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wORLD BUILDING

8/26/2016

During an interview, I was asked how I went about building the world for my time travel novella A Timeless Melody. The answer is that the primary setting of the novel is the California Mojave Desert in 1979-1980.

The interviewer looks disappointed. "But this is a time travel, isn't it?"
       "Well, yes. But it takes place—"
   "No world building? That's too bad," the interviewer says.
       "Wait, wait. You don't understand..." I cry as the interviewer walks away. Darn!

BUILDING A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Most people define world building as the construction of an imaginary world but, in fact, all writers deal with world building. It's a necessity if a writer hopes to produce a novel, in any genre, that is consistent, real, and believable.

Creating the setting of a novel is a type of world building. Novels set in contemporary times and in familiar places don't require as much time, research, or as many words. A writer often sets the stage in a few words or sentences. That's all the reader needs to understand where and when the novel takes place, how people dress and act, and the laws of physics that apply. The reader can rely on what he/she knows of that time and place and the planet we live on.

Despite the advancements in communication, the world is still a big place. Even though we all have many things in common, such as cell phones and automobiles, there are still differences -- accents, language, customs, dress, food, climate, housing -- just to name a few. Even if your novel is contemporary, you need to pinpoint those things that are different about the particular setting. But there won't be any big surprises.

Isn't writing a historical about rebuilding the world that existed in a specific time and place on earth? More differences will exist, and you can't have a Roman soldier wearing a wrist watch or using modern slang; but still, no big surprises.

So, contemporary and historical require some world building, but you can always count on one moon in the sky, gravity, rotation of the earth around the sun, ocean tides, and human nature. The laws of physics are the laws of physics, even in a time when they weren't understood.

WHEN ALL BETS ARE OFF
When a writer takes on science fiction, fantasy, or time
travel (depending on where the traveling is to or from)
all bets are off. These genres take more time, research,
and words to create a world which the reader understands.

"Why do I need research? This is fantasy. I can make up what I want."

Right … but not totally right.

The key to world building is making your story believable. Even though the author is writing the rules of this new world, there still have to be rules … and the author has to follow them. And as the author, you have to know, at least generally, those rules that exist in our universe in order to decide which of them you're going to break when you create the new one.

"CONSTRUCTION MANUAL"
Although there are no "construction manuals" on how to build a new world, many authors offer sound advice on the approach. Author Holly Lisle suggests there are three varieties of writers in relation to world building for fantasy and science fiction genres.

        "Those who really have no idea what world building is or why they should bother with it."
        "Those who do know, but figure they'll wing the details as they go." and
        "Those obsessive folks who secretly believe that they can't start a book until the whole
planet is in place."

My preference and the general recommendation of most of the writers on this subject is: Don't do too much at the beginning. Focus on putting the big ticket items (the core principles, as Victoria Strauss puts it) in place and develop a solid concept, then deal with the more detailed issues when they come up. Deal only with the parts of the world you need for the plot of your story.

● Develop a well-thought-out concept of your world.
In order for readers to visualize the world, it has to come alive in the writer's mind. It has to feel tangible and real to the writer before it can be tangible and real to the reader. There are tricks to do that, including drawing maps of the world and figuring out the geography.

● Develop the Core Principles.

● Anchor the world with humanity and things human that the reader knows.
Even if this is a Star Wars type world not based on humanity or our universe, your readers are human. Where is doesn't matter to the storyline, ground the story in earth, humanity or things that readers are familiar with, like an equivalent for coffee, booz, or expected human reactions.
An example given by A. Wrighton is that in the movie Star Wars, which is not related to earth in history or development, still has a senate. People know what a senate is. You could call it a derfloppengut, but senate works just fine. Don't make the world any more complicated than necessary.

● Don't overwhelm the reader with too much
Don't explain everything up front in the first chapter. And, of course, the author should show the reader, rather than explain.

● Establish the basic rules and make the limitations seem real
Because fantasy and science fiction ask readers to suspend disbelief, the work needs to be consistent internally or the reader loses faith in the author. Like any novel, something can change … but only if there is a credible reason. Most readers will spot the inconsistencies and be jarred out of the story.

