R.M. Archer's Blog, page 17

Building Underworlds, Divine Dwellings, and the Afterlife

Today we’re stepping back into the mythology and religion of your world to talk about underworlds, homes of the gods, and the afterlife. How much of this is myth and how much is reality will depend on your established rules regarding the metaphysical aspect of your world.

The Underworld

Hades, Hell, Hel, Sheol… All of these evoke images of darkness and death. Which is why this point is going first, ’cause it’s the one we least want to dwell on. Your world’s underworld could be ruled by a god, or could be devoid of gods or leadership. It could be physically under the world, it could be an alternate plane, or it could be somehow adjacent to the basic world. It could be a place all dead go when they die, it could be a punishment for the wicked, or it could be a dwelling for demons (or some combination thereof).

Is there any way to access your underworld? If so, who can use it and how is it used? Is it open only to deities (or half-deities, if there are such beings in your world)? Is it open only when someone dies? Perhaps at certain times of year? Do people enter in efforts to bring back the dead, a la Orpheus and Eurydice? Is it possible for such efforts to succeed, or are they doomed from the start?

How is your underworld referred to by people in your world? Is it feared? Written off as myth? Considered taboo? Does it have a name?

Divine Dwellings

These are generally the opposite of underworlds: divine paradises fit for the gods… since that’s who lives in them. Do gods in your world dwell in the ordinary world, or somewhere set apart? If on earth, then where? Do they blend with humans so that they can get a personal view of the world, or do they live on unattainable mountain peaks? What happens if they’re discovered? If they live apart, then how does that separate place relate to earth? Is it accessible? How? How often? By whom?

Does this divine dwelling serve as a resting place for the righteous, as well, or solely a place for the gods? Do the people in your world even know about it, or is it secret? If they know about it, is it viewed with awe? Suspicion? Hope? Anticipation? Fear? What is this dwelling called?

Are there more than one of these places, maybe for different gods in a pantheon? Or one for the gods alone and one for the gods to commune with the righteous fallen?

The Afterlife

First off, does your world have an afterlife? Does your core culture believe in one? Do they believe in both a punishment and a reward, or just one? Do they believe in any in-between? Do they believe in something like reincarnation? If so, does that interact with a more permanent afterlife or is the cycle of reincarnation perpetual? If there is both punishment and reward, where is the break between them? What earns a positive afterlife? Faith? Works? For whom? Are there any who are barred from the afterlife, either from eternal bliss or from moving on altogether? Are there ghosts in your world?

Where does the afterlife take place? In the home of a god? In an underworld? In someplace in-between? Is there a temporary place before a more permanent one is instated at the end of the world? (Is there an end of the world? Maybe I’ll write a post about fantasy apocalypses.)

Remember that all of your answers ought to align with the underpinnings of your world and/or with the religion and cultural values of your particular culture.

Have you considered these elements of your world before? Does your world have any of these elements, or is it strictly a one-plane world? Let’s chat in the comments!

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Fantasy News & Communication

Hello and welcome back to Scribes & Archers. The weather for today is looking rather crisp, with a chance of flying newspapers. But let’s head over to Worldbuilding with recent news updates. Worldbuilding?

Okay, not the best intro, but today we’re talking about how communication, and especially the news, works in your world. The title says fantasy, but this can apply to any fictional world. And I’m a little brain-dead today, so please bear with me.

What’s in the News?

Let’s start with content. What is considered newsworthy in your world? Politics? Local events? Crime reports? Entertainment? How does this change from culture to culture based on their values? Maybe your education-centric culture shares routine updates on things that have been discovered/learned from visiting foreigners, while your theocratic society values sharing religious revelations and newly-realized religious laws.

Are all of these categories talked about together in one format, or do you have to get a separate news source for each?

How does the content of each category change depending on your culture? What might be in the political news of a kingdom vs. the political news of a republic? How will local events be different in a big city vs. in a small town? How will entertainment be different in a culture that values warfare vs. a culture that values art?

Who Writes the News?

Whether your news is physically written or simply retold, who is responsible for spreading it? Is news taken directly from the source, such as a religious organization or a school? Is it shared by grandmothers and nosy neighbors? Are there specialized journalists?

Your culture will trust particular people with its news based on its values. A theocratic society might trust its religious leaders that are considered infallible, while a community-centered culture might understand that word-of-mouth isn’t always reliable but still value the intention of their neighbors in sharing news and simply take things with a grain of salt.

