Thanks to everyone who gave me the feedback! I will take into account all that was said. Or typed.
Input on my world building
- Thread starter Law319
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It only becomes clear in the third book in the series, when they sail to the end of the world.
I think there's a fine line with fantasy. If we try to make a world that's very unlike ours--one that operates by very different rules--too logical in terms of our own understanding of physics and so on, then we could actually give our readers more ammo with which to suspend disbelief. Then you'll get readers asking "What about gravity," or "How come the sun heats and cools so quickly?"
Sometimes it's better to just show your world to your readers through the eyes of your pov character(s) and let the story unfold from there. It's certainly reasonable to try and hash out how such a world would look or act behind the secnes, but that's not the same as needing to come up with scientific explanations for everything that's different in your fantasy universe.
SF is a different animal. Though even there, readers are remarkably willing to suspend disbelief for things that are central to the story's premise, like (say) aliens and humans being able to reproduce and make fertile offspring, even though they evolved in different solar systems and are less related to one another genetically that humans are to oak trees. I'm often bemused by the squishy soft biology that is often accepted in SF that's regarded as "diamond hard" by some aficionados. But that's another subject.
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Referring to the problem of oceans cascading off the edge of Discworld -- "...arrangements are made."
*wipes tear from corner of eye*
Does your reader like to study a map first, before reading the story?
If I want to study a map, I go to an atlas.
caw
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I love it when maps are the first pages in *insert epic giant fantasy novel here*. especially when they're heavily detailed.
I use maps as a kind of first test of quality in a fantasy novel. If I open a novel in a bookstore, and it has a map that's completely and blatantly impossible *cough* Eragon *cough,* I put it down and move on to the next one.
It's not an issue of there being a physical map present. I'm fine with those. Ursula LeGuin, my favoritest Fantasy writer, has maps in her Earthsea Series.
But what i gathered (perhaps erroneously) from the phrase "paint a map" associated with the other comments, was doing it via prose. My caution there is that doing a heap of prose "world-building" dissociated from actual story, is a killer for me as reader. This view stems from experiences with a writer's group some years ago in which two of the most active participants did absolutely nothing but "world-build". For some aspiring writers I think this can get to be a poisonous trap. At worst, it actively interferes with story development, and becomes a huge obstacle to producing reader-attractive work.
If you want to have readers for your work, you need to think beyond "this is what I like to do," and think about "what will readers most like to read?"
caw
But what i gathered (perhaps erroneously) from the phrase "paint a map" associated with the other comments, was doing it via prose. My caution there is that doing a heap of prose "world-building" dissociated from actual story, is a killer for me as reader. This view stems from experiences with a writer's group some years ago in which two of the most active participants did absolutely nothing but "world-build". For some aspiring writers I think this can get to be a poisonous trap. At worst, it actively interferes with story development, and becomes a huge obstacle to producing reader-attractive work.
If you want to have readers for your work, you need to think beyond "this is what I like to do," and think about "what will readers most like to read?"
caw
But how do you know that a map's impossible? If you have a world with a lot of magic, that magic might be powerful enough to shape geography and climate.
What he said
Also it can be (and I've seen it happen) a great procrastination tool to avoid writing the actual story.
The OP says they are writing the story though, so maybe it's not a chronic case...we probably don't need to stage an intervention
Yes, but unless it's powerful enough to cancel out physics entirely (which point I would expect to be referred to in the back blurb, as it would give a novel massive originality points), things like rivers flowing uphill, or massive forests in the rain shadow of mountains are kinda hard to explain. Plus, there are many little things about how the map is made, which shows how much thought the author has given it. At first, I have given such stories the benefit of the doubt. I can't remember a single instance where my instincts turned out to be wrong.
On this, I agree, as I've suffered from this myself. A good novel is the blend of setting, story, and characterization. The key is to create a sort of feedback loop where each of those things feeds into the others and becomes stronger for it.
I used to try to build a world, then struggle for a story. Now, I start with an idea for a world, an idea of the story I want to tell, which then leads to the characters who will drive the story (be it "a farmboy with a Destiny" (which would require the world to have farms, boys, and some sort of predestination), or, as in my current WIP, "an ancient tree-being encased in stone, worshipped as a living idol by a tribe of subterranean snake people," which would likewise require all of the above). From that idea, you flesh out the details of the world, which would also give you an idea for subplots, which feeds into the story, which then needs characters to drive it, and so on.
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In conclusion
You do not need* a map to write story.
You may want want one, and they are a nice addition to a book
But you ned to tell the story so you know what needs to be on the map.
*If you work very visually, or they go to lots of places, by all means make a sketch. Or a map. Or do it oils if you like. But if map making is taking away writing time...write the story. Maps ate a bonus. The story is what matters
You do not need* a map to write story.
You may want want one, and they are a nice addition to a book
But you ned to tell the story so you know what needs to be on the map.
*If you work very visually, or they go to lots of places, by all means make a sketch. Or a map. Or do it oils if you like. But if map making is taking away writing time...write the story. Maps ate a bonus. The story is what matters
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Neat concept. I immediately envisioned the sun as actually being very small (the size our sun appears to be from here on Earth) and impaled on a very tall spike (perhaps invisible) which is attached to this "world anchor" thingee. (Neat concept. I see it literally like a big U-bolt on the bottom of the flat world, with a cable holding it to the anchor point. So the whole thing kinda looks like an upsidedown top.)
What struck me is that you don't need to dim your sun to have night -- you'll naturally have dimming, then night, as the sun goes down far enough. Very literal "sundown"
The shadows moving have been addressed... remember they'd grow and shrink as the sun goes down and up. Who knows what lurks in there, and comes out when the shadows grow long??
And I can't help but be reminded of this.