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Post by Chirugal on Oct 7, 2006 21:00:17 GMT
Just wanted to pick everyone's brain about this.
I'm trying to build a world for my university creative project to take place in, and I wondered how you guys go about doing it. Do you find it easy? How much time do you spend on it, and what do you think are the most important aspects?
Any help would be great - my head's kinda hurting, here. ;D
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Post by marianne on Oct 7, 2006 21:43:00 GMT
Hi Chir,
one way of doing it it to let the characters dictate how much you need to know. Work out your characters emtional arc and a loose idea of the plot. When you've done that you will have an idea of the sorts of things you need to know about your world. e.g. I needed to work out in my mind whether the Tert had electricity and running water. how money exhanged hands (hence Gigi the banker), where they bought their weapons, how they avoided toxic contamination.
Don't get overhwlemed by creating a whole world - do it in bites - a bit like researching - on a need to know basis.
M
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Post by Sheyana on Oct 8, 2006 2:41:41 GMT
LOL, I either don't really create a world at all (it just happens), or if I've got a lot of time on my hands...me and a friend spent quite a while drawing maps and country profiles etc. I don't think it will ever be written about or finished though - we kinda got sick of it!! Aren't I incredibly helpful !
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Post by miladyinsanity on Oct 10, 2006 13:49:46 GMT
I do it like Sheyana, though I do usually know a bit more than what I actually write down.
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Post by marianne on Oct 10, 2006 21:20:31 GMT
It strikes me that a lot of you guys are writers. What could we add to the boars to help you all in developing your skills? Any ideas? What would make it useful to you as writers?
MDP
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Post by Chirugal on Oct 12, 2006 3:55:03 GMT
I find it really strange that most of us write - in fact, I think all of our active members do, if I'm remembering rightly. I think getting to pick guest-authors' brains every now and then has been a big help, just to get a sense of how other people write. We are really quiet here most of the time, so I worry that it's not worth their while to come over, but I've learned quite a lot, so thanks for setting up those opportunities, Marianne. I can't really think of anything else that might be useful, but I'm willing to jump on board with anything that's suggested as long as it won't take up much time (deadlines approaching, as always!). I just had a seminar on world-building this week, which has been helpful. Thanks for your comments as well, everyone - interesting to see everyone has different techniques.
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Post by miladyinsanity on Oct 13, 2006 18:11:07 GMT
I don't know, Marianne.
I daresay I'm in a different position from most of my fellow unpubbeds here. I've 3 critique partners and read way too many writer/industry/editor blogs--if anybody wants links, let me know, and I'll set up a thread to post them.
I think something that would help is a discussion of writing books? Does anybody read them? I pick one up every now and then, but I don't always finish.
I'd like to add to the worldbuilding discussion:
Bounce it off a friend. My CP today just asked me what's the difference between a god and the immortals in my world, and it occurs to me that while I could give her an answer right off, if she hadn't asked me, it'd not have become something 'concrete' in my world. It doesn't change anything in what I've done so far, but it also means that I understand why things are the way they are.
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Post by Chirugal on Oct 15, 2006 23:46:31 GMT
Usually, I'd say 'bounce it off an associate' rather than 'friend' - since I've noticed that most friends will read through your stuff, say "it's really good!" and then not give you any constructive criticism. You might find one or two rare people who'll be brutal (and it's so refreshing when they are!), but most are scared of hurting your feelings. Otherwise, I agree. I have to read parts of writing books for my course, and they're so DULL! If someone could come up with a colloquially-written book about writing that doesn't ramble off into pretentiousness after three paragraphs, they'd make an absolute killing on the market... The one book I've loved deals with the correct useage of grammar and punctuation, but with wit and relevance to everyday life. It's called Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss, and it educates and entertains at the same time. Though at the risk of sounding egotistical, I did know practically all of it anyway. ;D
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Post by miladyinsanity on Oct 16, 2006 19:10:01 GMT
Yeah. That's what I mean. Critique partners might be friends, but they understand the point is to improve the Writing, not to keep your feelings from getting hurt. I almost never let non-CP friends read my work.
Chirugal, I feel that most of the time, you do know what they are talking about, but you didn't have a name for it. And sometimes, every once in a while, you find a gem. Something that goes "Ding! Why didn't I think of that before!" That's what makes all the dull reading worth it.
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Post by marianne on Oct 16, 2006 22:14:39 GMT
doh! what's CP mean guys?
As some of you might know my critique group is called ROR. It has been invaluable - and helped me more than anything else (other than my editors at Orbit). I can't encourage you strongly enough to find a good group to critique with.
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Post by Chirugal on Oct 17, 2006 0:03:45 GMT
I think she means 'critique partner' - correct me if I'm wrong, MLI! Marianne, how did you find ROR? *is curious*
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Post by marianne on Oct 17, 2006 10:50:41 GMT
Rowena (Cory Daniells) and I invited several writers to become part of it. People who we thought would have the same drive and passion that we did.
What are you writing at the moment Chir?
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Post by miladyinsanity on Oct 17, 2006 12:07:58 GMT
Michelle Diener runs the [url:http://critiquepartner.wordpress.com]Critique Partner Exchange[/url], if anybody's looking to form a group or just find a CP.
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Post by Chirugal on Oct 17, 2006 15:52:51 GMT
Thanks for the link, MLI - I'm going to get into something like that as soon as I finish my degree. At the moment I'm working on portfolios and beta-reading some LONG fanfic for a friend, so I wouldn't have enough time to give criticism on anyone else's stuff for now. Marianne, at the moment it's my 10 000 word creative project, in place of a dissertation. It's kind of hard to explain, really. It's quite cyberpunk-y... I'm trying to write Britain headed by a dictator 40 years into the future, and my main character's an assassin hired to kill the Prime Minister. (Wow, I can't write summaries for toffee... ;D)
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Post by jerichomccoy on Oct 17, 2006 21:01:22 GMT
Marianne, at the moment it's my 10 000 word creative project, in place of a dissertation. It's kind of hard to explain, really. It's quite cyberpunk-y... I'm trying to write Britain headed by a dictator 40 years into the future, and my main character's an assassin hired to kill the Prime Minister. (Wow, I can't write summaries for toffee... ;D) Oooo, now that is a book I wouldn't mind reading! It'd be like V for Vendetta and Equilibrium, combined into one! As for World-Building... Need to know basis? Pretty much. I create the characters first and then the world around them. If I wanted to create a horror/action story involving the worst Horror movie creatures of all time(Freddy Kruegar, Jason, Pumpkinhead, Leatherface, Pinhead, etc.) and they are all being hunted down by one man who is furious that these teenagers these days can't do the 'job' themselves without being suicidal(Gosh that was long)... I'd create my Gun-Ho Hero first. Then the smaller worlds around each of the monsters. After that, connect them all to each other(While putting stuff here and there for further reference). Create the walker of the path and the path itself before you begin working on the outside world. That's my tutorial. ;D
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