The Role of Research in Fantasy Writing - Part 2

Part 2: The Role of Research in Fantasy Writing

Correct Spellings

This may seem like a no-brainer, but research includes checking the dictionary. Don’t rely on the spellcheck feature of your word processing software to catch every spelling mistake.

Search for Another Word

Redundancy is one pitfall writers strive to avoid. It requires research. Keep an updated Thesaurus handy, and don’t hesitate to use it.

Grammar and Style

Grammar and style are as important as correct spelling. The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr is a valuable resource available online at no cost.

Experts

Why research experts? To add authenticity to your writing. An expert can sift through your scenario and tell you what works and what doesn’t and why. Talking with an expert provides minute details that pull the reader into the scene.

Markets

A writer’s research carries over from unearthing details that enrich writing projects to the search for markets where the submission process begins. What do publishers want, what do they pay? Once the manuscript is finished—where do you send it? Researching markets includes sifting through writer's guidelines to find a match for your genre and word count.

Genealogy

When writing fantasy with historical ties or even speculative fiction, researching genealogies can open the door for a plot connected to reality through family ties.

Geography

Building a world sometimes calls for supplies outside the realm of current knowledge and experience. Research encourages the collection of specific new information necessary to build upon the writer’s foundation of knowledge and experience. For instance, if you want to create a world connected by waterways rather than roads, a cursory study of Venice could spark the creation of a lagoon near the train station.

Here’s a tip taken from Pumping Your Muse –map your world as it develops. Mapping provides logistical smoothness and continuity. It also offers a visual as the story takes shape. When your character heads down the road, you know where they’re going.

Government

Government organization puts an authority structure in place even in a fictional world. It provides a sense of history to help understand how the world operates. Understanding how the government works aids to determine the character’s actions, consequences to those actons and the direction of the plot. Research real world governments to inspire your writing.

Historical Research

Even in a pre-modern fantasy world, writers research to learn historical details to weave unique threads into the story line.

For example, writing about a character’s wedding in a historical fantasy or even an alien union on another planet such as the case in the sequel I'm writing—researching medieval weddings provides rich customs and details far enough from today’s reality to inject foreign and yet familiar customs and cultures. Researching triggers new ideas as you alter history to fit your story. Historical or alternate history scenarios also develop from finding an obscure moment in history and developing it into a novel. Writing historical fiction takes plenty of research to keep the details genuine.

Religion and Myths

People once believed the world was flat. Creating a belief system that affects the actions of the general population, takes research. For example, if characters believe the world is flat-most of them will not venture out to sea in fear of falling over the edge into oblivion.

Historical superstition blended with a fantasy realm feeds the writer’s imagination. Why do characters believe the superstition? Is it because government uses it to control with fear or because of a faulty premise? Something like travelers who experienced a great water fall and perceived it to be the end of the world when they lost traveling companions in the roaring, fog-enshrouded mist? Fictional superstitions and traditions can be based on history but transformed. Use them as a springboard.

Science and Technology

In Sci-fi, science makes the magic work. Researching cutting edge technology inspires gadgets like the communicators in the original Star Trek series. Have you ever thought about how much those now archaic devices resemble today’s cell phones? Writers must grasp the science enough to not only make it work in their minds, but to make it believable in the minds of their readers. Understanding the science behind wormholes in space, the dangers presented when a star goes super nova, or any such space travel science provides the details necessary to express the urgency to flee and the knowledge of how to do it.

Science and technology mold the culture. If your fictional world is pre-modern, research will include primitive beliefs and lifestyles. In a futuristic world, research will lead to cutting edge technology to be blended with the what if factor.

Research: The Springboard

Research feeds the imagination. Writing fiction generates questions. Searching for answers opens avenues of thought that reflect new ideas within the plot and construction of the fictional world. Use this list as a roadmap to discovery. It is not all-inclusive, but works as a springboard in the writer’s research process. No matter the genre, real facts and details create rich dimension and a believable story.

* * *

Donna Sundblad resides in Georgia. Her published works include: Pumping Your Muse, a creative writing book, and two YA fantasy novels: Windwalker and Beyond the Fifth Gate. Visit her website www.theinkslinger.net, and if you want to buy her books in ebook form they are available at Fictionwise.

The Role of Research in Fantasy Writing - Part 1

By Donna Sundblad

Recently in an interview, I was asked what role research plays in my writing. No matter what genre you write, research is a necessary tool. I'm currently working on the sequel to Beyond the Fifth Gate, and it involves the mating practices of the bio-genetically created incectoid race known as the eofs who are part human. Research led me down the path of various insects to find the blend of details that works. That's the fun of writing fantasy. Details can blend to become something unique to the world you create.

The research doesn't end there. I can't say too much because I don't want to be a story spoiler for those who haven't finished reading Beyond the Fifth Gate. But here's the question I must ask. What makes the purple planet purple? You see, even though you want to throw out great ideas, there has to be a logical reason to support what you've created. Even if it is magic.

