On Creating Imaginary Worlds: Fantasy

[The Judge]

Hi there, MeriPie, and welcome to the Chrons.

So far as location is concerned, yes I think I'd take it away from the Vatican City if at all possible. Whether you go for another important Christian site (not sure if Canterbury has the same sort of glamour attaching to it, somehow...) or one from another religion, or even make up one of your own depends a lot on how confident you feel about writing about places you haven't been/seen -- presumably not all the action will take place in mysterious crypts and deserted cloisters? Also think about the cult -- if the businessmen have come straight from their offices, the shrine is unlikely to be deep in the Black Forest. On the other hand, if the worship involves sand, you might want them in the Sahara. Play around with it and have fun.

Re the language thing, if you're writing in first person, then he can call it what he wants. You can always have some busybody tell him that's not what the 'Gift of Tongues' means, or he can do his own research. Personally, I think I'd probably carry on as you have been doing, ie not calling it anything in particular, or at most something like 'my talent' or 'my gift', or perhaps 'my curse' if he doesn't like the problems which come with it.

Hope that helps

 

[chopper]

constantinople could be a fun site to play with; nobody's actually done that for a while (i think). all the fun you could have with Byzantine plots....

 

[MeriPie]

Not a huge amount of action takes place in this location, just the beginning and the end, so I won't need hundreds of details. Constantinople could be good, I'm sure I could find enough out about it to set these bits in modern-day Istanbul, and it'd maybe throw up a few good links to Russian Orthodoxy with all the Byzantine stuff... Plus I could have them pish-poshing about Vatican City and how commercialised it's all become, just for my own entertainment.

Thanks for that guys

 

[MeriPie]

Oh em gee I started looking up stuff about Constantinople and the fall, and the fall of Rome, and then the fall of Angels, and I'm up to my ears in scribblings now but I think I've got a much more interesting opening to create with all this information... Synods of Laodicea and ruins near Eskisihar and St. Paul banning cults about angels and so on... Feel like my head's going to pop but I'm excited

 

[HareBrain]

Ooh yes! Have them meet in some corner of the Hagia Sofia. Much more interesting, more exotic and less cliched than the Vatican, and the fact that it was a Christian church turned into a Mosque ... think of all the psychic energy they could draw on.

As for the robes, they are an important element to those engaged in magical practices (or, at least, some kind of ceremonial costume is) as they put the wearer into a non-mundane state of mind necessary for such rituals to have an effect. If you or they think robes look silly, choose something else, but if they're performing some kind of rite, they probably wouldn't keep on their work clothes (unless they're so advanced that they can put themselves into a magical mind-state without help).

 

[MeriPie]

It's a bit of an unusual cult. It will all come together, though... eventually.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Meripie -- I don't think you should worry if certain details make people think of Dan Brown -- or any other author, for that matter. Neither should you worry if the setting has been done before. We all obsess about those things, but there is always going to be something that sounds like some detail in somebody else's book. Sometimes thinking of ways to avoid a detail that sounds all-too-familiar can bring up new and more exciting ideas (as you are already seeing), but sometimes it will just twist you into knots. Write what the story needs and don't worry too much about chance similarities. Sometimes the plot itself will send you off in an unexpected direction, and you'll end up changing things anway but as part of a more organic process, rather than an "Oh gosh, that sounds like Author X" panic.

I'm with HareBrain on the robes. If the suits truly work with who and what these people are, then go with those, but don't be afraid to include things that are traditionally associated with the practices of secret cults just because other authors have used them. You want to make things feel authentic. And you might find that the contrast between them arriving in their very expensive suits and changing into their ritual garb creates a strong effect. You can try it different ways. Ideas that sound good in the early stages of a project may not work so well when the time comes to actually write a particular scene. Since you have a history of starting things and not finishing them, you may have run up against this before.

As for any similarities to Dan Brown specifically:

a) Those who feel contempt for Dan Brown's books feel that way on the grounds that the writing is bad. He actually has (or appropriates) good ideas, it's the execution that is lacking. If your writing is better, people won't dismiss you as a hack because of a few superficial similarities.

b) If you do finish the book and bring it to a stage where you are ready to send it out in the hope that it will be published, those superficial similarities may help to sell the book. Publishers want to publish the kinds of books that the reading public has already shown a voracious appetite for. Comparisons to popular books or writers are how agents snag their interest so that editors will give a book serious consideration, and once you have an editor who wants to publish your book, those same comparisons will help them sell the idea of publishing the book to those higher up in the company. They aren't really looking for something totally original (although if something totally original that they love comes along they may take a chance on it); what they really want (and will tell you they want) is "the same but different." So don't shy away from those similarities on the grounds that they may hurt you when it comes time to sell the book. That won't happen.

What I am saying, basically, is don't strain for originality. Write, research, explore. Go with the ideas that work for you personally, and don't worry if someone latches on to some minor similarity when the book is still in the planning stages. Those things can assume an inordinate amount of importance simply because there aren't yet all those far more interesting things that may be in the finished book to claim their attention later.

 

[MeriPie]

Ooh thanks, you've definitely got some good points there. I suppose I hadn't thought of it that way.

 

[Primitius]

more wonderful questions!

could earth survive without deserts? would earths climate etc, be drastically changed by having no deserts?

whats the rule on desert rivers? Are they restricted to particular types of desert (non-tropical or something?)

 

[Precise Calibre]

Going from primordial evidence regarding the Sahara, Earth could most definitely survive without deserts, seeing as the Sahara itself used to be a waterscape akin to a shallow ocean. In addition, it has also undergone dramatic climate changes over the last 100,000 years with varying sizes of its desert regions affected by variations in the weather system in that part of the world.