Who your culture trusts with its news might also shape its values and practices. That theocratic society might learn to simply take the news as fact no matter where it comes from, since their religious leaders are considered infallible, whereas that community-centered culture might be more aware of the need for research and checking with the source when presented with new information.

Also keep in mind that whoever spreads the news has the ability to shape the news. Some places might have very faithful news-sharers, while others might have journalists who spin the news to fit a particular narrative, whether that be merely for creativity’s sake or for corrupt ends. Who is responsible for your culture’s news will shape how the news is presented and perceived.

Who Gets the News?

Is news something that everyone can access, or is it limited to certain groups of people with inside access or access to a particular news format? Is news conveyed publicly, through a newspaper or bulletin or TV program, or is it private through letters or personal discussion?

Are the limits on news access intentional or incidental? Do the leaders of a totalitarian government control who has access to the news so that they can shape the thoughts of their people? Or do the people of a community-centered culture end up leaving a certain town or group out of the loop due to oversight? Or does limited access to a certain format leave some people unable to access it? Maybe newspapers are expensive to make and sell, so the poor have to rely on word-of-mouth to get the news.

How is News Conveyed?

What format does the news come in? Are there TV news programs? Newspapers? Carrier pigeons? Word-of-mouth? Posted bulletins (in one central location or spread throughout an area)?

Why this format? Is it the cheapest? The most accessible? The most reliable? The easiest to manipulate? Which of these factors are important will depend, again, on the values of your culture and of those responsible for spreading the news.

How is this format distributed? Maybe word-of-mouth news comes mostly from your neighbors, but there’s also a designated news-sharer who travels around town spreading news. Or maybe your culture uses newspapers, which could be sold at stands around town or could be delivered.

Also consider what kind of jobs this might create. Printers? Delivery boys? Newsstand vendors? Reporters? Pigeon-keepers? Professional memorizers? Bulletin-posters? Journalists?

Is News Communication the Same as Regular Communication?

Is news communicated just the same as anything else (writing, speaking, video, letters, carrier pigeon, etc.)? Or is news special? Is it special on purpose to set it apart as news, or is it simply more effective to mass-communicate through another method other than the norm?

Is news delivered the same way as other communication? Is the technology the same, even if the format is different? Or is it completely unique?

Have you considered the news in your world before? Who’s responsible for it? What is the most important category of news in your fictional culture? Let’s chat in the comments!

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Creating a Fantasy World with One Document

Y’all know I love World Anvil, but if you’ve read my worldbuilding process post then you know that I also make good use of one really long document that holds all of my initial notes when I’m working on Deseran. I call it my brain dump document. Today I want to talk about a couple of different ways I’ve used brain dump documents when creating a fantasy world in the past, and why I like to have them on hand.

Structure or No Structure?

When I mention a “brain dump” document, I’m guessing you picture a document with very little organization that just goes on forever. Well… that would be a pretty accurate description of my Deseran brain dump document. But I’ve also used a brain dump document for Aleruus which looks very different. You can view it here. If you look at that example, you’ll see that it’s much more structured, but still gives me flexibility to throw whatever new information I come up with into its appropriate category—or to add a new category, if needed. Your brain dump document can be as structured or as free-form as you need it to be to work with your process.

Write Ideas as They Come

With a brain dump document, you can go about creating a fantasy world in pieces as you think of concepts. If you have pre-written categories, you can simply find the appropriate category and jot down your new idea. (With this method, you can easily see which areas are most developed and which need the most work.) If you’re not using categories, you can simply write down your notes in the next available space and leave them to organize later. (The benefit of this method is that you can go straight from one topic into a completely unrelated topic without interrupting your mental flow to find the next appropriate section.)

Explore for Yourself

With a brain dump document, you don’t have to flesh out all the details of a concept right away; you can just note down what you know right away and come back to expand on it later. There are no empty fields to fill out or specific spaces forcing you to decide whether this detail falls under x field or y field; you can write things in such a way that they all flow naturally with one another at first… even if there’s a better way to organize them to find things later on. A brain dump document lends itself to unhindered exploration of a world, sort of like a traveler’s journal that will one day be reorganized into a memoir. You might have to structure things later for others to understand (or so you can understand it better), but a brain dump is just for you; it gives you an open sandbox to play in.

