Apologies that this is so late; I’ve had spotty Internet access for most of the last week and a half.

( So, on to the subject of nonhuman attributes- whether those be immortality or infinitely flexible stomachs )

More could be done with this, always. A story like James Tiptree Jr.’s ”Love is the Plan The Plan is Death doesn’t work for everyone and has not a human character in sight, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good story.

So the little poll said, so shall it be.

( About both kinds )

Since this deals with attitudes, I won’t be addressing strategy and tactics here; it’s mostly about the social and cultural associations of battles, duels, and other methods of killing. Also, it has few separate points; most of the ideas I wanted to present are gathered together under general ones.

( You can’t swing that sword that way )

Class/caste systems is next, according to the poll.

( So here we are )

And so far, it looks like attitudes towards killing and violence is next.

All right then.

Frankly, this rant was difficult to write. Part of it is simply that I’m afraid I’ll leave something important out. The other part is that I’m white, middle-class, and American, and so I’m approaching a lot of this in theory, not in the experience of living with it. Given the time period I live in, I don’t even have to deal with some things that would have been de rigeur for an American white, middle-class woman a few decades ago. So, if you see something in the rant you think is biased, ill-chosen, wrongly-worded, or offensive, please correct me. The nice thing about using an LJ post as a format for this rant is that I can clearly show the correction of mistakes by strikeouts.

( So here we go )

All right. After all, I am hardly immune from criticism, either.

Tell me what you think.

This is one of those things that fermented in the back of my head for a while, and now demands a rant.

( One culture, one language, one system of magic- one boring world )

Don’t know what I’ll do next, as that one came out of nowhere.

This is just a short and, at times, rather obvious rant to get back into the swing of things; I recently returned to university and am running around trying to get settled.

( And, after all, it goes with the continuing theme of romance and sex )

I don’t know why there seems to be a tendency to idealize particular sexual practices in fantasy—whether it’s a cousin of the tendency to idealize romance, or whether an impression truly exists that we have just got sexuality all wrong in our world and in any other world, it would be better.

Blame otakukeith for this one. Or me, since I wrote the essay and he only gave the suggestion.

( Why they don’t have to be perfect )

Now I must think on the next rant.

This is, again, less of a rant than an essay, with some ideas in it. As usual, the ideas are ones I think are good, and thus may or may not have the stamp of approval of your local guild.

This one is also a bit of an experiment in form, in that as I go through I’ll be poking at a possible protagonist/society of my own, and relating him/them to each of my points.

( Not a mindless opponent, nor yet a hive-mind )

It was surprising, really, how many plot ideas I had to reject as I went through that because they would have required a protagonist who believed in his own good above everyone else’s, or wanted to oppose his society Just Because. Almost every time I wrote an example, I thought, “But!” Interesting. I, at least, would have a lot of assumptions to consider and rip up before I could write about a society like this successfully.

And last of the rants for this poll.

( Pokity-poke )

Post about a poll in a minute.

This consists of me saying, “Ooooh, shiny!” more than it does ranting. After all, I’ve talked about specific manifestations of social change before, as in the rants on revolutions and civil wars, and the things I find silly or unrealistic about the way that most fantasy authors portray them. So I’ll try to show what I think would be good ways of portraying them.

( Instead of a storm, why not have a landslide? )

Getting nature more involved in a fantasy novel is up next.

The last of this particular set of rants that’s taken me…oh…only two months to write?

And another where I don’t particularly like the conceit I’m writing about. I favor worlds that move on, even if not quickly. But I did promise that I would give some consideration to it.

( If you don’t want your world to change all that fast, here are some options )

Poll up in a short time.

So! Some ideas about these concepts as they apply—in fantasy, not science fiction (though, properly done, fantasy could snitch ideas about these from SF. Why not? SF has snitched plenty from fantasy.)

( Onwards! Outwards! Acrosswards! )

Ooh. And now I have license to write a rant I’ve wanted to write for some time: conlangs. *slobbers, drools*

This means worlds with varying levels of technology and magic—cultures existing side by side, perhaps, but still not on the same technical level.

( Of course these are perfectly plausible )

This isn’t rocket science, people, it’s plausible, non-generic fantasy.

Not (perhaps sadly) about what happens when people from different nations become friends or fall in love, but about relationships between countries—from war to outright dominance of one by another, and everywhere in between.

( Read more... )

…Well, that was depressing.

In case the title is confusing, I will say that this is a method of world-building which depends on little, tiny threads braided together at a time, or bricks of many different kinds piled on top of each other, or dozens of different kinds of food made into a meal (choose your favorite metaphor for writing). It does not rely on big honking tapestries and walls and meals that are just descriptions, or exposition, or history infodumps, or scenes of character introspection, or circular conversations. Some people can work like that. I can’t, and I also prefer to read books that don’t; while a book with big honking tapestries or walls or meals of [insert writing technique here] might have plenty of virtues, I consider the big chunks a neutral feature at best, not a recommendation. To add yet a fourth metaphor, I prefer books that are like Arabians rather than Clydesdales.

( And now that I have thoroughly confused you, on to the rant )

A lot of this is tied up with plot, character, and setting, I notice. Well, done properly, a book will be that tapestry or brick wall or gourmet meal, not a bunch of loose ends or tumbled stones or sardines next to ice cream. And Arabian-like fantasies that move, touch on aspects of world-building, race away and circle back, light and swift, have always been my favorite kind.

The second part of the ‘writing empires’ rant, since the last one got too long to pack everything into one essay.

( More problems to make things complicated )

Seasonal variation is next, and then it’ll be the start of another poll-time.

This rant concentrates on some ideas for writing empires. I do think they’re different than kingdoms—though fantasy authors often don’t treat them any differently—and that there are a lot of questions and concerns they bring up that most authors simply ignore.

( An empire is a lot more than its imperial family )

Damn it, there will have to be another half of this rant, as this got much longer than anticipated. Well, hey. It’s a fertile subject, and I’d like to see a lot more done with it than currently is.

The money/currency rant, being the last of the rants from the previous poll, after which we move on to the ones from the poll I put up a few days ago.

(I am also trying to catch up on comments, which shall be done, if slowly).

( Money and currency )

It looks like avoiding the Designated Love Interest trap is next.

Okay, this one’s up.

( Distrust character profiles and world-building notes? Well, the story can do the work for you. )

Rather personal. But that’s all right.