When to Research

When creating a new story or scene, if a question arises, make note of it and research the topic. Why? Because the same question may cross the reader’s mind, and secondly it puts the writer’s creative thoughts in order as the story continues to develop. Research can mold your story depending on what you find. In my novel Windwalker, researching how to make gunpowder influenced the plot of the story.

It doesn’t matter what genre you create; research is part of the process. The following categories include (but are not limited to) facts and information often researched by writers:

Period or Ethnic Names

Character names should fit the story’s time and place. Babynames.com is my favorite site to search for names and meanings. It’s easy to navigate and offers not only a selection of names but also information on origin and meaning. Other fun features include categories such as celebrity baby names, celebrity real names, Lord of the Ring Names, Shakespeare names, soap opera names, and even pet names.

Careers

Characters take on life. Part of that life includes a career. In Windwalker, Jalil’s father worked as a metal smith. Since I knew very little about blacksmith tools or skills, research added enough detail to make the reader’s time in the smith shop valid.

In Beyond the Fifth Gate my female protagonist had to learn to fight. More research. I found a great resource in Them's Fightin' Words by Teel James Glenn, and Elita learned to make moves I would never have dreamed of—at least not in any logical sequence.

Crime and Forensics

At the writing of this article, forensics plays a part in several popular TV shows. Some of the technology seems far-fetched but yet believable. Research forensic science and the equipment available to detectives. Small, obscure facts can present the clue that breaks the case even in fantasy. Research combined with imaginative characters and plot provides an unpredictable and entertaining read. For mystery and crime writers research makes and breaks the crime while weaving realistic threads throughout the plot leading to whodunit. Sites like Copnet.org link the police with the community and provide a wealth of information.

* * *

Donna Sundblad resides in Georgia. Her published works include: Pumping Your Muse, a creative writing book, and two YA fantasy novels: Windwalker and Beyond the Fifth Gate. Visit her website www.theinkslinger.net, and if you want to buy her books in ebook form they are available at Fictionwise.

Fantasy Writing - The Setting

The Fantasy world can be on any world, in any climate, but invariably the classic form of an agrarian landscape, free of manufactured pollution comes to mind. Popular demands tend to prefer the simple lifestyle of pre-industrial society. Understandably, we seek to escape back to the good old days, so writers make use of the Arcadian idyll where life has the ability to be perfect.

Fantasy writers create worlds using their own style and voice. The process follows a path of logic. Even within similar fantasy settings, distinct points of diversity set scenarios apart. Carefully chosen words change the flavor of the backdrop. This backdrop establishes components that make up everything from authority structures, belief systems and even the geography of the landscape. These details lay the groundwork for a Pre-modern society and culture. Environment, learned behaviors, social organizations and beliefs all influence this culture. Adding culture gives the characters a structure within which to make choices, take sides and interact.

Religion

In a pre-modern fantasy world, religion is often tied in with government structure. In such a culture, laws reflect the religion's belief in right and wrong. For example, if the religion believes it is wrong to speak of those who have died, it would not be uncommon to find a law in the fantasy world that enacts punishment if one of its citizens speaks of the dead.

Religion can be based on superstition or reality. The fun of writing fantasy is that the writer can create a bizarre belief system as long as it makes sense within the plot and fantasy characters' lives.

Magic

Every fantasy contains some element of magic. It's part of what makes the world work. It doesn't have to be called magic, but the element must exist. Unlike Science Fiction, the magic in fantasy is not based on science but on a form of mystical magic that still must make sense to the reader. A base line of how and why it works must be drawn.

In my novel Windwalker, an ancient necklace holds healing properties. The history of the magical properties is passed from generation to generation through the oral telling of history. However, the magic of the necklace only works for characters from a specific bloodline. It's not called a magic necklace, but readers not only understand its powers, but also know when it will work and when it won't.

Language

Language reflects origins. Fantasy writers develop different regions and languages for only one reason--to bring the two cultures together in some fashion within the plot.

Does your fantasy world have one language or more? Learning to communicate is a vehicle for character growth. Fantasy characters that survive a hostile environment only to find one other survivor that can't speak their language adds elements of conflict while forcing the two characters to work together.

Government

Who is in power? How did they get to this place of prominence? When developing a pre-modern fantasy world, government plays an important role. Without structure, every character is free to do what is right from their point of view. However, if the government treats its citizens unfairly, it opens the door to a power struggle on some level. How the quest for justice develops and what it involves will depend on the government's structure. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

	Are indigenous people ruled by outsiders or enemies?
	Do settlements or colonies populate the fantasy world?
	How is the country, state or area divided?
	Is the government a democracy with rights exercised by the people?
	Are representatives elected?
	Is the government a monarchy?
	Does a patriarch or matriarch sit on the throne?
	Is there only one kingdom or several friendly or rival kingdoms?

Get Started Writing Fantasy

These basic elements will get you started. Plan to set aside time to write each day to develop the habit of writing. Have fun, take a class and hone your skill.Take a moment and pop over to epress-online blog and you can get a preview of my novel Windwalker.

My second young adult fantasy, Beyond the Fifth Gate, is due out in September. I'll keep you all posted.