The world's climate would not be affected by not having deserts, RATHER the presence or lack of a desert would be an indicator of a drastic change in the global or perhaps local climate. A symptom, rather than a cause, if you would.

As far as rivers go, from what I've seen, a river can make its way through a desert, if it is hefty enough, but the desiccating effects of the desert will hinder plant growth even with the presence of water, certain conditions aside (such as the Nile valley in Egypt).

Generally, a green world can be without deserts, but it's not likely to be a permanent occurrence just as the presence of deserts, in the long run, are not going to be permanent either.

You have a lot of options here as to blaming weather, mankind, some sort of catastrophe or anything else your imagination can conjure; just make it believable.

 

[Primitius]

thanks for that, you've cleared up a bunch of stuff I had been thinking about, cheers!

 

[huiru]

Whether the suggestions are actually what you find helpful or not, remember to be thankful that those who take the time to respond wanted to give you a hand.

 

[huiru]

more wonderful questions!

 

[huiru]

you've cleared up a bunch of stuff I had been thinking about, cheers!

 

[huiru]

the desiccating effects of the desert will hinder plant growth even with the presence of water, certain conditions aside (such as the Nile valley in Egypt).

 

[huiru]

some sort of catastrophe or anything else your imagination can conjure; just make it believable.

 

[chrispenycate]

Hello? Um, huiru, I don't want to be difficult, but could you reference the questions you're answering when responding to a lot of different subjects, please; I've no doubt it's very clear to you where the answers belong, but not the rest of us.

Is a desert to be defined by rainfall, or humidity? Or mere lack of vegetation? The Kalahari goes right down to the beach, so, despite almost total lack of precipitation, gains moisture from sea mist condensing as dew, so doesn't suffer from the desiccation effect, and a number of species (including Homo Sapiens) succeed in surviving there.

But I'd say that statistically it would be unlikely to have a planet with a relatively large land mass that didn't have some surface in rain shadow, some area which local climatic effects deprived of water. Unless, this being a fantasy, some benevolent deity took a hand. The Sahara actually gets enough rainfall that it is borderline rated as a desert at all, but it all runs off down the wadis; if there were soil, and vegetation firstly there'd be yet more rain, and secondly, the water wouldn't just disappear; it seems probable that goats, human-protected against predators, are a large part if not the majority of it's desertification, and the rapidness (in geological terms) of the operation explains why so few species are adapted to the conditions, relative to more 'natural' dry areas, like Arizona or the Gobi. Thus desert can be encouraged or countered by technological intelligence (yes, I do consider herding and irrigation as technologies; they were more revolutionary than petrochemistry or microelectronics in their way, and it's only because they've been around so long that we can't see how much they changed things).

 

[petethepirate]

hi all, you may have read my post concerning lizardmen. i've written a (very rough) brief
description of the race(and stuff).
so, here it is! (fanfare)
Gok’tar
Lizardmen – humanoid lizards
Ectothermic (cold-blooded)

The Gok’tar are six to seven feet tall and Bipedal
but they can run on all fours for speed and climbing purposes.
Thick scales cover their backs, shoulders and the front of their legs.
These are usually dark green but can be other colours such as brown and rarely black.
Their skin is usually a lighter shade of the scale’s colour. this again is thick.
They are a warlike race and are well adapted for guerrilla warfare.

The Gok’tar have a tribal culture. Each tribe is about 100 strong
and led by a chieftain.
Each tribe also includes a warrior sect, made up of the tribes strongest
fighters. This is called the Qua huq.

The best artisans join what is known as the Cuaq Tli, or great forge.
But these can also act as a militia.

In every Gok’tar village there is a single sacred place,
Be it a patch of ground or a small temple where all Gok’tar
gather at the crack of dawn? to sun themselves and give offerings
to the sun god. These services are held by the mysterious and
reclusive priests.
These priests, or Tenai as they are usually known, are highly religious,
And work to uncover the truth about the Gok’tar’s past.

its very rough.

capt'n pete. (and stuff)

 

[ScrambleEggHead]

Gok’tar
Lizardmen – humanoid lizards
Ectothermic (cold-blooded)

The Gok’tar are six to seven feet tall and Bipedal...

They are a warlike race and are well adapted for guerrilla warfare.

The Gok’tar have a tribal culture. Each tribe is about 100 strong
and led by a chieftain.

Each tribe also includes a warrior sect, made up of the tribes strongest
fighters. This is called the Qua huq.

The best artisans join what is known as the Cuaq Tli, or great forge.
But these can also act as a militia.

In every Gok’tar village there is a single sacred place,
Be it a patch of ground or a small temple where all Gok’tar
gather at the crack of dawn?

... to sun themselves and give offerings
to the sun god. These services are held by the mysterious and
reclusive priests.

These priests, or Tenai as they are usually known, are highly religious,
And work to uncover the truth about the Gok’tar’s past.

its very rough.

capt'n pete. (and stuff)

This sounds like Fantasy more than SF. (Is that your intention?) It always strikes me as enigmatic when a race is both religious and aggressive. (But Earth's history has plenty of examples). So, you've created the race. - where do they live? What does the landscape look like? Can you give more specific details regarding their biological makeup? (Do they have blood, and nervous systems?) Just how sentient are they? What do they eat? What is their social heirarchy? (Are the priests in a position of power, or are they more like Druids?) Are there competing races? Is there a story line?

 

[Entropic Hourglass]

How do I logically display a anarchical society?