● Know history, ours and that of the imaginary world
Is any part of the story based on real history, or is this an alternate world? A fantasy with magic in it could easily be set on the earth and be subject to real history … or it could be on earth, but with a completely different history. If you are using real historical events, they better be correct within the rules of the new world. And, of course, the rules need to be clear.

You don't have to overdo it at the beginning and know everything about the world, but do your prep work. Without it, you can paint yourself into a corner with no way out that doesn't break the rules of your new world.

Rebecca Zanetti lists the following five blunders in world building:

● "Making the world faaar too complex right at the beginning
Avoid trying to explain everything up front in an information dump."

● "Forgetting to look ahead and giving all the rules in book one, leaving no wiggle room in the next book."

● "Forgetting even the characters may be new to the world and should react believably to the strange new world."

● "Forgetting to relate the world to the one the readers live in.
Even paranormal creatures need humanistic flaws, goals, weaknesses. Give the readers something to hold on to that they understand."

● "Holding ourselves back and not putting bizarre ideas out there."
Rebecca says she writes every scene like she's the only person who is ever going to read it.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT WORDS
Not only can you create your own species, strange sentient life forms, and wild beasts that fly, you can also create a language or languages to be spoken in this new universe. But be careful. The people who read your work speak English (or another earth language). They won't want to learn a whole new one — which most of us aren't capable of creating anyway — just to read your fantasy novel.

Tip the reader off that the characters are speaking another language, but use made-up, new-universe words sparingly, just as you would to give the flavor of a foreign language or an accent without making the dialogue unreadable. Here's a line from my sci-fi romance All In The Game.
        The voice sounded familiar. So did the language, but not the English Shauna knew.
        A strange, stilted dialect. Yet, she understood perfectly.

An A. Wrighton example of the same thing.
        Dref rubbed his antennae and sighed. He looked at his mother and spoke to her in their
        native Huvlovian tongue, the only way he knew how – while whining.

I suggest limiting the number of words in your new or futuristic language, and explaining them (preferably, showing the reader what they refer to) the first time used. After that, the reader has to remember. Or you can put in a glossary of words at the back.

PUT THIS ISSUE ON YOUR RADAR SCREEN.

One of these places really exists, the other is a fantasy world. If your contemporary novel is set in the existing location, you'd still need to establish it in the minds of the readers. Which is real?

Resources for World Building
http://awrighton.com/2013/03/14/world-building-for-fantasy-sci-fi-writers/
http://rebeccazanetti.com/writing-craft/five-blunders-authors-make-in-world-building/
http://www.stormthecastle.com/mainpages/for_writers/worldbuilding.htm
http://www.victoriastrauss.com/advice/world-building/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldbuilding
http://hollylisle.com/how-much-of-my-world-do-i-build/
http://www.stormthecastle.com/mainpages/for_writers/how-to-write-an-epic-fantasy-novel.htm
http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/
http://www.lsswritingschool.com/WorldBuilding.html
http://www.cjbrightley.com/on-writing-and-publishing/world-building-for-fantasy-authors/
http://www.lisahartjes.com/tips-for-world-building-when-writing-fantasy-and-science-fiction/
http://www.blackholly.com/writingresources.html
http://sffworlds.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/world-building-for-writers-build-more-than-you-need/
http://worldsoftheimagination.wordpress.com/tag/world-building-for-writers/
http://referenceforwriters.tumblr.com/post/47088714715/worldbuilding
http://www.writersdigest.com/tip-of-the-day/discover-the-basic-elements-of-setting-in-a-story
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Suspension of Disbelief

8/20/2016

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Posted by R. Ann Siracusa

While I was preparing a foreword to my contemporary murder mystery [The Last Weekend In October], I felt the need to explain the literary license I'd taken with the timing of story. While most readers won't notice the discrepancy between events in reality and the timing in the novel, those who do know would lose confidence that I know what I'm writing about.

The one thing I'm asking of the reader is to suspend disbelief regarding the timing.

THE TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION
That's true because there's a limit to what people will believe in fiction. Just because "it happened that way" in real life doesn't mean it's believable as fiction.
It comes down to suspension of disbelief. They [readers] will believe Superman can fly, but not that others won't recognize him when he puts on his glasses. -- cynicalladWGA Screenwriter

WHAT IS SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF?
This term, coined in 1817 by poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, means a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable, sacrificing realism and logic for the sake of enjoyment. In short, it's buying into the premise of a story and believing that it could be possible.

