Creating The World

It’s no secret that I love writing.  It is an absolute freedom and gives me great pleasure.  In particular my readers will not be surprised that I love writing fantasy.  I Googled myself on line and was reading through some old reviews when I came across one that summed up by saying, “Great story, unrealistic world.”  Thank God!   I don’t want a realistic world.  I created this world.  I sat down one day and said, “I’m going to create a world and it’s going to be like this.  It will be inhabited by creatures like this and the laws governing it will be so.”  It took a lot longer than 6 days but I made the world of Lavacia just the way I wanted it.  It doesn’t have to conform to the rules of our world.  During an editing the editor told me, “You can’t do this.”  I told him, “You can do it in my world.”  In fantasy no one can tell you that you are wrong except for yourself.  If you create rules for this world, then you must then abide by them.  Most of your big named fantasy writers put as few rules and details in their stories as possible because that way no one can come back and tell them what they wrote was impossible.  Rules in these worlds are like walls.  Once you build them, you have to work around them.  I take a little different approach.  I am not intimidated by walls.  I have had over 25 years to sort out these stories.  Therefore there can be walls and rules of my choosing in my world and I can still work around them without difficulty.  Why is it so easy?...Beacuse I made the rules!  It drives me nuts to have a story with few or no rules for the world created.  Here is an example.  My tongue will burn for saying it but take the Chronicles of Narnia.  Often they refer to something having to be done because of the “Deep Magic.”  I read every one of those books several times and nowhere does it tell you anything about what the Deep Magic is.  It’s frustrating.  I’m all for inventing things but at least tell us what you invented.  There is a delicate balance of explaining one’s self and leaving nothing to the imagination.  So I lay out my rules and make them clear.  Then everyone can understand them.  A few walls won’t hurt anything.  And remember in the end when you write about fantasy, if someone questions you just tell them that’s the way you want it.