went to. One of the classes I took was on world building by Christine Amsden. She highly recommends "How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card. One thing she had us do is interrogate our idea. Here's my interrogation of my middle-grade fantasy story:My idea is a Dream World
Q: What does it look like?
A: A reflection of earth during the Dark Ages complete with castles, etc.
Q: What is different about it?
A: There are portals throughout the world that lead to people's dreams.
Q: What makes it special?
A: It serves as a battleground between good and evil.
Q: Can you expand on that?
A: Valuce knights fight to keep Tumbre knights from taking over the waking world one dream at a time.
Q: Is that the best you can do?
A: There is one portal that Tumbre hopes to find to release nightmares into the waking world.
Q: Is that the best you can do?
A: One girl holds the secret to the portal and she doesn't know it.
I have been working on this book for almost 2 years now and I still learned something about my world by doing this exercise. It was great!! You should all try this exercise. Alot of you are writing fantasy, I know you are! So ask yourself 3 Questions about your idea and answer them in the comments sections. For those that aren't writing fantasy or sci fi, ask questions about your plot or idea concept. I think you will be amazed at what you find out!
Wow, this was an amazing exercise! I loved just hearing your answers. The story sounds intriging even though I know fantasy is not my genre, but this could greatly strengthen my plot.
ReplyDeleteHappy writing!
Your story sounds amazing! I'm going to try this exercise right away! Thanks for the post!;)
ReplyDeleteSo neither of you shared your questions, but since you both loved my Dream World your completely forgiven!!
ReplyDeleteI have read Orson Scott Cards How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy. IT is great. A must read.
ReplyDeleteI'm up for your exercize, Nikki!
ReplyDeleteMy idea is a near-future world where civilization runs on the unlimited power of nuclear fusion.
Q. So what's the problem?
A. Only very powerful and wealthy governments can afford to build the power plants.
Q. Why is this a problem?
A. If the government doesn't like you, you don't get power. No air conditioning, no heat, no electric car battery charge-up.
Q. What can anyone do about it?
A. There are a few small communities that try to live without government supplied energy, but this is hard because there's a ban on using combustible fuels of any kind. Of course the government would really like to shut these communities down as they are a breeding ground for anti-government factions, terrorists, underground rebels, and the like.