of them may have insights to your protagonist, some of them may contribute to your main character's problems, some of them may be her unwelcome champions.

Early Middle. Suddenly, our main character has started to act different. Suddenly, your secondary characters don't know where they stand with her, how this will affect their relationship with her, if she will change her mind about them. They feel threatened, wronged, uncertain. They get angry. They want to regain their equilibrium. They try to bring back the person they once knew through resistance and counter-moves. The closer the person is to your main character, the harder she will try to restore “normal”. A smart, self-aware, or empathetic secondary character might try to see things her way as a means of restoring the balance.

Late Middle. The main character is now proactive instead of reactive. People close to the main character feel even more scared, threatened, or off-balance. Anger escalates. Stakes are raised. They might threaten to (or actually) reject the main character or impose other punishments. But the main character is growing stronger. Your main character becomes truly clear about what she wants and what she stands for. This could cause secondary characters to be more clear about what they want and where they stand. This could inspire a savvy secondary character. An alert secondary character might question the way others are treating your main character now that she is standing up for herself. A dissatisfied secondary character might be inspired to make changes of his own.

Climax. Write your own climax and resolution for the secondary characters and your main character. Are the choices painful? Inspiring? Consider how this adds to the deeper meaning of your story.

Making your main character into a catalyst for change gives her added depth, power, and significance. Showing how your main character affects the people around her adds realism, meaning, and complexity. Showing intertwined emotional journeys also can reinforce the deep message of your story about human nature, human condition, right and wrong, or whatever issue you have chosen to address.

 

Anger and Growth: Protagonist Character Arc

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We've established that anger is an emotion that sends the message to the writer that “something is wrong” in the life of the character. When that “something” stunts our character's competence, self-expression, or personal growth then we have the makings of a character arc. Here is one example of an arc for a protagonist. Notice that it closely follows the pattern of an external plot arc.

Introduction. Your character is in stasis. She may or may not be happy with the way things are going but she is not actively trying to change (any seeming attempts to change are self-sabotaging). As the Introduction progresses, more and more pressure comes to bear on her but she resists change and/or remains ignorant of the issue that underlies her anger.

Turning Point 1. Whether you place this before, after, or with the outer turning point is partially dependent on your genre and partially dependent on personal choice. At the first inner turning point, she recognizes (or thinks she recognizes) that she needs to change herself that her anger points to and she decides (reluctantly or willingly) to change it.

Early Body. During this time in your book, your main character is reactive. She likely doesn't really understand her flaw and its underlying issues. She blames, denies, avoids, and goes down false roads. She'll take her anger out on others.

Turning Point 2. She comes face-to-face with her role in her problems, including the effects of lashing out at others.

Late Body. During this time in your book, your main character becomes proactive. She learns about the underlying causes of her problem. As she changes, other people resist her change and try to make her change back. Often they threaten/enact consequences if she continues to change. At the same time, she learns to take responsibility for her reactions to her feelings.

Turning Point 3. She comes face-to-face with the potential consequences of not changing. This renews her determination to change.

Climax. The changes she has made (and lessons she has learned along the way about herself, the antagonist, and others) plays into the plot resolution.

If this emotional arc does not resonate with you, no worries. Character arcs develop much like plot arcs. So if you are someone who plots, you can take your action plot arc and make a second plot arc for inner growth. Pansters who have written the3eir book but forgotten a character arc can do the same. If you are a panster who is still writing your book, just remember that each emotional turning point happens near or at the plot turning points.

Again, whether your inner turning point happens before, after, or during your outer turning point is dependent on your own preferences and situation.

Understand Anger: World Building

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Character anger can tell you a great deal about her relationship with her world – particularly the traditions and values of the group she is presently immersed in. When anger is used to deepen world development, it is important to remember that your character probably won't feel that there is threat/ injustice, etc, unless she has first been exposed to ideas that run contrary to the traditions and values of the group to which she is reacting.

Tradition. Anger at tradition may occur because your character feels her growth is stifled. This is especially common with young characters. When a character rebels against tradition (deepening character), that act either implies or highlights the tradition that is being rebelled against (deepening the world) and also shows how others react to the act of rebellion (deepening relationships).

