World Building: Blog Posts of Note

Art: "Tripartite" by guitfiddle

Every SF blog out there has a post (or ten) about "world building".  It seems like a good way to start my own exploration of world building is to point out a few of the more interesting posts I've encountered while researching the topic.

To start, let's define world building - my working definition is that world building is the process of creating the full setting for the story.  In the case of speculative fiction, we have the benefit (and burden) of being able to create an entire universe from whole cloth.  So building our worlds can include a huge host of topics that must be investigated; religion, climate, technology, language, biology, ecology, social values, genders (multiple or lack there of ...), social structures, and much more.  World building is working your way through all of these areas, to some extent, and ensuring your characters have a self-consistent world in which to operate.

A good post which introduces world building is "About the Details" by David Weber.  One great point made in this post is:  "I think it’s wrong to tell someone that he or she should only “write what you know,” because too often that’s taken to mean that you should write only about something you have personally experienced."  "... very few of us have ever been starship captains, amnesiac government assassins, elven warrior-mages, or artificial intelligences. In the sense of telling a prospective writer that he should write about subjects upon which he is informed, on the other hand, writing “what you know” makes wonderful sense."  When writing speculative fiction, research is key.  As noted, we really can't get "personal experience" with most aspects of our universes, but excellent research and good world building will still result in intriguing and consistent settings for our characters.

Being trained as a planetary research scientist, I fall naturally into that aspect of world building.  I enjoy delving into the topics of geology, technology, climates, biology and lots of other 'ologies.'  But as much as I enjoy developing the cultural aspects of my worlds, I have less training for that.  Jo Walton provides an interesting means of investigating the day to day lives lived in our worlds-to-be in a post titled "Real world building for fantasy writers."  She advocates the reading of history, our history, as the basic starting point.  "History is real and solid, and if you know it you can make changes from a point of knowledge, not ignorance."  She isn't talking about getting a specific idea from these books, but instead understanding the big picture view of what it means to really delve into and be able to describe the daily lives of people, no matter their world, time, or culture.  "Read widely. Compare things across cultures where possible. Think about why things are the way they are, think about the way things fit together, think about economics and geography."  "So the questions I ask are “OK, how did it get like that?” and “OK, what are the implications of that?”

If you are a perfectionist like I am, there is always the question of "how good is good enough?"  There is no world, even our own, that is free of inconsistencies.  How perfect, how consistent, does your world building really have to be?  John Scalzi gives his own answer to that question on his blog in a post called "Worldbuilding, Briefly."  He believes he satisfies about 90% of readers by being two questions deep.  That is, "you make your creations robust enough to stand up to a general question and then a more specific followup question."  I'm not certain that is enough for me, being a rabid world builder, but it is nice to see any kind of metric.  Otherwise, it's hard to know when to stop and actually get to the business of writing the story ...

Pax

Image credit:  "Tripartite" by guitfiddle on deviantArt.

My comments:  This is one of those nicely detailed pieces I could stare at for a long time, and let my imagination go.  I see a world with three specific types of terrain/climate something like desert, temperate, and polar.  Their juxtaposition already seems artificial, then we note the sides of the cliffs show some kind of mechanical constructs.  Perhaps there are people living inside, or the 'continents' are themselves constructs.  Perhaps the entire world is a construct.  Puts a spin on the idea of 'world building' more like Douglas Adams.

Prompt the Muse #5 - Thursday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image: Meteorite under Microscope

The picture at the right is a microscopic image of a meteorite under polarized light. Take a look at this image and then write down ten things it just might be picturing. Let your mind wander; be imaginative, and don't worry about being literal or concrete. I've put my list below, for fun, but make sure you have yours written out before you read mine.

Image Credit:  Tim McCoy, USAP, ANSMET, Smithsonian


Stained glass window
Magic
Alien virus
Scales of a dragon
Chunks of glass at a recycling plant
Fish in an aquarium
Gems in a treasure chest
Plan of attack
Nebula dust
Reflections off of iridescent fabric

Art Imitates Life - Ideas for Speculative Fiction

Art: "Trip to Mars" by Fiery-Fire  

As I was looking for additional inspiration for writing, I came across the artwork featured at right, "Trip to Mars." It caught my attention for a number of reasons, one being pretty obvious - it has an uncanny resemblance to what one might see on an actual trip to Mars, as long as one is willing to look very close up.

