Ketterdam was inspired by Amsterdam and Narnia by the Mourne Mountains. If we look around us, Earth is filled with a variety of landscapes that are great contenders for the fictional world. This is my pick for some of the places on our planet that I think belong inside a fantasy -or maybe even sci-fi- bestselling book.
Note: If there is not an image before the description, you can click on the name of the place to see a picture of it.
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Different Types of Love2/22/2022 How often do we use the word “love” in a day? We use it to show affection, enthusiasm, and joy for the people and things in our lives. While the word may be the same, the way we use it differentiates: one doesn’t necessarily love their favorite book like they love their partner.
Love exists in different forms. The Greeks actually used about six different words for the various kinds of love. Identifying love in it’s multiple forms can help us write realistic relationships, romantic or otherwise. Worldbuilding Basics: Hard SFF2/9/2022 Note: This is part of the Worldbuilding Basics series. I recommend you check it out before reading this article.
You decide to walk towards a huge, rectangular, metallic door. Engraved on it are the words “Hard SFF”. The gears click for a second, and the door opens slowly. The room is only lit by a candle over an old wooden table. Their molten wax falls over the blank pages of a notebook, which is laying next to a fountain pen. Take them and you will explore a place of constant investigation. Perfect for the insatiably curious and for those willing to break their own rules. Worldbuilding Basics: Soft SFF2/1/2022 Note: This is the third part of the “Worldbuilding Basics” series. Part one can be found here, and part two here.
Behind a rounded, crystal door stands a place in which you get to build an uncertain, wild, and unpredictable world. If you choose to enter, beware that you will let a monster run wild: imagination. Soft SFF can be chaotic, but it sure keeps the readers hanging at the edge of their seats. And so, slowly, you open the door. The walls, the floor, and the furniture are just the same as you had already picked. However, at the end of the room, laying over a glass table, lay a full-body swimsuit, and a snorkeling package. Take them, and get ready to explore soft SFF, and some of the most intriguing water bodies in the world. Note: This is the second part of a series. If you have not read Worldbuilding Basics - Introduction and Resources yet, I recommend you do so before reading this post.
And so, you choose to write science fiction. Where technology thrives both as a threat and a tool. Science fiction, as a part of speculative fiction, has an infinite array of possibilities. As you make this decision, you enter a brightly lit room and let your eyes adjust for just a few seconds. You can probably see the color of the walls and the lighting of the place. It is mostly empty and ready for you to work with it. Personally, this genre is my favorite to both write and read. However, when I started my first science fiction piece, I quickly noticed I had no idea how to transfer the world I had created on my head to the page. I had the Pinterest boards and the spreadsheets with my character’s needs and wants, but I realized there were so many things about my technology, and sci-fi in general, that I did not understand. During this post, I will start with the elements of the genre, and then explain a couple of the things I wish I had known when I started. Worldbuilding Basics: Sanderson’s Laws1/25/2022 So you have chosen to write fantasy. Behind this door, a world full of mystical creatures, legends, and warriors awaits. And, most likely, magic. One of the most alluring elements of fantasy, magic is also one of the most complicated ones to write. It is easy to get lost on who has which power and how they interact with each other. Luckily, Brandon Sanderson, author of over twenty SFF books, has assembled three pieces of advice that could help you navigate these treacherous waters. Remember, however, that everyone’s process is different, but it is always good to have other writers’ perspectives, guides, and starting points.
Note: Information and advice are taken from Lecture #5: Worldbuilding Part One — Brandon Sanderson on Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy. This is How You Lose the Time War Review1/16/2022 This is How You Lose the Time War is a co-written novella by authors Amar El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It follows two soldiers on opposite sides of a war spanning all of space and time. Red works for the Agency, while Blue is a part of Garden. There isn’t much talk about these two entities, and we only get vague details about them. We have no clue why this war started, or for how long it’s been going on. The only information given is that Red and Blue are on opposite sides of this war, and to win, one will have to destroy the other.
If there is something I used to fear as a writer, it was the blank page. But not just any blank page. Sure, I sometimes have trouble starting a draft or a quick outline. But what I was actually scared of was the document named “Worldbuilding”, with a black line flickering menacingly, as I felt my ideas demanding to be put on paper. For me, it was like walking into a completely white, matrix-like room that needs to be filled. But there was just so much space, so much emptiness, it was overwhelming.
I wished I could have just blinked and I would have found myself taking a panoramic view of an almost-tangible place. Maybe there would’ve been a mountain with a castle in ruins, or a space station overlooking a hostile planet. But eventually, I learned that worldbuilding is a slow process. And it demands a lot of effort from writers to fill that white room. We are creating a new world, after all. The Folk of the Air’s badass, strong female main character, Jude Duarte, does not try to do the right thing. For most of the series, she doesn't even know what the right thing is. Instead, she does what she can to attain the power and status she has been denied because she is a human in the world of faerie. And she does it "go big or go home" style by making herself the power behind the throne, the one pulling all the strings for an entire race.
She’s a fictional inspiration to girls everywhere and breaks stereotypes through her ruthlessness, strength, and an unapologetic lust for power. Fantasy Coding 1016/27/2021 In some ways fantasy and science fiction stories allow us to delve into a world that is wholly unreal, yet we as readers can relate to the characters and their journeys. However fantastical the world, unique the systems of magic, and creative the creatures that reside within it, readers read these stories and can relate in some manner to the characters we follow. Oftentimes in speculative fiction, the excuses for a lack of diversity can be exceptionally thin or characters that are supposed to be diverse are coded confusingly or badly portrayed. When writing LBGTQ+ characters specifically, coding them correctly can allow readers to feel seen even in the most outlandish of lands.
There’s several ways to code characters, even if you do not want to include a romantic subplot in your story. Queer stories aren’t always romantic, but living in a heteronormative world, it’s important to make sure readers won’t assume a queer character to be straight. Categories
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