R.J. Hore's Blog: Fall is Here, page 8

World Building - The Housetrap Chronicles

To keep matters simple (these tales get complicated enough!) I decided to use a magic and mythical version of our world. That way I didn’t have to worry about geography. I wanted to play with all the fantasy characters I could find and made a decision to avoid or eliminate regular humans from my cast. (Although there is talk about them from time-to-time.)

This weird world is run by committees of wizards and other officious busy-bodies. It is a mixture of steampunk, modern, and futuristic. I decided to expand the potential scope of the stories by allowing the committees to terraform the neighboring planets. The first two tales spend some time off world.

To ground the stories, and make it easier for someone to pick up any of the tales rather than having to read them in order, with one exception I now start them all the same way. Each opening scene begins with Randy, the Private Eyeball, sitting in his office and usually bickering with his secretary, Bertha. This allows the reader to get some idea of what is going on right from the beginning. Then trouble walks through the door. The only slight advantage to reading these in order is I sometimes re-introduce a character from a previous story.

The one thing I don’t do in “The Housetrap Chronicles” is limit myself as to where I take these stories, or how serious or lightly I play with them.

Next time, the use of world building in The Toltec Series.

World Building - The Queen's Pawn Trilogy

I gave very little thought to world building when I began the story in “The Queen’s Pawn.” It was all about fleeing a burning city. I didn’t even bother to name the city. After all, the characters connected with the tale knew it very well.

The main thrust of the story is the adventure of the mixed bag of refugees fleeing from the fallen city, escaping their pursuers, and seeking a safe haven. The world I created and described consisted of the thin strip of land they passed through on their flight. I gave little consideration to what lay beyond their range of vision; it wasn’t relevant to my plot.

I used a lot of oaths and swearing in the name of saints etc. without clarifying further details to do with their religion. It seemed to fit the typical setting of bold knights and fair ladies in peril. All my fun came from the characters and their interaction, as well as the dangers and treachery I could lay in their path.

When I came to the second and third volumes, “The Queen’s Man” and “The Queen’s Game,” I had a more fixed setting to deal with. The main action in both books took place in a mountainous country, and the travel between castles located in two separate valleys. Once again I limited my world building to these areas. For most of the story the characters were confined to this familiar country.

While this limited amount of world building worked for this particular story, and my pantser style of creating as I go along, if I ever decided to expand the story beyond the third book, I would have to give some serious thought to fleshing out a larger picture of this landscape. There should be a rationale and logic to the setting where you lay out your story.

Unless of course it is a really off-the-wall fantasy.

Next time, a quick look at the different setting of the Housetrap Chronicles.

World Builing

World Building – The Dark Lady Series

Being a confirmed pantser, I usually keep my world building to the necessary minimum. This action in this story is set entirely within an ancient castle set in a mountain valley. I drew myself a map of the valley and made notes on what can be found beyond the mountains. This map served me well through all three books in the series. By the end of volume three, I’d reached a point where if I continued, I would probably have to expand that map to at least cover the entire continent.

I kept the cultures fairly uniform, introduced hints of the religion of the land, and left the use of magic at a minimal level. This may be where a pantser is at somewhat of a disadvantage as comparted to my writerly plotting cousins. The plotter would have detailed the background and a great deal more information on the surrounding settings and cultures before starting out. I often have to pause and consider why things are the way they are, and make certain they fit into the picture I am trying to create.

The limited world building I used fit this particular story well. Events and places off-screen are only mentioned or touched on. When creating a culture, you should consider can it sustain itself. Where does the food come from? What are the neighbors like? Would more of this detail add to the novel or slow it down?

I would highly recommend the use of a map to keep locations and setting straight in the writer’s and readers’ heads. It helps to prevent the author from sending expeditions off in the wrong direction. In my case, the map I created found its way, along with a character bio, into the second and third volumes (Dark Days & Dark Knights) after readers requested them.

Next time, a look at the different style of World Building in The Queen’s Pawn series.

World Building - The Dark Lady Series

Being a confirmed pantser, I usually keep my world building to the necessary minimum. This action in this story is set entirely within an ancient castle set in a mountain valley. I drew myself a map of the valley and made notes on what can be found beyond the mountains. This map served me well through all three books in the series. By the end of volume three, I’d reached a point where if I continued, I would probably have to expand that map to at least cover the entire continent.