Values. Anger at society values may occur because your character feels the values are unfair. This is especially common when your character is part of some sort of minority (character development). As with tradition, anger at social values can be used to deepen character, world, and relationships. In addition, the your character will often choose to counter the rejected values with a different set of values! This new set of values may

Peer pressure. Any time your character tries to deviate from social norms, there will be pressure to change back. Anger can prompt your character to say “no” to others' beliefs and “yes” to her own truth. Group pressure, of course, can take the form of family or any other group that is considered “like” the character. The crucial elements are 1) that the character feels a part of the group that is trying to affect her behavior and 2) that the character struggles to separate herself from the group (sometimes while staying a part of the group).

Belonging/ Independence. People are strange characters. We feel threatened by too much of “together” and by too much “alone”. Your character just might become angry when she feels excluded from or claimed by a group. Personal space is violated in some way.

Gender roles. These are firmly entrenched into society. Entrenched gender roles can be especially aggravating for your character when she feels like her personal growth is stifled by the expectations, like her rights are being violated, or like her needs are unable to be met.

Relationship roles. In the context of world building, I am referring not to individual relationships but “elder generation and younger generation”, “powerful position and powerless position”, “older sister and younger brother”, “married woman and unmarried woman”. Social roles and status and how they interact. Relationship roles might become an anger issue for your character when she feels she must interact with someone based on her relationship role with him even though he has not fulfilled the responsibilities of his role. For instance, filial respect for an abusive father who does not provide for his family. In this example, we develop the world, the backstory, the relationship, and possibly the backstory wound.

Anger at entrenched traditions and values does not necessarily mean that your story will become Character Versus Society. But I hope that you can see how scenes that contain this element can deepen reader (and character) understanding of the world where she lives. Knowing the traditions and values of your main character's Ordinary World of the Beginning can help you make the world of the Middle more strange to your character. It can add a subplot. It can let you further develop your antagonist – even provide the primary motive! And it can make both your character and your reader question her assumptions.

Understand Anger: Character development

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Understanding character anger can help you develop your character. Now, I'm not suggesting that you should make an angry character (or that you shouldn't). But what makes your character angry can give you insight into that character's present situation, backstory, current wound/flaw/weakness, and other character traits. (Developing relationships and character arcs are discussions for another day!) Anger, again, indicates that something is wrong in your character's life and a change is needed

Backstory. Your character's life prior to the start of the story is sure to (or should) include moments of injustice, unmet wants or needs, even threats to her emotional or physical well-being. These events don't need to be traumatic so long as they have a lasting effect on your character.

Character flaw or wound. Your character's flaw is typically rooted in the backstory. Because your character's flaw makes her reactive, you can work backwards to discover the nature of the flaw. What makes her angry? Why? Maybe she gets angry at "neglectful" parents or people's disinterest in homeless vets. Guess what happened the the character (or someone important to her) before the start of the story?

Other traits. On the same vein, what if racist talk makes her angry, or people who believe a particular stereotype, or people who drink excessively? This says something about her beliefs, her upbringing, the people she will respond to (positively and negatively), and maybe even her current lifestyle.

Then there's how your character expresses (or doesn't express) her anger... But that will be addressed later this month!

Understand Anger: Uncover Character Motives and Story Goals

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For our purposes this month, anger is a signal that something is wrong in the character's life. That “something is wrong” means something needs to change. Discover what needs to change and you find internal conflict, external conflict, and maybe even your story goal. Ideally, there are several reasons that your character feels angry over a certain action, behavior, thought, etc.

Inner conflict. Suppose your character feels that a need or want is not being met in one or more relationships. But addressing the problem would disrupt – perhaps even end – the valued relationship. Or maybe the conflict comes from how she sees herself (or her concern for how others see her). Feeling angry might threaten that image. Also scary/ worrisome to the character! Then there's the situation where she knows why she is angry but changing the problem means changing herself (become more assertive, for instance). There are so many reasons a character may want and not want to make the change needed to resolve the source of her anger. Voila! Inner conflict!

Motives. Since your character feels inner conflict, you now have motive to approach, avoid, block, and resist forward movement – both in external plot and internal plot.

