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 Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:21 pm
Hey, I have been wondering a few things about world-building, and all. Firstly, I know there is another thread here but that doesn't answer my questions, and frankly I'm not having much luck in the WF about these, as they fail to answer the questions properly. So here begins my list of questions to help perfect my world. A) Can you use already existing clothing items, especially ancient ones, in your fictional world? B) If you're working with a coin currency, how would you use it effectively, and how would you go about naming it so it makes sense? I've tried the generators, and in all honesty they come up with names that sound like they belong in comedies, not serious works of fiction. C) When world-building, if you are basing your culture on ancient civilisations, is it all right to mix several together from the real world? For example, Spain and Japan, or even Greece? Especially if they fit the warm climate you're working with? What extremes could you use? I already know I couldn't use something like the Sahara Desert nomads in a warm climate, or compare an eskimos lifestyle, but this question has been bothering me for a while now. D) When adding fantastical animals such as unicorns and fairies, would it be all right to use their mythological names from the real-world, or would it be more plausible to use your own names? Tamora Pierce does this with the Pegasus by naming them as Kudarang, while JKR has the Hippogriff, which I'm pretty sure is similar to a Chimera. E) Related to question D, can you borrow magical creatures from existing authors and add them to your bestiary, or would you need to invent your own to separate yourself from plagiarism issues and the like? F) When creating languages, how do you keep them centred around one particular name such as Sabriel, or Tynes? (yes I know Sabriel can be compared to Garth Nix's work, but I don't really care.) Can you base it on an existing language, such as French, or would you need to build your own? If so, how? G) If you're using a certain level of technology, how do you know when you've gone too far? Say you're in the Iron Age, and too far is obviously using Gunpowder, but the more subtle things like broadswords, latrines, tunnels and machinery. H) In relation to question G, how far can you go with water technology, especially when based in the ancient world? For example, the Roman aquaducts, or the Islamic water mills, irrigation, and the English naval shipping in the medieval era? My world is saturated in water, streams, rivers, and a sea-going nation, to what extent could I take that technology? If I come up with more questions, I'll edit this post, but any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
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Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 9:26 pm
A) Absolutely no reason you couldn't. B) I usually just stick to some form of a gold-standard, but mainly because my characters tend to travel a lot. Most ancient cultures minted their own gold and silver coins when they got as far as currency and one was pretty much as good as another. The world didn't really get off the gold standard, entirely, until the mid-twentieth century. C) Mix away as much as you want, but definitely take climate into account. If you really have to, take it all the way back to when the culture first came together into a culture and go from there. D) It really depends on how separate from other mythologies you want to make your world. It's pretty much a purely creative choice. Also, hippogriffs are nothing unique to Rowling, not by a long shot. In the mythos, they're the result of a griffin and a mare having offspring and appear to be a combination horse and eagle. See Wikipedia. E) Best either rename them and describe them anew. Back in the day, TSR (original publishers of Dungeons & Dragons) got into serious hot water with the estate of JRR Tolkien for using Hobbits and Balrogs. They're still in the game, just renamed Halflings and Pit Fiends. If the only references you can find to a creature are in the book you originally saw them, best start from scratch. F) Depends on how far you want to get into it. Tolkien created several languages for his Elves, then just used Old English for the Rohirrim. There are many authors out there who simply use an existing language as a stand-in for one in their world. See this page for information on constructed languages. G) It all depends on how industrious and creative your created culture has gotten up to that point. When working in a fictional world, not every single detail of how things happened in the real world need apply. The needs that arise according to your culture and according to your climate will affect what problems need to be solved and how they would be. H) If it's a majorly sea-going nation, I'd think you could take it pretty far. As your culture's population would have grown, the need for space would have grown as well. If they needed to be sea-faring to get around with any sort of efficiency, maritime technology would have been foremost on their minds. Mel could probably talk more intelligently about it than I could, though. Berz.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:23 pm
A) Can you use already existing clothing items, especially ancient ones, in your fictional world?
