So I’m sitting here watching Conan The Destroyer, which includes the age-old premise that a virgin will be sacrificed. Personally, I think that’s a waste of a perfectly good virgin, but what struck me is the silliness of this. There’s no way to know for sure that someone is a virgin unless they’re very closely watched. And if you’re sacrificing to a god who demands one and you sacrifice a non-virgin by mistake, aren’t you asking for trouble? I’d like to see a story where something terrible happens to the god (and then those sacrificing) when that mistake is made.
This virgin from Conan the Destroyer clearly doesn’t want to die. I will save her!
For guys, it’s physically impossible to tell they’re a virgin, which is probably why girls are the usual victims. The other reasons are likely misogyny and the fact that fantasy readers were mostly male for a long time, meaning the male hero like Conan can rescue the virgin and stop her from being one as his reward. Readers can live vicariously.
For girls, the hymen being intact offers proof of virginity, but it’s entirely possible she’s had other kinds of sex besides vaginal. That raises the debate of just how much of a virgin a girl has to be to get sacrificed. If she’s performed fellatio, is she still a virgin? Given a hand job? Open-mouth kissed? Would the god agree she’s s virgin? How chaste is chaste enough? And how would you ever know what’s she’s done and hasn’t done? And how many times? With how many guys? Or girls?
How would the god know? Is that god omnipotent?
If I was a girl chosen to be sacrificed, I’d loudly claim I’d performed fellatio on half the village. Which is better, being called a slut or being dead?
A girl can still be a virgin even if her hymen is broken, as that can break during strenuous physical activity, for example. Granted, in “olden times”, girls weren’t doing sports like they are today, reducing this as an issue, but that raises a different point – just because a girl’s hymen is broken doesn’t mean she’s not a virgin and unavailable for sacrifice.
During these virgin sacrifice stories, there’s never a scene where a doctor examines a girl and determines her hymen is intact. That she’s a virgin is always assumed to be true, maybe because there’s no way to tell for sure. And because it’s considered “icky” to show an exam, as if that’s somehow worse than the girl being killed? I suspect this is one of those “not worth being realistic” things.
If there are no definitive changes to the body, why does being a virgin matter? Are we saying there’s a change to something else about a person? What? Their soul? Their mind? We’re after innocence or purity? I had a dirty mind long before I lost my virginity, so what does that prove? If we’re saying their soul is “better”, well, there are plenty of other ways (besides sexual congress) to not be that innocent anymore. Murder, theft, deceit, a vice, the list goes on and on.
The whole virgin sacrifice thing is kind of stupid. But then you didn’t need a blog to tell you that, did you? Sorry for wasting your time.
If you’ve seen any SciFi or fantasy films over the last 20 years, you know the fight scenes are ridiculous and unbelievable. When did it become okay for archers to make impossible shots time after time, sometimes with two arrows fired from the same bow at once (Legolas in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings)? When did it become okay for characters to routinely do acrobatic stunts that defy the laws of physics? When did it become okay for characters to be struck by something massive, hurled fifty feet, land hard, and then get up as if nothing happened?
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
I’ll tell you when: Hercules, the Legendary Journeys. I remember first catching this TV show in the 1990s and laughing at the stupidity of Hercules sending someone flying that far and them getting up, no broken ribs, death, or anything else the matter with them. At least the 50-foot throw made some sense, since it was Hercules. After several minutes thinking, “God this is stupid,” I realized the producers and directors were well aware of that and exaggerating for comedic effect. I got over it and laughed with them. This was part of their genius, I think, as they got us to laugh with them instead of at them. The smash hit Xena: Warrior Princess soon followed and made that silliness a household thing.
And now we’re stuck with it.
The scenes aren’t an accident. It takes a lot planning, animation, and actors being filmed after extensive rehearsal.
It seems that no one can get killed except for mindless minions. What motivates lead characters to develop otherworldly fighting skills if they have nothing to worry about? They can be thrown 50 feet and be fine, so why learn how to dodge, for example? That 50-foot impact/throw thing drives me nuts because any blow that could do that would kill you instantly. You’d be dead long before hitting the ground.
Without risk, there’s no dramatic tension to a fight scene. Why should anyone care what happens? The irony is that I suspect the producers/directors are going so over the top in an effort to keep our attention but are actually causing us to tune out.