Story Goals. Often in the beginning of the story, the character doesn't understand the reasons she reacts angrily to certain situations. At the start of the story, she's in a developmental stasis. Ineffective, unfocused anger or frustration can be a great way to point the reader to the problem. As pressure increases on the character, anger is one of her natural reactions. At the first emotional turning pint, the character not only knows that there is a problems, she commits to fixing that problem (either reluctantly or eagerly). Anger can be the catalyst to making the resolution to change.

Exploiting Anger for Story Development

How do you think of anger? Society tends to depict it as something to be avoided but can any emotion really be avoided? We can suppress it, channel it, express it, learn from it... This month focuses on learning from character anger. We'll look at how to exploit long-term issues in the next two weeks (for character development, world development ,as well as character development arcs). In the third week, we'll look at short-term issues (and mid/long-term issues) in the form of verbal fight scenes. And we'll wrap up with some advanced techniques and philosophical considerations.

For our purposes this month, anger is a signal that something is wrong in the character's life. It could be a relationship imbalance, an injustice, a smothering, an unmet emotional issue, an unmet need, an imbalance in separateness and togetherness, just to name the tip of the ice burg. “something is wrong” means something needs to change. For a writer, this is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

That anger comes in many hues is a plus for the writer. There are many books on anger management. Books about intimate relationships, about anger types, about anger and spirituality, about anger management in general. What the writer wants is to read and reverse this advice. A character who can perfectly manage her anger from the beginning of the book is probably a boring character. A character who understands the reasons behind her anger at the beginning of the book may be a character well on the way to change ( later we''ll get into reasons why she still might not act to change)

At the most fundamental level, anger is an emotion. It happens instinctively (not under our conscious control), in response to something in our internal or external environments. Whether you plan what sets off your character or you are surprised by a character's reaction, you can learn a lot from it. About the current character, past character, future character, her relationships, the world she is in, and more!

World Building: Fantasy Elements

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The fantasy and sci-fi genres may – more than any other genre – allow you to explore people, themes, and issues in larger-than-life scenarios. While world building is an important part of any story, it is especially important to the fantasy and science fiction story. A fantastic world is part of these genre's appeal.

These
genres allow you to develop exotic settings that cannot be found in
the real world. Even so, they typically are grounded in real life in
some way so that readers can appreciate them. This is typically done
blending, taking out of context, or exaggerating subjects found in our
real world.

• Animals:
  What species qualify as
  intelligent or non-intelligent will vary from series to series. Be
  sure to know their eating habits (carnivorous? Eat magic?)
• Races:
  For maximum effect, races need
  to be different in more than appearance. Consider giving them
  different speech patterns, social structures, and abilities.
• Magic:
  There is a whole series of articles on this blog about designing
  your magic system. Don't forget the social, environmental, and
  social effects.
• Alternate
  world: Giant forests,
  floating islands, and multiple moons are all ways to introduce
  fantastical elements
• Technology:
  Whether steam-punk, magic-driven, or futuristic, part of the appeal
  of non-contemporary genres is
  the different
  technology. Alternate technologies enable and restrict character
  actions so choose careful how advanced, wide-spread, and esoteric
  your technologies will be.

World Building: Religion

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      The world you write can be enriched through the existence of multiple religions. Especially in fantasy, religions allow you to emphasize and explore beliefs and questions about existence. Religion can also be a unifying or divisive element in your writing. It can be a tool to illuminate a character's deeply personal life. It can provide background for your world. It can provide another layer of social structure. And the structure of reality. Is there one true religion or is each religion a piece of the whole?

• Deities: One of the defining elements of a religion is the number of gods and the nature of that god or gods. Some religions also have demi-deities, angels, devils, and spirits. All of these have their own names, natures, and roles.
• Beliefs: Beliefs typically include an origin story, a history of the believers, attitudes, and definitions of good and evil.
• Afterlife: Religions also teach what happens after a person dies. Reincarnation? Ghosts? Seven hells? Depending on the book you write, you can tap into a religion's afterlife for a character, scene, or subplot.
• Practices: Are the believers pacifists or crusaders? Know the holy days, why these days are holy, and what is done to honor them. Know the rules followed by true believers. Know what sets true believers apart from false ones.
• Hierarchy: Many religions have a spiritual leader. Some religious figures may also have secular authority. For instance they might own land, collect money, or have political influence. In religions with multiple gods, there may be a ruling god, children of gods, or minor gods. Power can rotate among figures, ebb and flow, or be constant.

