After further retrospect, I felt it would be fitting to begin today's Creating Aragnar session with a question. What makes fictional worlds, places, and peoples memorable?
Odds are that many of you have read a vast majority of books and genres. Whether you consider yourself a veteran reader or just a casual skimmer of literature, you surely have found at least one book or article memorable. Because this series of articles is focusing on fictional worlds, specifically the steps I took to craft my own, it would be fitting to focus primarily on fiction.
Have you ever read a fiction book that intrigued you to a point that it lasted with you, long after the story had ended? I certainly have. Whether exploring the breathtaking lands of Middle Earth or finding adventure and excitement in Narnia, tales such as these have held a special place in my heart, not only because of their stories, but their settings.
The focus of today's post is...(drum roll)...world-building! (Like the title didn't already give that way...). I have always loved to look at the 'big picture' of things, and follow up with the intricate details. Because of this vast view I've chosen to employ, it's highly critical that I don't skip a step or forsake some well-needed research.
While I know many of you won't use this method, as it's not for everyone, I've found that by having a strong structure of information to ground the rest of the story upon, it has given my world a depth that probably wouldn't have otherwise grown. While there are many different ways to build worlds, there are also many different aspects to the practice. As I mentioned in the previous article, a lot of research went into the creation of Aragnarians, the winged people who inhabit the continent Aragnar. However, they are not the only ethnicity to dwell in my story-world, and as I began to introduce more cultures, I ran into a problem.
In a fantasy world, is completely creating a culture from scratch the best possible route? Or, like the creation of the peoples themselves, would it be best to base their cultures off real existing ones? The answer to that question will understandably vary from writer to writer, but for me personally, grounding my story in reality gave it the complexity I desired the story to facilitate.
Okay, so I decided I wanted to base my cultures off real ones. Whats next? How could I do it in a way that wouldn't be too obvious, but also recognizable enough to be tastefully acknowledged?
Firstly, I needed to know what to look for. Our world is filled with many cultures, religions, and creeds. Varying in ethnicity and beliefs, each one can be very different then the other. In order to choose which ones to use as references, I had to have a deep understanding of my own characters and what I wanted their cultures to reflect.
For my Aragnarians, I drew a lot of inspiration from old English and Latin, as well as Western culture. However, I wanted to avoid the typical 'medieval' pit that most fantasy tends to fall into (for good reason at times). So, I also studied the Roman culture, and found I liked the structure displayed. After all, the Aragnarians are a winged race, giving them a distinct advantage over other people groups. They needed to be strong, yet peaceful, and still have the potential to conquer.
For my Kyraen race, I took a completely different route. The Kyraen are much more war-like, and also bring my second winged race, they needed to strike a completely different contrast to the Aragnarians. Sporting webbed wings that resemble dragon's, they are similar in some ways, but completely different in most aspects. For the Kyraen, I established their culture strongly on Germanic roots, focusing on a conflicted, yet efficiently driven culture. Don't let the bat wings fool you, these people aren't villains, even though many of their past leaders have been so. They are personally one of my favorite people groups in my series, I just love conflicted heroes/villains!
And finally, the not-so average Joes, regular, wing-less humans. Because they often have rivalries with their winged counterparts, I took a completely different route to establish their culture. Roughly based off feudal-era Japan, their human country Dimair is in complete disrepair. Ruled (in part) by a pagan king, the people of Dimair are largely left to their own devices, and fight brutally for lordship and territory. Far less orderly and sophisticated then Aragnar, they are in desperate need of a new leader...and only time will tell if they will receive one.
This is but a small (but still fairly lengthy) taste of the complexity built into my series, but it is nonetheless a glimpse into my creative process. We all have vastly differing ideas and goals, but through the exploration of a writer's process, I hope that you are inspired to create your own stories, and fill your worlds with daring ideas.
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