STORYTELLING
When a reader picks up a science fiction or paranormal novel, it's clear that suspension of disbelief will be required to enjoy the adventure. If you read those genres, you expect that. However, with or without an element beyond the real world, all forms of storytelling require some suspension of disbelief, just because the story itself it not real. It's fictitious. It didn't really happen, or happen this way.

● The Media In Which The Story Is Told
Most forms of entertainment that depend on story [movies, television, video games, plays, magic shows, and so on] require some suspension of disbelief.

A reader suspends disbelief when he/she connects with the characters, places, and situations in a book and allows them to become "real" in the reader's mind, even though the reader is looking at little black marks on two dimensional sheets of paper.

At the movies we know that we're looking at a big white surface, and that what we see isn't really happening in front of us, but that's no fun at all.

What we see on television isn't really happening, much less in our living rooms. Also, TV often compresses timing. When watching a crime show, there are many things we know to be unreal, like the time it takes to get reports regarding DNA and other forensic evidence. For the sake of the story, we suspend disbelief and accept that it can happen in one or two days.

After getting past the media issues, what next?

● Establish Commonality
Writers need to convince readers that the characters, places, and situations they write about are real by developing those reference points in detail, giving them characteristics which are typical of many.

In the case of characters, their looks attitudes, emotions, goals and motivations need to be ones we all can understand and relate to – these are the thing in common with the reader. Once the reader connects with the characters by sharing things in common, then the author can give those characters, places and situations attributes that make them individual, unique, or super-natural.

Regardless how fantastic your created world, it will seem more real if the writer uses familiar things as the basis for your fictional ones. Agent X, of Men With Pens, writes:"Stories like Tolkein's Lord of the Rings may appear fanciful and completely fictitious, but if you dig deeply, you notice that Tolkien pulled from many resources to breathe life into his works." He goes on to note that the Elven language is mostly derived from Welsh. "If something appears familiar enough, it tricks the mind into belief."

Agent X also points out that "A single scene at the beginning of the novel isn't sufficient. You must keep up the suspension of [dis]belief throughout the whole story."

However, a writer in the Writers Stack Exchange warns that "In fantasy and science fiction, direct reference to the real world can be very distracting … Even things that are similar can provoke this reaction – e.g. you don't want to name your fantasy princess Diana, even if Diana is a perfectly fine name and it makes perfect sense for there to be a Princess Diana in your world. References to the real world, our world, throw the reader out of the story world."

● There Has To Be A Reason
If your novel is contemporary or historical [not science fiction, paranormal, or fantasy], you can give a character an extraordinary skill or attribute, but you have to make that believable by establishing a background which makes the skill possible. For example, a city detective may have extraordinary accuracy with a rifle – he has never missed a shot, even in the most difficult circumstances.

Wow! Never is the operative word. That's pretty unbelievable, but that's okay -- if it doesn't come out of the blue. Our detective needs a background such as ten years experience as a top sniper in the military, or a gold medal winner in a major rifle competition.

After you let the reader in on his background and accuracy record, you can't have him miss a critical shot because he blinked or some noise disturbed him. That would be unacceptable to the reader even though, in reality, it might be possible – or even probable.

● If It Sounds Wrong…
My friend Sharan Newman writes 12th century mysteries. She does much of her research reading historical diaries from that period of time in their original languages. When we were in the same critique group, sometimes she would use an expression or some other detail that sounded, to the rest of us, too modern for the 12th century. When we pointed those things out, she would explain why we were wrong, but always changed the detail to something else.

Why? Because a phrase, description, or detail may be completely accurate, but if it sounds unbelievable [i.e. the reader doesn't accept it as accurate], it will pull the reader out of the story. That's bad enough, but if the reader loses confidence in the author's credibility, then it's over. Chances are, the reader won't finish the book or buy another book by that author.

● Set the Rules and Be Consistent
It's the writer's job draw readers into world the writer has created and to convince them that the people and places are real and the story is plausible.