World Building: Government

 Heraldic crown of Russian Empire (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      I assume you know the different types of government that have appeared thoughout history. You've probably even chosen one for several of your peoples. The decision seems easy on the surface but the effects of this choice are often overlooked. The life of someone living in a theocracy is vastly different from someone living in a communism. Although there are similarities, too.

       Government affects your cultures – and therefore your characters – in very fundamental ways. I've chosen five different dimensions that are frequently studied by political scientists. I hope outlining these dimensions will help you better understand the people who inhabit your world.

• History: Know the history of the nation – how it became its own entity and how it ended up with its form of government. If it had to fight for independence, it is likely to be culturally similar to the country it fought and may still have bad relations with that power. Know what has happened since the nation formed. Common history is one thing that unites its citizens.
• Sociology: This includes national holidays, the national flag/bird/plant/anthem. Any cultural wonders – paintings, buildings, natural features that are a part of national culture. What do they call themselves? How is the government structured and how does it intervene in public, private, and work life?
• Economics: How are taxes set and collected? Is the system cash or barter? How tightly does the government regulate business and trade? What is the attitude torwards foreign money, business, and trade?
• International: Foreign relations go beyond trade. Consider how welcoming the government is of outside influence. What is their style of negoatiation – the pen or the sword? Consider how influential the nation is, the areas of influence, and how it gained and maintains this power. How willing is it to go beyond its borders and how willing is it to let others inside its own?
• Philosophy: This is an element of deep culture. The type of government will subtly but powerfully affect the attitudes and assumptions of its citizens. A government may promote xenophobia or a more welcoming outlook. It may promote the collective good over the good of the individual. Views of community, views of self, views of others. These are are elements of deep culture that may be subtly shaped by the type of government you choose.

World Building: Geography

Lake Nemrut inside the crater of Nemrut Volcano (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      To an extent, you can design your physical world based on the people that inhabit it. Or you can create cultures based on the features of your world. Land and people interact. So when you design one, keep the other in mind.

      I mentioned the role of geography earlier in this series. Since the physical environment is such an obvious and important aspect of world building, let's look more closely at how five physical aspects affect the people who live in your world.

• Continents: Continents are a great way to separate vastly different groups, isolationist nations, and exotic tribes. People living on the same continent tend to share language groups (Portuguese is much closer to Spanish than to Japanese). “New” continents are typically colonized by nations that have ocean access. If you have a world where this happens, remember that land-locked nations typically miss out on colonization and must extend their influence in other ways.
• Regions: Areas of distinct landscapes, like large grasslands or long mountain ranges, influence the types of societies that live there. Lattitude matters too. Cold weather groups live very differently from hot weather groups.
• Water: Rivers offer convenient boundaries for nations. They also aid travel, promoting the trade of goods and information. They also make convenient invasion routes. Rivers also mean a steady source of water for cities and farmland. Oceans, as mentioned, can be a physical barrier. They also are a good source of food, trade, and may hide unknown lands and people.
• Resources: Island nations will rely heavily on trade to get their resources or be reduced to more primitive living conditions. Limited food resources suggests moving tribes unless there is some other abundant resource to trade. Both tend to be vulnerable to outside powers. On the other hand, fertile plains offer lots of food that can support large groups but offers poor military defense.
• Stability: An often overlooked feature is stability of the land feature. Coasts may be prone to tsunamis or the read tide. Certain regions may be prone to earthquakes or tornadoes. Rivers can dry up and oceans can have hurricanes. Mineral resources will eventually disappear and forests can be overhunted. Natural and manmade disasters – the standard precautions taken, the imminant threat, the recent effects – can enrich and complicate the immediate world of your characters.

