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Reload this Page So, I have this idea that might not work...
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Old 08-06-2007, 08:05 PM   #1
Haphazard
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So, I have this idea that might not work...
So, I've always been told that worldbuilding was very important. It was always important to have plausible geography, culture, people, etc, and that they should be cohesive in a story, especially so in a fantasy story. Well, I'm writing a fantasy story, but there's no world-building, and there's nothing cohesive about it.

Now, before you start yelling at me, allow me to explain. The setting is some sort of dream realm (whatever you want to call it), so therefore, the landscape and the inhabitants have to be somewhat surreal, by definition. The idea that all of the creatrues have vastly different biologies from each other makes anything medical very difficult, but one of the key elements in the world is that things are disposable, up to a certain point. At that point, the creatures or the settings become mainstays, viewed as practically divine. These things call the shots.

But the problem is that from place to place, there's nothing cohesive. I've got a desert right next to a rainforest right next to the insides of a space station with nothing holding them together, because that's just how they are. A guy with a rabbit for a head is the only guy with a rabbit for a head, and no, the rest of his race didn't die off, he's the only one. See, having a rabbit for a head is just the way he is, and there's no argument by the denizens there, because there's a guy with a human head for a head, so how's that much different?

The question is, can there be a good story sewn out of things that are so patchy and thrown-in, completely forsaking many elements of worldbuilding?
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Old 08-06-2007, 08:07 PM   #2
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Try it- I'd love to see the result if it works.
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Old 08-06-2007, 08:20 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Haphazard View Post

The question is, can there be a good story sewn out of things that are so patchy and thrown-in, completely forsaking many elements of worldbuilding?
Yes, yes indeed there can. Sounds reminiscent of so-called "bizarro" fiction, aka "irrealism" and "new absurdism."
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Old 08-06-2007, 08:24 PM   #4
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You bet. But, it is still "world building". Mercedes Lackey does it very effectively with her Sidhe realm. Piers Anthony described it, somewhat, in the Amber series.

It sounds like a lot of fun!
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Old 08-06-2007, 09:21 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Haphazard View Post
But the problem is that from place to place, there's nothing cohesive. I've got a desert right next to a rainforest right next to the insides of a space station with nothing holding them together, because that's just how they are. A guy with a rabbit for a head is the only guy with a rabbit for a head, and no, the rest of his race didn't die off, he's the only one. See, having a rabbit for a head is just the way he is, and there's no argument by the denizens there, because there's a guy with a human head for a head, so how's that much different?
If this is supposed to be a surreal dream world (as in, it is the visual manifestation of a dream), then I really can't see why you're asking this question. Logic doesn't apply.

Go ahead with it, I say! Sounds quite interesting indeed.
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Old 08-06-2007, 09:31 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Williebee View Post
Piers Anthony described it, somewhat, in the Amber series.
You mean Roger Zelazny, right?

Not that Anthony wouldn't do something similar, but I don't know offhand if he did or not.

Could be interesting -- I'd think it would depend on how it was done.
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Old 08-06-2007, 11:13 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by C.bronco View Post
Try it- I'd love to see the result if it works.
Exactly the point. Ideas can be had, cheap, by the barrelsful. It's how you carry out the idea that makes the difference. So, go carry it out.

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Old 08-06-2007, 11:47 PM   #8
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Eddings' worlds don't make sense. Though I dislike him, people seem to like him.
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Old 08-06-2007, 11:50 PM   #9
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Your worldbuilding is that your world is based on chaos. Go for it.
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Old 08-07-2007, 03:26 AM   #10
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Oh you bet it can work.
And it's chaos! Tell your readers that in the beggining.
Or ina way express your opinion sabout your story through some introdutory narration or a character talking.

If you tell them they wont' be so "Hey! wait a minute!"
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Old 08-07-2007, 05:07 AM   #11
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Yes it is reminiscent of Zelazny...and the Illearth series...and a late 70's TV series with the boy-actor from the Disney "Witch Mountain" movies, I think it was called "Devil's Island"?

Like everything, if it's done well and you have the right agent or publisher, it will work.
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