When creating a fictional place and time, many challenges arise. Suddenly you are free from the rules and restrictions that bind our planet and us. You are inventing something NEW and AMAZING! A place that is UNIQUE and CAPTIVATING! Pretty simple, right? Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it seems. The world you create has to be believable! That is not to say that it has to be real, it just needs to seem like a real place. The rules that govern nature and the characters in your story, whatever they may be, need to remain consistent. Otherwise, the reader might find it confusing and hard to imagine.
As I was creating Watreon, one of the first things I thought about was its history and how the land came to be what it is. What kind of people/creatures inhabited it? What kind of ruler did it have? Was magic well known by the people who lived there, or kept secret? All of these things, and more, set up the foundation of my characters and the obstacles they face. For me, the most difficult task in creating Watreon was giving the reader just enough information about the world, so that they had an understanding of how the characters would function in it, without overloading them with details. Therefore, I chose to briefly describe each setting and leave the rest to the reader’s imagination.
Being an avid reader myself, I have found that there are a few specific types of readers when it comes to the details of a fantasy novel/series. You have:
Sticklers, people who remember every scene with an incredible passion for the particulars. These people show no hesitation at pointing out inconsistencies or even simple mistakes, such as color and clothing. They don’t mind correcting other fans of the book when they get something wrong, and will adamantly defend the author’s work/real intention of the character. Do not even get them started with that botched movie reproduction. Did screenplay writers even read the book?
As annoying as sticklers may be to other readers, here is why they are great…they LOVE what they read. They love it so much that they spend time making sure other people appreciate it in the “correct” way! Sticklers are some of the best fans out there, and are the reason why series like Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Percy Jackson novels are so successful. They hold the author accountable for their work and help to create consistent and exciting content.
Philosophers, people who find the deeper meaning throughout the entire text of the book. They can take one page of text and tell you the drive and motivation of a character. These people often guess backstories correctly and tend to find a stronger connection to the characters. Even the villains! Philosophers will theorize about the plot and predict outcomes, before the next book is released. They can spend a lengthy amount of time talking about the hidden meaning behind something that might have seemed trivial, and will point out the “true” intent of the author. Intent that sometimes the author never knew he/she had. The great thing about philosophers is that they understand the impact a book will have, and how it will influence the people who read it!
Creationists, people who glaze over the specific details of a book and imagine something completely different when reading it. That might seem confusing, but in their minds, it all makes sense. For example, they read a passage that describes in complete detail, the color and fit of clothing as well as the characters surrounding. After they read past the description, much of the aspects that were described are forgotten and they imagine/create the details themselves.
A character that was wearing a blue dress and sitting on an intricate gold throne might be wearing a purple dress and sitting on a silver throne in a creationists mind. These people are the exact opposite of sticklers. As long as the story is enthralling, they lose themselves in it and the small details do not matter enough to stick with them. There are many readers out there who will only read something once; because once they have read it, they already know what is going to happen. However, creationists have the ability to read a book several times and get something new out of it each time.
So how do you factor in types of readers when writing a book? You cannot please everyone, but hopefully the story will speak for itself. I took in consideration what type of reader I am and went from there. I happen to be a little mix of all of them, but I would say I am more of a creationist. Ha, although I do get peeved when a book is not accurately portrayed in film!
Obviously, these are not the only types of readers out there. The planet is filled with readers, all who interpret books differently. These three are just a few that I have noticed. Are you one of the types of readers I described? Comment below and let me know what type of reader you are!
As I was creating Watreon, one of the first things I thought about was its history and how the land came to be what it is. What kind of people/creatures inhabited it? What kind of ruler did it have? Was magic well known by the people who lived there, or kept secret? All of these things, and more, set up the foundation of my characters and the obstacles they face. For me, the most difficult task in creating Watreon was giving the reader just enough information about the world, so that they had an understanding of how the characters would function in it, without overloading them with details. Therefore, I chose to briefly describe each setting and leave the rest to the reader’s imagination.
Being an avid reader myself, I have found that there are a few specific types of readers when it comes to the details of a fantasy novel/series. You have:
Sticklers, people who remember every scene with an incredible passion for the particulars. These people show no hesitation at pointing out inconsistencies or even simple mistakes, such as color and clothing. They don’t mind correcting other fans of the book when they get something wrong, and will adamantly defend the author’s work/real intention of the character. Do not even get them started with that botched movie reproduction. Did screenplay writers even read the book?
As annoying as sticklers may be to other readers, here is why they are great…they LOVE what they read. They love it so much that they spend time making sure other people appreciate it in the “correct” way! Sticklers are some of the best fans out there, and are the reason why series like Harry Potter, Twilight, and the Percy Jackson novels are so successful. They hold the author accountable for their work and help to create consistent and exciting content.
Philosophers, people who find the deeper meaning throughout the entire text of the book. They can take one page of text and tell you the drive and motivation of a character. These people often guess backstories correctly and tend to find a stronger connection to the characters. Even the villains! Philosophers will theorize about the plot and predict outcomes, before the next book is released. They can spend a lengthy amount of time talking about the hidden meaning behind something that might have seemed trivial, and will point out the “true” intent of the author. Intent that sometimes the author never knew he/she had. The great thing about philosophers is that they understand the impact a book will have, and how it will influence the people who read it!
Creationists, people who glaze over the specific details of a book and imagine something completely different when reading it. That might seem confusing, but in their minds, it all makes sense. For example, they read a passage that describes in complete detail, the color and fit of clothing as well as the characters surrounding. After they read past the description, much of the aspects that were described are forgotten and they imagine/create the details themselves.
A character that was wearing a blue dress and sitting on an intricate gold throne might be wearing a purple dress and sitting on a silver throne in a creationists mind. These people are the exact opposite of sticklers. As long as the story is enthralling, they lose themselves in it and the small details do not matter enough to stick with them. There are many readers out there who will only read something once; because once they have read it, they already know what is going to happen. However, creationists have the ability to read a book several times and get something new out of it each time.
So how do you factor in types of readers when writing a book? You cannot please everyone, but hopefully the story will speak for itself. I took in consideration what type of reader I am and went from there. I happen to be a little mix of all of them, but I would say I am more of a creationist. Ha, although I do get peeved when a book is not accurately portrayed in film!
Obviously, these are not the only types of readers out there. The planet is filled with readers, all who interpret books differently. These three are just a few that I have noticed. Are you one of the types of readers I described? Comment below and let me know what type of reader you are!
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