Creating an empty document to scribble my thoughts in is my favorite first step to creating a fantasy world; I think it might be why I’m able to enjoy building Deseran so much more than my more structured worlds. Have you ever set up a brain dump document for your world? How has it worked for you? Do you prefer more structure in your worldbuilding process, or do you like more freedom to explore without a guide?

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Work in Fantasy Culture

Fantasy often centers around a character doing something out of the ordinary. Something fantastical. But they have to start somewhere, as do the characters around them, and that starting point will often involve work of some kind. For that reason, if for no other, you ought to give at least passing thought to the work in your culture. But work can also reflect a lot about what a culture values, it adds to the backdrop of your world and creates easier openings for your characters to interact with the world around them, and it can simply be of value to show and appreciate ordinary work.

What is Work in Your Culture?

The first question to ask yourself when developing fantasy vocations is what your culture defines as work. Does only paying work qualify? Does only work that makes a full living qualify? Is work considered anything that keeps you busy? Is it anything that provides for your family? Is it anything that fulfills the perceived purpose of mankind? The values of your culture will influence your answer to this question. A culture that values self-sufficiency will likely require a job to fully provide for you and your family in order to count as work. A culture that struggles with crime rates and just wants to keep its citizens out of trouble will likely count anything that keeps citizens from being idle. A religious culture is likely to count anything that fulfills the purpose of their god(s).

Or perhaps only certain kinds of work qualify. Maybe manual labor is praised, but intellectual work is considered too intangible to qualify. Or maybe relational jobs aren’t considered worthwhile investments of time, but creative work is what everyone is encouraged to pursue.

Is work flexible? Can you shift your hours as needed? Can you choose to focus on a different type of work or a different project for a time before returning to the one you were working on? Or are timelines strict?

Answering this question will enable you to determine how jobs work and what your character(s) might do on a daily basis.

Where Does Work Take Place?

For much of history, work was centered in the home. People worked crafts from their homes, had shops attached to their houses, tended their own fields and gardens, etc. When the Industrial Revolution hit, jobs were moved out of the home and into factories. Now we have factories, offices, schools, hospitals, and any number of other public businesses; but we’re also seeing some people move back toward working from home as entrepreneurs, craftsmen, artists, etc. The question is, where does work occur in your world? Is it home-based? Are there guilds that people attend to work? Are there factories or schools filled with workers? How does this reflect what your culture believes about family, community, and efficiency?

Who Participates in Work?

Who is eligible to work in your world? Do families work as a unit, so children are involved in the family business? Do you get a job when you come of age? Do you ever get too old to be considered for work? Are there limits on those with disabilities, or are accommodations made? How does this differ depending on what kind of work your culture values? Are there low-scale jobs that people considered “ineligible” to work can still do? Is it considered acceptable for those not yet of age to get work, or is that a forbidden practice?

Do people who work together form a community? Or do they often keep their distance? How is this influenced by the work environment and by your culture’s overall values? How willing are people to make concessions for those they work with (tying back to the question of work flexibility)?

What is the Reward for Work?

Characters need money (or bartering items) to survive, so something they do must provide an income. But does all of their work provide monetary gain? Does some of their work produce food or needed items for themselves or others? Is some of it just for the satisfaction? Does their work further a cause? What do they do for money and what do they do for other reasons, and how does this work overlap or not? Is there a standard pay rate for work, or does it differ depending on quality of work, the funds of the person paying, or time spent working?

There you have it: some questions to consider when developing the work of your world. Once you have these basics laid out, you can develop specific vocations and use them to color your world. Now you’ll know where your character needs to go to get a sword or to refresh their foodstores on their epic quest. Most importantly, have fun!

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September 2021 Wrap-Up

Can you believe it’s almost October?? I don’t know if it’s the fact that I was gone all summer or just the usual shock that fall is already here and there are only three months left in the year, but it feels like this year has flown by. And this month somehow seems like it was super short and at the same time like it’s been a lifetime already!

Writing

I’ve made a lot of progress on writing projects this month! I finished editing Calligraphy Guild and got it sent to the editor last week! That’s probably the most exciting thing on the list (though not for lack of competition). I’m super excited to get my editor’s notes back!

