I've been delving into my older blog posts to sort of get some ideas of what to blog about these days. Naturally, being a fantasy writer, I *should* be blogging about writing stuff.
Meh. I do, just maybe not enough to keep things interesting. My blogs are completely random and nonsense... hence the title, eh?
But world building, now there is something I can sink my little fangs into. I love the creation part of my writing. I love reading fantasy because of the world building as well.
Who am I kidding, I just love to read. <3
My world took me over ten years to build. I still work on it, I still tweak things here and there. I try my very hardest to not bring elements of reality into my fantasy, but I know it won't hurt a thing. After all, Nightshadow, my assassin, smokes what is basically clove cigarettes. I just describe them a little differently. They're her trademark.
The kingdoms and the map on my wall (and my website) all sprouted from one city. Moordigan. That is the city that seems to be the central hub of where some of my stories start. Right now, though, everything in 'Crowning Absolution' is centered and focused on the eastern continent. That is where the two kingdoms are duking it out.
When it came to creating this world, I have used lots of fantasy elements that are already in place and recognizable. That is something I felt was super important. I like writing about elves and dwarves and ogres and trolls.... It works for me. Even the dragons. But I have added so many different things that are off shoots of those concrete fantasy creatures.
I have Kefferlings, which are half Elf, half cat. I love my Kefferlings with their kitty-like qualities, their fur, their fangs and don't forget the tails!
I have water Elves who, obviously, live near water. They draw their power from the natural energy source that water provides and they can shape-shift, either partially or fully to fishy creatures. I have ice Elves way up north and they sort of use the water for their power. But there is something in the water up north that has contaminated them.
My Dargorians are pretty cool. Dragon humanoids. They usually stand anywhere from 9 to 11 feet tall and have a very impressive wingspan.
Creatures are not the only thing I had to work on to build my world. There were the gods and goddesses, the different types of herbs and plants as well. Even the little creatures way over in the area where "magic went mad". Oh yeah, those are fun. I'll get into those some other time. Just wanted to share more of my world and its creation for you. Some of you are new and some of you are old friends.
I'm always open to suggestions of things you'd like to see me blog about. Just beware, I have a soapbox and I do travel. ;)
4 comments:
I LOVE that you're another blogging fantasy author - there's just not enough of us around, you know? I love the community in the blogging world, but I just don't hear enough about elves and assassins and worlds most of the time. :)
Worlds are fantastic things, and when they're well thought out, it's so easy to pull people into them. I'm reading the Malazan Books of the Fallen right now, and I LOVE that world!
Thanks Bethany! And I absolutely agree, there are not enough of us fantasy whackos to fill up a McDonald's parking lot around here. ;)
I'll have to check out the Malazan books. I'm currently reading "The Redemption of Althalus" by David and Leigh Eddings. He's (and she's) my fave by far!
World (and culture) creation is my favourite part of the writing process. One of the best bits is creating new forms of creatures that co-exist with humans, even if they are amalgamations of other fantasy creatures. I created a race of humanoids called Traeks who were forest dwellers and lived in a tribal society. They were hunters who had two sets of fangs that could paralyse but not kill their prey. They also had a tribal practice that the leader of each tribe 'called a Bull Traek' would bore a hold into their throat in order to create a frightening call whenever it spoke.
That is really cool, Jamie. I don't know if I would want to be the one they drilled a hole into though. XD
I have a tribal sort of group as well called Firlochians. Everyone thinks they're giants so they avoid their lands like the plague. In all acuality, they're just a larger version of man and more... hulking I suppose you could say. :D
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