World Building: Cultures

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     By culture I am referring to the distinct ways that a group lives their lives instead of the group's symbols and creative aspects. Know the differences between the cultures in your world allows for both diversity and potential conflict. Knowing the specifics of a particular character's cuture does the same – as well as helps you bring that character to unique life.

      As a reminder, culture traits are generalities – they are shared by most people in the culture but are shared to different degrees. There is still room for variation within a group even when they share language and dialect, aesthetics, gender expectations, social structure, and religious practices. Whether you are trying to understand your character's surface culture or are trying to create new cultures, these are all key elements to examine. And of course a person can belong to multiple cultures and subcultures.

• Dialect: Writers are encouraged to play with dialect as a way to make dialogue unique. Most often, writers focus on word choice. But grammar is a good way to do this, too – especially if the speaker is not speaking in her native language.
• Aesthetics: Aesthetics will affect how character dresses, what she buys, the places she goes, as well as what and who she likes to surround herself with. Some people's cultures can be identified by these things. Paying attention to a character's preferences can be a quick way to characterize her.
• Gender roles: Your character's gender greatly affects how he will interact with people of the same or different gender, age, and power status. This needs to come across in both spoken and silent interactions. It also gives you an idea of the activities and attitudes expected of him. Knowing your character's culture can give you an excellent template for designing these dimensions.
• Social structure: I consider gender role as an aspect of social structure. To me, social structure is about the distribution of power. A non-mobile structure can give your character something to fight. It gives you an idea of who she respects (or treats with respect) and why. Not only does this affect her inner and outer behavior, it gives you insight into some of her values.
• Religion: How open is this culture to multiple religions? How strictly do they practice? How do they practice? Don't forget that religious faith can affect the naming of characters. A one-religion culture may be antagonistic towards the beliefs of other religions. Whether your character's culture is in the majority or minority, this creates an undercurrent in the wider social situation.

World Building: Myth

Illustration from a collection of myths. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      Myth differs from history in that it is larger than life. Like history, it tries to explain how the present world came to be as it is. Myth typically invokes the supernatural, blurs the lines between the possible and impossible, is contradictory, and often features the feats of heroes.

      Knowing your world's (and character's personal) mythology means having insight into your characters' cultures. Myths vary between regions and religions. This makes it a great way to individualize your cultures. If you don't write strictly contemporary (or even if you do), mythology can be a source of inspiration.

• Supernatural: talking animals and objects, gods, children of gods, use of magic, sometimes even the more subtle element of a mystery that is never explained.
• Blurs reality: Normal objects can take on supernatural qualities when certain conditions are met. The supernatural coexists with the ordinary world. In other mythologies, the supernatural live in different realms that border the real world and these boundaries can be crossed – sometimes by accident.
• Conflicting accounts: Because of regional and religious differences in myths, it can be impossible to settle on all the details or even the fundamentals. This can be a reflection of the different attitudes and assumptions about the world. Your characters will probably be on the spectrum of these beliefs (or rebel against them).
• Heroes: Even when the central subject of a myth is an event, a person or being is usually involved. Other myths center around the struggles of a hero. These heroes are larger than life and often deal with tragedy.
• Explanations: Some myths try to explain why the world exists in its present form. Whether your character believes or discounts a mega-myth is a reflection on that character and can bring that character into conflict with other characters. Minor myths can inspire subplots or character-development scenes.

World Building: History

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

      I see history as having five main influences: events, great persons, geography, technology, and politics. These elements interact. After all, who was Joan of Arc without the war between France and England (events, places,technology, and politics). Would her story have been as remarkable if she had not been a peasant girl-woman in the late middle ages (technology and politics). And wouldn't her story eb different depending on who told it?

      When creating a history for youur world (contemporary, too) it is probably impossible and unnecessary to record every event. So focus on the history that most affect your characters and world. Also keep in mind the perspective of your history – whose side you take. It will probably be the perspective of your most relevant character. This means you may have multiple versions of the same time point. This can be cause for overt or covert conflict between characters. (Think the Holocaust.) Because characters change between books or series, your relevant history points will change.