I also finished recording my first worldbuilding course! It’s currently in beta-testing and I need to re-record one of my intro videos, but I’m aiming to launch it by the end of October at the latest. So far the feedback has been really positive and I’m super excited to share this resource with y’all!

I also wrote a short story and submitted it to a contest this week. The contest isn’t anything fancy, but I’m really happy with how the short story came out and I had a lot of fun aiming to build in symbolism and use a broader sample of my vocabulary in a way that I hope emulates the classic literature I’ve been enjoying lately.

Reading

It’s been so nice to be home with time to read again, lol. I’ve finished ten books this month and I’m working my way through Renegades by Marissa Meyer, hoping to have it finished by the end of the week as well. I’ve finished:

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie (don’t shoot me down for having written a retelling without reading the source material, but this was my first time reading Peter Pan!)J.R.R. Tolkien: Myth, Morality, and Religion by Richard L. PurtillOn Stories and Other Essays on Literature by C.S. LewisThe Household and the War for the Cosmos by C.R. WileyMan of the House by C.R. Wiley (I’m not the intended audience for this book, but it seemed to be a sort of companion to the prior book on this list and I did still find it valuable to read. Both books were excellent!)Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson (reread)The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. JensenFrankenstein by Mary ShelleyGeorge Washington’s Rules of CivilityCompetent to Counsel by Jay Adams

As you can tell, I’m still not reading much by way of modern fiction, though Renegades has been enjoyable thus far and I have plenty of modern fiction unread on my bookshelf that I’d like to change to “read” soon, lol. But my most immediate TBR is still largely classics: I’m currently reading Plato’s Critias and Timaeus dialogues, and I’ve been anxious to reread LOTR. Other top items on the TBR include a collection of Lewis’s essays on theology and ethics, The Tolkien Reader (including Tree and Leaf, which I’m most excited about), and Phantastes by George MacDonald.

What’s Next?

I’m super excited for the release of my worldbuilding course next month! While I work on getting that finalized, I have a non-fiction book project I’m working on between drafts of Calligraphy Guild and I’m excited for that as well. It’s my first non-fiction piece of this length, so it’s been a bit of a learning curve adjusting to the expectations of a book, but it’s been quite fun so far and I’m enjoying the project. I’ve also been trying to improve my platform and make my online presence more appealing and valuable for readers and other authors, a goal which I’ll obviously be carrying through the coming months. (If you have anything you’d particularly like to see from my blog or social media, or if there’s anything I already do that you particularly appreciate and want me to keep, let me know!)

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the progress I’ve been able to make recently and I aim to keep learning and growing next month and beyond!

How about you? How was this month for you? Any milestones we can celebrate? Struggles I can encourage you in? Books you’re super excited to read? Comment below!

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Book Review: Adorning the Dark by Andrew Peterson

I wrote a book review for the first time in forever! This is actually a review of a reread, since I didn’t review this book the first time but it demanded a review. Adorning the Dark was a 5-star read in December of 2019, and it’s still a 5-star read now.

The first time I read this book I knew that it was beautiful, but it was like watching scenery fly by through the window of a moving car. I read it in one sitting, I didn’t look into the books or songs or poems mentioned throughout, I simply observed its beauty from the outside.

This read-through was more like taking a walk through a vibrant garden, taking time to appreciate each flower and wonder at the precise combination of elements that led to its flourishing. I paid attention to each chapter. I listened to the songs. I read the poems. I made note of the books. Because this isn’t just a book about Peterson and his art (though it is that, and it’s lovely); it’s a book about Christ in art. And as such, it gives credit to so many other artists who have also been moved by Christ and who reflect Him in their work. Rich Mullins, Tolkien, Lewis, N.D. Wilson, and so many others that I don’t know yet.

This book is a reminder that God creates beauty, and that He equips us to reflect that beauty through sub-creation. It’s a reminder that we who strive for that aren’t alone. It’s a reminder that God has a purpose for our work, and He has created others who share that purpose so that we might find community and spur one another on. It’s a reminder of how God’s beauty and love and guidance weaves through every part of our lives.

There’s a sense of wonder and awe in this book, a feeling of reading about a kindred spirit, and a yearning that is sparked for a greater Kingdom, that I just can’t fully describe. All I can say is: if you’re a Christian artist, you ought to read this book.

Have you read Adorning the Dark? I’d love to hear what you thought! If not, does it sound like a book that would interest you?