I kept the cultures fairly uniform, introduced hints of the religion of the land, and left the use of magic at a minimal level. This may be where a pantser is at somewhat of a disadvantage as comparted to my writerly plotting cousins. The plotter would have detailed the background and a great deal more information on the surrounding settings and cultures before starting out. I often have to pause and consider why things are the way they are, and make certain they fit into the picture I am trying to create.

The limited world building I used fit this particular story well. Events and places off-screen are only mentioned or touched on. When creating a culture, you should consider can it sustain itself. Where does the food come from? What are the neighbors like? Would more of this detail add to the novel or slow it down?

I would highly recommend the use of a map to keep locations and setting straight in the writer’s and readers’ heads. It helps to prevent the author from sending expeditions off in the wrong direction. In my case, the map I created found its way, along with a character bio, into the second and third volumes (Dark Days & Dark Knights) after readers requested them.

Next time, a look at the different style of World Building in The Queen’s Pawn series.

The Birth of a Trilogy - The Dark Lady Series

When I wrote “The Queen’s Pawn” I amused myself by torturing the main character and subjecting him to a lot of abuse. When I finished the novel I wrote what I thought would be a satisfactory ending, hinting at the direction of things to come. I left most of the villains roaming loose. I had a request for more of the story.

I don’t usually do a lot of plotting when I start a novel. When I completed “The Queen’s Pawn” I uncharacteristically gave some thought as to what would happen next if I ever wrote more about these characters. I scribbled out two sentences. Book two would be: The queen wants to get married and everyone is trying to stop her. Book three would be: The princess wants to get married and everyone is trying to stop her. That was the extent of my advance plotting.

One thing I learned very early on, which may not be a problem for a plotter, (one who writes out everything in great detail before they commence a manuscript) is I should make lots and lots of notes as I go along. The alternative, when writing book two is you must go back and re-read the first novel in the series. Otherwise you may find yourself misspelling names and changing hair and eye color among several other possible sins.

I’ve mentioned earlier the how and why the fantasy detective tale Housetrap turned into a series of novellas (eight so far) and how my Toltec spec fiction epic became a trilogy (so far).

Next time, a look at world building, through the progression of the different novels I’ve written with first, the Dark Lady trilogy.

The Birth of a Trilogy - The Dark Lady Series

The Dark Lady was originally written as a stand-alone novel. I had no idea if it would ever be published or if there would be any follow-up. There was. Sequels should continue the original story and allow for the further development of the characters. I feel each book should be able to stand on their own, so you have to quickly introduce the story, and reach at least a partial resolution by the end of each novel, but leaving enough problems to make the reader want to continue on with the journey.

The main character at the end of the original book was age twelve and still surrounded by the surviving villains. I took the logical route and followed the personal growth of the protagonist, plus the increasing pressure coming from all sides. This gave me room to expand on some of the supporting cast and develop them more. The second novel, “Dark Days,” was born.

I felt the third volume, “Dark Knights,” should bring all of the major components and characters together with a pair of climactic battles, since I had competing villains and the need to narrow the field. I also continued the personal growth of the heroine and her close associates and gave hints that she has the potential to become the person heralded in the title of book one, “The Dark Lady.”

Next time, some brief thoughts on turning “The Queen’s Pawn” into a trilogy.

Where Ideas Come From - Knight's Bridge

Early in my attempt at writing, I sent out a lot of short stories to anthologies. I even had a couple published. I can still remember the editor who twice rejected submissions to collections with the comment that my stories sounded like they should be novels. I prefer writing the longer length.

From an idle somewhere I came up with a scene of a knight abandoning a losing battle on a strategic bridge and fleeing. I may have been reading a book or watching a TV show that triggered the idea. Based on that brief image I wrote a short story, in the first person present tense, about the knight. He comes across a fleeing woman and her children and turns aside from his own flight to guide them to safety. I fully intended to stop there.

But before I sent the short story out I became interested in what happens next. This turned into a novella in four parts. The next part was the tale told from the point of view of the warlord leading an army across the river in an attempt to attack the defenders of the bridge from the rear. He reaches the town where the woman is sheltering.

The third section dealt with a newly created knight moving toward the bridge as part of a relief force sent to hold the line. Told from his POV it deals with his fears and uncertainty.

The fourth and final section, told by the woman, brings it all together. All sections were told in the present tense. My publisher accepted the novella as written, but told me not to write in the first person present tense again. I agreed. It gave me a slight headache.