Just in case you are not familiar with the images from the NASA (MER) Martian Exploration Rovers (still) operating on Mars, I provide here a close up of the "Martian blueberries" imaged by a rover. These are small spherules of hematite formed by hydrothermal processes. They therefore indicate the presence of both heat and water sometime in the past geologic history of Mars. How far back is not certain, and in this case "far back" might also include "more recently than we expected." Even though hematite spherules exist on Earth, finding them on Mars was quite the eye-opener.

Before these minerals were imaged by NASA, I would never have looked at the above piece of art and thought of something so very concrete.  I would not have thought of actual minerals.  I might have considered it only in the context of providing a general feeling or mood of space travel or planetary exploration.  Instead, the real universe has once again provided something stranger than fiction, and art imitates life in a whole new way.

This has me looking at art and thinking, what if this were a close up, or an extreme zoom out?  What if this were a different color, or upside down?  Then I re-evaluate what the image means to me, or could possibly represent.  And conversely, I'm looking at the real images and doing the same.  What if that image of the blueberries, above, were really intended as an allegory for space travel?  What if it were a shot from above of the domes of a space colony?  Perhaps we are seeing are turtle-like creatures carrying shells on their backs?

Thinking in new directions is not only a great exercise for the brain, it provides a chance to put something really different or original in a story.  We all know the standard tropes in our genres.  These are not bad plots or poor devices for storytelling, they are simply plots that have often been seen before.  If you can put a new spin on them, they can carry great power as they call to mind compelling stories of the past.  But if you can't make them original, then they very quickly become boring to the reader.  I strive to find ways to twist the old tropes, or find untrodden territory when I am writing.  It isn't always possible, partly because I love some of those old tropes, especially space opera, ray guns, dragons, vampires, and other oft encountered phenomena in speculative fiction.  Still, bending my mind around is a good way to help make it less likely I will present those tropes in old, stale ways.

Do you have a favorite means to keep ideas fresh?  To generate new ways of looking at favorite themes?

Pax

Martian Blueberries:  NASA/JPL/Cornell via Science reported by MSNBC
"Trip to Mars" used with generous permission by the artist Fiery-Fire on deviantArt

My comments:  "Trip to Mars" is an evocative piece of fractal art with embedded 'marbles.'  I enjoy this kind of art for its insistent symmetry, and when that symmetry is broken it makes such a strong statement.  One idea that came to me when looking at this art was another trope, but still, an elegant one - that all the spheres, big to tiny, are universes embedded in a never-ending repetition.  Note that the artist had not seen the images from NASA before creating this piece.

The End of the World in Fiction - Ideas from Past and Present

Art: "Ensanguined Verdict" by julian399

With this post I will have somehow written my third installment in an 'end of the world in fiction' series. I think, however, that this post will get the apocalypse out of my system ... at least for now.

In my first post I talked about the aspects of an 'end of the world' scenario that inspire fear and obsession. (I also mentioned why in reality, worrying about these scenarios was probably not as productive as worrying over more likely forms of our demise.) Yet, people still enjoy contemplating the end of the planet when reading and viewing fiction. For example - this piece of art named "Ensanguined Verdict." The artist provides enough of the back story that motivated the piece that we know this is no natural disaster. This is one alien civilization attacking another. (And we might be either one, I suppose.)

My second post in this 'series' discussed the elements a writer might use in a story about the end of the world. These elements are based on the topics from the first post that seem to most enthrall readers: risk of large scale disaster, sense of the unknown, lack of control, religious or spiritual overtones, and of course a good dose of excitement.

With all of these together, it looks like the 'perfect' plot is one where our Main Character does not know what is about to happen, but it is going to be nasty. Something big. It threatens things the character cares about, and he/she cannot control important aspects of the event. There are hints of omens, foreshadowing, and portents. Something that makes the character think they might be the one; the person who can control one or two elements, and make a difference before or after the disaster.

Hmmm ... sounds like it's been done. Several times. Yet inside every overdone story is an untold tale waiting to be sculpted by a master. Right?