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All About You Around the Blogosphere Tag

Thank you to Kristianne at Whimsical Wanderings for today’s tag!

Rules:Answer the following questionsTag at least a couple other bloggersHave them answer these questionsQuestions:

What’s your favorite book/book series and why?

I’m pretty sure my answer to this question changes every time I’m asked. At this point, probably Lord of the Rings. It’s beautifully written, encouraging, it captures the value of everyday life and ordinary people perfectly, it pushes the reader to be courageous for the sake of those things that are important like home and family… It’s a classic for good reason.

Who is your favorite author?

Another one I think changes every time I think about it. Tolkien, Lewis, C.R. Wiley, Andrew Peterson, Nadine Brandes… What anyone who makes my list has in common, though, is a deep understanding of the power of good art and producing things that build God’s Kingdom.

What is your favorite food?

Cheesecake. That totally counts as food.

What gives you inspiration for your books?

Life? XD People I talk to, places I go, concepts I come up against in everyday life, things that are important to me, things I read, things I watch… I take inspiration from a lot of things, lol.

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

For a couple years I really wanted to live in Tennessee. I still wouldn’t mind that. But Ohio was really nice, and I loved the rural area where I worked and loved getting to work on a farm and help tend animals and grow things, so I think wherever I end up I’d like to live someplace with space to work with the land and someplace with few enough trees to see lots of sky. (Ohio brought to mind the song “Big Sky” a lot, lol.)

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?

I’m an extrovert, but most people wouldn’t guess it since I’m usually quiet and I’m also able to be content with my own company. I can operate as an introvert for longer than most extroverts, I think, but I do get a lot more energy from being around people and having conversations than from being by myself.

If you had a warning label, what would yours say?

I have no idea. I feel like I usually keep myself contained until I’m already familiar enough with someone that I don’t think they need a warning anymore and I’m pretty confident they’ll just take it in stride. Then they get the rambling conversations about random things that interest me, the frequent bursts into song, the philosophical and theological debates, etc. Some people reach that point sooner than others, but I tend to try to make it gradual so that I don’t need a warning label, lol.

Nominees:

Bleu at Lavender Bleu Books

Mattie at The Blossoming Writer

Syb at AtTaGirl

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How to Write Fashion – Guest Post by Victoria Smith

Last week I talked about how to develop purposeful fantasy fashions. This week Victoria Smith is going to take over and talk about some of the more practical elements of using the fashion you’ve developed. Enjoy!

Worldbuilding is hard. Being a fantasy writer—a novice one, mind you—I should know. While I’d like to think I have a natural talent for certain aspects of writing, I am by no means an expert. Still, I will offer my personal opinions, tricks and tips to help you with the tangible parts of worldbuilding. One for today: fashion or clothing. 

Before really diving into fashion in worldbuilding, there are four questions that should be answered, with any part of worldbuilding:

Why does it matter? 

What does this aspect of your world/story truly add, if anything?

How does it affect your story?

What would change if this aspect were changed or thrown out?

How does it affect your characters?

Would its disappearance leave your characters missing something?

If it weren’t there, would it really make a difference?

Does it make any difference at all?

Now, I’ll be honest, sometimes I don’t like these kinds of questions. I don’t do super well with development or outline sheets (although I do outline in my own way) but even I know sometimes these questions must be asked. Personally, I’d probably answer them mentally instead of on paper, because that is how I work.

So, let’s get going and delve into the world of fashion! In each point I’m about to discuss, you can almost always tie it back to one or more of the four questions above.

Know Your Genre

I hope that before you begin worldbuilding you know your genre. If not, I’d definitely suggest deciding this before anything else! Your genre can affect every aspect of… well, your entire story. Fantasy, for example, has a very different set of rules than dystopian. Fans of different genres look for different things in different types of stories, so it’s best to try and play off of this. I’m not saying you must do the same thing every other author in your genre has, just try to keep at least a little of what is expected of that genre within your worldbuilding. Such as, within the fashions of your characters.

Those in historical fiction will wear clothes extremely different from those in the sci-fi realm. Make sure you do a bit of research or have at least a grasp of what a timeline, or genre, expects of your character’s external appearance. This, along with other things, can make or break your story. If someone who devours historical fiction sees their characters wearing a style that didn’t even exist at the time, they might close the book with an eye-roll.