I just saw the second installment of “The Hobbit” movies, “The Desolation of Smaug“, and thought it suffered from the same problem as the original, which is no real surprise as they were filmed at the same time.
I don’t care about the characters or what happens to them, or if they succeed. None of them have anything to lose, since the dwarves already lost everything a long time ago and Bilbo Baggins is basically just bored before it starts. In fact, I was bored before the quest started, too, (in the last film) and quite often after it did start.
We know almost nothing about these dwarves, who are a bit annoying if anything. I might enjoy seeing them get eaten by a dragon. At least it would be interesting. Unless I wasn’t paying attention (it’s possible I drifted off a few times), none but the main dwarf gets any back story. They seem to have no family, either, so no one even cares about them. It comes as a surprise when we learn some of them are brothers or something, but even then, I didn’t particularly care.
Of course, they can lose their lives, or their souls, but the book/movies fail at a basic story problem – the characters can walk away any time In fact, they did so 60 years ago. They don’t have to go back. Wanting to wasn’t enough (for me). There’s no dramatic tension there. Nothing bad happens if they just give up, so who cares? In fact, they’re the ones who cause something bad to happen when they disturb the dragon.
Bilbo Baggins
For Bilbo, the film suffers from the knowledge that I already know what happens to him, so there’s no tension there, though the changes in him are at least of interest. He’s appropriately the best character (besides Gollum, who isn’t in the second part).
As for Gandalf, I personally have never found him to be interesting, really. He’s the only one who sees a reason to do anything on the grand scheme and that he can’t walk away, but again I know he survives just fine, so at best his exploits are a passing curiosity.
Even the dragon wasn’t interesting. I’ve never seen a less majestic depiction of a dragon. He was all gray and black. The only time he looked even remotely cool was (spoiler alert) when he was covered in liquid gold for all of two minutes. His size was impressive, but that was it. Even his voice didn’t do it for me, as it was so suave and, well, human. At least the other beings sounded like other creatures.
Coda
I’m glad I waited until this came out on DVD so I could watch it while making use of my time on the computer simultaneously. I have little doubt the last film will feel the same. I don’t know that these movies are doing the fantasy genre any favors. Since fantasy films almost never get made and usually suck when they do, I was hoping for better, but I guess I’ll take what I can get.
Most authors have “writer’s block” at some point, but I suspect we’re often suffering from something I call “idea block”. The definition of writer’s block is “the condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with writing.” But I think that raises two separate issues:
Not knowing what you want to write; i.e., you don’t have an idea (“idea block”)
Knowing what you want to write but being unable to (an actual “writing block”)
Writer’s block and idea block have different solutions and causes.
Idea Block
Sometimes “writer’s block” is really an issue of having nothing to say, not that you can’t find the words to say it. What appears to be a writing issue is an idea one. If you don’t have an idea, you have nothing to articulate, which is why you may find words hard to come by.
If you don’t have an idea, I recommend not sitting down in front of a blank screen, which many find intimidating. It’s arguably better to brainstorm and let your mind wander, and if the blank screen inhibits that, walk away. If you’re okay with the blank screen, then having a file of story ideas or notes – as opposed to the momentous manuscript file – takes the pressure off and lets you write stuff that doesn’t have to work, or where the actual writing is irrelevant because it won’t appear in the story.
Other times, we have some ideas but just not enough of them, or they aren’t thought out enough and we don’t realize it until trying to articulate them. Again what appears to be a problem with words is really an idea issue.
Sometimes we’re indecisive about what should happen in the story, from whether to include or mention something like back story, or whether a character will/would do something or not. Other times, we have several ideas for what should happen and can’t decide which one to pursue. These are characterization, story structure, or plotting issues. If you can’t decide, you can’t write it. Recognize that these are the real issues and make a decision about what should happen and why.
Writing Block
To me, real writer’s block is when you know what you want to say but are struggling with the actual words to do it. No matter how you try, phrases don’t seem to work together, everything is awkward, or the lines you write just don’t inspire you.
Not being in the mood can cause it, as can fussing over wording too much and wanting to get it perfect the first time. Common wisdom suggests just blurting it out and getting it “on paper”, then improving the writing later.