Why not? How would you explain them otherwise? It'd take a heck of a lot of description to ensure that readers can picture things in their minds if you're creating entirely new fashions, and that takes up more word space.
B) If you're working with a coin currency, how would you use it effectively, and how would you go about naming it so it makes sense? I've tried the generators, and in all honesty they come up with names that sound like they belong in comedies, not serious works of fiction.
It's difficult to come up with such names, and even more difficult to work out exactly how it'd be used. The currencies of our own world can be confusing enough to work with. I will mention that different countries have different currencies in my world, but I will still use the generic gold, silver and copper more for ease. People usually get the gist better that way. If you try to explain new currencies, they're likely to just get more confused. As a Final Fantasy fan, I've always wondered how gil works. Would it be equivalent to £ or $ or perhaps Japanese "yen". I don't know the symbol.
C) When world-building, if you are basing your culture on ancient civilisations, is it all right to mix several together from the real world? For example, Spain and Japan, or even Greece? Especially if they fit the warm climate you're working with? What extremes could you use? I already know I couldn't use something like the Sahara Desert nomads in a warm climate, or compare an eskimos lifestyle, but this question has been bothering me for a while now.
If you combine them and you feel it works, why should it hamper anything you write? I've got one civilisation that has tendencies towards the Oriental and the Arabic/Indian. They look more Arabic/Indian, but have some Oriental-like customs. I have people who are equivalent to the British living in regions similar to the Mediterranean. Both of them work.
D) When adding fantastical animals such as unicorns and fairies, would it be all right to use their mythological names from the real-world, or would it be more plausible to use your own names? Tamora Pierce does this with the Pegasus by naming them as Kudarang, while JKR has the Hippogriff, which I'm pretty sure is similar to a Chimera.
I'd rather use their original names. Again, it's easier for readers to understand what you're talking about. My world is complex enough already, and if I put so many more new words for things in it, I'm likely to put people off. We don't know everything about our own world, so why would the vast majority of readers want to have to learn EVERYTHING in another world that we as authors have created? As interesting as it is to use to create entire worlds that have different words for things and different languages, think about the reader. You can mention that these things have different names by all means, such as "the ????? people called them the 'xxxxxx'."
E) Related to question D, can you borrow magical creatures from existing authors and add them to your bestiary, or would you need to invent your own to separate yourself from plagiarism issues and the like?
Take ideas and re-work them to create your own if you have to, but don't make them exactly the same if an author has invented them themselves. I'd only re-use ideas that are completely generic such as: elves, dragons, and other mythological/fantastical creatures or beings.
F) When creating languages, how do you keep them centred around one particular name such as Sabriel, or Tynes? (yes I know Sabriel can be compared to Garth Nix's work, but I don't really care.) Can you base it on an existing language, such as French, or would you need to build your own? If so, how?
I have ONE completely made up language in my world. I substitute real words for ones created by me and generally use it in the way English is. English can have a variety of grammatical structures if we think about how it's used in modern times when compared to a few hundred if not more years ago. The other languages of my world resemble those that exist in this world. For example, if a native language in a particular region is similar to French, I will give it French-sounding names or even use some French words or phrases. It's easier to understand that way rather than trying to create numerous other languages.
G) If you're using a certain level of technology, how do you know when you've gone too far? Say you're in the Iron Age, and too far is obviously using Gunpowder, but the more subtle things like broadswords, latrines, tunnels and machinery.
It's a different world isn't it? My books will be primarily set in an era like that of the renaissance periods, but they know a bit more about health and remedies than what we did. If you consider that the people of the far east knew more about herbal remedies for so many different illnesses long before we learned anything about them, there's no reason why people can't discover things at different times. Just because we didn't discover them until particular points in history, that doesn't mean other worlds can't.