Next time I take a look at how some of my tales became trilogies or series.

Where Ideas Come From - The Toltec Series

A headline in the morning newspaper caught my eye. I don’t remember what it said, but the topic of the article was our country’s poor treatment of our indigenous neighbors. That set me thinking, I wonder what would have happened if the events of history were the other way around. What if the original inhabitants of the Americas had discovered Europe first, and arrived with the bigger sticks? Of course, I asked myself, how would I go about writing that scenario?

I had to pick a time in history when Europe, or in this case the British Isles, might be more vulnerable than usual. One thing in my favor, when the Europeans succeeded in the Americas, they did it to a large extent with the assistance of local allies. I chose to copy that route. Once I had my approximate date, I had to go back and have a look at the Americas to decide who might fit the time period in question and fill the part of conquering adventurers.

In my research I came across the Toltecs. One of the sites I looked at was pretty vague. In fact they gave three possible theories of who the Toltecs might be.
1. They did not exist. The name was used to refer to a highly educated or civilized person. They were invented by the Aztecs to give themselves illustrious ancestors.
2. They were a bunch of magicians playing with crystal skulls.
3. They were a militarized nation who conquered most of what is now modern Mexico.
I chose version number three for my purpose.

My next problem was to figure out how much of history and nature I would have to change to give this mad idea any chance of success. I wrote an epic of something over 110,000 words and sent it to my editor. She came back and said they’d take it, but she had a suggestion. Cut the 110,000 words into two volumes, expand them, and write a third novel to give a better finish to the story.

So I did. The results are: Toltec Dawn, Toltec Khan, and Toltec Noon.

Next time, how a short story became a stand-alone novella.

Where Ideas Come From - The Toltec Series

A headline in the morning newspaper caught my eye. I don’t remember what it said, but the topic of the article was our country’s poor treatment of our indigenous neighbors. That set me thinking, I wonder what would have happened if the events of history were the other way around. What if the original inhabitants of the Americas had discovered Europe first, and arrived with the bigger sticks? Of course, I asked myself, how would I go about writing that scenario?

I had to pick a time in history when Europe, or in this case the British Isles, might be more vulnerable than usual. One thing in my favor, when the Europeans succeeded in the Americas, they did it to a large extent with the assistance of local allies. I chose to copy that route. Once I had my approximate date, I had to go back and have a look at the Americas to decide who might fit the time period in question and fill the part of conquering adventurers.

In my research I came across the Toltecs. One of the sites I looked at was pretty vague. In fact they gave three possible theories of who the Toltecs might be.
1. They did not exist. The name was used to refer to a highly educated or civilized person. They were invented by the Aztecs to give themselves illustrious ancestors.
2. They were a bunch of magicians playing with crystal skulls.
3. They were a militarized nation who conquered most of what is now modern Mexico.
I chose version number three for my purpose.

My next problem was to figure out how much of history and nature I would have to change to give this mad idea any chance of success. I wrote an epic of something over 110,000 words and sent it to my editor. She came back and said they’d take it, but she had a suggestion. Cut the 110,000 words into two volumes, expand them, and write a third novel to give a better finish to the story.

So I did. The results are: Toltec Dawn, Toltec Khan, and Toltec Noon.

Next time, how a short story became a stand-alone novella.

Where Ideas Come From - We're Not in Kansas

I hadn’t attempted a spec fiction story before, but I had what I thought was a great opening scene I wanted to use. I’m a subscriber to Archaeology magazine and have an interest in such topics. This combination became “We’re not in Kansas,” a story about a single woman who is trying to track down an archaeological mystery. She wants to sneak away on her own using her vacation time. To compound her problems I dumped her reluctant teenage daughter on her. Now we can play with the feuding mother-daughter effect.

As usual I was not certain where I was going with this. I discovered one problem with the near-future setting; it is difficult to stay ahead of the rapid advance of technology. I eventually gave up and just pressed on. What the story turned into is an adventure thriller with an assortment of villains.

Science is not my strong suit. As a result this story became what I would describe as light science fiction. The ending leaves room for more but I always like to wrap up a new novel with most loose ends neatly tied. That way the reader is satisfied, and if the publisher wants more, I can usually oblige.

Next time, something completely different, a what-if spec fiction, the “Toltec” series.