Grammar can actually be a cause, too, if your sentences are not really fitting together or you are using misplaced modifiers, for example. It pays to be a student of English and have this aspect of writing firmly under control so you can focus on what your words convey.
If you know how something (a person, or room) in your story looks but can’t decide how to write it, or even if you should include it now, that’s also writer’s block. One solution is experience, whether gained via writing or learning more about the craft of storytelling. For example, most consider it a mistake to start your story with description. If you understand why and why not, you can make faster decisions and not get stuck, or “blocked” by indecision.
Sometimes you really just don’t “have it” and need to come back later. For this, I sometimes practice writing opening sentences to stories or scenes in my head, where they are easily discarded.
Coda
Understanding the difference between idea block and writer’s block can help you overcome whichever one is causing your lack of progress. Sometimes people beat themselves up over writer’s block, telling themselves they aren’t a good writer, when that isn’t even the issue, so be nice to yourself and just figure out what the problem really is, then solve it.
If you’re creating a character for fantasy or another genre where they go adventuring, this part of the template may help you. You can download the full template as a Word doc or a PDF or read Part 1 and Part 2 online
As Adventurer
Does he seek “adventure” or go on missions?
History
How many adventures has he gone on? Veteran? Newbie? What has he learned from doing it before?
Training
Has he been trained in any special techniques? By who? Did he finish that training or skip out for some reason? Will that come back to haunt him?
As (Knight for Example)
Relevant Skills
Deeds/Specific Accomplishments
Did he rescue anyone? Free a village? Kill an evil wizard? End/start a battle or war? Find treasure? Recover something valuable (and did he keep it or return it?)?
Trips & Missions
What missions has he done and how did they go (disaster, success, lots of friends died, welcomed as hero after)? Was he paid for them? Hired? A volunteer? Who went with him? Who didn’t return? Was that his fault?
Equipment
Magical Items
What does he have and how did he come by them? Did he steal, buy, or find them? Were they a gift? Are they weapons, armor, or something else?
Weapons
Armor
Clothing
Include formal clothing. What quality and condition is his clothing? How old/new?
Accessories
Steeds
Does he have a horse, dragon, or another steed he has bonded with? Describe it here.
Combat
Training
Where did he receive his training and from whom? What kind was it? What weapons or defenses? Does he employ these? Has he mastered what he was taught or does he get rusty?
On Steeds
What can he ride and how well? This means in battle or otherwise fighting.
Special Attacks & Defenses
Is there anything unique about his fighting?
Formal
Tournaments & Contests
Does he compete? How well does he do? Is he a champion? Perpetual loser?
Challenges & Duels
Has he ever been in a duel? To the death? What happened to the other person? What led to it?
The Supernatural
Magic
Can he perform magic? How well? How did he learn? Was their schooling or a mentor? How well does he control this?
Relations with Magic Users
How does he get along with those who do magic? Is he jealous? Fearful? Trusting?
Places
Does this character avoid supernatural places or become curious? Where has he visited or plan to? Why?
Public Places and Occasions
Does he join in or keep to himself? What about during a festival?
Adventurers’ Quarters
Where does he prefer to stay when traveling, and why?
Coda
Hopefully this extensive template will give you some ideas for filling out your characters.
This is the second in a series on creating fictional characters. Part 1 covered an overview. You can download the full template as a Word doc or a PDF.
Personal Life
General History
Family & Upbringing
This includes place of birth, parents and siblings, quality of home life, general family status (wealth, position of power, reputation), and family jobs (is there a family business?). More is below under “Relationships”.
Schooling
How far did they get and what did they study? What kind of student (honor roll, flunking stuff, misfit, class clown, skipping classes, a drop out)? Did they continue beyond mandatory schooling (like college) and why? Did they know what they wanted or stumble into it? Are they in debt from school?
Languages
What does he speak, read, write, and understand? At what skill level does he have his native language and others? What does he think of it when someone speaks another language around him (irritated?)?
Skills & Abilities
General
Is he good at anything and does that skill have value, or is it useless? How long has he been good at it? How did he learn (natural or taught)? Does he know he’s good at it? Is he glad or wish he wasn’t? Did it make people jealous? If so, how did he deal with that?