External consistency -- The beginning of a novel, up to a certain point, establishes the setting and explains the world and the rules of the world the writer has created. This is true in any kind of novel, whether contemporary, historical, futuristic, paranormal, fantasy, and so on. What do the particular time and location of the setting, the social rules and technology, etc., allow? What don't they allow?

If those rules are clearly established [e.g. Time travel is possible and here's how it works in this world], the reader will accept and suspend disbelief. Those elements not explained up front, even if explained later in the story, can cause the reader to feel the story is contrived.

However, sometimes the author can get away with bending or even breaking the rules if there is adequate foreshadowing that the original rules may have loopholes or even be false.

Internal consistency – I consider internal consistency in relation to the characters, what they believe, how they act, what they say, their backgrounds and motivations. If, because of a character's background, she hates dark places, she would probably not spend her time in movie theaters or walking in the woods at night.

If there is such an inconsistency, there has to be a reason, and it has to be explained. When and how are up to the author, but that information needs to come when the reader needs to know [that is, when the question arises], not in the next chapter. Otherwise, it pulls the reader out of the story.

● The Dreaded Coincidence
In real life coincidences do happen [we can all attest to that], but an author can't base the plot of a novel on coincidences. Nonetheless, writers use them all the time … and many of those novels seem contrived or manipulated. If you must have a major coincidence in your novel, make it part of the premise and put it up front – and then don't use any more.

WRITING IN TODAY'S WORLD
Today, in the Information Age, when almost any person can access any type of facts and data about any topic, the rules of suspension of disbelief may have changed a bit. Writers have to research more thoroughly and be more informed and detailed in the information they present because the reader is generally more informed.
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Resources
http://critical-thinkers.com/2010/10/critical-thinking-exercise-suspending-judgement/
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2010/06/suspending-judgment/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_of_disbelief
http://writers.stackexchange.com/questions/2730/what-breaks-suspension-of-disbelief
http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/disbelief.html
http://www.shmoop.com/literature-glossary/suspension-of-disbelief.html
http://io9.gizmodo.com/5829621/suspension-of-disbelief-is-a-muscle-that-it-feels-good-to-strengthen
http://menwithpens.ca/fiction-writing-suspend-your-disbelief/
http://www.writingexcuses.com/2011/09/04/writing-excuses-6-14-suspension-of-disbelief/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/2x10up/how_to_maintain_willing_suspension_of_disbelief/

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YOU KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO BECOME A RECLUSE WHEN...

8/14/2016

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Originally posted on June 1, 2012 on Romance Books 4 Us Blog
The problem with getting old is you don’t have a chance to practice beforehand. It sort of sneaks up on you.

I knew it was time to retire when I updated my resume and all my references were dead. So I retired. Nearly two years ago, when I celebrated (and I use the term loosely) a landmark birthday, I accepted the fact that the handwriting was on the wall. I’m now getting hints that maybe it’s time to become a recluse. Here are some of the first indicators.

▪ You look in the mirror one day and the first thing you say is, “Whoa! Who are you?” The second thing you say is, “Shit, when did this happen?

▪ Even using a 15x magnifying mirror, you can’t tell the difference between a mole, a blackhead, and a leftover piece of breakfast.

▪ When you finish putting on your makeup, your face looks as though you applied the cosmetics and eyeliner with a can of spray paint, and your lips bleed all the way up to your nose.

▪ Everything in your closet looks clean and spotless until you are in the sunlight, with your glasses on, and too far away to go back home to change.

▪ You go to brush a hair off your lapel and discover it’s attached to your chin.

▪ You spend fifty percent of your day looking for your glasses, car keys, or something you had in your hand just a second ago.

▪ You drive up to a curb-side mail box and order a hamburger and French fries.

▪ You drive into the wrong end of the car wash.

▪ The most fun you have all day is blurting out your age and weight just for the shock value.

▪ You develop random non-life-threatening skin growths large enough to name after a deceased pet or relative.

▪ You turn on your left signal in the morning and leave it on all day.

