Applies to Fantasy
Looking at:
• Technology (electricity and plumbing)
• Social advancement
• Availability (only rich, or everyone)
• Technology (electricity and plumbing)
• Social advancement
• Availability (only rich, or everyone)
It's very important to know your
world back to front, especially when it comes to technologies and world
advancement. To make it easier, think of it this way: if a comet were going to
hit, would they know what a comet was? Would they consider it a religious sign?
Would they even recognise it as a threat? In this case, how far advanced are
their technologies and sciences? In most fantasy stories, technology is
replaced by magic, or technology will be more gyro and kinetic based than
electrical. In Science Fiction, technology will be very present and will
probably exceed what is here today, while normal fiction will be quite
familiar, probably not exceeding what is in your own home, unless your
character is rich or a scientist, perhaps.
First we're going to look at
religion. In most fantasy, religion is either the enemy, or they follow gods
that actually physically exist. When religious beings are the enemy, it is
either with a corrupted god, or the god doesn't actually exist, such as in the
Dark Materials Trilogy or briefly in The Dreamers. When the god doesn't exist,
they take it upon themselves to deal out death and judgement because their god
has never shown himself or outwardly done so himself, because he doesn't exist,
which leads to wars, and also leads to the uppermost ranking priests to make up
their own rules and laws as time goes by to make their life more comfortable.
Opposing that, there are also gods
that physically exist like the Daedric Princes or the Divines in The Elder
Scrolls, the latter of which don't show themselves or get directly involved as
much as the Daedra because they are of purer spirit than the Daedra, who are
more like demon lords. These beings will generally see to problems themselves
as best they can, sometimes by actually materialising. As such, their followers
don't usually take death and judgement upon themselves because they can rely on
their gods to do it themselves.
The best example I can give that
actually embodies both is The Dreamer series. There are four gods in the Land
of Dhrall, all of whom not only physically exist, but walk among the humans.
They each rule a quarter of the land, but their people are more primitive than
is usual, even in fantasy works, and three of the four lands consist of just
farmers or hunters. A large group of people in the fourth land, however, do
actually worship their god rather than seeing her as just another being who
happens to have powers (so seen because they behave relatively normally
themselves, other than the fact that they don't eat or sleep for many, many
years), but they are very fat and lazy, and still rely on their goddess to deal
with problems herself. These gods kept their continent seperate from the
others, and also kept peace as best as they could among their own people.
However, there are other lands
beyond Dhrall that are more advanced, and build cities rather than live in
tribes, and in the most advanced of those lands, there is a religion based
around a god called Amar. Amar, however, does not exist, and as a result, the
priests of the religion make up their own rules and kill anyone who opposes
them or their false god. This resulted in the priests and their slavers
launching an invasion on the Land of Dhrall for their gold and more slaves to
satiate their greed.
Not all fantasy has religion, of
course, and when it does, it's not always as prominent as the above. It could
simply be beliefs that are rarely spoken of because they're just not necessary
to the story.
Moving on to technology: you may
have noticed that it doesn't always exist in fantasy. Sometimes people still
live in thatched houses and use spears to kill their prey, while other times
there are brick buildings and steam- or gyro-powered technology used to power
vehicles, weapons and appliances. If magic is present, however, that magic
usually replaces any kind of technology, leaving candles and gas lanterns to
those without it. Some fantasy, though, does include technology of our present
standard, like His Dark Materials when it briefly featured in our own world in
The Subtle Knife. But for the most part, fantasy is relatively simple. Look at
Harry Potter, for instance: the magic world lives right alongside our own, and,
in the very first film, while they were walking through modern London, they
opened a secret entrance in a brick wall behind a pub that instantly led into a
victorian street. Nowhere in Hogwarts or any store in the magical world is
there a piece of electricity. Even the lights are either conjured or candles.
This is because having technology alongside magic seems a bit much. A bit too
powerful, I think, but it's usually set this way because, if our own technology
was used in a fantasy work, it would be difficult to distinguish that world
from our own, and also cloud our minds with what is and isn't normal these
days.
If you're struggling, consider
these questions: where do people get light from when the sun sets? Where does
their water come from, well or pipe? Are there underground sewers or is
everything just tipped in the street? How do people get around, horse-drawn
carriage or car? By considering these questions, you can set your world out
easily enough - and don't be afraid to mix them, either. If electricity is
being used, it doesn't have to be used by everyone - perhaps only nobles
and rich suits have electricity while everyone else go without. Perhaps it's
still in the process of being discovered, or perhaps it's not used by everyone
because of a religious matter. It might seem that I'm going too deep, but you
need to know if electricity is available on hand or not, and you might also
want to know why that is in case it somehow pops up later on in the work
itself. It's best to have a solid world to work in, where you know the hows and
whys.
In some fantasy pieces, girls are
married by 14. In others, they may not be allowed to marry at all until an
older age. So society also changes. This falls under your world's social
advancement - what is life like? Is there plumbing? Electricity? Have you got
one without the other, and why?
What is socially acceptable and
what isn't? Is it normal to keep your hat on indoors? Is there a gesture or act
that is unexpectedly rude, such as keeping said hat on?
Is it very clean? Do animals live
in the street? Do people tip urine from the window? Is homelessness a big
problem? Is prostitution common?
Is there a law enforcement? Are
they fair? Who do they answer to? What is and isn't allowed? Are they feared or respected?
These are the sorts of questions
that just fly off the top of my head. This is world advancement. It seems again
that I've gone a lot deeper than I need to, but it will help you set the scene,
and will also help to deepen your world. If it seems a bit much, consider our
own world. We use many contrasting things across several countries - some have
plumbing, some do not; some see the thumbs-up or the 'okay' hand to be very
rude; in some countries it's polite or complementing to leave a bit of food on
the plate rather than eat the lot.
Of course, some of these matters
depend on what sort of fantasy you're writing. If you're writing gritty, dark
fantasy, like the Night Angel Trilogy, then things like prostitution pop up a
lot, and become a common theme. The same goes if your main character is a
thief, they're more likely to encounter such things than more prestigious
figures. But if you're writing high fantasy, like Eragon, then the idea of
prostitution wouldn't even exist, let alone be mentioned. Personally I like to
go half way between the two. I don't like things to be too brutal, personally,
so I don't write anything too dark, but neither do I like happy-happy-butterfly
lands either, so I make sure to keep things like homelessness, murder and
prostitution present within the world, the latter particularly only by
reference, but the rest are more active and obvious. It adds more depth.
Having a deep world can really
draw the reader in, build bigger pictures in their minds, and ultimately just
create a better book. If you know the world well, too, it may open up new ideas
for side or sub plots, or just little extras. Perhaps if you're stuck for a
meeting place, being able to better envision the world will help you pick out a
prime location.
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