Don’t even tempt them with the thought of not finishing your story!

Decide What You Want Your Clothes to Look Like/Be Like

Now, I know, this one seems pretty obvious. I mean, duh, you know what you want your clothes to look like! But really stop and imagine them. How would you describe the style? Give details! What really makes it different and come alive? Do you wish to leave details to the readers? Or fill in all the blanks? Are there specific colors, symbols, patterns, etc. that might affect your story or characters? Style can be a great way to show off a character’s personality and the world around them, if used correctly. Does your character wear vibrant, bold colors? Why? Is it to help them stand out because they feel invisible? Or is it just because they’re bright and cheery? 

Once you find out these things, use them to your advantage.

What Purpose Does Your Clothing/Style Serve?

Make sure you take into consideration who will be wearing these clothes and what they will be doing. 

Example: Your main character is a warrior princess who must trek from one land to the next to complete her journey, but through the entire book she only wears a puffy gown with an extensive train, and a two-pound crown on her head.

Unless that is pivotal to your story, or the point is to make it extremely uncomfortable and awkward, this isn’t going to work. While the external aspects of your world can be whimsical or entirely out of this world, there does need to be at least a smidge of practicality when using wardrobe to serve a purpose. 

Also, another good thing to figure out is what these fashions mean. Okay, you’re probably like, “This girl is crazy!” but hear me out. Do you have wealthy groups and commoners? If so, how do their styles reflect their positions? Do your aristocrats wear gold and fine silk, or extremely neat clothing?

Or perhaps the commoners do, because the rich have nothing to prove. See how much of a difference that makes? 

Be Yourself!

This is probably one of the most important things, if not the most important thing to remember. Be yourself! Yes, there are things to take into consideration, as I’ve mentioned, but don’t feel you have to conform to every little thing. Be unique! Stand out! Switch things up! What works for other authors may not work for you and that’s okay. This is something I have personally had to deal with and I still wish I could be like other writers. But, I can’t be. I can only be myself. Realizing that truth will bring you one step closer to finishing your book and beginning your author journey!

Write the story you want to tell and have confidence, because I know worldbuilding (and writing in general) is tough. Just take your time and make sure you’re enjoying this world you build!

Thank you, Victoria!

Now, dear reader, what’s your favorite thing about writing fashion? Does clothing description come easily to you, or do you have more difficulty with it (like me)? And, just for fun, what is your MC’s favorite outfit?

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Fantasy Fashion With Purpose

Fashion is a part of worldbuilding that can sometimes be overlooked and/or done incorrectly. Sure, you could just slap all of your nobles into modern high fashion… but should you? Depends on the world. And sometimes you really shouldn’t. Today I want to talk about a few concepts to think about while developing your fantasy fashions that will make your worldbuilding richer and more believable.

Fantasy Fashion Ought to be Practical

There are two facets to this. First, your characters’ clothing ought to reflect the climate and landscape that they live in. Fashion will be very different in the cold and rocky heights of the mountains than in the humid, muddy rainforest. If you’re writing about the clothes worn in the rainforest, how does tailoring account for bugs? For the heat? For protection against sunburn? For walking through undergrowth? For mud? For rainstorms? Are hoods a big fashion element? Are boots? Is a natural bug repellent woven into textiles?

While clothing might not always make perfect sense (as I’ll talk about in the next point), it should cover the most obvious needs. Plus, exploring the potential values of clothing pieces in a certain setting can bring out some fascinating ideas for making your fantasy fashion unique and memorable.

When Fashion Doesn’t Make Sense

Now I’m going to go completely counter to my previous point and tell you that clothing doesn’t always have to make sense. Cape sleeves are purely for the aesthetic. High heels may have had a use once (and low heels still do, in horse-riding contexts), but now they’re also largely for looks. And have you seen a high fashion runway? Some of those models are wearing pillows barely disguised as clothes. Your fantasy fashion can have certain elements that are purely aesthetic, but it ought to make sense for the culture. If your culture values minimalism, they’re not likely to have a lot of accessories or useless clothing elements. If your culture values function, the same is true. If, however, your culture values show or wealth, they might have a lot more fashion elements without a practical use. The key is to make it make sense.