One of the oldest works of apocalyptic literature that comes to mind is found in the Bible. I'm not going to discuss the Bible as 'real' or 'fiction.'  Some people regard the Bible as literal truth, while others see it as allegory, and others an expression of common myth. I'm not going break open that can of worms. I'm simply going to look at the parts of the story, and show how they include all the elements I mention above - in this case, the story is that of Noah and the Ark. This is certainly a world-shattering disaster, with the threat of the entire planet flooded and almost every creature wiped out. The spiritual element is obvious, with God telling Noah what he needs to do to save his family, his species, and all the species of Earth. Noah has no way to stop the flood, only the means to save a select group. For days, the Ark floats, with Noah hanging on to faith through the unknown.

This is of course the archetypal "saving some select part of the world from disaster" story. We've seen the ark redone as ships, domes, special habitats, rockets, underground fortresses, or what have you. This theme has really been explored, and explored again. But people keep using it, including '2012.' It can still work, as long as the story has some unique aspects, and is moving, exciting, and powerful.

Another story that comes to mind is H.G. Wells, "The War of the Worlds." This time an invasion by Martians threatens humanity. Again, it contains the large scale threat, religious portents (most concretely through the character of the curate who believes the Martians are here as the vanguard of Armageddon), a menace out of the main character's control, a constant sense of fear of the unknown, and plenty of suspense as we follow the narrator on his journey around the country.

A more modern story would be "Lucifer's Hammer" by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. In this novel a comet smashes into the Earth and results in the now-standard devastation and de-evolution of society back to feudal times. The religious element is provided by the evangelist Henry Armitage. The calamity is unexpected, and beyond anyone's control. In the aftermath, several characters attempt to reform civilization to follow their vision, either light or dark, with tension peaking in the final, decisive battles.

All three of these stories have the same elements, but each uses them in a unique way, and gives the reader something unexpected and compelling. My analysis of what makes us obsessed with these disaster stories is, I think, pretty consistent with the body of literature already present. So I certainly won't dismiss the topic out of hand as not worth revisiting. But before I write my apocalypse novel (if I ever do) I'll be sure to know the themes that worked before, why they worked, and consider how I can give readers something really original as part of the package.

Pax

Image Credit:  "Ensanguined Verdict" used with generous permission from the artist julian399 on deviantArt.

My comments:  Another great piece.  As with most of Juilan's art, you have to go to the site and look at the higher-res image to appreciate the amazing detail.  In this case, there are tiny ships swarming near the surface of the doomed planet.

Artist comments:  A bit of back story, "a new dawn has come before us... let their world burn into cinders; do not cease til every single grain of sand is but glass!"

Prompt the Muse #4 - Thursday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image:  Weary Knight

A knight has found himself at the end of an epic battle. Who or what was he fighting?  Did he win or lose? What is the next issue he must deal with? Write your response in 200 words or less.

Image Credit:  EonWorks

The End of the World In Fiction - Writing What Will Entertain

Art:  "Apocalypse" by Chris Martin/Velvet--Glove    

If you haven't already, please take a look at my first post on this topic, "The End of the World in Fiction - Obsessions and Responsibilities." It provides a little background for what I am going to write here. And that post makes it clear that I don't have any desire to hype works of fiction at the expense of the public's true perception of risk in their lives.

People want quality entertainment that appeals to their interests and tastes. When it comes to science fiction, fantasy, and horror, there are a lot of options for very entertaining 'End of the World' scenarios. How can a writer provide the best reading experience for people who enjoy this kind of subject?

Looking at the post from last week, it is clear that we need our main character to lead the reader through some of their own fears and misconceptions. Consider the idea that perception of control reduces sense of risk. If that is true, then our character or characters cannot be in complete control of the situation, or there is no tension, no sense of risk.

The second factor I mentioned was scale. A larger scale event is going to be considered more horrifying. Does that mean the galaxy being threatened is worse than the world? Or the entire universe being threatened is worse than just the galaxy? I am not certain about that. There still needs to be some innate understanding of what is in jeopardy. For most people, the world is everything.  What happens around other stars does not feel real enough to inspire fear. So if a writer intends to use the 'End of the World' scenario at truly huge scales, the reader must buy into the concerns of the characters, and must understand what is at stake.