Profession
What does he do or hope to do? Is he doing something other than what he wants? How did he end up doing this? Is he happy, indifferent, or upset about it? How well does he do it? Is there a difference between how well he thinks he does and others think?
Special
List anything special, unique, or unusual here, including things like disabilities or rare talents and abilities.
Limitations
Does he know his limits? How did/will he find out? What are they?
Relationships
Friends
Does he have friends? How many? For how long? Do they truly know him or is he a loner despite the appearance of having friends? Is there anything they don’t know? Anything he wishes they knew or didn’t know? Can he count on them? Has he ever turned to them in despair and if so, how did they react? Is he too damaged/hurt to trust anyone?
Enemies
Does he create enemies? Why? Do some people hate him and it’s not his fault (jealousy, for example)? Has he defeated any enemies? Does he fear them? Do they fear him? Will he ultimately destroy them or they him? What is his fate on this?
Lovers
Is he married? Divorced? Living with someone? At what age did he lose his virginity? Has he experienced sexual trauma (rape, molestation) as victim or perpetrator, and how has this affected him? Is he promiscuous? Has he ever used a prostitute (would he?)? What is his reputation? Is he a great/bad/selfish lover? Does he break hearts or get his broken? Does he typically end it or get dumped?
Children
Does he have any children? Does he know that? How old? Gender? Problems with them? Does he get along with them and their other parent and family?
Family
What impact have they had on him? How many parents and siblings? Alive or dead?
Relations with the Species
If there are other species, how does he get along with them?
Humans
Elves
Dwarves
Dragons
Ogres
Hobbits
Relations with Armed Forces
Do you knights, local guards, or other armed forces? If so, does admire them or dislike them? Has he had run-ins with any? Has he been in jail? A wanted man?
Local Guards
Knights
Coda
Part 3 focuses more on building a fantasy character, though it may apply to anyone who goes on “adventures”.
Regardless of your genre, authors, screenwriters, and playwrights have much to think about when creating a character. One tool to help is a kind of fill-in-the-blanks template you can use for each one. I’ve developed a rather extensive one over the years and share it here. It can be overkill, so don’t feel the need to completely fill it out – you may never get around to writing a story if you do it all for every character!
This is a multi-part blog, with this one focusing on an overview. Part 2 will discuss personal life, relationships, adventuring, equipment, combat, and the supernatural. Since I’m a fantasy author, some of this applies to my genre but may not to yours. Part 3 includes a downloadable template (for Word or as a PDF).
Role in the Story
What purpose does this character serve for your story and in relation to your main character? If a main character, more of this template should be filled out. Minor characters need less.
General Description
Overall
Describe this character in 2-3 sentences. You should have this ready in case someone asks and for your own benefit.
Physical Appearance
Include any scars, tattoos, or distinguishing marks, plus body type, size, and the usual height/weight and coloring info. What impression do they create? How do they feel about their appearance? Do they let themselves go or stay fit and tidy? Have any vices impacted their appearance? How old are they, and how old do they feel/look/wish they were? Does he have any injuries that still affect him?
Height
Height in feet or just tall, medium, short
Weight
A number or just fitness level
Eyes
Hair
Include length with color
Mental Appearance
Intelligence and Wisdom
How smart/dumb is he and about what? Book smarts vs. real world smarts? People smart? Emotionally smart?
Disposition/Temperament
Is he friendly, shy, bold, cocky, laid back, uptight, nervous, quiet until you know him?
Passions, Vices, Ideas, Fears, & Torments
What ideas drive him? What vices does he have? What is he passionate about? What torments or haunts him (any demons?)? What is he afraid of and what is the greatest fear (does he know it?)?
Desires, Goals, and Intentions
Who/what does he want to be with, achieve, or avoid and why? Is he compassionate, self-absorbed, indifferent?
What He Thinks of Himself
How self-aware is he? For all the attributes you wrote above, does he know these things or not? Is he an unreliable narrator if you’re writing in first person?
What Others Think of Him
This means people who know him.
Reputation
This means people who do not know him. Reputation is an opinion about a stranger.
Gods, Religion, and Beliefs
What religion does he follow and does he actually believe in it or just go through the motions? Is he a sinner? Holier-than-thou? Tolerant or intolerant? Is he an atheist? Do religions please him or drive him nuts? Does he act in accordance with his beliefs or is he a hypocrite? Does he know this on some level?
