Writing Meme Day 12 - Welcome to my world
Jun. 14th, 2010 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
naomi_jay12. In what story did you feel you did the best job of worldbuilding? Any side-notes on it you’d like to share?
It's a toss-up between SILVER KISS and AFTERLIFE. With SILVER KISS (and the other Urban Wolf stuff I've written so far) I've really tried to examine how werewolves living openly amongst humans would affect society. Everything from court cases (evidence acquired by scent is not admissible in court yet) to schools (Lupine Studies is taught alongside Maths and English) to hate groups (down with Alpha Humans! Boo!) to what happens when a werewolf needs to shapeshift in the middle of the street (there are special changing booths so people can strip off without being arrested for indecent exposure). There's loads more too, that might not necessarily make it into the books (God, I so want to write the story set in WWI when werewolves were forced into public awareness due to trench warfare!). I really hope it helped make the book more believable and compelling to readers, and since the reviews thus far have been good, I assume it did.
With AFTERLIFE, I built two completely fictional worlds - the city of Shoregrave which is just "somewhere on planet Earth," and the Pale World, which is the realm of ghosts, wraiths, vampires, and all the undead. Both drew inspiration from the works of HP Lovecraft. I wanted Shoregrave to be almost a character in its own right, with a deep, bloody history and a very real feel to it, like it was somewhere you might actually get to visit (if you'd want to). I spent a lot of time inventing streets, locations, histories, landmarks etc, most of which you can explore by clicking "The Small World Guide to Shoregrave" tag in my sidebar. To me, Shoregrave is utterly real. I can picture it perfectly as this drizzly, gothic city with lots of twisty turny side streets, crooked headstones in the graveyards, a few brave street cafes, and a bleak stretch of coastline. I'd live there.
The Pale World needed a lot of rules, as did the creatures that lived there, and I'm not 100% sure I got all those rules in order. Next book! But yeah, the laws of physics are different there. I'm pretty pleased with how I described it; hopefully readers got the image I wanted - a of foggy realm cast in bluish light where ghosts and wights flicker back and forth aimlessly, and ghouls lurk by every headstone waiting for their next meal. A lifeless place, a place that might make you think of purgatory. When I get round to writing Halflife, the sequel, I plan to explore a lot more of the Pale World and its denizens. Bring on the mad monks and necromancers!
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
It's a toss-up between SILVER KISS and AFTERLIFE. With SILVER KISS (and the other Urban Wolf stuff I've written so far) I've really tried to examine how werewolves living openly amongst humans would affect society. Everything from court cases (evidence acquired by scent is not admissible in court yet) to schools (Lupine Studies is taught alongside Maths and English) to hate groups (down with Alpha Humans! Boo!) to what happens when a werewolf needs to shapeshift in the middle of the street (there are special changing booths so people can strip off without being arrested for indecent exposure). There's loads more too, that might not necessarily make it into the books (God, I so want to write the story set in WWI when werewolves were forced into public awareness due to trench warfare!). I really hope it helped make the book more believable and compelling to readers, and since the reviews thus far have been good, I assume it did.
With AFTERLIFE, I built two completely fictional worlds - the city of Shoregrave which is just "somewhere on planet Earth," and the Pale World, which is the realm of ghosts, wraiths, vampires, and all the undead. Both drew inspiration from the works of HP Lovecraft. I wanted Shoregrave to be almost a character in its own right, with a deep, bloody history and a very real feel to it, like it was somewhere you might actually get to visit (if you'd want to). I spent a lot of time inventing streets, locations, histories, landmarks etc, most of which you can explore by clicking "The Small World Guide to Shoregrave" tag in my sidebar. To me, Shoregrave is utterly real. I can picture it perfectly as this drizzly, gothic city with lots of twisty turny side streets, crooked headstones in the graveyards, a few brave street cafes, and a bleak stretch of coastline. I'd live there.
The Pale World needed a lot of rules, as did the creatures that lived there, and I'm not 100% sure I got all those rules in order. Next book! But yeah, the laws of physics are different there. I'm pretty pleased with how I described it; hopefully readers got the image I wanted - a of foggy realm cast in bluish light where ghosts and wights flicker back and forth aimlessly, and ghouls lurk by every headstone waiting for their next meal. A lifeless place, a place that might make you think of purgatory. When I get round to writing Halflife, the sequel, I plan to explore a lot more of the Pale World and its denizens. Bring on the mad monks and necromancers!
13. What’s your favorite culture to write, fictional or not?
14. How do you map out locations, if needed? Do you have any to show us?
15. Midway question! Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
16. Do you write romantic relationships? How do you do with those, and how “far” are you willing to go in your writing?
17. Favorite protagonist and why!
18. Favorite antagonist and why!
19. Favorite minor that decided to shove himself into the spotlight and why!
20. What are your favorite character interactions to write?
21. Do any of your characters have children? How well do you write them?
22. Tell us about one scene between your characters that you’ve never written or told anyone about before! Serious or not.
23. How long does it usually take you to complete an entire story—from planning to writing to posting (if you post your work)?
24. How willing are you to kill your characters if the plot so demands it? What’s the most interesting way you’ve killed someone?
25. Do any of your characters have pets? Tell us about them.
26. Let’s talk art! Do you draw your characters? Do others draw them? Pick one of your OCs and post your favorite picture of him!
27. Along similar lines, do appearances play a big role in your stories? Tell us about them, or if not, how you go about designing your characters.
28. Have you ever written a character with physical or mental disabilities? Describe them, and if there’s nothing major to speak of, tell us a few smaller ones.
29. How often do you think about writing? Ever come across something IRL that reminds you of your story/characters?
30. Final question! Tag someone! And tell us what you like about that person as a writer and/or about one of his/her characters!