If you decide to add a fun extra element to your fantasy fashion, consider asking why the culture it belongs to would have chosen that element. Are the cape sleeves purely a creative choice, or are they designed to make the wearer look more powerful? Is that jewelry purely decorative, or is it imbued with magical protection? Maybe the gears in your steampunk world are purely aesthetic… but they chose gears because they value engineering and machines.

Fantasy Fashion Ought to Reflect Cultural Values

I touched on this some in the previous paragraph, but fashion ought to reflect what a culture values. Whether this be through its decorations, through its overall design, through its modesty standards, etc. In some cases, fashion will directly reflect cultural values—say, in a culture that embroiders historical events onto clothing items. In most cases, it’ll be more subtle. Let’s go back to modesty standards. How do the culture’s values influence what it believes is or is not modest for people to wear? Are they strict on chastity, so both genders stay quite covered? Do they value art and believe the human body is part of that, so they’re more lax with their standards? Do they fall in the middle? Are they more strict about modesty with one gender than the other? Are there other factors like control involved in what is or isn’t considered modest? (We’ll explore that a little more in the next point.)

It could also be fun to explore how different sub-cultures feel about these guidelines. Do they all adhere to the general guidelines of their larger culture, or do they subvert them or ignore them completely based on their own conflicting values?

Fantasy Fashion as Tradition

Fashion serves a practical purpose, an aesthetic purpose, and a cultural purpose. And another part of that cultural purpose is tradition. When you think about fashion and tradition, you likely think of events such as weddings and funerals, where the clothing is distinct because the event is distinct. That’s definitely an important consideration. What colors are worn at weddings? What do they represent (luck, purity, fertility)? How about mourning clothes? Are they black, to represent the darkness of the grave? Dark blue and glittery to represent the stars where the dead now dwell? Red to represent vengeance for a victim of murder?

But that’s not the only way clothing can be used as tradition. Take the embroidering of historical events from before, for example. In that case, the embroidery serves as a reminder of valued events. The act of embroidery might be a reminder to keep the lessons from history and use them in everyday life.

Simply the act of wearing a certain piece of clothing might also serve as tradition. Masks or veils have historically been used as symbols of modesty or as a means of dehumanizing those who wear them. Tradition is a repeated behavior to reinforce a belief, and putting on a piece of clothing is a repeated behavior which can have beliefs tied to it. Perhaps a belt not only supports your clothing, but also reminds you of who or what supports you.

Something like a crown can also be a form of tradition, serving to remind the ruler of their responsibility or to reinforce a belief that they are superior, whether reinforcing it to themselves or to those who see them.

What pieces of fantasy fashion in your culture might have beliefs attached to them, leading to tradition?

Using Real-World Influence

While thinking through your culture’s unique values, location, and traditions can make your fantasy fashion designs unique, drawing from real-world fashion can also contribute to this. That seems backwards, doesn’t it? How can drawing from something familiar make your design different? Well, because no one will combine elements in the same way you do and no one will draw from exactly the same concepts as you do. I’ve been working on the fashion of a world that is connected to earth, and I’ve been exploring how real-world elements might be combined with traditional fantasy styles. Personally, I love the structured bodices in Victorian dresses, so I’ve used that as a consistent piece for one culture. I also like 1910s vests, so I’ve used those in another culture. In some cases I’ve blended fashion eras, trying to keep a fantasy flavor to my designs as well. But while I like Victorian bodices and 1910s vests, you might like 1920s drop waists or Victorian bustles or sheer necklines and sleeves from the modern era. Taking what you like about real-world fashion and tying it in with the fantasy world pieces you’ve uncovered through these other points will create one-of-a-kind concepts that will make your world and the fashion in it stand out.

Your turn! Have you thought about fantasy fashion before? What’s your favorite part of the design process? Do you draw your designs, piece them together in collages or Pinterest boards, or just work them out in your head? What’s the best fantasy fashion you’ve come across (in a book, movie, TV show, DeviantArt page…)?

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Medicine and Medical Practice in Fantasy Cultures – Guest Post by Allie

Welcome back to another worldbuilding post! This one is a guest post by my best friend Allie, who was kind enough to write up a post about something that she loves and is great at: medicine. Specifically, of course, fantasy medicine. So, without further ado, let me turn you over to her!

Thank you for this opportunity to guest post on your blog, Ariel! Lord knows I have a hard time posting enough on my own blog, but I love helping others out, especially on a topic I enjoy ranting about for hours on end: medicine! 