What does he actually believe? Is he right/wrong?
Has he ever changed what he believes or religions? Why?
Strengths
Does he know his strengths? What are they? Do people resent them or appreciate them? Does he resent or appreciate that?
Weaknesses
Does he know his weaknesses, including vices? What are they? Do people know about them? Is he scorned or mocked for them? Do others take advantage? Does he try to hide them to prevent them or from shame? How much control over his life do they have? Have they ever destroyed him? Will they? Does he triumph or succumb? What is his fate? Will he be a cautionary tale?
If you already have ideas, you can just write them up according to a template like the one I’ve provided here:
The Template
Animal/Plant Name:
Type: (animal, plant [tree/flower], bird, fish)
Description:
Habitat:
Uses: (products, forbidden uses)
Earth equivalent: (is this based on something from Earth?)
Example
Item Name: Big Cat Name Here
Type: animal, mammal, feline
Description: this big cat has four legs and a long tail. They are up to ten feet long including tail and 700 pounds. They do not have a mane and are often darkly colored with lighter spots. Males are larger than females. Both live 30 years. They are loyal to their owner once bonded.
Habitat: they are found in all kinds of forests and mountain ranges and often hunt in open plains and grasslands. They eat horses, animal 1, and animal 2. Humanoid species are also prey items, but not if armed.
Uses: they can be used as personal guards and trained in battle to assist their owner or as a group like cavalry. They will wear armor and can be trained to attack and defend armed opponents. They are sometimes pets, but rarely.
Earth equivalent: this is a large tiger, but it is like dogs for trainability and wolves in that they are pack animals.
Getting Ideas
Start with Earth
The bright leaves of the venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) attract insects in the same way as flowers. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
If you need ideas, start with Earth animals or plants and begin modifying them. I suggest several modifications for each one you create. A horse with only six legs to make it different isn’t that interesting.
Some items to change are coloring, number of appendages, whether an animal is trainable or not, and how the animal can be used by your humans and species (if at all). You can simply reverse some of these things, like making cats who obey like dogs. In fact, many Earth things are different than you might expect. For example, in America we’re used to only seeing red tomatoes. You could create yellow ones, thinking you’re being different, when in reality yellow tomatoes already exist here. This is where research can help.
Research
Google any plant or animal that you want to start with and read about it, making a list of interesting attributes or things you could mention when writing. It becomes interesting if you say a character sees an animal name you made up and describe it like this: “A large, four-legged, tame herbivore with huge tusks, they mostly graze or eat leaves and other plants. Their tusks are prized. They can be tamed and are often used as pack animals, either carrying the load or pulling it.” On the other hand, if you call it an elephant, it’s boring.
That’s mostly stock information, but it becomes interesting when you change details.
Create a List
There are so many things you could create that having a list helps, particularly if you’re starting with Earth animals and plants. Then research each for the details and start altering them to create your plant or animal. For example:
Mammals: boar, deer, bear, cow, goat
Fish: shark, whale, stingray, plain old fish, flying fish, dolphins
Lizards: snake
Birds: vulture, pigeon, falcon
Flowers: rose, night shade, lilies
Trees: oak, weeping willow, pine, maple
Vegetables: corn, tomato, potato
Other Plants: wheat, rice
Products
These plants and animals will result in products made from them. Goats are used for cheese, for example. Potatoes make chips and fries. Wheat makes beer and bread. Grapes make wine. Trees are turned into all sorts of products and have typical uses depending on the tree. Research an oak tree and how it’s used (and why), and then give it some different properties and similar uses and you can write something like, “He poured tree-name syrup on his wheat-name pancakes.”
Coda
Creating new animals and plants can give your fantasy world and stories a uniqueness that keeps readers coming back for more – if you do a good job! It can be fun and easier than you might expect, but beware of spending so much time doing it that you stop writing.