Religious overtones will work well for some readers, and not others. While it seems that the inclusion of some kind of spiritual element, such as a prophesy, will generally increase the tension, the writer can't count on it working for all readers. Still, if your main character believes it, and within the context of the story prophesies can come true, then the reader may suspend their own disbelief and come along for that ride.

Naturally, the fear of the unknown is a huge driver in all of horror, mystery, thriller, and perhaps everything within the speculative genres at large. There has to be some element of the unknown, or readers will quickly become bored. In my experience, it isn't enough for the character to not know things, the reader must also not know things. Yet, if there is no structure at all, or no information given, the reader will become ungrounded, lost, and frustrated with the story. The writer must strike a balance.

And as a commenter noted on my last post, there are many other items to consider, such as the excitement/thrill factor, and the idea that one is living in a unique time or place. The former will come from a story that handles issues of control, the unknown, etc., with validity and good pacing. The latter is an interesting twist that can be included in any story, but has to be used with great care. It can feel much too contrived if our heroine has been destined from birth to Do Something Great. Writers must be more careful about how they bring the reader along, and make the reader feel special just for reading the book.

Next post I'll take a look at a few classic stories that do or do not follow these issues. Therein may (or may not) lie some insight into how to put together a story like this, and not just write the same old thing.

Pax

Image Credit:  "Apocalypse" used with generous permission from Chris Martin, Velvet--Glove on deviantART.

My comments: This work of art is dynamic, full of energy. The tones are of stone and earth, with lightning and a sense of lava. The movement feels like grinding, mixing, breaking, and the results are cracking and fire. The repetitive swirling elements impart a sensation that this continues on and on, or is part of a cycle of destruction. A great conceptual piece that leads to the idea of the 'End of the World' without literally portraying it. That gives us, the writers, lots of leeway in how we let it inspire us.

Artist comments:  " ... as I explored the possibilities of merged trap shapes and textures further it morphed into something resembling an end-of-the-world scenario. Not my usual thing at all but I actually quite enjoyed developing the atmosphere and drama of this image."

The End of the World in Fiction - Obsessions and Responsibilities

The popularity of the movie '2012' is just one more indication of our collective obsession with the end of the world. As a SF/F/H writer, I believe this is all well and good.  But as a scientist, I have some concerns about how people view global disaster scenarios, and what that means for their overall perception of risk. After all, if people think the most likely cause of their personal demise will be an asteroid impact, they will think about it, vote around it, and change their lives because of it. Since I know it is far more likely that any individual human will die of cancer than an asteroid impact, I'd suggest they spend more time thinking about how much fiber is in their diet. But popular culture often wins out against common sense.

There are a vast host of scenarios for the end of the world, such as a solar flare, pandemic disease, climate change, and the old standby, massive impact. The art offered here is Solar Wrath illustrating the fate of two planets being cooked by an active star. The point isn't to try to say these events are impossible; of course they are possible, they are simply very, very unlikely. I love to read and write stories about various speculative ideas, disasters included, but I know where the fiction ends and science begins. You might want to take a look at a previous post (The Norway Spiral and the Difference Between Fiction, Lies, and Truth) for more of my ideas on that topic.

So what are the factors that cause us to be obsessed with global disaster scenarios? What inspires our sense of fear? I'd like to highlight four issues I think are important: perception of control, scale of event, religious overtones, and confronting the unknown.

Perception of Control.  The Fear - Some people have become almost hysterical when thinking about the plots of movies like '2012' and 'Deep Impact.' Yet the concept of a house fire, for example, does not generally cause this kind of reaction. People believe they have a measure of control over their fire risk. They can buy irons with an automatic shut off, they can stop smoking in the house, they can ensure matches are safely stored away from small hands.

