5 Things You Should Never Do While Writing Epic Fantasy
Courtesy of K.V. Johansen and her blog entry at Adventures in Sci-fi Publishing.
http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/2011/10/five-things-you-should-never-do-in-epic-fantasy/
Please go read the blog first. I'm just going to post my thoughts on each item.
1) Do not put baled hay into a world that has not had its Industrial Revolution.
Seems easy enough to not put a AK'47 in a world where there are the best you can get are flint and powder muskets, or to keep your folded steel Japanese Sword out of Medieval Scotland... Err, *ahem* *whistles while trying not to mention a certain film about immortal swordsmen* I haven't read as much as many have or as much as I should, but I've read stories where some people have forgotten that things are not so easy to come by in those old times. A little research goes a long way in making worlds believable, so be sure to do LOTS of it! ...okay, maybe just a little.
On a political side note, I find her comments about technology advancing only when the need arises to be fairly interesting. The machines needed to cut and bail that hay? Didn't need those when you had any army of slaves or peasents to do it for you! O, What? What do you mean we have to pay our workers now? I can't afford that?!? I know! Let's make this big machine to cut it as we go through the field and put it in these compact little rectangles we can leave to be picked up later. BRILLIANT!
Industrial Revolutions are called Revolutions for a reason, ya know? :)
2) Don’t throw in obvious gibberish and pretend it’s a language.
Q Asdyajkh asd dsodck alkjc aarecsa!
Hey look! I just said "I'm Awesome at making languages!" in a language I created just by typing random keys on the keyboard! Even though it looks like something that Cthulhu might say when he's drunk and high as a kite. I'm guilty of this in some of my younger writing days. Glad that piece never really saw the light of day.
So how does one create a language in their fantasy world if you're not an uber linguist like Tolkien was? I've heard different approaches from different people and they all seem to add in the same seasoning called "research".
3) Don’t use extremely modern slang and glaringly modern words.
Random Hedge Knight: "Thou art dare to challenge me? Thine gauntlet is thrown down! Now pick thine gauntlet back uppeth and don it, draw thine sword and let us get ready to rumble, yo!"
..... I'm just waiting to come across something like that, someday. Anyone have any good sources?
But yeah. As K.A. suggests, if you're going to make a world that is roughly like Victorian era Europe than at least have the courtesy to crack open that volume of Shakespeare and learn some of the language of the era.
4) Don’t use primary-world proper nouns that have become adjectives or metaphoric nouns.
I confess I don't know much about this one so I'm going to reserve contents. I am thinking about taking on a subscription for the OED... Except that it's $30 a month. Think I'll check the library first.
5) Don’t fail to consider the economic complexities of your world.
This is the most complex for me to think about considering the main setting for a story I'm working on is a land that was previously in medieval level technology have been conquered by a group accross the sea who have steam level technologies available. Trains, muskets, cannons, better sea going ships along with the more fantastic, such as air ships. Just what would that do to said land?
I've got this blog entry hot linked for further reading and thought. Great read.
http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/2011/10/five-things-you-should-never-do-in-epic-fantasy/
Please go read the blog first. I'm just going to post my thoughts on each item.
1) Do not put baled hay into a world that has not had its Industrial Revolution.
Seems easy enough to not put a AK'47 in a world where there are the best you can get are flint and powder muskets, or to keep your folded steel Japanese Sword out of Medieval Scotland... Err, *ahem* *whistles while trying not to mention a certain film about immortal swordsmen* I haven't read as much as many have or as much as I should, but I've read stories where some people have forgotten that things are not so easy to come by in those old times. A little research goes a long way in making worlds believable, so be sure to do LOTS of it! ...okay, maybe just a little.
On a political side note, I find her comments about technology advancing only when the need arises to be fairly interesting. The machines needed to cut and bail that hay? Didn't need those when you had any army of slaves or peasents to do it for you! O, What? What do you mean we have to pay our workers now? I can't afford that?!? I know! Let's make this big machine to cut it as we go through the field and put it in these compact little rectangles we can leave to be picked up later. BRILLIANT!
Industrial Revolutions are called Revolutions for a reason, ya know? :)
2) Don’t throw in obvious gibberish and pretend it’s a language.
Q Asdyajkh asd dsodck alkjc aarecsa!
Hey look! I just said "I'm Awesome at making languages!" in a language I created just by typing random keys on the keyboard! Even though it looks like something that Cthulhu might say when he's drunk and high as a kite. I'm guilty of this in some of my younger writing days. Glad that piece never really saw the light of day.
So how does one create a language in their fantasy world if you're not an uber linguist like Tolkien was? I've heard different approaches from different people and they all seem to add in the same seasoning called "research".
3) Don’t use extremely modern slang and glaringly modern words.
Random Hedge Knight: "Thou art dare to challenge me? Thine gauntlet is thrown down! Now pick thine gauntlet back uppeth and don it, draw thine sword and let us get ready to rumble, yo!"
..... I'm just waiting to come across something like that, someday. Anyone have any good sources?
But yeah. As K.A. suggests, if you're going to make a world that is roughly like Victorian era Europe than at least have the courtesy to crack open that volume of Shakespeare and learn some of the language of the era.
4) Don’t use primary-world proper nouns that have become adjectives or metaphoric nouns.
I confess I don't know much about this one so I'm going to reserve contents. I am thinking about taking on a subscription for the OED... Except that it's $30 a month. Think I'll check the library first.
5) Don’t fail to consider the economic complexities of your world.
This is the most complex for me to think about considering the main setting for a story I'm working on is a land that was previously in medieval level technology have been conquered by a group accross the sea who have steam level technologies available. Trains, muskets, cannons, better sea going ships along with the more fantastic, such as air ships. Just what would that do to said land?
I've got this blog entry hot linked for further reading and thought. Great read.