When I decided to start self-publishing, people began asking me if I can get my book in stores, to which I’ve said no, not really. They almost always ask in amazement, “Don’t you want to see your novel in book stores?” I usually shrug and say no and ask why they think it’s so important, but they don’t have answer for that. It begs the question – if they don’t know why I would want it, why are they amazed I don’t? Stuff like that makes me feel sarcastic, and one day I improvised this rant about it (and thought it was funny at the time), so I decided to share my sarcastic answer, which goes like this…
Why would I want that? What am I supposed to, drive twenty minutes to the nearest one, find it there, and gaze lovingly at it, and then drive home? Is this what you’re imagining:
Pringles chips (sour cream and onion flavor) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I excitedly drive to the book store and find my book on a shelf. It’s easy to find, what with the golden glow emanating from its cover, bathing my face in holy light. With a gasp of delight, I reach for it with trembling hand, eyes wide in anticipation. My fingers close around the binding, a thrilling jolt startling me. I pull the book to me and lovingly gaze at the cover. I open it, the crisp pages emitting a crinkling sound like the most delicious of Pringles. Now I’m hungry, but the rapture I feel fills the void of dark despair that has long dogged me, and I no longer experience mortal pains. I pull the tome to my chest, embracing it wholeheartedly.
And with a smile, I begin to spin, and spin, and spin, gazing up at the ceiling as if I can see the crystal clear sky right through it, for in truth, my eyes no longer see the physical world, enraptured as I am by divinity. I just keep spinning – even long after I lose my balance and stumble into the bookshelf. It teeters, totters, and then with a mighty crash, it falls backward, dumping book after heavy book onto the poor schleps on the other side. It strikes the book case behind it and it, too, topples over, crushing and maiming still more people. The bookcases, they fall like dominoes around the room, smashing the hopes and dreams of anyone in their path, leaving a ruin of broken and battered humanity in their wake.
And all the while, I continue to spin, unmindful of the destruction I have wrought, seeing nothing of the pools of deep red blood collecting around my twirling feet, or the frantic attempts to lift the weight off victims, or distraught bystanders. The angry accusations of witnesses pass me by unnoticed. The screams and groans of the victims I hear not, for only the heavenly singing of angels can reach me now.
Even the sirens of the ambulances, police, and firefighters with their Jaws of Life, cannot pierce the rapture enveloping me. The cameras from local TV reporters capture the bizarre sight of a blissfully spinning author in the midst of carnage so awful that even the rescuers are overcome with despair. Weeping abounds. Many will need counseling and suffer PTSD for long, terrible years. But not me.
Even when the police Taser me, hit me with a stun gun, and crush my limbs with batons, I twirl onward, until at last I am tackled to the bloody floor. They pump me full of thorazine and attempt to put me in a straightjacket, for they have determined that I have indeed gone mad. Yet they cannot pry my glowing book from my clutches to bind me.
I’m carted off to the psych ward, where I spend my days in continuous rapture, unmindful that I regularly soil myself, have bed sores, and haven’t once noticed the sponge baths and inappropriate contact from my caregivers. The other patients see my starry gaze day after day and implore the nurses to let them have the same drugs they’ve given me, to no avail.
The nurses say, “Oh no dear, he’s on no medication. He’s been like this ever since he found his book on a bookstore shelf. He’ll likely stay this way until he dies. His mind, heart, and soul have already left.”
Finally the day comes when I have wasted away, but even then, they cannot pry the book from my cold, dead hands, forcing them to bury me with it. They close the casket at my funeral, for no one can stand the creepy grin I still wear. Finally I am lowered into the ground, six feet under, and there I lay for all eternity, the maggots, bugs, and rats crawling all over my decomposing flesh, the golden glow of my novel bathing us all in eerie light.
When world building, I used to think there was no point in inventing animals and plants for a fantasy setting. After all, they’re often just variations on real Earth animals, in which case, why bother? For example, maybe you have a horse with an extra pair of legs, or a tomato that’s yellow and poisonous, or a smarter lion. You call the first a horse, the second a tomato, and the third a lion, but people will forget you altered it in some way unless you keep reminding them, which is unnecessary exposition and feels like housekeeping (for you and the reader).
If you have to keep calling it a “six-legged horse”, that encumbrance isn’t much better. If you don’t call it a horse, but describe it in such a way that people think, “Oh, it’s just a horse with two more legs”, is that really an improvement?
More importantly, unless the alteration matters in some way, why do it at all?
For these reasons, I resisted for many years, but then I changed my mind. Below are some considerations that could help you make a decision for your fantasy setting.