H) In relation to question G, how far can you go with water technology, especially when based in the ancient world? For example, the Roman aquaducts, or the Islamic water mills, irrigation, and the English naval shipping in the medieval era? My world is saturated in water, streams, rivers, and a sea-going nation, to what extent could I take that technology?
I think what I said above applies to this as well.
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Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:56 pm
Since you already got great answers on all of these questions, I would just like to add my thoughts on the following: D) When adding fantastical animals such as unicorns and fairies, would it be all right to use their mythological names from the real-world, or would it be more plausible to use your own names? Tamora Pierce does this with the Pegasus by naming them as Kudarang, while JKR has the Hippogriff, which I'm pretty sure is similar to a Chimera.I don't see why you shouldn't be able to use the names that are well known and are used in a lot of stories so far. I use dragons, unicorns and other beings in a certain story of mine. However, in that story, they're not exactly the same as you might think.E) Related to question D, can you borrow magical creatures from existing authors and add them to your bestiary, or would you need to invent your own to separate yourself from plagiarism issues and the like?I'd say be careful about this. If you really want to use a race that is quite unique to a certain story then take only something from that and create yer own. For example, a lot of writers have placed elves in their stories but they don't do them exactly as Tolkien has done so. Since I don't know much about Tolkien's elves, I just made my own and gave them the qualities that I thought mine should have. I also took inspiration in an actual creature: "the mole" and created a new creature that is quite fantastic. 3nodding And those are my thoughts on the matter... mrgreen
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Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:27 pm
No comments on the rest of the questions Hypno?
I think a lot can be discussed just from the answers we've given.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 4:52 pm
I thought they were very relative questions to worldbuilding throughout fantasy, if we're going to write them, then we should know how to write it. When creating currencies you have a lot to consider: economy, government, wages, distribution of wages, banks (or not??), trading, deals, merchants, buying/selling and retail, building and construction, employees and employers, that sort of thing. I find it interesting to a point - but when it comes to creating that, I'd rather not research to much. Hell, if I was even going to be interested in economics I would have studied it at school, but it's interesting to think about how it might work in another world entirely. How about water technology? Can a series of three or more water-wheels power and provide a city that has been built among the trees with both electricity and water? Would they have different designs? How far can you go with water technology and still have an ancient culture, and firm grounding in magic? Languages - would they stay the same throughout one continent? Could they change between species, or would they all speak common? Would languages depend on magic, or magic be spoken in an ancient tongue if cast in spells? Religion - could you have both monotheism and paganism in the one continent? Could a god from one pagan religion create a whole religion based on himself across the oceans, providing an explanation as to why he doesn't participate in the current story? It could be the basis of another book, and I don't see why it can't happen razz Right now these are the things I'm most interested in. Especially since I'm in the process of creating my own plausible language, pronouncing it out loud by myself and trying not to look insane whilst doing it razz I also think having your own currency and economics would mean rules can happen differently, provided that one item might sell better than another, or can be traded for different goods from another Empire entirely. Religion has always interested me in a philosophical perspective. I mayn't be an atheist or have a strong religious focal point, but if there is something out there I'd like to know about it razz Same thing goes for my little world, where they'd know directly about their gods, and all the religion and legends surrounding it.
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Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 8:34 pm
Nyxix Religion - could you have both monotheism and paganism in the one continent? Could a god from one pagan religion create a whole religion based on himself across the oceans, providing an explanation as to why he doesn't participate in the current story? It could be the basis of another book, and I don't see why it can't happen razz Definitely could happen. Has even been done, if you look at Forgotten Realms. Ao created the world and set the pantheon of gods to watch over it and guide it, then went hands-off. Then, when the gods ended up bickering over followers to the point of not getting anything done, Ao stepped in and locked them all into mortal form to wander the continent and prove their worth to be gods. Ao finally revealed himself to the people of the continent when he proclaimed several of the gods worthy of re-apotheosis. So, yeah, definitely doable. Berz.
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