The Reality - Yes of course, these actions will lower the risk of fire. But you can't control how your neighbors act, you can't see through your walls to the state of the wiring, and you can't keep people from pitching lit cigarettes out their car windows into your yard. In the end, it is still more likely you will have your house burn down than be killed by an asteroid, no matter what you do. Lifetime odds of dying by fire or smoke - 1 in 1,116; and for asteroid impact - 1 in 200,000. (source for data)

Scale of Event.  The Fear - Asteroid impacts are seen as more horrific than car accidents - one accident can only kill so many people. A big asteroid can take out the entire planet. So even though people are afraid of car accidents, they hold a more deep seating, horrified sort of fear for global disasters. Large scale disasters could destroy whole cultures, populations, and ways of life. These are the things people look to in the hopes of having a legacy beyond their own demise.  If these can be lost, then there is truly no hope for any kind of legacy, progeny included.

The Reality - Again, this has nothing to do with the real risk. We are more proportionately concerned with the bigger event, but it is that much less likely to happen. Odds of being killed in a car accident - 1 in 100. Now that's scary.

Spiritual Overtones.  The Fear - Many people had their first exposure to the idea of the end of the world in a religious or spiritual context. Several religions have writings describing the end of the world, and some have tried to predict it. There is a part of our psyche looking for a 'deeper meaning' to all events, and religion is how many of us express, investigate, and fulfill that need. On top of this is a current cultural idea that 'Mother Earth' is not pleased with how we have been taking care of the planet. There is an article in USA today which talks about people who are likely (and literally) to "buy" the plot of '2012'; those who believe "humanity is creating its own ecological disasters and desperately needs ancient indigenous wisdom." Of course this may be true. But we need to be careful about where we look for that wisdom.

The Reality - The issue with '2012' is that the plot is built from a misunderstanding of the ancient wisdom of the Maya, whose long count calendar comes full circle in 2012. It is a misunderstanding because the end of the world was not what the Maya predicted. They planned a big celebration to mark the end of one long cycle and the beginning of another. It is "a complete fabrication" that 2012 would be a "doomsday or moment of cosmic shifting." (from the USA today article). Apparently, the Maya would be rather surprised at our interpretation of their calendar.

Confronting the Unknown:  The Fear - As scary as a house fire might be, it is a much more known quantity than a solar flare. The unknown is a basic source of worry for all people, with a strong evolutionary driver. You can't predict or prepare for the unknown, by definition; you simply have to trust in your own resources and resilience. In a society as risk-avoidant as ours, where anything you own can be insured, unknown and unpredicted events and risks are abhorrent. Is your home insured against a solar flare? Most of us can't even get good flood insurance.

The Reality - We imagine something familiar or known as predictable, and therefore less scary. Let's consider cancer, something some of us know about all too well. Odds of dying from cancer - 1 in 7. This is far more worthy of getting hysterical over, in my opinion, than that 1 in 200,000 risk of asteroid impact death. Like I said, eat more fiber.

So what to do with this information?  I do not believe the answer is to stop writing stories or stop producing movies. There is certainly a function served by letting people consider their fears and issues in the context of entertainment. But I do think we need to keep an eye on our responsibility to impart correct information when the situation calls for it. Our fiction may take us anywhere, including doomsday type events of disaster and destruction. But that is the fiction. When dealing with people in public, in workshops, press events, book signings, and such, we should be up front about the truth. "So glad you liked my book. No it isn't reality, it is a science fiction story for entertainment. Here is the real deal (blah). Are you getting enough fiber?" (that last bit is a joke, in case you are a literalist) In the end, good education is what we need to rely on to be certain the general public knows the facts. And we have some responsibility to provide that education by representing our ideas in the correct context when the situation calls for it. I'm sure you'd agree that if we have to do actual fear mongering to sell our books, then our books just aren't very good.

Pax

Image Credit:  The above art "Solar Wrath" is used with generous permission from the artist, cilios, on deviantART.

My comments:  This work is simple and effective. While the scale is not true to life (for our solar system, say) the ejection of material from the star seems very realistic. The color of the primary grades from yellow to a searing, white hot. I like the way it imparts a sensation of movement and activity, and yes, the sense of doom. I do write horror, after all.