One thing I’ve noticed people struggle with is successful—or even believable—medicine in books where info isn’t readily available (and sometimes even when it is, but that’s another post). Most of the time this means fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, steampunk, or anything involving magic, but other genres can also fall victim to some of the biggest issues most people have with writing a functional medical system. 

The first question to ask yourself is: How much of a focus will medicine/your medical system be in your story? If you’re looking to write a character who’s involved in the medical field and/or will be spending a lot of time in a medical setting, then you’re going to need a more in-depth understanding of your set-up than someone writing a character who only scrapes their knee and needs some healing salve and a bandaid. This will determine how much understanding and development your system will need. You don’t need to write a novel if the assignment is a 500 word essay. From here you can go onto the next questions and decide how deep you want—or need—to go with each of them. 

The next important thing to consider is any and every aspect of your setting. There are a lot of parts to this one, so bear with me. The best part is: this is almost all worldbuilding. Worldbuilding you’ve hopefully already established. (And if you haven’t, there’s plenty of aid to be found here on this blog!) The first thing to consider is the world your story takes place in and its level of technology. Are you in a high fantasy world that still uses a combination of plants, magic, and prayers? Are you writing Basically Star Trek But Different where you can wave Not A Tricorder over someone and instantly know what’s wrong and can just press a button to fix it? Are you writing a dystopian world where everything is just fixed with metal and cybernetics via a repurposed android factory? Know your world, and, by extension, know what’s both available and commonly used. Something being around and something being a common remedy is a distinction you need to make. You need to have it make sense with your established world and characters and even their belief systems. 

This leads us into the next important thing to consider: the peoples living in your world. Are there only humans? Cool, proceed, you have the whole internet and human history to figure things out with. Have other sentient species? You’re going to have to understand their unique anatomy before you can go any further. In some cases, you can treat them like humans with pointy ears/a tail/the bottom half of a fish, but other times (and honestly 10x more cool in my opinion) you’ll have to take into account new anatomy, customs, and needs. Does your elf protagonist have the very rare gene to produce a binary cardiovascular system? Perhaps your half-alien is missing a heart altogether or your cyborg is a mix of various different systems and metals. Know the anatomy and practices of your creatures and different races. How extensively you’ll need it is determined by how much you’ll use over the course of your story. 

Now you know your world and you know your races; now take some time to consider how those things will interact. What plants react with what species in what way? Are some things useful to one race but incredibly dangerous to another? Will different species need different doses of medicines based on their anatomy? Will some species have an organ that another does not and need an alteration in treatment? (Think of that one scene from Doctor Who where Martha does chest compressions on both sides to accommodate the Doctor’s two hearts.) Knowing your level of technology and the overall familiarity of each race by location will help with these kinds of things too. Is your medical staff trained in many different anatomies or do they just specialize in one? Does it depend on the region? (answer: yes.) Does it depend on availability of certain resources? (answer: also yes.) If so, what are those resources? 

The last vital thing to consider is what your society believes about medicine. Do they take things as new and technologically advanced as they can get, no matter the effects or repercussions? Do they have repercussions? Do they still stick to old tried-and-true ways? What about their religious beliefs and how those affect their thoughts and habits toward the handling of the body? Taking into account thoughts, feelings, and mental health and spiritual health practices are things I don’t often see discussed casually in a book. Same thing with gender or racial biases. Keep these things in mind as you write, even if the book isn’t about them. If you have a society that believes only blue-skinned males have the capacity to be doctors, reflect that, or show the shock of it being something different. Keep in mind the society you’re writing about, but don’t be afraid to bend those rules if you’re so inclined. 

Finally, one last tip: pulling things from thin air can totally work. I know it sounds crazy, but seriously, sometimes you don’t know about a situation until it happens. After all, sometimes stories write themselves. But I follow that up with: PLEASE write it down and use it again. Don’t have things that exist because they’re convenient, especially if they don’t make sense with the culture or are never seen again and given no explanation. Most things are way more fun when they make sense, and your readers will feel smart remembering something useful. 

Creating a world from scratch is super fun! Just remember not to neglect some of the smaller details. In the right circumstance, they can become vital to a scene, or even a character’s life. 

 

Happy building!

~ Allie (Of Rainy Days)

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