      Let's briefly look at these five influences on history:

• Events: Wars, individual battles, natural disasters, elections to office, revolutions, the building of great cultural masterpieces, and emergence of new power groups are all historic events. Events are typically learned in history class but they have little relevance by themselves.
• Great Persons: Events often have an instigator, figurehead, or scapegoat. Sometimes the great person represents the event or even more than the event – an entire movement. Since great persons typically act on behalf of a cause, there is more than one side to their stories. The popular perspective may change across socioeconomic status, political stances, and other power positions. It may change across time. Usually, little is remembered about these people – making them excellent fodder for future books (either by using the person as a prototype or by tackling the person's struggles, triumphs, and failures directly).
• Geography: geography definitely affects history but is an often overlooked aspect. Would England have become so powerful and remained independent for so long without the English Channel and easy access to the ocean? It would have been more difficult – that's for sure. Hills and mountains make travel difficult and so may be less regulated and a good place for dissident ideas and groups to be found. Vast plains are easily traveled and often agricultural in lifestyle, a necessary resource for large populations. Rivers promote travel and trade. Geography greatly influences trade routes in time of peace and war. It influences the boundaries of nations and provides the resources that make a spot worth being fought over by two powers.
• Technology: technology influences education, the flow of information, the ability to make war, and to provide resources. New farming techniques. The printing press. Gunpowder. Cotton gin. Nuclear power. Many historic events were only possible because they came before or after these inventions.
• Politics: Politics is probably what makes a particular event historic. Many battles go unnoticed in many parts of the world. Massacres are justified or condemned. People become great or remain obscure. Claims to valuable resources are justified or dismissed. Technology is a tool for political agendas. The winning side is often the one that gets to write the history. But some (or most) of your characters may come from the loosing side. From another side of history. Power groups have great influence over how people perceive events (though the effect is not always the intended one) and this is important to keep in mind when writing your history.

         National Novel Writing Month is coming up fast – just a month away – and I'm getting excited. Whether you have trouble meeting the 50k word goal or want to stretch yourself a bit more, this month's blogs were tailor-made for you.

First up is the 7 Point Plot Structure, styled after the popular “Save the Cat” format. There are many plot structures (my personal favorite is the Hero's Journey) but I will be using this one because of its conciceness. I will cover inner and outer turning points, touch on reader psychology, and look at the diffferent narrative paths that these plot points can take.

        Next up are Character sketches that go beyond physical description to attitudes and personalities, public and work and private lives, even important skill sets. I designed these character sketches based on the various books that I've read. I encourage you to modify the sketches for their own needs and share those changes so that other people can take advantage of your insights.

          Third will be an overview of world building. Namely, creating history, myth, cultures, geography, politics, religion, and potential fantasy elements. Even writers who write in the contemporary world can benefit from these articles since these elements (except, potentially, the fantasy portion) are present in the real world as well and could impact the story.

         Finally is a crash course on creating your writing philosphy. Your writing philosophy includes why you write what you write. I find it a valuable resource to return to when I am feeling discouraged or frusterated. I hope developing your own personal writing philosophy will give you clarity of thought, peace of mind, motivation, and something to say when people ask you why you write and why you write that?

Enjoy!

Boost Your Creativity: Study Your Fiction World

 

