In Which I Discuss Fantasy Worlds And Other Awesomeness
So, I was trying to think of fun stuff to write about for this blog post, and I decided that it might be fun to talk about one of my absolute favorite things about writing fantasy: world building. You know. That awesome godlike power of being able to imagine any possible world and build it up with history and mythology and geography and politics and incredible, brilliant characters, all of which come together in a dazzling moment of awesomeness to create The Story.
When I first started writing seriously, I considered the epic medieval-esque fantasy to be my bread and butter. Because, you know, Tolkien. And stuff. My first attempt at a novel (which you'll learn more about tomorrow!) was exactly that type of book. When I envisioned my future as a bestselling author with movies and rabid screaming fans, I always imagined my shelf at the bookstore as one long line-up of glorious swords-n-sorcery titles of epic battles and dragons and things.
Fantasy has always been my greatest passion as a writer...but recently I've had a revelation, thanks in part to some awesome novels like Mistborn and Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.
Fantasy worlds don't have to be your standard castles and princes and swords in a standard western European style culture. You don't need impossible names with lots of unnecessary apostrophes and umlauts to be epic, and honestly, a bad boy in a leather trencher with a revolver can be just as sexy as a boy in a tunic with a sword.
My revelation kind of started with the Lost Road Chronicles, a contemporary YA fantasy trilogy. When I first conceived that story, the world that the main character Merelin finds herself swept into was very, very alien, but somehow it also managed to be very stock medieval. It was bland and uninteresting. Well, I put that concept away for many many years, and when I came back to it, I realized that one of my problems wiht writing it was that I'd visualized the world all wrong. It didn't suit the characters at all.
It wasn't medieval at all. It was supposed to be ancient. It was...Middle to Near Eastern ancient. It was exotic and harsh and beautiful, with sun-soaked stones and dust and brightly colored silks and incense.
And I loved it.
I loved how different it was. I loved how it felt essential to the characters, instead of trying to force-fit the characters into some pre-conceived setting just because.
Fast forward a few years, and I got the idea for The Madness Project. Actually, I got the idea for Tarik, the rogue prince who gets asked to do the unthinkable to save his family. When I started brainstorming his world, my first instinct was my default medieval knights and castles and swords bit.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that could never be Tarik's world. Each piece I turned over revealed more and more of an early-20th century society like some kind of cross between mobster Chicago and aristocratic London with a bit of magic and a bit of mad science. With leather trench coats and motorcars and steam planes and submachine guns. With a high society of glamor and glitz and pretension and the street kids with their slang and starry-eyed visions of a better future. (Check out my Madness Project Pinterest board to see some cool inspirational pics!)
It'd always been that kind of joint, anyway. No rules like up northside where you had to have the right look to get a seat. The place felt perpetually dusty, like the inside of a mill, with faded floors and faded walls covered from corner to corner with the kind of rebel slogans that the coppers would never stand to see. I'd never figured Chancy for a rebel himself, but I knew a lot of the older lads played at being revolutionaries here in the shadows, meeting over stale beer and stolen cigos, imagining the handful of them could actually change the world.
It's been one of the most exciting worlds I've ever written. I can smell it, feel it, taste it. It's dreary but dazzling, all wrapped up in a breathless wonder at scientific invention and the fascination of magic in a world where it doesn't belong. It's a bit fantasy and a bit steampunk, which is a concept I only really discovered as I was writing this book.
The story is also the hardest story I've ever written. I knew when I started that it was going to be a bit psychological -- the whole point, after all, was to explore what a life of lies would do to a person. How would it affect a person to pretend to be someone he's not so he can slip into a world where he doesn't belong, knowing all along that the only reason he's making friends with the people there is so that he can ultimately betray them? And what if he actually started caring about those people? How far can loyalty be pushed?
"We're spies, Tarik," he said. His voice sounded strangely heavy. "Once that's in your blood, that's all you live for. You live for the game. Be one step ahead. Dodge one more discovery. Pull the blindness over one more friend, and get away with it. There is no loyalty. There is no friendship. There is only the game." He shook his head. "It's what they make us. It's what they make us do. They teach us to run wild and then expect us to stay on a leash of our own making."
Tarik goes through hell in this book, and when I finished it, I felt like I'd been dragged through it right along with him. I couldn't write anything for months afterwards. I'm still struggling with writing the sequel, Scion. I was emotionally drained, more so than with any book I've ever written.
But luckily I'm getting back into the swing of things, and I'm actually super stoked about Scion. One of my favorite things about this book? It takes Tarik to a place that is very much inspired by my favoritest place in the whole wide world -- Iceland.
I've also gotten some inspiration for a new fantasy novel that turns some common tropes on their heads (which at first I imagined would make for a tongue-in-cheek light-hearted novel, but it's actually quite dark). It's actually proving easier for me to write than Scion (go figure!). Unlike all of my books so far, this one will be written in 3rd person POV, because I've got three characters so far whose heads I want to get into. Three very different people from three very different worlds.
Does this one take place in your basic medieval setting?
Nope.
Here's a hint...Picture this and you're on the right track:
I still love the medieval fantasy setting. Maybe someday I'll return to it. But for now, there are so, so many worlds out there to explore, and you know what? It's going to be brilliant.
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