▪ On the operating table, before they put you under, you demand to see the anesthesiologist and surgeon’s photo IDs, just to be sure at least one of them is old enough to drive a car.
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CELEBRATING LAMMAS DAY

8/14/2016

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Posted by R. Ann Siracusa

DEAR DIARY…
I hope you'll excuse me for neglecting you for the last seven decades. I'll be seventy-six this month (but I couldn't write until I was five), and at most I've visited you once every ten years. Sorry about that!

My assignment this month was to write to you, and I've been thinking about how to catch up. A lot has happened in seventy-six years. Now that I think about it, I'd rather not bore you to death so I'll stick to the events of August 1 only.

AUGUST 1
On August 1, I celebrated Lammas Day.

No, that's not just sloppy spelling. I don't mean llamas, although they're cute and probably deserve a day of observation on their own. I mean, oysters have one, why not llamas?
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But I digress. I'm talking about "lammas" or "hlafmasse" (Load mass). August 1 is also called Mead Day. Still not clear. Take a look at the picture on the right.

Does bread deserve it's own holiday? Well, there seems to be a Something Day for just about everything including sandwiches and Panini. Why not bread?

LAMMAS DAY
Centuries ago in Britain, Lammas Day (August 1) was celebrated toward the beginning of the harvest and is the first of the year's harvest festivals.. The name for this day, which predates the Christian Harvest festival, is the Anglo-Saxon word Hlafmaesse or Lughnasadh in Celtic.

It began as a pagan festival of Celtic origin celebrating the Irish god Lugh. Later, the Anglo-Saxons celebrated the festival of Hlafmaesse at the same time of year to mark the beginning of the harvest when prayers of were said for the first corn to be cut.

Peasants would make bread from the recent wheat harvest and take loaves to the churches to give thanks and to pray for a good corn crop. In the medieval agricultural year, Lammas marked the end of the hay harvest that begins after midsummer. Corn and other crops were harvested between August first and Samhain, at the end of the harvest season.

Alas, after 1752, when the calendar was changed to make August 1 ten days earlier, the popularity of Lammas Day waned because not much wheat was ready for harvest by July 21.
The powers that be just have to change things and mess everything up, don't they?

A TIME FOR TRIAL MARRIAGES
Ohh! This sounded interesting.

Lammas Day was also the time for foretelling marriages and trying out partners. Young people would agree to a trial marriage which lasted for the time the festival lasted, which was about eleven days. At the end of the celebration, if they didn't get along, they parted.

BREAD SUPERSTITIONS
Stale loaf
For good luck, farmers would let the first corn bread go stale and then crumble it over the corners of their barns. (Lammas superstition)

The Corn Dolly
Representing the spirit of the spirit of the grain, corn dolly could be life-sized or small. "The corn dolly was a figure made from the first straw of the harvest, which was sotred during the winter and buried with the first planting of the new growing season." Rachael Bellerby https://suite.io/rachel-bellerby/x92204

First Footing
This is a Scottish tradition in which the first person to cross a home's threshold brings the residents good luck for the coming year. While waiting for your first guest, the Scotts would place a slice of bread and a silver coin outside the door representing prosperity and warmth.

Yorkshire Superstition
For you mystery buffs, here's an idea for you. In Yorkshire, the people "believed that if a loaf of bread failed to rise, it mean there was an undiscovered corpse nearby."
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/LammasFolklore/a/Legends-And-Folklore-Of-Bread.htm

P.S. August 1 is also Girlfriend's Day.

DEAR DIARY…
You know, Dear Diary, this is been fun getting together like this, but things are really getting boring. I don't know about you, but I'm tired. I'll come back another day (some time in the next decade -- I promise). In the mean time, what is your favorite sandwich? This is also National Panini Month.

Resources
http://projectbritain.com/year/august.htm
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/aug/01/local-loaves-for-lammas
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/lughnasadh.shtml
http://schooloftheseasons.com/lammas.html
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lammas/a/AllAboutLammas.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/lughnasadh.shtml
https://suite.io/rachel-bellerby/x92204
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/LammasFolklore/a/Legends-And-Folklore-Of-Bread.htm
http://www.holidays-and-observances.com/animal-holidays.html

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wORLD BUILDING

Suspension of Disbelief

YOU KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO BECOME A RECLUSE WHEN...

CELEBRATING LAMMAS DAY

Author R. Ann Siracusa

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