Boost your creativity by studying your fictional world. Become familiar with its academics, cultures, individuals, and themes. Know these areas well so you can ground your reader with facts, keep internal consistency with rules, add diversity and conflict with opinions, and set the stage for story with possibility. It is important to know your world regardless of your genre.
Know more about your world than the best educated scholar. What history would he know and what parts of history would he not know? Why doesn't he know this? Know the ecosystems you write in (ravens do not fly in Florida, there are no penguins at the North Pole, forests in Spring turn green from the ground up). Know the economics of the places your characters visit or live. Many people find that research prompts character, plot, and setting ideas. Even if you are not one of these people, your studies will create a more realistic and vibrant world for your reader.
Know more about the cultures than the characters who are immersed in them. Insiders tend to take their own culture for granted so be sure to have an objective view -- especially if the character's culture is similar or identical to your own! Don't stay at the surface level but delve into deep culture. Know how this culture interacts with other cultures. Definitely know gender roles and expectations, as well as how status is decided and displayed. Remember that many individuals are from more than one culture (look at your own background) and consider clashing these cultures to create inner or outer conflict. The norms, assumptions, practices, and attitudes of cultures are a fantastic resource for inner conflict, outer conflict, and character archetypes (a possible starting point for character creation).
Know more about your characters than they (or those closest to them) know about themselves. Understand what triggers their emotions. The reasons for their motivations, as well as how and why these motives change (if you have a character arc). What is behind their weaknesses, limits, and fears. Study and develop these areas of your character -- you will not only know your character better but also create a treasure-trove of barriers, obstacles, and conflicts that you can draw on for your work-in-progress when you get stuck.
The last tip for boosting your creativity is to study what you are writing until you identify your theme(s). Your theme is what the book is about. Usually it is a belief that is important to you as a person. It can be "true love takes work" or "racism is bad" or "power corrupts". As suggested, you can have more than one theme. Once you have identified your theme, think about its unspoken facts, rules, opinions, and possibilities. Variations of your theme will appear throughout your book so studying your theme will help you express it more clearly. Studying it may also prompt scene or character ideas.
Study your fiction world when you are feeling less than creative. A world with well-developed backgrounds, cultures, and characters will also have built-in details, diversity, and conflicts. Certain themes suggest certain plots, conflicts, and scenes. A well-developed world can help you be more creative.

Fantasy creatures brought to life!

Fantasy creatures brought to life!

Entry #540948

Thought today I would touch on another part of creating a Fantasy world for my fellow fantasy writers out there. One of the more fun, entertaining, and sometimes scary elements to a fantasy, mithilogical, or sci-fi world are fantastic creatures. These can be anything from a huge fire breathing Dragon, to a new and rare breed of horse, or little fairies that fly around the camp fire.          I have always found, that when reading a fantasy or sci-fi tale, that I like the creatures in it to be well defined, well reasoned, and believable on some level of thought. When you place a fantasy animal, or mythical being into a story, weather it is one that you have barrowed from folklore or mythology, or one you created yourself, you need to describe it so that your reader can see, hear it, and even smell it if appropriate. When using an 'existing' creture some of that detail can be implied to rather than directly stated, that is if you are using the 'standard' look for that type of creature. Take a Minotaur from Greek Mythology for instance. When we hear this term, our minds automatically conjour the image of man shaped form, with the head and legs of a bull, and perhaps with thick hair over the rest of its body as well, waiting deep in the center of a labyrinth. We probably see him as being large, strong, and agressive. If we are using this as 'our' type of Minotaur, then we know that the reader already has at least a basic idea of what we are talking about. But lets say we want to make our Minotaur's a race, that needs to be referenced in some way, either by another character, or perhaps by seeing more than one of them, perhaps parents with a young one. Also we may want this Minotaur to have different reactions and character than the one in Greek Mythology, therefore we have to make surewe tell the reader that in some way, either through dialogue, or perhaps through the creatures actions, say maybe our Minotaur gets obviously squimish when he sees blood, or perhaps he has spectacles balanced on his snout because he is scholarly.          Of course, something that I think is fun, is to create a new type of creature or animal, something that sparks the imagination and can give the reader the impression that this world is wide and complex, and not tied to completely to our everyday reality. With these types of creatures though, it's important to be descriptive about their appearance, their attitudes(again maybe just through their actions), their habits, perhaps even the feelings of others about them. Remember, when you create a whole new creature, or race, the reader has nothing to pull from to picture what you are talking about, therefore you are challenging yourself as a writer to place the picture that is in your head into theirs. So, before you start writing about that Skarlog, or Wererat, have a picture in your head of what they look like. Decide upon what kind of creature they are. Are they sentient? Are they animal-like? Do they speak to humans? Are people afraid of them, and do they have reason to be? Remember, this creature is the child of your imagination, and therefore you need to shape and mold them, give them flesh and blood so to speak, explore their personality, delve into their mind and see what 'makes them tick', both as individuals, and(if applicable) as a race.          So fantasy/sci-fi writers out there, what kind of creatures/monsters/etc, do you use in your stories? Until later, Happy Writing! RD Williams http://www.authorsden.com/robertdwilliams1

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