Horror + Humor = Disturbing Dissonance (In A Good Way)

"TheSadDemiseOfLucyAndTeddy" by zilla774

Today, April 1, I start my month of writing a poem-a-day as a part of National Poetry Writing Month, or NaPoWriMo.  (And no that's not an April Fool's joke, although it sounds like it should be.)  I considered several themes around which to base my poems, but could not shake the very first one that came into my head - to use horror art for inspiration.  And not just any horror art, but that genre of horror art that has embedded within it a humorous twist.  The kind of art where the humor and the horror rely on one another to achieve the full effect of the piece.  Given that this is the 'humorous' day of April Fool's, and that I am going to be steeping myself in horror art for the next month, I thought it would be appropriate to lead it off with a horror-humor post.

To be more specific, the kind of horror-humor I am talking about is not the overt kind.  It isn't the kind of horror that is so bad it becomes funny.  It isn't the kind of horror used only as a backdrop for a comic story.  

The kind of art I am talking about is the sort that makes you feel creeped out when you look at it, and then feel creeped out about yourself for enjoying looking at it.  For example I offer TheSadDemiseOfLucyAndTeddy.  I am looking at it right now ... and I am smiling.  I am also horrified.  Creeped out.  And I am feeling bad that I think the impending doom of the clearly unsuspecting girl and her stuffed friend is at all amusing.  And yet the art carries the unmistakable imprint of humor.  The end result is that I am disturbed.  Disturbed with myself and with the art.  I find that very strangeness to be compelling.

Another example is much of Tim Burton's work, as I posted about here earlier this month.  We are alternately repulsed and attracted to his sympathetic and disgusting characters - like the Corpse Bride, whose head is full of maggots, and whose eye keeps falling out.  And yet, having seen the Bride "in person" at Burton's art exhibit, I was taken aback by her beauty.  The figure is really stunning in form and detail.  Looking at her in her entirety, we are forced to reassess our idea of beauty, or at least expand our definition of it.

There is one other artist who comes to mind immediately when I think of this kind of art, and that is Edward Gorey.  I was introduced to Gorey's art by a friend who adored his book The Gashlycrumb Tinies first published in 1962.  This is a truly macabre little book of rhyming couplets describing the demise of twenty six children in alphabetical order.  Gorey is also known for his animated work appearing before the series Mystery!  I was always amused by the heroine in that animation who finds herself upon a stone platform with only her feet tied together.  Instead of using her hands to free herself, she nearly faints, and then waits for some dubious rescue.  The point, of course, is that the humorous element is obvious, and yet so is the dangerous setting.

There is something in this kind of work that asks one to go a little deeper into themselves.  To go inside to the place where we grapple with dissonant emotions (perhaps the same place where 'bitter-sweet' dwells.)  The horror element has a bite we simply can't ignore, but the comic element allows us to linger there, soothed by our amusement long enough to abide.  And then we can once again step back, away, and go look at something else not quite so demanding.

How this might translate into poetry for me, I am not certain.  My first few outlines and concepts seem to be leaning heavily on the side of twisted, strange, and macabre, with very little humor at all.  It may be that my writing will not reflect the humor of these pieces, but instead the darkness that dwells beneath.  I'll have to wait for the end of April to see what the muse insists on producing.  I imagine it will be a very entertaining, and disturbing, ride.

Pax

Image Credits:  "TheSadDemiseOfLucyAndTeddy" is used with gracious permission by the artist, zilla774 of deviantART.

My Comments:  I find the piece riveting.  Lucy is small, unsuspecting.  The monster is outrageously huge and slavering.  Although, if not for the title, I might have read any number of possibilities into this piece.  Perhaps Lucy is a bit twisted herself, and this is her demonic friend.  Or her slave?  A beast summoned by her mighty power?  Lucy might be a nasty sorceress in training, you know.  Wonderful ideas for poems and stories abound ...

Artist Comments:  Of this piece the artist says amusingly, "Also known as 'lucy and teddy get pwned. srs bsns.'  Every now and again I seem to get the urge to do this style of art. Isn't it odd how i can swing from one style of horror, to this. Is this my softer side coming out? Go figure." (Even the artist thinks of this as the softer side of horror :)

Prompt the Muse #3 - Thursday Speculative Writing Prompt

Image: Saturn's rings

Finish this sentence, and add another 200 words, "The April Fool's Day joke was on us when our first probe arrived at the planet's ring system and we found that, instead of rock and ice, the rings were amazingly made of ..."

Image credit:  NASA - Saturn's Rings, enhanced color