World Building
Made by Slartibartfast perhaps?
In the second workshop in our online fantasy writer’s course, tutors James Nicol and Lucy Strange took us through the wonderful world of…well…world-building. First we paid homage to that greatest of world builders - Slartibartfast from Douglas Adams’ brilliant The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. His idea of copying the fjords from the old Norway for the new Africa has lessons for any would-be fantasy mapmaker. Who knew?
This week, as we all got to know each other a little better, the chatroom started buzzing with ideas. One which I’m still thinking about is the question ‘Could you write a character like Gandalf into a modern-day fantasy series?’ As Tolkien fans we might be expected to leap to the wizard’s defence (not that he needs us) but it is an interesting theme. Has our society and the fantasy we imagine become crueller and more jaded? Would an editor put the comment box next to a character like that, suggesting more flaws to suit a contemporary taste? (I suspect yes). Do we distrust characters who are mentors and seem solidly ‘good’? Possibly the world of children’s fiction allows this still (stand up, Dumbledore), but you’d struggle to find someone like him in A Game of Thrones, The Witcher, or The First Law Trilogy, though Bayaz in the last seems to channel a little of Gandalf at times. My opinion as an author and literary scholar is that, in literature, there are fashions in characters as with hemlines and trouser legs. There is a hunger for goodness that doesn’t go away even if we think being cynical is clever, so it might be time soon for that to re-emerge in fantasy. Let’s see what happens…
(I’ll leave you to decide if goodness is the flare or the drainpipe trouser in this comparison!)
The discussion on world building roved far and wide, looking at the danger of too much ‘gingerbread’, seeking the telling details, thinking of what is ordinary and extraordinary in your world. I’m still adding to my list of things I need to know about the world I’m inventing (and the reader won’t probably ever find out). So far the list includes internal plumbing, who you call when it breaks, and how do you call someone? Think about it: the answer reveals so much about levels of comfort, skills, the economy—and all from just thinking about the smallest room in the house (and is it the smallest or a Roman bench latrine for multiple users?).
Next week we go on to look at the essential toolkit for writers: characters and plot.
If you like the sound of this and you’d like to sign up for our next online course, please contact us below so we can add you to the list.