Creating a Different Feel
If you create a variety of animals and plants, each with its own name (you can read more about creating names here), they can give your world a different feel. By contrast, many fantasy books seem to take place in medieval or Renaissance England, for example, but with elves, dwarves, and dragons thrown in, plus an odd creature or two, usually fairly standardized, too, like a hydra, ettin , or giant something-or-other.
This is good for giving the reader the sense of comfort that familiarity brings. It keeps them focused on your story. But maybe you (and they) want something a little different.
How Often You’ll Use The Setting
If you’ll only write one book in this fantasy world, is the extra work worth it? It takes time and you’ll only have so many opportunities to describe things. If you’ll be writing many books there, it becomes more attractive as an investment that pays off for longer. An excellent example is the Gor Series by John Norman. At last check he had over 25 books on Gor, an extensively developed planet. There’s no denying that all of his effort produced a very unique world.
Time
It takes time you may not have to create unique plants and animals. There’s no getting around this unless you invent things during writing. Doing so is fine, but one thing to watch out for is creating items that lack depth because you haven’t thought them through or done some research. You can make a note to yourself to come back to that later and touch it up if necessary, giving you the option to invent on the fly as needed and fix any conceptual details during editing.
If you want your creations to be inter-related, such as your animal eats your plant or they fight each other, it may help to create ahead of time.
Also, inventing at the time predisposes your creations to “window dressing”, meaning they are sprucing up your setting and story but are probably not integral to it. This is fine but limits such work and might make you decide it isn’t worth it.
Do Your Creations Matter?
They might matter to you, but do they matter to your readers? More importantly, do they matter to the story or world? Some people love lots of new things while others are put off by them because they can distract from a story, or the reader has to constantly remember what something is. This is where having an artist draw something for you can really help, if you have the option to include pictures within your book.
Making them matter is one reason to create things prior to writing your story, then incorporate their unique features into that story. This is a natural way to bring attention to what’s unique about your creations so that readers don’t mind or struggle to conceptualize. By contrast, if it’s “window dressing”, they are likely to just ignore it.
Superficial usage is not the best thing, and if done, should be kept to a minimum. For example, in the Harry Potter movies, there are sometimes scenes that seem to serve no purpose other than showing how different the world is. This is a waste of exposition and poor storytelling. On the other hand, the quidditch game is part of the plot.
Using the six-legged horse as an example, it might make sense to keep the “regular” kind of horse and then add the new variety. This allows you to specify that that those two extra legs make those horses faster or have better endurance because the work load on their legs is spread out – and maybe your characters have to go a really long distance so that this matters. You don’t even need to explain why there are two kinds of horses because we often have such varieties here and “mother Earth” has not provided us an explanation, though scientists will invent a theory.
How Much?
How many things are you creating? Just a few plants and animals or dozens? Will nothing be familiar about your world except humans? Where do you draw the line?
For example, let’s say you create lots of animals but keep the standard horses. Do the horses then stand out as something we have here while we have nothing else from this world of yours? Do you care? Will your readers? You could conceivably call nothing by its usual name because you’ve altered everything, but then your book becomes bogged down in this stuff. Taken to extremes, your work becomes virtually incomprehensible.
My Approach
I’ve found that I seldom want to mention my plants and animals while writing, which begs the question of why do it at all? I most often mention them when describing a meal, in which case I can easily toss off names of veggies, meat, and rice all in a row without going into huge amounts of detail. The question is whether I’d even bother describing the meal if I wasn’t using alternatives, and the answer is likely that I wouldn’t. However, I find two sentences to be a small “burden” on the reader that likely adds vividness to the scene.
I also mention animals and plants while my characters are traveling through the wilderness and encounter them. Again I use a sentence or two.
Then there are the times when my animal or plant is virtually a character, such as a leech plant I have that attacks people. Or a plant that someone must go on a quest to obtain for whatever reason. These are the times to go into a paragraph about it.
Another great use is products the characters use or encounter. A descriptive clause here and there adds depth and color to your setting.
One thing to avoid is mentioning things simply because they exist, unless this is kept to a minimum. As an author the goal is always to tell a story. If you spend the time creating lots of things, it might be good to let time pass before you write a story using them so that the temptation to write a lot about them diminishes.
I just saw the second installment of “The Hobbit” movies, “
Randy Ellefson's Blog 